I hate the FAA. There, I said it.
No one is perfect. IF there's a fly in your soup, call the waiter and he'll bring you another bowl of soup. The manager will likely come visit and your meal will be free.
That's not perfect service, but they did what they could to make it right. Before the liberals jump on my ass for comparing a bowl of soup to the airplanes that we fly, I'll grant you that it is apples and oranges. BUT...the mindsdet is the same.
If, instead of calling over the waiter, you reach into your trusty cell phone and call the health department and register a complaint with them, all before you've called the waiter. Then, you call over the manager over and say...don't worry about the fly in my soup, I just called the health department. He'll run you out of the building with a rolling pin. I would, too.
When I was running my business as my full time employment, I spend some time every day, 7 days a week, worrying about being sued. Sure, I did the work to the best of my ability, but I'm human. It really pisses me off when aircraft owners who don't know crap about the maintenance of their planes try to tell me how to do my job. It's not the ignorance, but the attitude that you'd better do everything perfectly or I'll sue and own this place. Believe you me, I've heard that exact phrase. I've pushed at least one owner's airplane out onto the ramp with all their crap piled inside.
Mechanics, unfortunately, have to put up with this crap because we need the work to stay afloat. Don't think for a second that we don't realize that even a small slip-up could kill someone. That's why we inventory our tools, buy the best books and equipment, and, when the job is tough, we often get a second set of eyes whether we need it or not. All of this we do in the interest of keeping the lives of those flying the planes we maintain intact. That is the first and foremost concern. Then, we try to whittle down the bill cause we know the owners will complain. They nearly always do. Then, and only after that, do we worry about our profit on the job and if we'll get sued because we might have missed something.
IF I do make a mistake, and I've made some, I want the chance to make it right. Period. I know there's no way to if the plane is wrecked and everyone dies. But, If I forget to tighten the ignition leads on the plugs and there's an inflight roughness...give me the chance to make it right. I've gone to great lengths and considerable expense to cover something I screwed up. You know what? The owner called ME!!!!! He called me at 10 in the evening with a problem. I wasn't sure it was something I did or not, but I went out there and fixed his problem...on my nickel. He'll be a customer for life. If he would have called the FAA suspecting I had done something wrong before he would have called me, he'd be looking for another mechanic. In fact, all those who have called the FAA to complain about a shop... most of the mechanics that I know spread that information amongst ourselves and those owners are blacklisted. It's easier to keep a kicking horse out of the pen than to worry about getting kicked.
In all this, I'm not advocating that there's not a time and place to involve the FAA, but the mindset of they should be notified with any problems is hogwash. Those owners better stay clear of my shop. It would undoubtedly suck to have to fly 100 miles to another airport for maintenance because no one on your own field will touch your plane.
Your mechanic is not your enemy. It's funny, and I've seen it a hundred times. When an owner comes to you to ask to have an annual inspection done, they're all smiles and questions, and generally easy to get along with. When they come to get the plane and get the bill, they act like you just killed their child and shot their dog.
95 percent of my experience with owners has been fantastically positive. Eager to have their planes fixed or inspected, happy to pay for the services, anxious to get their planes back to go enjoy flying them. Most are really interesting guys/gals to talk to on top of that. When I hear people talk about calling the FAA because a shop makes a mistake, I put them in the other 5 percent.
Bill, I'm with you on sending Caulkins a letter about the things you found. However, to reply to such a letter and apologize for anything that might have been missed would indicate an admission of guilt. The reply may be used against the shop later. Don't be surprised if you get no reply at all. Or, in the off chance you do get a reply, expect them to stand their ground and state that the aircraft was inspected in accordance with the applicable Cessna maintenance manual, the appropriate Lycoming Owners manual, and all available data pertaining to the modifications installed on your plane. To do otherwise would be legal suicide.
On the flip side, if anyone brought me a 150 or 152, or anything, for that matter, and told me they wanted a perfect plane when I was done, I'd tell them they couldn't afford it. There's just no such thing as a perfect plane. Even brand new, they're not perfect. So, as a mechanic, we try to balance condition with cost without compromising safety.
Think twice about calling the FAA when you get PO'd at a shop. Man who lives in glass house better not throw rocks.
