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So I walked into the rental outfit a couple of days ago, and I was informed that I left the master on in one of the planes about a month and a half ago, depleting the battery overnight. I of course felt (and still feel) terrible, because I know how frustrating it is to have to scrub a flight because of the stupidity of another renter. In fact, I've gotten into a plane (at another flight school) where the previous renter forgot to shut off the master. Very frustrating. Also, more personally, this sort of forgetting to do something trivial like turning the master off makes me feel like a blithering idiot.
Anyway, they jumped it and thought all was well (the plane went out for that flight without a hitch), but apparently the next two renters couldn't fly it because even after running the plane, the battery wouldn't "hold its power." They grounded the plane and ordered a new battery, displacing a couple of other renters. From what I've been told so far, they're looking for me to "offset some of the cost" of the maintenance issue.
This is the first time anything like this has come up for me, so I'm turning to the wisdom of PoA for thoughts. Would it be normal for them to ask me to cover some or all of the lost rental costs from the other renters? Lost instruction time too? A percentage of it? Also, roughly how much money are we looking at maintenance-wise for parts and labor? Would they normally ask for me to cover all of it? Part of it? And then, is this what renter's insurance is for? Would I see my rates go up for filing a claim for this? I'm not excited to pay for this out of pocket, but if it would mean that my rates go skyrocketing, it might be a good idea?
They've just now started the conversation with me, so I don't have any cold hard numbers. I know that some of those questions might require more information, and I'm happy to provide what I know. I don't have any dollar values from them yet, because they still need to pull the invoices from the shop they use. Part of me says "yeah, of course I should be liable for everything. It only makes sense." But another part of me says that it took them well over a month to get back to me...surely it can't be THAT important to them. It doesn't seem all that fair for them to wait a month and a half and then gouge me...right? After all, the least they could do is let me know right away. Also, are there any questions I should be sure to ask them?
I'm not looking to pick a fight with them at all--I've been very happy with them so far, a very good outfit--but I just want to be sure it's fair to both of us. So I'm basically just looking for initial thoughts and words of advice at this point. I'll update as I know more.
Anyway, they jumped it and thought all was well (the plane went out for that flight without a hitch), but apparently the next two renters couldn't fly it because even after running the plane, the battery wouldn't "hold its power." They grounded the plane and ordered a new battery, displacing a couple of other renters. From what I've been told so far, they're looking for me to "offset some of the cost" of the maintenance issue.
This is the first time anything like this has come up for me, so I'm turning to the wisdom of PoA for thoughts. Would it be normal for them to ask me to cover some or all of the lost rental costs from the other renters? Lost instruction time too? A percentage of it? Also, roughly how much money are we looking at maintenance-wise for parts and labor? Would they normally ask for me to cover all of it? Part of it? And then, is this what renter's insurance is for? Would I see my rates go up for filing a claim for this? I'm not excited to pay for this out of pocket, but if it would mean that my rates go skyrocketing, it might be a good idea?
They've just now started the conversation with me, so I don't have any cold hard numbers. I know that some of those questions might require more information, and I'm happy to provide what I know. I don't have any dollar values from them yet, because they still need to pull the invoices from the shop they use. Part of me says "yeah, of course I should be liable for everything. It only makes sense." But another part of me says that it took them well over a month to get back to me...surely it can't be THAT important to them. It doesn't seem all that fair for them to wait a month and a half and then gouge me...right? After all, the least they could do is let me know right away. Also, are there any questions I should be sure to ask them?
I'm not looking to pick a fight with them at all--I've been very happy with them so far, a very good outfit--but I just want to be sure it's fair to both of us. So I'm basically just looking for initial thoughts and words of advice at this point. I'll update as I know more.