thatpilotguy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Posts
- 216
I have taken a day or so to gather my thoughts prior to writing this, but there is no way that I could let the experience we had go unheard in the corporate, fractional and charter aviation community.
We have all had the "terrible" FBO experience, but this one takes the cake. I'll start at the beginning...I called Signature and FTC in MMU and priced the ramp, overnight and fuel costs for both FBO's. Having always used Signature, I was pleased to see that there might be an alternative FBO at Morristown. The overnight fees, and facility fees where less...so we gave FTC a shot.
The passenger rental car had no fuel. Not the FBO's fault, but they should have checked. Our arrival was at 11pm...and the passengers could not find an open gas station. They actually had to stop a local law enforcement officer and find a gas station with pumps that were still on. The crew rental car was not at the FBO and they could not get one. They ordered us a town car to the hotel at a cost of $30.00.
The following morning we went to the FBO and picked up a rental car, and I spoke to the FBO manager Alex. I typically wouldn't use first names, but this guy deserves all that is coming to him! I spoke to him about the passenger rental car fuel problem and then the crew rental car issue. I asked that the FBO pick up the $30.00 for the cab ride to the hotel as a result of the crew rental car screw up. He declined and added that we were to pay an overtime charge and after hours fee in addition to the facility and over night ramp fee. I said no...I had the guys name that I spoke too, he knew our arrival time and mentioned nothing about the additional fees. He asked if we where going to buy fuel...I said, no. At this point things got ugly. Alex went completely off the handle when I said that I wouldn't buy gas, wouldn't pay the overtime and after hours fees. I continued to argue with him...they failed to deliver the services we had arranged, failed to make good on the services they where to provide, and now you think that I'm going to pay some fees that were never discussed when I setup our arrival...no way. He then asked if I had signed some sort of legal agreement letter. I said no, and he asked me to sign it. I declined...and told him that our legal team would need to review it before I could sign anything. He then said that he wasn't going to let us leave...I actually laughed out loud...and said that we wanted to be online at 5pm and I would pay the $400.00 that we discussed now, no more than that amount. Having lost the arguement I thought that was the end of it.
I received a conference call from the executive assistant for one of our passengers, the executive assitant to the owner of the company and other company officials...the executive assistant called the FBO to followup with the passengers rental car having no fuel and Alex went off. Using all sorts of profanity, name calling and was beyond unpleasant with her. This conference call lasted minutes...and of course we won't be going back.
I did call FTC late last night and found out a little more about their operation. Apparently Alex is in charge of fuel, the rental cars and any overtime, after hours fees. There is another group that is in charge of the ramp and facility fees. Alex reports to no one, and I have not been able to get a hold of the group in charge of the facility and ramp fees.
In any event, the legal letter is to disolve them of any aircraft damage, essentially a hold harmless agreement. They are not a true FBO, as I'm sure that MMU would not approve another FBO...with all that said, use Signature. I wouldn't normally endorse them, but take my experience and learn from it. There is no excuse for this type of behavior, or bad management...it is my goal to leave a review about our experience on any forum, or customer review board I can find...and then email them a link to the review so they can read the glowing remarks. Someone once told me that there is no better advertising than word of mouth!
DON'T GO TO FTC!!!
We have all had the "terrible" FBO experience, but this one takes the cake. I'll start at the beginning...I called Signature and FTC in MMU and priced the ramp, overnight and fuel costs for both FBO's. Having always used Signature, I was pleased to see that there might be an alternative FBO at Morristown. The overnight fees, and facility fees where less...so we gave FTC a shot.
The passenger rental car had no fuel. Not the FBO's fault, but they should have checked. Our arrival was at 11pm...and the passengers could not find an open gas station. They actually had to stop a local law enforcement officer and find a gas station with pumps that were still on. The crew rental car was not at the FBO and they could not get one. They ordered us a town car to the hotel at a cost of $30.00.
The following morning we went to the FBO and picked up a rental car, and I spoke to the FBO manager Alex. I typically wouldn't use first names, but this guy deserves all that is coming to him! I spoke to him about the passenger rental car fuel problem and then the crew rental car issue. I asked that the FBO pick up the $30.00 for the cab ride to the hotel as a result of the crew rental car screw up. He declined and added that we were to pay an overtime charge and after hours fee in addition to the facility and over night ramp fee. I said no...I had the guys name that I spoke too, he knew our arrival time and mentioned nothing about the additional fees. He asked if we where going to buy fuel...I said, no. At this point things got ugly. Alex went completely off the handle when I said that I wouldn't buy gas, wouldn't pay the overtime and after hours fees. I continued to argue with him...they failed to deliver the services we had arranged, failed to make good on the services they where to provide, and now you think that I'm going to pay some fees that were never discussed when I setup our arrival...no way. He then asked if I had signed some sort of legal agreement letter. I said no, and he asked me to sign it. I declined...and told him that our legal team would need to review it before I could sign anything. He then said that he wasn't going to let us leave...I actually laughed out loud...and said that we wanted to be online at 5pm and I would pay the $400.00 that we discussed now, no more than that amount. Having lost the arguement I thought that was the end of it.
I received a conference call from the executive assistant for one of our passengers, the executive assitant to the owner of the company and other company officials...the executive assistant called the FBO to followup with the passengers rental car having no fuel and Alex went off. Using all sorts of profanity, name calling and was beyond unpleasant with her. This conference call lasted minutes...and of course we won't be going back.
I did call FTC late last night and found out a little more about their operation. Apparently Alex is in charge of fuel, the rental cars and any overtime, after hours fees. There is another group that is in charge of the ramp and facility fees. Alex reports to no one, and I have not been able to get a hold of the group in charge of the facility and ramp fees.
In any event, the legal letter is to disolve them of any aircraft damage, essentially a hold harmless agreement. They are not a true FBO, as I'm sure that MMU would not approve another FBO...with all that said, use Signature. I wouldn't normally endorse them, but take my experience and learn from it. There is no excuse for this type of behavior, or bad management...it is my goal to leave a review about our experience on any forum, or customer review board I can find...and then email them a link to the review so they can read the glowing remarks. Someone once told me that there is no better advertising than word of mouth!
DON'T GO TO FTC!!!