Signature FBO

[Timebuilder]

Fuel: contract fuel is the way to go.

Signature prices: paid by the customer.

This is one of those situations where the consumer can vote with his feet.....sometimes. If SFS is the only FBO, you're stuck if you can't pass on the charges.

About Mercury at Charleston. They took 30 mins to bring up our airplane from the far side this past summer. It was on-the-job training for some newbie line guys, and it was like three monkeys and a football. I actually wrote a letter about it. Nice building though, like you said. Nice town too, with good food.

 

[~~~^~~~]

What bugs me about Signature is their liability waiver on the back of the ramp tie down and fuel slips. Not only do they collect your cash, but they require you sign a release agreeing to not attempt collections from Signature if Signature damages your airplane.

Signing the liability waiver is often a violation of your own insurance policy's insuring agreement, meaning that your insurer could deny coverage for waiving the insurer's right to subrogate against Signature.

Also, 99.9% of all Signature locations are on land leased from the government. Airports are supposed to be public use facilities, hence the reason why our tax dollars are used to build & maintain them in the first place. IMHO Signatures exhorbitant fees are just flat wrong - seeing as how taxpayers built the ramp to begin with.

I try not to do business with Signature.

 

[SpiderMan]

They dont make you sign that waiver, just tell them your company doesnt authorize you and they will drop it. Atleast that has worked for me.

 

[2000flyer]

350,

I agree with many points you made. When we're in and out of SFS several times in one day, we buy enough fuel to cover all the stops and SFS promotes this policy. I believe in supporting all FBOs.

Yet, other than the "good" SFS I mentioned we use, I have never been able to negociate with SFS. I keep getting handed their incentive program info and told those are their rules they have to live by. When SFS took over at DTW, my former company was one of their leading transient customers in dollars spent. When SFS came in (and kept the same management) we were told if we didn't like it to get the h*** out....point blank. We moved our transient stops to PTK and saved nearly $100,000 the first year. Had SFS been more cooperative and less confrontational, we would have stayed put.

--

Timebuilder, you're correct, contract is the only way to go! We're saving quite a bit using two fuel contracts.

--

Diesel, While I can't prove it, I'd bet the QS, FX and TA tails at SFS don't pay the high fees you and I pay. I'm sure their marketing department has negociated a sweet deal with SFS due to the number of stops they make a day.

2000Flyer

 

[Publishers]

Price of

First of all, the prices of fuel differ widely because of the vast differences in the computing of taxes and fees in this country. Probably the diffence in real cost of fuel delivered to the heartland or anywhere else is small compared to the differences in pump fees, sales taxes, ramp rental, etc.

The fact is that the margin on fuel in % not real dollars has decreased and Signature or any other FBO operating at a major city. The increases that these cities continue to impose on FBO's including % of sales fees will not end soon and the FBO's will continue to find ways to get it back.

For the most part, you are not paying the FBO, you are paying the city you just landed in.

 

[ShawnC]

About fuel,

Not just around the country, looking around FL I see Self-services prices changing by as much as $1.20 thoughout the state. That's self-serve, truck fuel costs much more.

 

[bart]

Yeah, they waive the fee if you buy enough fuel at $1.40 over market to make up the difference. They only thrive where they are the only game in town.

 

[flydog]

Signature Sucks!!!!!!!!!!

Vote with your wallet and stay away from these crooks!

 

[hyper]

The whole "great service" excuse for signatures raping doesn't sit well with me. I've never had bad service at any of the FBOs I stop at (except one). They want you to believe that it's OK to rape you in exchange for a friendly smile. Oh brother, give me a break! The old lady at the signature counter at JAX (only game in town) has never even given me the time of day- so what's that?

Like someone said, they only thrive when they're the only game in town. I avoid them at all cost as do alot of those that I know.

 

[msw]

Over the last ten years, I have flown my Cherokee Six all over the U.S., from Southern California to Boston, to Atlanta and a whole lot of places in between. I use how an FBO treats me in my Cherokee as a basis for whether I will return there in the King Air I fly at work. If they treat me like crap when I pull up in the PA32, I'll avoid them like the plague when flying the BE20. I avoid ALL Signatures (they even look down their noses at the King Air 200), and Cutter in ABQ. On the other hand, Corporate Jets in Scottsdale is an outstanding FBO. I've been there many many times in my Cherokee, and they seem to have the same smile, the same pleasant service for me in my little flivver as they do for the jet jockeys.

By the way, big money saver for fuel purchases, especially if you are flying over long distances, is taking a look at www.airnav.com