f1rocket
Well Known Member
I questioned whether I should post this. It is a rant and I don't often do that so if a moderator deletes this post, I understand. I'm doing this because Seattle Avionics is a significant contributor to our hobby (whether we like it or not) if you own a RV-12 or fly behind a Dynon Skyview unit.
Of all the myriad of vendors that I deal with in the aviation community, Seattle Avionics is at the top of my list as the least liked, biggest pain in my rearend vendor of all of them. I have had many, many issues with their subscriptions, their software, and their support. I deal with them because I have no choice. Its either them, or don't use the terrain and airport data capabilities of my Dynon.
I recently sold my RV-12 to a very nice gentleman in Arizona. As part of the sale, I told him that I had a subscription through March of 2018 paid up for the mapping software. What I should have assumed is that SA would figure out a way to screw that up. (and they did). Even though I've been downloading map data every month and my DataManager said my subscription ran through 03/18, Customer Service informed me that my subscription expired in June. Really? After multiple email exchanges regarding the facts of my renewal several years ago, the end result was "Well, you need to buy a renewal." Somewhere along the line the customer files at SA got out of sync with my DataManager. The DataManager was correct all along, but their customer records were wrong. I took advantage of a renewal option that gave me extra time but that somehow got scrambled at the SA end. So to be fair to my new buyer, I went ahead and paid for another subscription. That's when I discovered another fact. SA does not allow you to transfer any remaining time on a subscription to a new owner. I guess YOU own the subscription, not the AIRPLANE. So even if I had gotten it straightened out, I would not have been able to pass that along to the new owner.
I'm leaving out a lot of the details for the sake of brevity but that's the essence of it. Look, I don't expect perfection. I have a fair amount of patience. I'm also reasonable. But my litany of issues with SA is no longer excusable, it is a business trend.
Note to Seattle Avionics: Your software is terrible, it's slow, it doesn't work on all computers, and your Customer Service is not very good either. Whether you recognize it or not, your reputation is not positive. I hate paying for the same thing twice but it was the easiest path to resolution. You had better hope that you don't encounter a significant competitor to your services because if you do, you will be out of business in a couple of years.
Note to Dynon: I surely hope you are searching for a new vendor to provide your map subscription services. SA is costing you customers. I know that first hand because even though I like your hardware, I have personally guided two fellow builders away from Dynon because of these issues. My next airplane will not have a Skyview in it.
Of all the myriad of vendors that I deal with in the aviation community, Seattle Avionics is at the top of my list as the least liked, biggest pain in my rearend vendor of all of them. I have had many, many issues with their subscriptions, their software, and their support. I deal with them because I have no choice. Its either them, or don't use the terrain and airport data capabilities of my Dynon.
I recently sold my RV-12 to a very nice gentleman in Arizona. As part of the sale, I told him that I had a subscription through March of 2018 paid up for the mapping software. What I should have assumed is that SA would figure out a way to screw that up. (and they did). Even though I've been downloading map data every month and my DataManager said my subscription ran through 03/18, Customer Service informed me that my subscription expired in June. Really? After multiple email exchanges regarding the facts of my renewal several years ago, the end result was "Well, you need to buy a renewal." Somewhere along the line the customer files at SA got out of sync with my DataManager. The DataManager was correct all along, but their customer records were wrong. I took advantage of a renewal option that gave me extra time but that somehow got scrambled at the SA end. So to be fair to my new buyer, I went ahead and paid for another subscription. That's when I discovered another fact. SA does not allow you to transfer any remaining time on a subscription to a new owner. I guess YOU own the subscription, not the AIRPLANE. So even if I had gotten it straightened out, I would not have been able to pass that along to the new owner.
I'm leaving out a lot of the details for the sake of brevity but that's the essence of it. Look, I don't expect perfection. I have a fair amount of patience. I'm also reasonable. But my litany of issues with SA is no longer excusable, it is a business trend.
Note to Seattle Avionics: Your software is terrible, it's slow, it doesn't work on all computers, and your Customer Service is not very good either. Whether you recognize it or not, your reputation is not positive. I hate paying for the same thing twice but it was the easiest path to resolution. You had better hope that you don't encounter a significant competitor to your services because if you do, you will be out of business in a couple of years.
Note to Dynon: I surely hope you are searching for a new vendor to provide your map subscription services. SA is costing you customers. I know that first hand because even though I like your hardware, I have personally guided two fellow builders away from Dynon because of these issues. My next airplane will not have a Skyview in it.
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