IFD 440 - COM TX board failure

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   We just had a com board failure on almost new  IFD440 3 months on service with 25 hour son it. The customer support, while helpful in diagnosis and accepting hardware failure, refused to open a RMA.
With new process, Avidyne wants me to go to a dealer to process RMA. I just don't understand why. We opened a ticket, uploaded all logs and pictures. They verified unit has hardware failure and need to be replaced. For a week now the dealer is struggling with Avidyne customer care to even get a RMA opened because of some web issues in filling out forms. This is just absurd to make us go through a dealer for verified failure and replacement. It has been Aug for almost 2 weeks now and still waiting for the RMA. 

Are experimentals handled the same way as GA? One of the drivers for me to move to Avidyne 8 years ago was their customer service and direct pilot support. I forced 2 of my friends to 440 instead of 650 and this is where it landed. Kinda soured the experience a little bit. Let's see how this ends and get resolved. 

Edited by Sanjiv - 22 Apr 2024 at 2:26am

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Sanjiv Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 20 Nov 2016 Location: N14 Status: Offline Points: 48	Post Options Post Reply Quote Sanjiv Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: IFD 440 - COM TX board failure Posted: 22 Apr 2024 at 2:21am
	We just had a com board failure on almost new IFD440 3 months on service with 25 hour son it. The customer support, while helpful in diagnosis and accepting hardware failure, refused to open a RMA. With new process, Avidyne wants me to go to a dealer to process RMA. I just don't understand why. We opened a ticket, uploaded all logs and pictures. They verified unit has hardware failure and need to be replaced. For a week now the dealer is struggling with Avidyne customer care to even get a RMA opened because of some web issues in filling out forms. This is just absurd to make us go through a dealer for verified failure and replacement. It has been Aug for almost 2 weeks now and still waiting for the RMA. Are experimentals handled the same way as GA? One of the drivers for me to move to Avidyne 8 years ago was their customer service and direct pilot support. I forced 2 of my friends to 440 instead of 650 and this is where it landed. Kinda soured the experience a little bit. Let's see how this ends and get resolved. Edited by Sanjiv - 22 Apr 2024 at 2:26am
	PA28-236 @N14

MysticCobra Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Status: Online Points: 662	Post Options Post Reply Quote MysticCobra Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 26 Apr 2024 at 6:41am
	This is disappointing to hear. I have had to send units back to Avidyne in the past (always through a dealer), and the process was smooth, easy, and fast (at least from my perspective). It is disappointing to hear that is not always the case. I think for certified aircraft, it's pretty typical to have to go through a dealer for things like this, though, so that alone is not surprising. What is surprising is that "web issues in filling out forms" could result in a multi-week delay. At some point, I'd be asking to sit down with the dealer and watch what they're having trouble with. Unless it's dealer incompetence, I'm not sure why you think getting the dealer out of the way would improve the process, in which case perhaps you could just engage with a different dealer?

vas4avidyne Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2022 Location: SF Bay Area Status: Offline Points: 51	Post Options Post Reply Quote vas4avidyne Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 May 2024 at 1:24am
	I have an experimental and when I recently had to send my IFD540 back for repair (interestingly enough, a similar issue - it was the COM board), they wanted me to do it using a dealer. As it turns out, I wanted to go to the dealer to get it bench tested since it wasn't confirmed that it was an issue with the unit. It took him all of 5 seconds to determine that it was was the unit and he then sent it to Avidyne with no additional fees beyond the flat repair amount that Avidyne charged. It's usually easier to get a response from the company on the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/AvidynePilotClub) so if you still want to try to send it directly, you can raise the issue there and see if it gets you a response. Vas

HenryM Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13 Oct 2017 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 502	Post Options Post Reply Quote HenryM Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 May 2024 at 5:51pm
	The cost of the repair is a flat fee. If a dealer sends it in, all shipping risks to and from the factory and any issues with the software upgrade that Avidyne applies if your unit is not at the latest level, are on them/Avidyne. The dealer is supposed to record all settings to be able to get the unit back to operation your particular setup. In my case, there's a nearby dealer and I have a second COM radio in the plane. This means I can safely fly back home. Other than having to fly 15 minutes to another airport, I avoid all the risks involved with sending the unit back to Avidyne myself. I like to fly anyhow, and it would take me longer to try to resolve any issues if there are gremlins when the unit comes back. My biggest effort was to locate a dealer I can trust. The Avidyne dealer locator is not always up-to-date.