JetCat P300 blew up with NO REFUND!!!
 

BEWARE OF JetCat and their products!
I never expected JetCat to treat me the way they did after being the owner of 8 of their engines.
Here is the story. I was at Baldin Michigan jets in June, trying to fly my big 1/5 scale mirage 2000 from aviation design with a P300 for the powerplan. Right before rotating for take off, the engine blew up in the middle of the runway. We rushed to the airplane and I saw the engine had split into two pieces with lots of bolts, pieces and selenoids in my fuselage. Three of my friends witnessed the incident, we took pictures and video was taken while it happened. My friend Dave Murry submitted all this information to JetCats and the engine itself. They had the engine for two plus months and they never reply, until we pressed them and they said the guarantee had expired by two months. The engine had only 12 flights for these 3 years and two months period and they offered me another brand new engine for $3000. When we received the engine we were missing all the accessories and they did not even replace the engine mount, therefore it is half of the engine. They sent me the blown up mount and the can, so the engine is not even worth $3000 without anything, therefore I did not accept. They had promise they would send a complete engine for that amount. I am out $6200 for the original engine, plus the $200 for shipping charges, and they wanted me to spend another $3000 plus the shipping so I told Dave to reject.
I do not want to deal with JetCat again and I will warn everyone around me in the jet community so they are aware of this unprofessional company.
See the attached pictures.
Nick Mitrakos

Have contacted dreamworks? They are stand up guys and might be able to help with your jetcat problems. They put their name behind the product so maybe they will help. Good luck I couldn't imagine losing money like that.

Kingtech Is coming out with a new BIG BLOCK power turbine, and My dealings with Barry, and moreso DIrk have been absolutely fantastic as far as support and service. And that is what will keep me going back to them for all my power needs.

Dreamworks know about this but they got into this not to long ago. The engine was purchased from Bob. I do not want to loose my money but what can I do?
The only thing that I can do is to remaind the jet pilots not to do any business with Jet Cat and there products every time I see them.
I am out about $6,500.00, but JETCAT will be out a lot more, in to the six figures .
BEWARE ! BEWARE ! BEWARE! TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE.

I Fly king tech also and I have no problem . I have five of their engines no issues I just send in my 140 G for the 25 hour service.

I fly three different turbines, I own jetcat, kingtech and Jet central as well. I cannot say I have had any problems at the moment with either one. I have seen tech support for all three first hand with my own engines and I can say without a doubt JC and KT have great support and Dreamworks helped me with my P200 but I have not run into issues like this. I hope jetcat makes things right, good luck.

I thought the P-300 was not intended for the US market. I don't see it listed on any of the official sites. What were the conditions for getting ahold of one of these turbines so long ago?

Try taking your Car out of warranty to get the engine fixed...

I do feel for people, but they are a business-yes its a hobby and people seem to think everything should be like working with mates, but they have to make money to survive.

Fact is that turbines that sit for long periods are more likely to have bearing problems than ones flown every month. My friend has just sent his 100 hour 37 minute P-120 in for a service...

Posting like this is like a child with a broken toy, you guys ask why people leave RCU...here is one reason

Dave

+1

Sorry to jump in here, but this comparison is a bit off. Ever heard of Manufacturer curtesy before? Audi changed my gearing unit after 5 years and 99k miles down free of charge, because it was a "known" defect in the car. They didnt care about warranty or miles.

As far as i know there were quite some P300 engines blowing up, at least here in Germany, one of them being the engine from a friend of mine. Same problem as described from OP. The guy I am referring to was lucky enough to get the engine replaced + a voucher on top because the airframe was damaged as well. I think Jetcat was a bit reluctant to help him first, but a slight warning about getting help from a lawyer somehow made things work.

@OP: Contact me via PN, I will ask my friend if I can get you in touch with him, if you want.

That's my Point they knew they have a problem and they did not do anything most of the P -300 have blew up .
Also for Dave, I did not have one of there engines, I had given them business for eight of them.
thats not how you treat your customers and also I do not want to mention that I have given money to Marcus to send me extension wires in Florida about four years ago and he never did sent them to me. thank you

that blows! (pun intended!)

Jetcat reminds of JetJoe lately, except with JetJoe you'd be out half that much.

I don't agree Dave. 12 flights on a $6500 engine before it blows up is unacceptable regardless of whether it is 2 months out of Jetcat's 3 yr. warranty. Any company that builds a quality product would agree and would repair the engine outside of the warranty period provide the OP is being above board with the circumstances.

I for one, appreciate when someone lets us know that a manufacturer will not stand behind their product, it weighs heavily in my buying decision.

Why should sharing ones experience scare the "experts" away, unless they wish to hide from reality?

Mike

Really, I didn't know folks were still buying JetCat. They've become a rarity these days.

I feel for you Nick. I gave up on Jetcat after being a total loyalist for over 12 years. Gone are the days when we could call Bob or John and they would bend over backwards to help. For me it was the P180rx issues that finally drove me over the edge. Then a fellow club member and I stopped and did the math - 7 of our last 10 Jetcats went back for service under 2 hours run time for warranty issues. What I fail to understand is why Jetcat reliability has fallen over the years, especially once the RX series came out. I admit there will be some bugs once in production but seems like Jetcat's level is too high. I have switched to Kingtech and happy so far, but others not so much and trying the Behotec route.

Spaceman 01,

Warranties are set for a reason and they don't have stipulations saying it starts from time of use, it is from date of sale, period!! Auto manufacturers will at times offer a "good will warranty" when a vehicle is out of warranty. Auto manufacturers also make $3-$10,000 profit per unit sold, sell 100's of thousands of units a years and make billions in profits, not the case with our hobby engine makers. You say "you owned 8 of these P300's and they were known to have defects", if you knew they had defects, why would you sit on an engine for 3+ years and not send it back for upgrades? Shame on you!! You chose to play Russian roulette and lost, now you are unhappy about it and it is all Jet Cats fault?? You also think, because you buy multiple engines, you should get better treatment than a guy like me that only bought 1, now that is arrogant!! I am not a JetCat owner or advocate trying to defend them in anyway, I personally prefer KingTech, but rules are rules and it is what it is, get over it, it's a hobby.


My .02,

Ghostrider 1 Out!!

Sorry to hear this Spaceman.

I was screwed over by them last winter. 4 months to change the dented can and bearings is unacceptable. I immediately sold all my JetCats engines and my life has been so much better!!

JetMunt allllll the way now;)

***? "Warranties are set for a reason". Yes, that would be to protect the consumer against buying junk.

"Auto manufacturers will at times offer a "good will warranty" when a vehicle is out of warranty. Auto manufacturers also make $3-$10,000 profit per unit sold, sell 100's of thousands of units a years and make billions in profits, not the case with our hobby engine makers."

Is that why the government had to bail them out? They offer 'good will" when then know they have a problem with their product.

"you say "you owned 8 of these P300's and they were known to have defects"

He said he owned 8 Jetcats, not 8 P300's!

"You chose to play Russian roulette and lost, now you are unhappy about it and it is all Jet Cats fault??

Why should buying a Jetcat be akin to playing Russian Roulette???

"My .02,"

Thanks but, I feel ripped off lol

You can't seriously think that 12 runs on a P-300 before it blows up is acceptable or good value? $542 a flight, not bad!!! :)

Mike

Does Jetcat USA service P300's?

+1

Heheheheh P300=
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2181642

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2181643


;);););););););););)


Some more P300 failing --> #1198

I feel for you Nick, wish you to solve this. By the way your plane is fantastic, glad nothing happened to it.

Tassos

Hi Nick,
I am currently in Germany visiting JetCat; I am not personally aware of your issue and have no knowledge of what has transpired to this point however, I will certainly discuss your engine failure with George and Marcus tomorrow to understand why the repair was rejected under warranty and if a fair and reasonable resolution can be reached. The P300 has a very reliable record, amazing how a small number of failures extrapolate into the rcuniverse!

Yes Andy, we currently service almost every JetCat engine model available, in-house. I believe this transpired prior to our service center operations being open for the JetCat brand.

I agree and if things are as the OP described Jetcat is doing more harm to their future sales than what they gained by beating the OP out of 6K.