They owe me $4,500 for my initial $5,000 deposit for my factory-built RV-12iS, which I cancelled on the day of the original 10/27/23 announcement. The told me up front that they were not going to honor their contract with me and would not give me our agreed-upon refund per our contract.
I filed small claims against them in Marion County Circuit Court of Oregon and won my case last week (11/27/23), before yesterday's Chapter 11 petition. $4.5K + $302 expenses = $4,802 judgement.
There are a lot of loyal customers posting online who remain effusive about the company.
There are also a lot of people posting online who got screwed out of a lot more than I did and are not so effusive about the "Van's Community" at the moment.
In a nutshell (much more information is available) Van's will be jacking prices and re-negotiating with those customers with whom they already have contracts. Many/most of the customers have already send in the money and the way I read it, it will be a take-it or leave-it proposition. The question many have is: will those customers who chose to leave it get refunds? That question is still not answered as far as I can tell.
There is also the issue of the defective "laser cut parts" fiasco. And, the Philippines-subcontracted Quick Build Kit corrosive primer fiasco. Google it.
Whether or not I ever see my refund I have no idea. I do think that by filing small claims and getting a judgement/lien before the Chapter 11 petition was filed may give me a better chance. At least now I don't need to bother with the hassle of trying to garnish Van's bank account. That's now a moot point. They are protected from that.
Not losing sleep over it.
My loss is peanuts compared to some who have been waiting on kits, propellers, engines (Lycoming, etc.) for months/years
I don't know if your judgment still leaves you in the "unsecured creditor" class. If so, it's probably not worth the paper it's written on, unfortunately. You would be just one more unsecured creditor standing in line with his hand out. In most chapter 11 filings, unsecured creditors don't get much of what they are owed. On the other hand, if the judgment bumps you up to a higher class, you might get something, which is better than nothing.
The bankruptcy judge will appoint a debtor-in-possession to run the business during the bankruptcy. That might be current management or it might be someone else. Depending on the size of the bankruptcy, the judge may also appoint a creditor's committee, usually made up of a half a dozen or so large creditors.
One or more going-forward plans will be created and given to the judge. If none of them are deemed feasible, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy is converted into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the business is closed and any remaining assets are paid to the creditors in order of class. Unfortunately, unsecured creditors are the lowest class of all. (Anyone can submit a plan for reorganization. If you know a bunch of pilots who are owed money, you could collectively come up with your own plan and submit it to the judge.)
Some bankruptcies end more happily, with business going forward, probably with new capital of some sort, and possibly with new management. If that occurs in this case, the new management might not be willing to make whole those customers whose claims were lost in the bankruptcy. However, new management may want to honor those in some way in order to create good will among the aviation community.
Lots and lots of "ifs" in there and it's surely going to take some time to figure out how the chips are going to fall. Not losing sleep over it is, by far, the best way to look at it right now.
www.vansaircraft.com
