Customer service?

[-G's]

Please note that this account is only my experience and, other than this particular instance, am very happy with the quality and functionality of my Revolectrix products.
I also apologize for any poor punctuation or grammar.

Around the the beginning of August this year I sent a PL8 in for repair to FMA. I'll spare the tedious details, but short story I inquired about the status of the repair and received the following reply on 8/12:
"Turnaround is two to three weeks from receipt. I’ll send the Paypal request and the tech notes when I receive the charger back from the tech dept."

Great news, no problem so, busy with work and family, patiently I wait......
Yesterday I think; hey it's been a while, I'd better check and see what's up. Here's the reply I received:
"We sent you emails on Aug. 13, Aug. 21, Sept. 3, and Sept. 13 along with a Paypal payment request. When there was no response to anything the charger was sent back over to tech to prepare for sale as a refurb.

I can get another refurb for you to replace your charger but we need to have the Paypal request paid first. I will send another request today.

Please confirm the email address for the Paypal request."

Reading it today again this is strange but not unreasonable, but what I really wanted to know now was how the F I missed 4 emails and 2 PP requests?!? I mean, I got an immediate reply to the same email I'd communicated with before and I had provided my PP info that is yet another email address.

IMO the customer service started thin and then disappeared completely. I understand that companies are busy and that I am not the only customer, but what I would have liked to hear was something other than the equivalent of "oh well, we tried".

There were several emails exchanged yesterday and each frustrated me more than the last so I'll end my rant with the last email I received yesterday and I hope this is an experience unique to me, because it's IRRITATING.

" As there have been no funds paid, no refund can be processed. We will return to you a charger with the same problem as the charger we received.

We have an excellent reputation for our customer service. I have been prompt and courteous with every response. I have provided copies of the emails sent. There was no error made. We waited thirty days past the date the repair was done.

A charger will be returned to you within two business days."

[megawhacker]

Identifying marks include a divit at the top, left corner of the screen; 4 mm bullet connectors rather than the promised EC5 or clamps, bare copper wire just below the black bullet connector, no rubber pads on the bottom (don't know if new comes with these), and rounded out Phillips screw heads holding it all together.

Photo attached.

At least your PL8 stayed in Oregon.


I paid $169.99 plus shipping. I had expected it would come with either EC5 or clamps as described on the Revolectrix web site. There was no mention of 4 mm bullets. I had also expected that "reconditioned" meant that all wear items would be inspected and returned to zero wear time. For example, bare charger lead wire, rounded out screws, possibly the female jacks. Who am I kidding? I actually expected to get an indistinguishable from new unit with a couple scratches and that had been returned and repaired. How many years did you have this unit?

I am curious if your repair charge was less than $169.99.

Perhaps i do not have your unit. It would be a small world if I did.

Jon

[-G's]

Small world, that looks like it!
I bought it second hand from the classifieds here on HF, been using it for about a year until I found 2 PL8 V2s (also previously owned). When I got the v2s I realized that the PL8 in question was not balancing correctly. I had no experience with lipos or chargers when I got it so I pointed the finger at the batteries being the culprit.
Anyway, sent it in and was told repair would be either $75 or $125, but I don't know what the final repair cost was because I never recieved the PP request. I think I paid $180 for it and, in hindsight, I'm positive it wasn't working correctly but that horse is dead now.
Of course I'm still waiting for a reply from FMA; I told them to send me a PP request rather than get a broken charger back, but I will get to the bottom of the "lost" communications.

[RedOctobyr]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I've always heard good things about FMA's customer support. And if that's how some refurb chargers are sold, that would turn me off from them somewhat.

As you said, megawhacker, I guess I'd hope that refurb units would be in better condition. They were selling "like new" refurbs a month ago, the PL8 was $190, so it looks like you got a better deal at $170.

Hopefully these are the exception rather than the rule.

BTW, is that a V1? I notice it doesn't say 1344W, nor does it show V2 on the front. I don't know what differences there actually were between V1 and V2, mind you.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by RedOctobyr

BTW, is that a V1? I notice it doesn't say 1344W, nor does it show V2 on the front. I don't know what differences there actually were between V1 and V2, mind you.

V2 on the left and V1 on the right. After the V2 software update, the V1 went from 30 amps to 40 amps. Nice to get a free power upgrade like that.

[Jamie Marks]

Originally Posted by -G's

Please note that this account is only my experience and, other than this particular instance, am very happy with the quality and functionality of my Revolectrix products.
I also apologize for any poor punctuation or grammar.

Around the the beginning of August this year I sent a PL8 in for repair to FMA. I'll spare the tedious details, but short story I inquired about the status of the repair and received the following reply on 8/12:
"Turnaround is two to three weeks from receipt. I’ll send the Paypal request and the tech notes when I receive the charger back from the tech dept."

Great news, no problem so, busy with work and family, patiently I wait......
Yesterday I think; hey it's been a while, I'd better check and see what's up. Here's the reply I received:
"We sent you emails on Aug. 13, Aug. 21, Sept. 3, and Sept. 13 along with a Paypal payment request. When there was no response to anything the charger was sent back over to tech to prepare for sale as a refurb.

I can get another refurb for you to replace your charger but we need to have the Paypal request paid first. I will send another request today.

Please confirm the email address for the Paypal request."

Reading it today again this is strange but not unreasonable, but what I really wanted to know now was how the F I missed 4 emails and 2 PP requests?!? I mean, I got an immediate reply to the same email I'd communicated with before and I had provided my PP info that is yet another email address.

IMO the customer service started thin and then disappeared completely. I understand that companies are busy and that I am not the only customer, but what I would have liked to hear was something other than the equivalent of "oh well, we tried".

There were several emails exchanged yesterday and each frustrated me more than the last so I'll end my rant with the last email I received yesterday and I hope this is an experience unique to me, because it's IRRITATING.

" As there have been no funds paid, no refund can be processed. We will return to you a charger with the same problem as the charger we received.

We have an excellent reputation for our customer service. I have been prompt and courteous with every response. I have provided copies of the emails sent. There was no error made. We waited thirty days past the date the repair was done.

A charger will be returned to you within two business days."

I would like to add a few details from your post so that everyone has all the facts. I have reviewed all the e-mail correspondence between you and Cindy. Your charger was logged in by FMA on August 5, 2013. After receiving the quote for standard repair fees for the PL8, you authorized FMA to repair the charger and asked that we send a payment request when the repair was complete. The charger was repaired and was ready to ship back to you on August 13. Cindy sent you an e-mail on that date along with a payment request through PayPal. Obviously I can’t say why you did not receive that correspondence or any of the other attempts to contact you via e-mail. When you contacted us on Friday Cindy sent you copies of some of the emails sent. It is important to note that we do have a policy that if a customer returns a product for repair, authorizes the repair fee and then doesn’t follow through with making the payment, we wait 30 days and the product is then offered for sale as a refurb. We have this policy in place for a two reasons, 1) it is not uncommon for a customer to return a product, authorize the repair fee and then not follow through with the payment. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. In most cases the customer informs us that they have changed their mind and no longer wants the product or doesn't want to pay the fee. In some cases we simply don’t hear back from the customer. We thought that was the situation in this case; 2) we have expended time and resources in repairing the product in good faith with the expectation that the customer will pay the fee and everyone is happy. Ultimately, even if we sell the product as a refurb, we still have an effective means of satisfying the customer by providing a like or upgraded product for the basic repair fee. We made this offer to you and you refused it stating you wanted a refund because of your perception that we didn’t offer satisfactory support. Because the product was purchased second hand and not directly through REVO or one of our dealers, we can’t refund money. This is the first instance we have ever had of a customer refusing to accept a replacement product even if we no longer had the original product. Although I know it is unorthodox and certainly not our preference, we saw the only option as returning a PL8 to you in the same inoperable condition as the unit we received. I am aware that you have now authorized, once again, the repair fee and Cindy is arranging to send you another e-mail payment request today. The good news is the replacement unit you will receive will be a V2 version from a more current production run than the V1 unit you returned originally.


Thanks,
Jamie Marks
GM, FMA Direct
REVO USA

[Jamie Marks]

Originally Posted by megawhacker

Identifying marks include a divit at the top, left corner of the screen; 4 mm bullet connectors rather than the promised EC5 or clamps, bare copper wire just below the black bullet connector, no rubber pads on the bottom (don't know if new comes with these), and rounded out Phillips screw heads holding it all together.

Photo attached.

At least your PL8 stayed in Oregon.


I paid $169.99 plus shipping. I had expected it would come with either EC5 or clamps as described on the Revolectrix web site. There was no mention of 4 mm bullets. I had also expected that "reconditioned" meant that all wear items would be inspected and returned to zero wear time. For example, bare charger lead wire, rounded out screws, possibly the female jacks. Who am I kidding? I actually expected to get an indistinguishable from new unit with a couple scratches and that had been returned and repaired. How many years did you have this unit?

I am curious if your repair charge was less than $169.99.

Perhaps i do not have your unit. It would be a small world if I did.

Jon

We offer two different types of refurbished products, 1) Like New and 2) Scratch and Dent. The like new products are typically newer products that have an excellent appearance and very little or no cosmetic blemishes (we do have a statement in the product description that says the product may have minor cosmetic blemishes). The like new units carry a full one year warranty. Scratch and dent units are typically older units that do show some wear and the product description on the site details this fact. Scratch and dent units carry a 6 month warranty and the PL8 retails for $169.95 as opposed to $189.95 for a like new unit. Both like new and scratch and dent units have passed all testing requirements and operate to specification. The unit you purchased was a scratch and dent and listed as such on the website.

Because it is germane to the earlier post from G, let me distinguish the difference between a repaired product and a refurbished product. In most cases, refurbs are the result of products that have been returned within the warranty period. In many cases, we do not repair a warranty product when it is returned, but rather replace the unit with a new unit at no cost to the customer. In this instance, both FMA and our manufacturing partner are out the cost of the new replacement unit. To help offset that “loss” we periodically repair units and add them to our website as refurbished products. Personally, I think the refurb products, especially like new are a great value. The buying public must also think so because we never keep refurbs in stock for long.

A repaired product results when we receive a product back that was purchased outside of the warranty period. All products carry a standard repair fee which the customer agrees to pay before we work on the product.


Jamie

[-G's]

Not a question anymore; thank you FMA for the beautiful refurb unit and thank you Jamie for taking the time to respond.
Now, would you trade me straight across a dual PL8 for my 2 V2s?.

Totally kidding, thanks again!

[ChadCarlin]

Glad to see you got taken care of! I recently had a great customer service experience from them as well. Received my invoice last night from Jamie stating my pack is to ship out. Great service!