Electric Conversions

Review: 11/09/2013 [redacted] with Electric Conversions received my Battery Charger for reprogramming per our phone conversation days before. I had bought a 144 volt charger from them in March 2011, but they had shipped me a 120 volt charger by mistake. The charger only had a 1 year warranty, so they said I would have to pay to have it reprogrammed to 144 volt even though it was their error.11/22/2013 [redacted] sent email saying, "Your charger works fine. It is programmed for 120V nominal, so if you connect it to 144V nominal, it will give the wrong battery error. If you want it reprogrammed for 144V nominal, the cost will be $45 plus shipping back to you. Otherwise the troubleshooting cost is $25 plus shipping back to you.So, I agree to have it reprogrammed for $45.12/18/2013 [redacted] sent email saying, "Your charger has been reprogrammed for 144V but it puts out too much current. We will try to troubleshoot it and let you know."1/20/2014 [redacted] sent a long email saying it does not work because it has a burned up AC Relay area and wanted me to buy a new one for $565. He said it happened because I use too small of an extension cord on it.1/21/2014 [redacted] sent another explanation email after I told him it was never use. He now is saying it happened because of corrosion.1/30/2014 I received back my charger that does not work anymore. This is because they burned it up while testing it after they reprogrammed it. He also stated that they are not liable for the damages. Since then I had to go out and buy (12) 12 volt chargers for $360 to replace the 144 volt charger they were going to reprogram for me.Desired Settlement: I believe they should pay for my replacement chargers. I could have easily sold the 120 volt charger before they burned it up on Ebay or Craigslist for more than $360.I have all emails and receipts of new chargers upon request.Thanks, [redacted]

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] purchased the battery charger through Amp Mobile Conversions LLC of Duncan, SC, who purchased it from Electric Vehicles of America of Wolfeboro, NH, our dealer, on March 3, 2011.

Elcon provides a one year warranty from the date of purchase, which expired on March 3, 2012.

We received the charger back on November 8, 2013 with a note saying the charger was flashing an error code when connected to a 144V battery and that it had never been used.

We noticed that the Model Number label had been peeled back, presumably to change the setting on the charger, but it also seals the charger against the elements. According to Mr. [redacted], it had sat in a garage for almost three years, and moisture and condensation had entered the charger through the open holes under the Model Number label.

The error code the charger was flashing was for wrong battery voltage, so we reprogrammed it for 144V and tested it at our repair station and it seemed to be OK. But when we tested it on our load bench, we found that the auxiliary power supply 15V had stopped working due to corrosion caused by the moisture and condensation. The charger was not repairable.

Since the charger was out of warranty, we offered Mr. [redacted] $100 off on a new replacement charger.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

The statement he gave was incorrect. The label was an not peeled back and there was no moisture in the charger. The charger was stored in my attached dry garage with all my other electronics (12 volt chargers, power tools, laptop, house wiring, etc.)

The charger worked at 120 volts (he even says that in an email after he tested it, before he reprogrammed it). He said he could reprogram it to 144 volts for $20 and never said that there was risk of damaging it. He damaged it while testing it somehow after he reprogrammed it. Now his only solution is for me to buy a brand new one with a small discount.

This is unacceptable

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

The label was peeled back when we received the charger. Moisture or condensation had entered the charger after being stored in a garage for three years without being used (which could have allowed the condensation to dry off). There was contamination or corrosion on the logic board. You have to use a magnifying glass to see it. The 15V supply had stopped working. This is the voltage that controls the AC input relay for full power operation. A little bit of voltage goes around the relay to turn on the auxilliary power supply which in turn turns on the relay for full power. When we tested the charger on our repair bench, we do not have the batteries for full power testing so the charger appeared to work. But when we tested it at full power on the load bench, we found out that the 15V supply was not working and the AC relay was not turning on and as a result the bypass resistors burned. Even if Mr. [redacted] had tested it on a 120VDC battery, he would have found exactly the same result.

No amount of denying is going to change the facts. We offered Mr. [redacted] $100 off on a new charger because he never got any use out of the first one.

Review: This company (ELCON) is the sole US service center for a Zivan NG1 charger that is on-board of a GEM golf cart. This charger had been shipped to ELCON previously (three years ago) for service and it had a turn around of a couple days. Since it had stopped working in November 2013, the service center was called (November 11, 2013) for suggestions and someone named "[redacted]" had advised to ship the charger to their CA shop for associated service.The charger was shipped on November 15, 2013 and USPS advises delivery of same on November 18, 2013. A few days later, ELCON was called for followup but nothing was satrted yet. After that, every couple of weeks later, ELCON was called for an update but, each time, the company had a different excuse why they haven't started repair. Around Xmas, when contacting the company again, they were asking for additional details on the charger and the batteries in the golf cart - while all pertinent information had been taped to the shipped charger (indicating that the company never opened up the received package.On January 14, 2014, the company was contacted (again "[redacted]") and it was stated that sitting on the equipment without service for a couple of months was and that the charger should be shipped back to sender (to seek alternate service elsewhere). To date nothing was received and I hereby seek assistance from the Revdex.com to contact ELCON (in Sacramento) and request that the charge be shipped back immediately... ThanksDesired Settlement: Replace or return the NG1 charger to sender...

Business

Response:

In re to the above case, we have reviewed the complaint and the following is our response.

We did receive call from customer regarding charger not being operational. We advised customer to send his charger into us. However, Mr. [redacted] mistakenly sent the charger to our former address. After some contact from the customer we were unable to locate the item. We then contacted USPS to determine where they sent the package. Once location of delivery was determined, we dispatched someone to retrieve the package. This was done, but package was badly damaged. We then began an attempt to repair the charger. This was further complicated by the fact that the unit had a missing serial number on the main PC board, and identifying mark which was a factory ommission.

Due to these two specific issues that were beyond our control, we feel this case should be removed as we have now repaired the charger and have shipped said back to the customer.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: The company is "misleading" the Revdex.com with their response... Attached is the actual USPS label indicating that the charger was shipped to the same address used later by the Revdex.com for this complaint... Also, on January 14, ELCON was requested that the charger be returned immediately - this complaint had asked the Revdex.com to help expedite this request... As of today, February 10, there is no sign of the starter being returned by ELCON (repaired or unrepaired)...

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

The charger was shipped on 2/7/14, received and signed for on 2/21/14. Charger is back in customer's hands at this point, repaired at no charge. Please dismiss complaint.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have the following comments:

This will confirm receipt of the returned charger but the company has not repaired it properly as was claimed - the equipment does not shut off automatically and the batteries need to be monitored periodically to prvent over-charging (and thus ruining the batteries).

Since the return of the charger has taken well over three (3) months, the company's service should be flagged as unsatisfactory. The original complaint had requested that the charger be immediately returned and the Revdex.com has been helpful in this regard (although it took several weeks after the Revdex.com contact for the company to respond and return the equipment) and, accordingly, this case can be "CLOSED" with above noted defficiencies...

Sincerely,