Powercast Corporation

Dear [redacted] Please see Powercast’s response to complaint [redacted] dated 1/13/2015: Our PCCand PCCchips are available to "Qualified high-volume customers" who have completed "a questionnaire and a reference design confidentiality agreement"This is clearly stated in our PCC110/PCCproduct brochureLow-volume customers or customers that do not wish to complete the questionnaire and reference design confidentiality agreement may purchase our Por PmodulesThey are made for easy integration into a product without requiring extensive experience in RF design and without the need for the questionnaire and confidentiality agreementOur chips and technology are covered by numerous patentsA customer qualification process and confidentiality agreement are necessary to protect our intellectual property and are typical in our industry for this type of "IP rich" productOur distributor chooses whether to sell reels or individual piecesHowever, our high-volume customers continue to develop new generations of productsA distributor selling individual pieces allows our high-volume customers to prototype without the need to pull from their inventory or purchase a whole reel of components.Per our distributor's return policy, products in an "unused condition" may be returned for a refund within daysIn regard to this complaint, should the customer be outside the day window for a return, please contact Powercast, and we would be happy to refund your $purchase price directly.Again, we recommend that this customer purchases our Por Pmodules to evaluate and develop with our technology.I’ve also included the completed Revdex.com Business ProfilePlease contact me directly if you may have any questions regarding our company or our response to complaint [redacted] .Thank you, [redacted] Accounting Manager ###-###-#### [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Their response does not actually address the problem that I haveThe problem that I have is that this company seems to have an unethical business practice of selling products to people that cannot use themThey should discuss high volume only items with their re-sellers and require the re-seller to sell the item by the reel (high volume)These re-sellers often sell other microelectronics by the reel so its not an uncommon requestThe only reason I can think of that Powercast would choose not to do so is just to make a couple extra bucks here an there by selling to someone unsuspectingI know that sounds crazy but I can think of no other reason why they would be so determined not to ask the re-seller to do so as I requested.I'm not trying to get their "designs" as they put it and I'm not asking them for a refundI'm trying to prevent someone else from having to go though a unnecessary return process because they too were unaware of Powercasts policy / unusual business practice
Regards,*** ***

Dear [redacted]
Please see Powercast’s response to complaint [redacted] dated 1/13/2015:
Our PCC110 and PCC210 chips are available to "Qualified high-volume customers" who have completed "a questionnaire and a reference design confidentiality agreement". This is clearly stated in our...

PCC110/PCC210 product brochure. Low-volume customers or customers that do not wish to complete the questionnaire and reference design confidentiality agreement may purchase our P1110 or P2110 modules. They are made for easy integration into a product without requiring extensive experience in RF design and without the need for the questionnaire and confidentiality agreement. Our chips and technology are covered by numerous patents. A customer qualification process and confidentiality agreement are necessary to protect our intellectual property and are typical in our industry for this type of "IP rich" product. Our distributor chooses whether to sell reels or individual pieces. However, our high-volume customers continue to develop new generations of products. A distributor selling individual pieces allows our high-volume customers to prototype without the need to pull from their inventory or purchase a whole reel of components.Per our distributor's return policy, products in an "unused condition" may be returned for a refund within 30 days. In regard to this complaint, should the customer be outside the 30 day window for a return, please contact Powercast, and we would be happy to refund your $6.00 purchase price directly.Again, we recommend that this customer purchases our P1110 or P2110 modules to evaluate and develop with our technology.I’ve also included the completed Revdex.com Business Profile. Please contact me directly if you may have any questions regarding our company or our response to complaint [redacted].Thank you,[redacted]
Accounting Manager
###-###-####[redacted]

Review: Recently I purchase a product from a reseller of this company. The product is an RF power harvesting chipset, model PCC110/PCC210. When you purchase an integrated circuit from a company you can download a datasheet from their website that contains info on how to use the product. In this case, I went to the companies website and downloaded the datasheet only to find out that it did not contain the information needed to use the product. I contacted them through their website for assistance only to find out that they only provide the information required to use the product to "Qualified high-volume customers". At that point I asked why they let their reseller sell the chipset individually. They said that they wanted the high volume customers to be able to purchase them. They also told me that they had a development board that would work for me. Well why would a high-volume customer need to buy just 1 or even 10 of these chips? Also, wouldn't they buy the development board instead of just 1 or 10 chips? It seems to me that they should notify their vendor not to sell the chips individually and I asked them to do just that and they said they can. The entire practice is unusual in the electronics industry and seems intentionally deceptive.Desired Settlement: I would like them to require their resellers to only sell this chipset in bulk or "buy the real" as it is known.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]Please see Powercast’s response to complaint [redacted] dated 1/13/2015:Our PCC110 and PCC210 chips are available to "Qualified high-volume customers" who have completed "a questionnaire and a reference design confidentiality agreement". This is clearly stated in our PCC110/PCC210 product brochure. Low-volume customers or customers that do not wish to complete the questionnaire and reference design confidentiality agreement may purchase our P1110 or P2110 modules. They are made for easy integration into a product without requiring extensive experience in RF design and without the need for the questionnaire and confidentiality agreement. Our chips and technology are covered by numerous patents. A customer qualification process and confidentiality agreement are necessary to protect our intellectual property and are typical in our industry for this type of "IP rich" product. Our distributor chooses whether to sell reels or individual pieces. However, our high-volume customers continue to develop new generations of products. A distributor selling individual pieces allows our high-volume customers to prototype without the need to pull from their inventory or purchase a whole reel of components.Per our distributor's return policy, products in an "unused condition" may be returned for a refund within 30 days. In regard to this complaint, should the customer be outside the 30 day window for a return, please contact Powercast, and we would be happy to refund your $6.00 purchase price directly.Again, we recommend that this customer purchases our P1110 or P2110 modules to evaluate and develop with our technology.I’ve also included the completed Revdex.com Business Profile. Please contact me directly if you may have any questions regarding our company or our response to complaint [redacted].Thank you,[redacted]Accounting Manager ###-###-####[redacted]