Eagle
June 18th, 2004, 15:39
Background: More than a year ago I bought a jump starter pack from Wal-Mart. Worked fine for a year and a half. Recently, in getting the '84 Waggy running for Grizzley's daughter (yeah, right -- like Griz is going to let HER drive it!), it died. Totally dead -- would not take a charge, multi-meter across the terminals of the unit and the battery itself showed no continuity. No resistance, no voltage ... nada.
The battery had a fax number on it so I faxed to ask about diagnosis, and the availability of replacement betteries. No response. Finally found a web site for the company, with a different fax number, so I wrote again. This time I got a message back saying to call an 800 number.
This afternoon I called. The young woman with whom I spoke was friendly enough, but it was obvious that they had not provided her scripts for dealing with anyone who wants to actually repair something.
First, I should not open the unit, I should send it in for service. Oops ... too late, I already have the battery out and sitting here on my desk. Then we established that the unit is out of warranty anyway. So they do sell replacement batteries. Cost is $20, plus $15 shipping. The unit cost $39.95 new. So for four more dollars I can go into my loacl Wally World and just buy an entire unit.
Then I made the mistake of asking if she had any idea of why it might fail so totally. #1 -- temperature extremes. Nope ... I always stored it indoors, in the basement. Temperature range all year is from about 55 to 65.
#2 -- over charged. Nope, always charged it according to the instructions, and it was working fine until it cut out just as I was using it.
#3 -- undercharged. Hmm ... see response to #2.
#4 -- "What model do you have?" HP250. "That model isn't recommended for large vehicles." So, is a Jeep a large vehicle? "Yes." Then why does the box show a picture of a Jeep if the unit inside the box isn't suitable for starting a Jeep? "That's just our standard advertising picture. You need the model HP450." Wal-Mart doesn't carry the HP450, this is the only one they sell. "Yes, they do."
At that point I gave up. I've looked at these things over the course of about three years, both before and after buying mine, and the ONLY one I have seen at any Wal-Mart in Connecticut is the one I have, which sells for $39.95. Maybe they sell a larger model in other parts of the world, but not around here. It's obvious that the thing suffered an internal failure and the customer "service" department has not a single clue how to deal with that.
The moral is, if you're thinking about buying one of these things ... go to an auto parts store and buy a good one.
The battery had a fax number on it so I faxed to ask about diagnosis, and the availability of replacement betteries. No response. Finally found a web site for the company, with a different fax number, so I wrote again. This time I got a message back saying to call an 800 number.
This afternoon I called. The young woman with whom I spoke was friendly enough, but it was obvious that they had not provided her scripts for dealing with anyone who wants to actually repair something.
First, I should not open the unit, I should send it in for service. Oops ... too late, I already have the battery out and sitting here on my desk. Then we established that the unit is out of warranty anyway. So they do sell replacement batteries. Cost is $20, plus $15 shipping. The unit cost $39.95 new. So for four more dollars I can go into my loacl Wally World and just buy an entire unit.
Then I made the mistake of asking if she had any idea of why it might fail so totally. #1 -- temperature extremes. Nope ... I always stored it indoors, in the basement. Temperature range all year is from about 55 to 65.
#2 -- over charged. Nope, always charged it according to the instructions, and it was working fine until it cut out just as I was using it.
#3 -- undercharged. Hmm ... see response to #2.
#4 -- "What model do you have?" HP250. "That model isn't recommended for large vehicles." So, is a Jeep a large vehicle? "Yes." Then why does the box show a picture of a Jeep if the unit inside the box isn't suitable for starting a Jeep? "That's just our standard advertising picture. You need the model HP450." Wal-Mart doesn't carry the HP450, this is the only one they sell. "Yes, they do."
At that point I gave up. I've looked at these things over the course of about three years, both before and after buying mine, and the ONLY one I have seen at any Wal-Mart in Connecticut is the one I have, which sells for $39.95. Maybe they sell a larger model in other parts of the world, but not around here. It's obvious that the thing suffered an internal failure and the customer "service" department has not a single clue how to deal with that.
The moral is, if you're thinking about buying one of these things ... go to an auto parts store and buy a good one.