This forum is too slow; post count means nothing. Of course you're never going to be able to make every single customer happy, but it is how you handle those unhappy customers that determines your true character. This hasn't been resolved yet, so it continues to be unsavory. Ron should have posted and cleared things up immediately.
Yes, their experiences are negative. Saying that they shouldn't share them because it would color the views of our forum members is absolutely insane! Of course it's going to color the views of our forum members. That's the whole point of sharing experiences. If someone doesn't or can't wait a possible 6 months for their battery to be fixed, it appears they should avoid doing business with him. That isn't derogatory, that's just the way it is.
It's very upsetting that members here would try to belittle others for posting a negative viewpoint - just because of who the negative viewpoint is aimed at.
It doesn't matter that Ron is a valued member here or that his business is a sponsor of the site. If anything, that should cause him to step up and save face. These people have the right to share their experiences. I know I would be livid if this happened to me. 6 months is a long time.
I'm a neutral party here and I mean absolutely no disrespect to Ron or his business, but there appears to be a problem and like I've said, I look forward to seeing how he is going to handle these problems and prevent them in the future.
Again, the fact that these issues are coming to light is a good thing. If it causes him to run his business better by providing better customer support and/or better subpack tracking, then it is a win/win for everyone. I am betting that these P1449's on the rebuild packs are due to losing track of sticks and re-using ones that shouldn't have been re-used. But I could be wrong, just a guess.
__________________
Insight #1 - Silver '01 5MT @ 158,388 as of 7/11 - Best Tank: 84.5MPG over 807mi
Insight #2 - Silver '01 5MT @ 450,000 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 86.0MPG over 800mi
Insight #3 - Silver '00 5MT, MIMA #163P, BCM Gauge, OBDIIC&C Gauge, BetterBattery @ 228,869 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 78.4mpg over 687mi
I'd love to buy your Insight but unfortunately at the moment I'm self employed and struggling. Part of the struggle is I drive so much and the gas price is killing me. If I added an Insight to the stall, I figure it would pay for itself in 4 years and in 8 years I'd be a head a few thousand $ compared to what I'm driving now which gets 25 to 30mpg.
(even if I have to get the battery repaired in 5 years).
I immediately contacted them privately and explained what had been going on with their batteries.
I don't jump on IC that often because there are SO MANY posts, and I have to look at all of them because next time, I won't be able to search back to find the new posts from this time.
In short, yes we've taken a long time with some batteries (way too long) and we've had some problems with a specific type of error (a P1449) that caused a number of callbacks and we have spent an ENORMOUS amount of time trying to resolve it. We have also extended the warranties on all those affected. I have been averaging 80 hours per week since Christmas and my staff is putting in 12 hour days on Sundays!
BUT, we fix them, and for far less than a dealer.
My biggest problem is the fact that I'm doing the work of three office workers as well as the R&D and operations here. I have 100 or more emails per day, 40 or more phone calls, and until recently, the calls started at 6 am and ended at midnight. Now, I direct all calls to the office where more than one person can answer them. Then we just have to deal with a dozen voicemails every morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
This forum is too slow; post count means nothing. Of course you're never going to be able to make every single customer happy, but it is how you handle those unhappy customers that determines your true character. This hasn't been resolved yet, so it continues to be unsavory. Ron should have posted and cleared things up immediately.
Yes, their experiences are negative. Saying that they shouldn't share them because it would color the views of our forum members is absolutely insane! Of course it's going to color the views of our forum members. That's the whole point of sharing experiences. If someone doesn't or can't wait a possible 6 months for their battery to be fixed, it appears they should avoid doing business with him. That isn't derogatory, that's just the way it is.
It's very upsetting that members here would try to belittle others for posting a negative viewpoint - just because of who the negative viewpoint is aimed at.
It doesn't matter that Ron is a valued member here or that his business is a sponsor of the site. If anything, that should cause him to step up and save face. These people have the right to share their experiences. I know I would be livid if this happened to me. 6 months is a long time.
I'm a neutral party here and I mean absolutely no disrespect to Ron or his business, but there appears to be a problem and like I've said, I look forward to seeing how he is going to handle these problems and prevent them in the future.
Again, the fact that these issues are coming to light is a good thing. If it causes him to run his business better by providing better customer support and/or better subpack tracking, then it is a win/win for everyone. I am betting that these P1449's on the rebuild packs are due to losing track of sticks and re-using ones that shouldn't have been re-used. But I could be wrong, just a guess.
No, it was a problem with the differing self-discharge rates giving different numbers on each stick day one vs day 3. This resulted in us having to retest every stick and every pack. We're even not done yet.
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2000 MT #4227 175K miles - Citrus Yellow, BetterBattery
I'm sorry but there has been absolutely no immediate reply to anything and no explanation of what is going on with our batteries. The few times we were lucky enough to get a response from you the story was always different.
It is understandable that you can get swamped but if you get so overwhelmed that you can not return calls and think that a 6 month waiting period is acceptable maybe it is time to take a look at your business. If you can not handle the work load you obviously need to do something different. Until you figure that out the least you could do is keep in touch with the customers who's batteries you have had for months! Tell us the truth and give us our money back so we have the option of taking our business elsewhere.
Hopefully you will get things straight at your shop and others will not have to go through this. Until then you really need to start shooting straight with your customers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair
I immediately contacted them privately and explained what had been going on with their batteries.
I don't jump on IC that often because there are SO MANY posts, and I have to look at all of them because next time, I won't be able to search back to find the new posts from this time.
In short, yes we've taken a long time with some batteries (way too long) and we've had some problems with a specific type of error (a P1449) that caused a number of callbacks and we have spent an ENORMOUS amount of time trying to resolve it. We have also extended the warranties on all those affected. I have been averaging 80 hours per week since Christmas and my staff is putting in 12 hour days on Sundays!
BUT, we fix them, and for far less than a dealer.
My biggest problem is the fact that I'm doing the work of three office workers as well as the R&D and operations here. I have 100 or more emails per day, 40 or more phone calls, and until recently, the calls started at 6 am and ended at midnight. Now, I direct all calls to the office where more than one person can answer them. Then we just have to deal with a dozen voicemails every morning.
No, it was a problem with the differing self-discharge rates giving different numbers on each stick day one vs day 3. This resulted in us having to retest every stick and every pack. We're even not done yet.
I just wanted to share my service experience with Hybrid-Battery-Repair on this thread, because they really went above and beyond the call of duty for me. They saved me a lot of money on refurbishing the battery (while I was unemployed, so that was a tremendous help) and are servicing my battery again, even though I wasn't able to adhere to the terms of the warranty. (The car had another issue that prevented me from driving it for several months.)
I'll start by explaining that I'm not your typical Insight Central user. I'm not the type of girl who was comfortable "modding" my car, and the car threw the 1449 error as I was driving to see my mother for the last time before she passed away (I didn't make it). Needless to say, I had a lot of neurotic "emotional baggage" when it came to the car. Ron was VERY patient with me, explaining lots of the steps, helping me with pictures, and explaining when the process was dangerous and when it wasn't, so I didn't have to be nervous about this unnecessarily.
Shipping times can be a little long, as is to be expected when you have a limited number of shipping crates and increasing demand for the service, but when I faced that, he explained to me how to connect a portion of the battery to the Insight so I was not without a car while he was repairing the battery. He talked me through the tests that I needed to do to diagnose the other error I had that kept me from driving the vehicle after he repaired it. When I read how much time Ron spent responding to emails, I can't help but wonder how much of those emails and time were spent on me. He wants you to be safe removing your battery, to do what you need to do the right way, and to be happy with his service.
I've been very pleased with their service, and I will use their service again if I need it before I'm ready to trade the car in. (I still have emotional baggage with the car, but at least it runs now.)
Dear Valued customers,
It is with deep regret that we inform you that as of may 4th, 2012 Andrea and I will no longer be employed at Hybrid battery.com. Please direct any further communications to the owner and CEO/President Ron Hansen at repair@hybrid-battery.com.
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