Has anyone ordered a Better Battery

rabbett · 12-03-2011, 05:27 PM

Has anyone ordered a Better Battery from Hybrid Battery Repair and actually received it? I am now nearing 90 days from my initial deposit (Sept 16) and my final payment was Nov. 11th. I think I have 90 days to go to my credit card provider and report that I have been charged for a product not received. Just getting nervous I guess. Is this typical?

Eli · 12-03-2011, 05:45 PM

Unfortunately it seem to be typical. My recommendation is to hold off on doing a chargeback just yet. You will receive it.. When? Who knows.

Call them every hour on the hour until you get some answers.

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You may also want to respond to my email, Ron. I have two people who may be interested in BetterBatteries, but they're going to go with the stealership option unless you can tell me, realistically, what the wait time will be.

This is hurting your business. Fix it.

**jeff652** · 12-05-2011, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbett

Has anyone ordered a Better Battery from Hybrid Battery Repair and actually received it? I am now nearing 90 days from my initial deposit (Sept 16) and my final payment was Nov. 11th. I think I have 90 days to go to my credit card provider and report that I have been charged for a product not received. Just getting nervous I guess. Is this typical?

The unicorn does exist!:

See my signature for how long it took to get mine. It's a nice product once it finally arrives . . .

I'd reach out to Ron directly through this forum. It seems to be the only way to get anything to happen. Here's the thread:

Another Bad Experience with Hybrid-battery-repair

HTH!

racer26 · 12-05-2011, 11:21 AM

I'm just glad my pack is still going strong, which means Ron and co. have a significant amount of time to fix their customer service woes before I have to deal with them. From running my own small, niche-market business, I know that people generally don't mind waiting, particularly if you give them a realistic time-estimate, and keep them updated, and don't expect the money before their product is at least on the way, if not in their hands.

**interestedguy** · 12-05-2011, 09:41 PM

I have one in my car, it took 10 weeks to get it. I would call about it but honestly I wouldn't worry about the charge back. Also at least for me they had me pay through paypal and I don't know what their protection is, might be worth looking up.

On the up side it is a great bit of gear when you get it, it is really strong, and the best part is you can dump power back in at a better rate. (I am comparing the better battery to a good battery that I had from my other insight) I have only had one recal a month since putting it in. On the whole I am not at all sorry I bought it or about the wait, I just wish the communication had been better.

rabbett · 12-07-2011, 11:49 PM

Thanks for the encouragement - is the 8/19 date the initial payment or the final?
Did they give you any notice that the battery had shipped or did it just show up?
Brian told me Monday (12/5) that mine was the next to go out. I guess from the feedback I'm getting here I'll just wait and see what happens. Everybody seems happy with the product.

**Hybrid-Battery-Repair** · 12-08-2011, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbett

Thanks for the encouragement - is the 8/19 date the initial payment or the final?
Did they give you any notice that the battery had shipped or did it just show up?
Brian told me Monday (12/5) that mine was the next to go out. I guess from the feedback I'm getting here I'll just wait and see what happens. Everybody seems happy with the product.

This shipment is a week overdue (it boarded the plane a week late) and should clear customs tomorrow. This means that yours should ship out to you Monday or Tuesday. It was supposed to ship to you last Monday.

We ship them out as fast as they arrive. There's no deception or incompetence involved, just multiple schedules that all affect each other:

The cell manufacturer's build and burn-in schedule and test (QA) schedule, the assembly schedule (making sticks out of the cells and attaching the ends), outbound documentation and customs, the shipping schedule, inbound customs, and final assembly by us (PTC strips and pack assembly and testing).

If the manufacturer finds a problem with the cells, they have to build a new batch which adds a week. If customs sits on the documentation for a week, the goods sit there at the warehouse. If there is an error in the documentation (like a misspelling or miscount), customs rejects it and spends a week investigating before they will allow the paperwork to be resubmitted, etc, etc, etc.

We are currently running about six weeks from order to delivery.

Richard, every customer who ordered a battery before you has received it and yours will be on its' way to you in a few days.

rabbett · 12-09-2011, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair

This shipment is a week overdue (it boarded the plane a week late) and should clear customs tomorrow. This means that yours should ship out to you Monday or Tuesday. It was supposed to ship to you last Monday.

We ship them out as fast as they arrive. There's no deception or incompetence involved, just multiple schedules that all affect each other:

The cell manufacturer's build and burn-in schedule and test (QA) schedule, the assembly schedule (making sticks out of the cells and attaching the ends), outbound documentation and customs, the shipping schedule, inbound customs, and final assembly by us (PTC strips and pack assembly and testing).

If the manufacturer finds a problem with the cells, they have to build a new batch which adds a week. If customs sits on the documentation for a week, the goods sit there at the warehouse. If there is an error in the documentation (like a misspelling or miscount), customs rejects it and spends a week investigating before they will allow the paperwork to be resubmitted, etc, etc, etc.

We are currently running about six weeks from order to delivery.

Richard, every customer who ordered a battery before you has received it and yours will be on its' way to you in a few days.

I didn't intend to imply incompetence or deception; in my original post I was just asking if the delay was typical. My question to Jeff652 was whether the 90 day delivery was from the date of his original order or the date of his final payment. From the feedback I've received here I am confident that I will receive my battery shortly. I intend to have the local Honda dealer install it rather than try to do it myself in the dead of winter (in an unheated garage), so I will need to make those arrangements.
I do think Hybrid-Battery-Repair could benefit from improved communication with the customers, as I got as many different explanations as people I talked to.
I appreciate your addressing my questions in this forum.

**interestedguy** · 12-09-2011, 12:43 AM

Have you talked to the honda dealership about doing the install? I wouldn't be surprised if they turned you down. If they do or you don't like what they quote you I would be willing to help you, I live in Portland so it would be a good drive for you but I have done the battery swap a number of times now so it would not be a big deal. PM me if you are interested.

Eli · 12-09-2011, 01:26 AM

The dealer installing the battery seems to be a touchy one.

If you say "I bought a battery out of pocket, will you install it?" I don't imagine them saying no.

If you say "I bought a new aftermarket battery with better cells in it", they'll likely say no.

It's just a battery to them. No different than if you bought a Honda battery yourself and are now having them install it. They don't need to know that the cells inside aren't Panasonic/Sanyo cells.

Interested to know how it goes though.