thedoc46

Posting this in all the RC forums, to help others not make the mistake of updating.


I updated my FMA Powerlab 6, which was original purchased in 2014. Updated its firmware from 1.10 to 1.11 and it stopped working after a reboot. OK i thought, this isn't good. Went online, and soon realized that others had a similar issues. There have been three of us talking about it in the FMA vendor forum in the RCG forum. As the saying goes, once is a chance, twice is a co-incidence, THREE times is a pattern. Anyway cutting a long story short, i ended up having to send it to FMA. I was told by them, nothing wrong with our firmware. After receiving it, they said I'd have to agree to a repair charge before they'd look at it. Needless to say i got a little upset with where this was heading, but the charger was expensive, had seen little use, and honestly i just thought they'll make it right, expecting good customer service. Except it did not go that way, and now i'm over $200 out of pocket.


Read this.. It gets better and better.


Hello


Your Cellpro PL6 has been received. It will be sent to tech for reflash, but if not successful the normal repair fees will apply. The fees are as follows: $60 for general repair, $90 for replacement of entire power section. Return shipping is added.


Please reply to this email for your acceptance of the fees so that the charger may be sent to tech. Current tech turnaround is three weeks. You will be contacted when the unit is returned from tech with the tech notes. An email payment request will be sent to you at that time for the balance due.








Regards,


Cindy Marks
Accounts Manager
FMA Inc.


3520 Sugarloaf Pkwy., Ste F03-121
Urbana, MD 21704
Phone: (301) 798-2770
Website: www.revolectrix.com

Then


Subject: Re: charger repair


The firmware does not cause the problem- it is another issue within the charger that causes the problem with the firmware update. It is unlikely that the tech will be able to reflash the charger as there is an underlying cause preventing the update.


We take great pride in our products and customer service. I take great issue with your accusation that we have you "over a barrel". If you would rather not continue with the tech service I will cancel it.




Regards,


Cindy Marks
Accounts Manager
FMA Inc.


3520 Sugarloaf Pkwy., Ste F03-121
Urbana, MD 21704
Phone: (301) 798-2770
Website: www.revolectrix.com

So finally giving in and 'accepting' the charge acceptance, knowing at this stage that i was going to get stiffed. But if its only $60, live and learn, and move on. Then this comes in !!!!


Hello


I received a report back from our technical department on the PowerLab 6 you returned for service. The processor on the unit is blown. This fault is in no way related to the firmware update you attempted. If the damage to the processor occurred while you attempted an update, it is strictly coincidental. It is not cost effective to repair a charger with a blown processor. In such instances, our policy is to offer you a discount of 20% off the price of a new charger of your choice. Please advise if you accept this offer and if so, which charger you choose.






Regards,
Cindy Marks
Accounts Manager
FMA Inc.
3520 Sugarloaf Pkwy., Ste F03-121
Urbana, MD 21704
Phone: (301) 798-2770
Website: www.revolectrix.com





Anyway, then their VP gets in on the act and on the defensive, and well need i say more.


Hi Julian,


I wanted to respond to you about your assertion that the firmware update to 1.11 is causing problems for "a lot of people." The RCG thread that you posted in was an old thread with one person reporting a problem with the update over a year and half ago. His issue was resolved by re-flashing the firmware. Including you, this makes exactly two people, that I am aware of, who have reported any issue with the update. Firmware 1.11 has been available for about 18 months. In that period of time it is likely that several thousand customers have performed the update to 1.11 with no issues at all. As Cindy informed you, the damage to your charger was not caused by the update. I'm sorry you have experienced this issue, but even the highest quality electrical components we use in the design of our PL series chargers can fail occasionally.


If you are not interested in our offer of a 20% replacement discount, please respond with your authorization for FMA to discard the PL6 we have in our possession.




Sincerely,


Jamie Marks
Vice President/General Manager
FMA, Inc.
REVO USA
3520 Sugarloaf Pkwy
Suite F03-121
Urbana, MD 21704
301 798-2770
REVOLECTRIX Partner


www.revolectrix.com




Firstly these are not old instances these are new. Also it wasn't just two people, it's three all pertaining to going from 1.10 to 1.11, Revhappy, Krauley and myself.. way too much of a co-incidence. Not to mention that's only the three that have complained. if it takes '3 weeks' to get a service tech to look at it, then my guess is that there's a lot of returns.


Besides which, anyone with half a brain knows this is most likely complete BS. Processors don't just die on you for no reason. We're not overclocking our Powerlabs to make em go faster???? In over 22yrs of working in the tech sector, i've not known a single processor to just die outside of being overclocked. BAD Firmware updates however, do brick devices. My guess is they know this, and giving me the middle finger and clearly going by what you've read, and what you're about to read, just happy to do as little as possible.


Last night, I just said to myself the hell with them. I went and ordered myself an iCharger but wanted to let the community know how they handled my particular case.


At least there's a slightly funny side to the story.


My reply to them regarding their claim my processor mysteriously died during the update was.


To: [email protected]
Cc: "'Cindy Marks'" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Re: charger repair
It’s actually more than just two, but it does seem like I pulled the short end of the stick here and that mine has been the only one requiring the owner to buy a completely brand new unit? Processors dying (which in over 20yrs of working in technology to me is unheard of for a CPU) firmware updates bricking devices on the other hand is far more common. Eitherway it is what it is. I’d like to you to acknowledge that this shouldn’t of happened.


Whatever the reason, the bottom line stands that I invested in your product, went to update it, it died on me. I went online read other threads about similar issues, and one puts two and two together and becomes disgruntled that an update caused this.


Why not do something more than 20% ?? if you stand behind the ‘highest quality electrical components’ why not replace it for free or at cost? Rather than try and make money out of me. This is the first time I’ve actually come across such an incident where the customer is expected to take the brunt on what is supposed to be a high end product, that’s seen such little use. You’ve seen the unit, its not been beaten up, or even taken outside the home. The unit is actually LIKE NEW ! its had less than 30 cycles. Actually all it ever does is charge either a 2S at or a 3S one at a time at 13.5amps.. Its never been asked to go anywhere near its capacity, and yet it still died on me.


If FMA is still not willing to help, then please just return the unit to me, and I would prefer you to NOT discard it.


Great customer service is always rewarded by positive feedback to the community.


Seems fair enough right ?




Then the Jamie Marks the VP of FMA 'accidently' copied me in with


As of 11:15 this AM, he had not posted in RCG. At this point I am inclined to ignore this last e-mail and just send his unit back to him. What do you think?




Oops Jamie.... Your customer service and the way you talk about your customers behind their back is something to be ashamed of. Also i'd like my $200 brick back please. Not that i believe for one minute you're going to have the decency to send it back.

krokodyl

That's too bad, and although things do occasionaly fail, if it just randomly fail after a update, the company should replace the unit free of charge or atleast give a bigger discount. Let us know if you actually get it back.

Hubert

ltc

My Feedback: (3)

It is highly probable that your processor's UART was damaged due to ESD when you plugged in the FUIM3 to perform the software update.
I don't think they are lying to you or covering up any issue or problem.

init4fun

I agree with Hubert , for all the times I've got "no questions asked" replacements from Horizon , most times without even having to send the old unit back , I'd think the least FMA could have done would be to either fix the guy's charger or send him a replacement that works .

A satisfied customer tells his friends how well a company treated him

A dissatisfied customer tells all who will listen how badly a company treated him

It's up to the company how many satisfied VS dissatisfied customers there are and in this case it sounds like FMA would rather the bad press than replace the guy's dead charger . This could come to cost them more than the value of the charger depending on how many read this and then choose to go buy a Hyperion instead !

ltc

My Feedback: (3)

I believe that FMA/Revolectrix has a very good reputation when it comes to design and service.
As mentioned, the firmware version is mature and has been successfully used multiple times in the past. I doubt they would have a version that would "brick" a unit.

As I mentioned, it was likely an ESD damage event which would probably go unnoticed by the user.

(BTW, overclocking? Great 1980's computer reference !)

70 ragtop

My Feedback: (24)

That is really disappointing to hear, especially that last email.

I own 2 powerlab 8s, and knock on wood, they work great.

I really don't care if the update did it, or ESD, that last email, by the company VP no less, speaks volumes to how treat customers who hve a problem with a product. Funny, I was just compairing Revo packs this week, guess I scratch them off my list

secret_squirrel

I recently purchased a CellPro Powerlabs 6 from and FMA distributor. The unit arrived with scratches/dings and someone had drawn on the bottom with a marker. The distributor tried to say it was "minor aesthetics" that didn't affect the operation of the unit. I agree but guess what. I work hard for my money and I don't think it is crazy to expect these distributors to ship what they advertise. They tried to tell me the damage was from shipping overseas. They were willing to replace but not willing to cover return shipping. I am pretty sure things ship from overseas a thousand times every day without damage. Come on man....STEP UP YOUR GAME!!!

trax de max

you should of at least got a discount or refund for cosmetic damage. What was the packaging like, my pl8 was bubble wrapped, so don't see how any damage can occur during shipping, as the only thing in the box is, the charger with protective film over front and top and wrapped in bubble wrap.

morrison250r

I got my powerlab 8 in.....2012, I believe. I had used it less than 50x before it went pop and smoke rolled out. I email them and asked what could be done. They replied that they could fix it for about $120 including shipping which was about $140 with shipping both ways. Thats over half the price of a new one. They did offer a 10% discount to purchase another which was a slap in the face Also, they said failure was extremely rare and it would take 3-4 weeks to turn it around. I replied that I though they should stand behind their product and replace it or repair it free of charge. They said no way. It was a few years old and there was no way they would do that. So I paid the money, got it back. It worked.
. About a year later.....the same thing happened....for no reason. I was charging a 6s 4000mah pack. The supply voltage was 12.4v DC. I had used other charges the same exact way. They fed me the same line. It has around 75 cycles on it, total. Also, I have a cheap great planes charger that is over 15 years old that has over 1000 cycles on that works great and another that is going on 10 years old. At this point it been sitting broken for years. There is no way I will pay nearly $150 for a repair that might last a year. They will never get a dollar from me again because they refuse to stand behind their product. They blame the customer instead. For a $250 charger, it should last 10+ years min. Others do.
. Plus, i think they lied. If failure is so rare, why are they consistantly nearly a month behind? Anything to say, FMA?
Specifically, why is my $250 FMA charger burnt up twice and now, at this very moment, I'm charging my packs with a 15 year old electrifly Triton that's out lasted your product and shows no sign of quitting?