JThiessen

My Feedback: (2)

Ok, this is going to be one of those "rant" threads. Over the last couple months, I purchased a total of 6 A123 (6.6V/4600 2S2P) battery packs on Ebay from "hopmeup". I run them in my converted E-Revo with a Novak HV-4.5 in it. I had some issues with 3 of the packs, in that cells completely lost voltage after the first run. I did not measure the voltage of the packs when I recieved them (error!), and I did not overly concern myself with running them too low, as all the rage was about how tuff these were. I did not run them completely dead - I just treated them the same way I ran all of my Nimh's. My first run(s) with them were fantastic. They ran at what seemed like 100% for about 20 minutes, until all of a sudden, there was only 20%. I then drove the truck the 150 ft back to my "pit" and removed the batteries. On my first charge, I also did not try to balance them, as I did not have the correct balance taps for my Hyperion Duo. I know that I may have been the reason the cells went bad - but I dont know for certain, so I emailed them asking about warranty, just to see what my possibilties were.

The first response was "Hi, We will only replace these if they arrive with the voltage to low. Once you charge the pack, there is no further warranty."

I responded to that note with" What exact voltage is too low for a 2S2P pack, and how does one tell by measuring voltage if one cell in a series/parrallel pack is bad". I also went on to explain that I was not after a warranty replacement since I had in fact charged the packs, and had actually taken one apart and fixed it. I just wanted help figuring our why the packs were bad, and possibly a price break on purchasing a new one.
5 days went by with no response, so I left them neutral feedback on the last pack I bought - I gave thier shipping/delivery/etc high ratings, but low on the communication. In the explanation, I stated that I was only unhappy with the packs and the way they handled it.

So, its getting to be crunch time for me to get my stuff ready for the upcoming three day weekend, so I figured I'd just bite the bullet and order one more pack from them. But, I found that they had blocked me from buying from them! An email to them for an explanation as to why and their response "Hi, You were blocked for feedback. You can have it removed by eBay if you tell them you made it in error. When that is complete, you can contact us and we will remove the block. Dan"

This REALLY torqued me off. I did not leave them BAD feedback, just not positive. Their customer service really stinks, and they can/will hold me somewhat hostage just for being honest.

Another thing that makes me wonder, is that it looks like they burry negative/neutral feedback. IF you page through their feedback, they appear to have several hundred sales a day of RC parts. With all the competition out there, I highly doubt they sell that many parrts.

I went ahead and filed a dispute with them, just because of their lame duck approach to this. We'll see if Ebay even takes it serious.

Ok, I'm done ranting now!

snellemin

I have bought several 3s1p pack from them before. Their shipping was fast and the packs were new. They seem to be old stock from somewhere though. Two of the 3s1p packs did not balance on the hypersonic charger on the first charge. I had to use my blinky w/adapter to properly balance them. The packs all perform fine after that.

When these packs dump, they dump in an instant. You driving the packs down even more, after they dumped brought them way out of balance as the were still newish(not cycled enough). What charger did you use on them?

Kinda blows what hopmehop did to you though.

I just bought a dewalt pack for 45 dollars on RCgroups. Took a gamble, but I was able to recover the 4 "bad" cells in it. Needless to say I'm one happy camper right now.

Adudein

My Feedback: (11)

Let's look at it from their point of view. You bought packs from them, which you stated were new. You "took it apart and fixed it", and then had a problem with it. You also didn't check them for low voltage, which is a requirement for return. Then, when they would't do what they said they wouldn't do, you left them neutral feedback. Now you're complaining because they have blocked you?

Two things: 1. If you were unhappy with the first transaction, why would you purchase from them again? 2. If I were them, I would think you are trying another purchase in order to leave negative feedback.

JThiessen

My Feedback: (2)

The sequence you stated is not quite correct - I had a problem with the pack, then I took them apart to fix them (knowing that they weren't warrantied since I had not checked the voltage prior to charging). I purchased the second and third sets prior to knowing what the problem was. Neutral feed back is NOT negative feedback. I attempted to purchase another set so that I could have potentially enough cells to make one more good pack.

We've since deteremined that the packs they are selling are in fact old cells (manufactured in 05). Also, in all my communcations with them, they could not tell me what voltage they would warrant the packs at - which tells me that they would likely deny warranty no matter what you claimed to them.

everydayflyer

Just curious how you were able to verify this.
I have been using A123 cells for over two years and the manufacturing code on them seems to be a well guarded secret.

Charles

JThiessen

My Feedback: (2)

This is information from a respected memeber on RC-Monster