Elecsol again

[Barney123]

Some advice needed please,

3 years ago I purchased 2 110ahr Elecsol batteries from the Alternative Energy Store (AES); the batteries do have a 5 year warranty.

These 2 batteries died a death just before Christmas and will not hold their charge. I was in Portugal at the time and was able to find electrical hook-ups to keep me afloat until I arrived back in UK this week. I still have these batteries as I knew they would be needed for a claim.

In December 2012 when this happened, I tried repeatedly to contact the AES, got no contact what-so-ever, I also tried via the phone and e-mail to contact Elecsol but they never answered the phone or my e-mail.

On my return, I made endless attempts to contact both AES and Elecsol, on some occasions Elecsol would pick the phone up, not answer and just lay the phone on a desk, no doubt hoping I would go away. On one occasion, I did get an answer from a “Steve”, I tried to explain my problem and all he would say was “AES went bust, and there is nothing you can do about your warranty problem”.

I tried to continue the call with him but he just said I have your number and will call you back. I waited another day and still no reply, so again today I tried many time to call them, each time the same problem, no answer or pick-up phone and lay it down on a desk.

It’s also got to be borne in mind that Elecsol’s phone number is a 0800 number and my phone is mobile which is charged 14p per minute to 0800 numbers.

This afternoon as I think each time I rang from my mobile it showed up on Elecsol’s display, they didn’t answer or cut me off, so I used a friend’s landline phone and you may guess I got a connection to “Steve”. Steve realised who I was and gave me the same reply, “nothing to do with them, my problem was with AES who went bust” I tried to draw Steve’s attention to the warranty conditions, but he was sticking to his guns and said he would call me back, and I am still waiting for this call.

I quote part of the Warranty conditions which I think make my claim valid

“The warranty card with all the required information i.e. Purchasers name, address and proof of purchase must be presented when claiming under warranty. The battery replacement service is to be carried out solely by the manufacturer and not by any of its affiliate dealers”

I did complete the warranty card and returned the relevant section when purchased plus I hold the receipt etc.

For the legally minded members on the forum, do I have a valid claim on warranty with Elecsol?

Thank you

 

[nowtelse2do]

Here you are Barney. You can explain the problem here.

 

Elecsol Europe

3, Westwood Court.

Clayhill Industrial Park.

Neston.

South Wirral.

Cheshire.

CH64 3UJ

 

Warranty & Technical Enquiries to:-

 

technical@elecsolbatteries.com

or Tel 0800 163298

 

Dave

[Barney123]

Sorry you have not read my post in full,

I did say I have been in contact with Elecsol and am getting the brush off

 

[nowtelse2do]

Thought AES was a dealer, sorry. Next step Trading Standards then, hope you sort it.

 

Trading Standards

County Office

Chapel St

Flint

CH6 5BD

 

Tel 01352 703181

 

Just thought, they will be closed now until after Easter

 

Dave

[Barney123]

Thanks Dave, I will give Trading Standards a call after Easter.

 

[Keithl]

Barney,

 

You only need to search this forum for 'Elecsol' and virtually every post you will find is a tale of woe over Elecsol batteries and their abysmal warranty :-(

 

From previous replies I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting them replaced.

 

Keith.

[colin]

It's bank holiday friday so lets see how long this post lasts.

Elecsol are lieing bastards, they will try everthing to get out of their contract with you, perservirance is your only option, and don't forget to spread the word as to how they have treated you.

[nowtelse2do]

Apparently Elecsol had a customer feedback page on their website. It's not there now, I believe it got a lot of feedback with hardly any good reports.

 

Dave

[Airstream]

Hi,

Good luck with your claim - the only way to get what you are due is to keep ringing "Steve" using alternative phones as yes he does seem to ignore "warranty" calls that use numbers he recognises

 

Steve (the sole owner of this box shifting, shed operation) will always answer if he does not recognise the number as it may be a sales inquiry

 

Do not send anything by post "to be signed for" as he refuses to sign and your letter will be returned to the local post office

 

Elecsol ie Steve will not allow callers to his premises to have batteries tested or returned or even to drop off your warranty claim - Steve says he has no testing or disposal facility so you need an independent electrical engineers report to support your claim

 

If you Google street view the Elecsol Europe "headquarters" you will see its a small lock up unit on an industrial estate, not the mammoth battery manufacturer his web site and literature claim

 

Regards Ray

[Barney123]

Thanks Dave, Keith, Colin & Ray for your interesting responses, I now have had a look at other forum posts on the Elecsol saga, and it makes you wonder how they can stay in business.

I did note that one of our prominent forum posters did or still have sold Elecsol batteries, I wonder how he got on with warranty problems with ones he sold.

Thanks to all

 

[Rayjsj]

Must admit i hadn't heard of any problems with Elecsol batteries, and until I read this thread, i too would have been taken in by the 'Premium British Gel battery' hype, thanks for the 'Heads Up'. My instinct would be to put the batteries in the car and drive up to 'Elecsol headquarters' with the warranty document, and have a 'face to face 'with this 'Steve', but as been said before 'Trading Standards' are definitely the best way to go. He (Steve) is probably on 'A wing and a prayer' but is still prepared to 'Sting' as many customers as possible before he finally 'Sinks'. He Needs 'Stopping', or at least to be made to honor his warranty claims. let us know how you get on. Ray

 

 

Just done a search on 'Elecsol' quite an education, seems 'Steve' has previous. His customer relation skills are a bit suspect. I now know which Brand of Leisure Batteries I definitely WILL NOT be buying.

[Brian Kirby]

Barney123 - 2013-03-28 9:05 PM..................For the legally minded members on the forum, do I have a valid claim on warranty with Elecsol?

Thank you

You appear to have a valid claim, in that batteries warranted for 5 years failed after 3 years. However, what I think you may find, based on vicarious experience, is that there are a number of conditions precedent to any claim being honoured, and that you have to prove that all conditions were met. As I recall (but someone please say if this is incorrect), some of the conditions are almost impossible to verify in the normal course of events. These relate to maintaining the batteries correctly charged etc. So, whereas you may have a claim under warranty, its chances of success appear very limited.

 

The manufacturer's warranty is a conditional promise to replace which, I understand, is non-contractual and so to all intents and purposes legally unenforceable. So, talking to "Consumer Direct", which is now the gateway to your local Trading Standards office, would be worthwhile, but I think you may only get similar advice to the above.

 

Legally, your claim would be against the now bankrupt supplier, so there is zero hope there. If you paid for the batteries on your credit card, you may be able to claim the cost from the card issuer, on the ground that the retailer has ceased trading. It may be worth asking. However, since the battery warranty was for 5 years and you used them for 3, I think it might be argued that you are only entitled to claim the proportion of their cost that relates to the proportion of their warranted life that they lasted: i.e three fifths. Better than nothing, but less than the cost of replacement. However, see what they say.

 

Failing great joy from these two phone calls (and although I wish it, as you can tell, I'm not that optimistic), I'm inclined to think any further effort on your part would represent throwing good money after bad, and your best bet now is to divert to seeking two good replacement batteries.

 

If you explain what type of use you expect them to have, what type of battery you want, and any size constraints on what you can fit, I'm sure you will get excellent advice on here on what to buy, and possibly where from.

[nowtelse2do]

Brian, Barney might not get any joy out of Elecsol but I still think he should get in touch with Trading Standards. It sounds like this Steve is getting away murder (not literally of course) and with all the complaints on various forums (some going back a long while) I would think that some would have been in contact with T.S.

 

Dave

[Mickt]

Try contacting DaveNewell he may be able to help you as he supplies this make of battery

[Dave Newell]

Unfortunately we cannot help as we did not supply the batteries, sorry.

 

D.

[Brambles]

Looks like where Elecsol used to buy European sourced batteries they are now sourcing in China.

 

[Brambles]

Just had a look at the research page on Elecsol website. The picture is of a plant which makes decorative wall panels imitating stone, brick, cement and other building materials..

You would think he could at least use a picture of something more relevant to lead acid batteries.

Mind you the picture has been pinched and used by many pharma companies as well.

 

This is the Elecsol version 1st and 2nd is the original version ( http://www.totalstone.com/index.php/es/i-d ) .

[Airstream]

Hi All,

Best job at Elecsol Europe must be this one as the only phone contact is "STEVE"

 

http://www.elecsolbatteries.com/contacts.php

 

And as to worldwide partners I contacted Centurian akku in Holland and they have never heard of Elecsol

 

All fur coat and no knickers

 

Total con job

 

Regards Ray

[Brambles]

Very interesting re Centurian as I was in the past led to believe the Elecsol batteries were Centurian's Xtender Range . Obviously some misinformaion there.

What I do know is Elecsols literature is full of utter fabrication and indeed some of it is contradictory.

If you say a lie often enough people will start to believe it ...comes to mind.

 

Carbon fibres are actually often used as part of the manufactirng process in many batteries. They then dissolve out of the lead paste into the acid to leave the plates very porous increasing the surface area.

[Keithl]

And watch out as their 'Model numbers' don't actually relate to their capacity!

 

For example a 110 appears only to be 105 Ah (at 20 hour rating).

 

Keith.

[Derek Uzzell]

This earlier thread indicates that Elecsol does not always refuse under-warranty claims:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Hints-and-Tips/Suspect-leisure-batteries-how-to-prove-it-/27241/

 

In that instance a pair of Elecsol batteries had originally been factory-fitted by Auto-Trail (for some while Elecsol was the make of leisure-battery chosen by Auto-Trail as standard-fit), so a retailer was not directly involved.

 

In principle, if Elecsol was prepared to replace batteries sold to Auto-Trail under warranty, one might think batteries sold to Alternative Energy Store (now ceased trading) could be treated similarly.

 

It would be worth knowing what Trading Standards' s advice to Barney has been.

[Brambles]

Keithl - 2013-04-01 8:32 AM

 

And watch out as their 'Model numbers' don't actually relate to their capacity!

 

For example a 110 appears only to be 105 Ah (at 20 hour rating).

 

Keith.

 

Sorry Keith you are very very wrong...more like 90 or 95 Ah.

[Barney123]

Hi all again,

Trading Standards will be open tomorrow,so I will contact them and see what my options are.

Like "Airstream" who tried Elecol's so-called Distributor & Partners in Holland and got a negative answer, I also tried to contact Energyvolt Iberica SA, their Portugese office whist I was in Portugal and also got a blank answer.

Another quote from Elecol's Dear valued customer letter

"Our focus remains on our customers, making sure our products meet their needs and requirements. Our aftercare support programme is paramount to achieving our quality standards, goals and targets"

Thank you all for your comments and constructive advise, please keep them coming.

Barney

[Rod_vw]

I've read this thread with interest as I have two Elecsol batteries fitted to my MH. As yet, two years into mission, I have had no problems there is of course plenty of time yet!

 

However how many readers of this thread are like me, quite happy with the product? I ask that to try to get some idea of what percentage of these batteries are actually failing within the five year warranty.

 

Secondly, where did that mention of DIN375A come from. As far as I am aware DIN stands fo 'Deutsches Institut für Normung' and when I Google DIN375A I the only logical direction is towards a standard for Morse taper drills! Although the only listing that I have managed to find for DIN standards in general does not list a DIN375 at all. That was Wikipedia which is not always a wise site to place too much trust in.

 

So who has NOT had problems with Elecsol batteries? Heads up please.

[nowtelse2do]

According to a lot of people on the forums Rod they have been good, problem starts when things go wrong for the minority, and there is quite a few. *-) What the % is I don't know. Somehow I don't think you would get a straight answer from Steve.

 

Dave