Simonism said:
After such a measured response from Dillenger to these posts and other web-based interventions by what is essentially a ungentlemanly and unilateral smear campaign by blackjackel (under the guise of being "information"), I have to say that, at the moment, this very much comes across as Dillenger:1, blackjackel: 0. I may change my view but I may not, too.
Simonism (who has no connection with Dillenger, but has purchased from them)
Please read my next post where I outline why Dillenger's response was not as great as you may have perceived it to be,it will be the post below this.
Punx0r said:
Consumer laws clearly vary around the world, but in the UK, at least, blackjackel would be completely in the right unless he was misusing/abusing the rack.
If a product is defective from new (badly made or designed) then liability is on the supplier to refund or replace. This liability extends to covering the costs of carriage both ways, which is reasonable.
It could be argued in this case Dillinger is relying on the prohibitive cost of tracked international postage for an entire kit to make the warranty return offered uneconomical. Much like the "warranty" you get buying things directly from China.
IMO an amicable resolution would be to offer a partial refund for the rack only, after checking that it had been used correctly/reasonably.
That's not even considering the claim of a "12 month unlimited warranty". That's a dangerous thing to claim, unless the word "unlimited" when associated with warranties has a particular, established meaning in the U.S. contrary to what it implies.
As a side issue, it's unreasonable to say complaining is unreasonable because the product is Chinese junk. That's fair enough if you take your chances and buy directly from China for buttons via some random guy on Alibaba. You know what to expect there. Buying from a western retailer is different: It might be the same product but in exchange for that markup comes liability. Don't want warranty claims and complaints? Don't sell junk. Simple as. Again, this isn't specifically a dig at Dillinger, just at a general trend I've seen in retail.
That's all I'm saying, I'm not getting my rights even under extremely basic warranty requirements much less the "12 month unlimited warranty" that Dillenger touted.
I agree that the product is probably Chinese junk with how poor the welding job is on it. At first I was surprised it broke but when I went ahead and analyzed the welds and the construction of the rack it was glaringly obvious how insufficient it was.
What was the straw that broke the camel's back was the slap in the face of them offering to sell me a new rack for $50..... $50!!! for something that cost them under $10, not only were they ripping me off out of my warranty, they wanted to make even more money off of me. This is when I decided to make the website.
You are making my point exactly, if I bought the rack for $6 off alibaba, and broke, I wouldn't complain much because I got what I paid for, but I pay nearly $1000 for this kit, I shouldn't get Chinese junk, and if I did, it better damn well be replaced for free....
Thank you for that breath of fresh air of a response! It's really nice that you're looking at this from a purely logical perspective.
TheBeastie said:
Yeah this thread has become interesting and its been getting a bit dry here on endlessphere, not even a good lipo fire story for ages or users willing to uploading destruction pics has been quite annoying.
I think some who are taking the vendors side are just a bit frustrated because lately we have had a few users come up who have bought battery packs that weren't to their liking and when users asked to post photos and details we ended getting this incredibly blurry photos that look like was taken with a digital camera from the 90s and everyone's just been like wtf?
I think some users get real enjoyment helping people fix their stuffed crap but not when they just can't get some basic overview info.
I support blackjackel's point of view. I think hes a good example of the yingyang effect where you need some consumers who don't take a light taking it in the arse with a dodgey back rack and want to utilize the full rights of the law as a customer of a warranty new item.
I remember buying some AAA NiMH on ebay that were rated on them 1800mAh which is a ridiculous capacity claim for that chemistry or that battery size but they were cheap. I remember after getting them and being satisfied that they worked at least like other other ones I bought at the local supermarket that the guys ebay rating was like 99% satisfied customers and the fact the ONLY thing he sold was over rated rechargeable NiMH batteries and I came the the conclusion that %99 of people are too nice.
We already have another user on this thread that said the same thing broke on his Dillenger ebike, with the information we have it sounds like a frequent problem. With enough complaints it might get fixed at the site of manufacture.
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As far as I am concerned I am one of those people who don't like to complain and if I can fix it my self I normally do, I think some sellers pray on consumers like me and its nice to know there are some people who are willing to stick their head up the ass of some retailers to try and set the record straight.
You summed up why I'm doing this to the T. I couldn't have put it any better myself.
There might be 1000 people that this problem (or some other problem) has happened to, there may be hundreds of others mistreated by Dillenger, but nobody will know... because those people will say "Well, crap, it's only $50, I'll just go buy a replacement part on ebay"... and just let dillenger get away with it. I almost did it myself, till the insulted me with offering to sell me the part for $50 instead of providing the warranty they promised... I decided this is a company that nobody should ever purchase or deal with, or at least that the consumer should know what they're getting into before they get into it.
It was such a load off my mind to read that "unlimited 12 month warranty claim", and as of 3 weeks ago it was such a headache, nobody deserves to go through that.
When I'm sold junk from china for a couple of bucks, then I get what I deserve.... but buying from a western retailer for many many many many times more than I Would have paid to get the product directly from china, I expect a certain level of accountability. A western company that touts to have as much trust as they do should NOT shy out of providing the due warranty that their customers paid for.
KINNINVIEKID said:
Its about time someone started making steel racks for these heavy batteries.
That would be nice, but not 100% necissary, if they had 3 welds spanning across the entire underside of the rack, it would have more than sufficed... instead they put a single weld on the bottom of the rack that spans less than 1/3 of the surface of the rack, and the other two welds are on the side handles which are hollow aluminum tubes.... They didn't even weld the entire tube in, just the very edge of the tube.... this is supposed to hold a 10 pound battery through all sorts of vibrations... ridiculous.
slacker said:
I would like to thank blackjackel as i guess we are not smart enough to do our own research on the vendors we purchase from. Thank god he was there to show us the errors of our ways. :lol:
It's not about you being smart or dumb.... it's about the (possibly) 100's of other people out there that didn't do anything when Dillenger screwed them over... I am their voice. Many others probably came before me that though it was too much of a hassle to deal with Dillenger over a $50 dollar part... I am that exception.
tomjasz said:
Ten minutes on Google and I'd have found a different vendor. Looks to me like folks got the service they earned.
Are you saying I changed your opinion on purchasing from Dillenger? I thought it might take a while for the website to take off, but to hear that it's already having an effect is wonderful to hear.
