Charger Problem

[Exdro]

Does anyone else have an EO charger which stopped working in February this year?
I am trying to find out if I am the only one who has a problem. Currently I am in dispute with EO, EDF, who have offered respectively 23% ish off a new charge point or £50.00!
I cannot believe that a list price charger at £1099.00 would be declared obsolete after only four years. I have a report from an installing company recommended by EO to say that there are no inherent faults in the wiring or the charger. It is a software problem highlighted by EO which they cannot resolve.
If anyone else has this problem, please let me know as I feel that like Alan, now Sir Alan Bates, I am being told that I am the only one.

 

[Robf]

I have the EO mini Pro2, been about 4 years and no problems as yet. It does sometimes trip out, and is connected via wireless that can be a bit iffy, but other than that no problems. You haven't by any chance recently installed powerline adaptor in the house ?

 

[Exdro]

I have the EO mini Pro2, been about 4 years and no problems as yet. It does sometimes trip out, and is connected via wireless that can be a bit iffy, but other than that no problems. You haven't by any chance recently installed powerline adaptor in the house ?

Tx for reply. Mine is an EO Mini Pro 1 which EO ceased to support on Feb 29th this year when Enelex/juucenet withdrew their software support. I was told that it would still operate as a “dumb” charger which is not ideal . However, it does not work at all and has been declared obsolete by the team recommended by EO to repair it.

I have the EO mini Pro2, been about 4 years and no problems as yet. It does sometimes trip out, and is connected via wireless that can be a bit iffy, but other than that no problems. You haven't by any chance recently installed powerline adaptor in the house ?

Interesting that you have mini Pro 2 fitted four years ago. My mini Pro 1 was fitted in Feb 2020. I have subsequently been told that these were not used much after 2019. I suspect I had one if the last batch.

 

[Robf]

Tx for reply. Mine is an EO Mini Pro 1 which EO ceased to support on Feb 29th this year when Enelex/juucenet withdrew their software support. I was told that it would still operate as a “dumb” charger which is not ideal . However, it does not work at all and has been declared obsolete by the team recommended by EO to repair it.

Contact citizens advice. You can easily prove that it is not fit for purpose and as such they have to replace or refund (for up to 6 years route is via small claims court). CAB will supply you with the relevant letter template (just give them a call they are brilliant to deal with) and also EO will have to agree to independant judgement ( if they are silly enough to continue to refuse refund). If they refuse that (this is where they normally realise the game is up and offer you areplacement / refund) they will automatically lose small courts claim.
I would recommend refund and get a charger that works with Octopus.

 

[Exdro]

Thanks, that’s the route I am going down now. I contacted CAB and as you say , they were brilliant. I’m currently waiting for reply from EDF who have tried to fob me off by asking me to contact EO. However, my initial contract is with EDF. It’s been a long slog since the problem first started. EDF suggested I contact EO who didn’t know who had done the installation ( contracted by EDF) and said it was a software problem from Enelex/ juucenet (sometimes spelled juicenet) which they no longer deal with. The company they recommended to inspect it was different from the one who installed it and I was charged a call out fee of £95.00 plus vat for them to tell me the unit was obsolete and no longer supported. Why couldn’t they have told me that over the phone?
Is the necessity to replace chargers going to prove to be a hidden cost of owning an EV?
Sorry for rant but I am beginning to lose patience with this whole saga.
PS thank you for your words of wisdom

 

[siteguru]

Just FYI ... EO are under no obligation to offer you a full refund; you've already had 4 years unencumbered use of the charge point so they'd only be liable to provide a pro-rata refund based on expected life span. (If we use 6 years as an example - this is the statute of limitations time frame within which you can bring a claim in England/Wales - then at best they'd only be liable to offer 1/3 refund of the original purchase price).

 

[Exdro]

Just FYI ... EO are under no obligation to offer you a full refund; you've already had 4 years unencumbered use of the charge point so they'd only be liable to provide a pro-rata refund based on expected life span. (If we use 6 years as an example - this is the statute of limitations time frame within which you can bring a claim in England/Wales - then at best they'd only be liable to offer 1/3 refund of the original purchase price).

Fully understand that, but, if extrapolated that one has to replace your charger every six years, that adds just under £200.00 per year to the cost of using an EV.
I can see the DM headlines now “HIDDEN COST OF EV OWNERSHIP”
I know that this is an extreme example but that’s journalism.

 

[Robf]

Just FYI ... EO are under no obligation to offer you a full refund; you've already had 4 years unencumbered use of the charge point so they'd only be liable to provide a pro-rata refund based on expected life span. (If we use 6 years as an example - this is the statute of limitations time frame within which you can bring a claim in England/Wales - then at best they'd only be liable to offer 1/3 refund of the original purchase price).

Not sure about that, I asked for and got full refund from Samsung for dodgy telly after 4 years, CAB will advise. The point is that Exdro can prove that goods were not fit for purpose at purchase, e.g. item is obsolete and no longer supported >6 years, therefore should not have been sold. Its a replacement or full refund

 

[Exdro]

Not sure about that, I asked for and got full refund from Samsung for dodgy telly after 4 years, CAB will advise.

CAB thinks I have a strong case.

 

[siteguru]

I can say with 100% confidence (subject to contract-specific circumstances that generally don't apply) that you're not entitled to a full refund (even in the TV case) ... this is what the law (Consumer Rights Act 2015) says. That the seller may give a full refund is at their discretion, but there's no liability to do so, certainly not after 4 years of fault-free use of a product.

I'm just being realistic - there's no point in trying to convince someone that they're entitled to a full refund when the law says they aren't. That way simply lies a battle they won't win. Of course one should try for the best possible outcome, but don't be so bullish about a situation that you aren't guaranteed to win.

 

[Exdro]

I can say with 100% confidence (subject to contract-specific circumstances that generally don't apply) that you're not entitled to a full refund (even in the TV case) ... this is what the law (Consumer Rights Act 2015) says. That the seller may give a full refund is at their discretion, but there's no liability to do so, certainly not after 4 years of fault-free use of a product.

I'm just being realistic - there's no point in trying to convince someone that they're entitled to a full refund when the law says they aren't. That way simply lies a battle they won't win. Of course one should try for the best possible outcome, but don't be so bullish about a situation that you aren't guaranteed to win.

I paid £359.00 for charger after grant. Now faced with paying between just over £400.00 to nearly £900.00. Have never mentioned full refund. That was on robf reply.
How long should a charger last? That’s the figure that any refund should be based on.
Still waiting for EDF response.

 

[siteguru]

How long should it last? As a minimum I'd use the 6 years limit from the Limitations Act, although I'd suggest 8 years (at least) should be a more-realistic target, given that the battery in BEVs tend to have at least 8 years warranty. 8 years would suggest at least 50% refund, so about £180 in your case. (Although I'd push for the original price of the charger to be considered - how it was paid for [grants + "cash"] could be argued as being irrelevant. So if you had, say, £350 in grants then the original price would have been £709, thus 50% refund would be about £355).

 

[Exdro]

Not too worried about the cash aspect, mainly the principle. Ideally I would like to be placed in the situation I was in with a programmable working charger.
The fault seems to stem from the cessation of software support since the there were no faults found in the charger itself.

 

[mj224]

I have also had EO mini 2 Pro conk out, 3 years and 3 months old, just in the last couple of week.

I have written about it several times recently on this forum.

EO support won't reply. You can only email them, or fill out their web form. Telephone support is nil.

If you look up EO Forum on Google, you get directed to a Trustpilot page, which makes very interesting reading.

Thus, my strategy is dump EO, and get a local installer to replace the charger. Biting the bullet at nearly £900! Makes life a lot easier, and removes the stress and hassle, which at 76 years old, I can do without.

There must be a common thread with chargers, remember the Ecotricity chargers, Genie Chargers, always being duff. And now EO. What is so delicate in them that they fail. In my humble opinion, these non-moving part electric plugs, should last a lifetime............?

 

[Exdro]

I have also had EO mini 2 Pro conk out, 3 years and 3 months old, just in the last couple of week.

I have written about it several times recently on this forum.

EO support won't reply. You can only email them, or fill out their web form. Telephone support is nil.

If you look up EO Forum on Google, you get directed to a Trustpilot page, which makes very interesting reading.

Thus, my strategy is dump EO, and get a local installer to replace the charger. Biting the bullet at nearly £900! Makes life a lot easier, and removes the stress and hassle, which at 76 years old, I can do without.

There must be a common thread with chargers, remember the Ecotricity chargers, Genie Chargers, always being duff. And now EO. What is so delicate in them that they fail. In my humble opinion, these non-moving part electric plugs, should last a lifetime............?

That is the kind of info I need. As long as “You’re the only one with a problem” is spouted by the suppliers, they will just rely on us biting the bullet and buying new. I am about to go via media and then Ombudsman in order to make this more widely known.
PS I am also in my 70s.

 

[mj224]

The Trust Pilot Forum for EO Chargers...Not all bad, but indicative...

EO Charging is rated "Average" with 3.6 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with EO Charging's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 349 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

 

[5teep]

These chargers will not be 'failing' they will be disabled by EO or whoever your supplier is because they do not wish to support them.

I'm lucky in that I got one of the last legal dumb chargers and it's just plug and play. Of course I miss out on some of the cheap overnight rates but I don't think they are the value people suppose them to be.

 

[siteguru]

You could still get some of the cheap overnight rates simply by scheduling charging via the car.

 

[mj224]

Have to say that my EO does fail to charge. It switches on, as a dumb charger, and charges for a minute, literally.

But I must add, that for 3 years I have used it as a dumb charger. It was only when I did link to the EO app that it failed.

Does sound a bit fishy.............??

 

[5teep]

Have to say that my EO does fail to charge. It switches on, as a dumb charger, and charges for a minute, literally.

But I must add, that for 3 years I have used it as a dumb charger. It was only when I did link to the EO app that it failed.

Does sound a bit fishy.............??

Have you tried unlinking it?