Live Streaming a Vendor Service Experience

All of us have HV battery issues sooner or later. Some of us are on are third battery. Over and over, we talk through the options here, not a lot changes except the prices, although there is a new vendor offering cylindrical cells now. One thing that is always a consideration is the value of aftermarket rebuilt batteries vs Toyota "new" batteries, and the credibility of its warranty is the primary advantage to Toyota solutions - it's harder to trust a small company to uphold its warranty than it is to trust Toyota. Even between aftermarket rebuilders, reputation and warranty are huge factors.

With that in mind, I thought I'd "live stream" my experience having a small rebuilder honor their warranty. I am not going to name the vendor unless I feel they are not being honest or until the completion of the process and resolution of my issue, which I'll summarize. This should provide a great review for those considering a rebuilt battery.

Facts: I bought a Gen 1 battery that was rebuilt with Gen 2 cells. I received a 3-year warranty. The battery was purchased and installed in the last month, although I had to replace the inverter pump and only started driving it this week. I've put maybe 120 miles on it.

Drove beautifully at first. This weekend, it started giving me P3017 codes indicating a bad battery module. I carry a ScanGauge and it produced no other codes. The battery voltage stayed over 300 and 50-65% charge. The engine and inverter were running cool. The battery is installed properly with firm ground and working ventilation/cooling.

I cleared the code and the car would drive normally 5-15 miles or so, then throw the code again. I did that repeatedly to make it home.

I contacted the vendor by email and through it's Contact form early this morning. I said I could call later or we could start the Service process by email. And that's where we are now. I didn't hear back from them by email all day. We can write that off as me promising to call later, or you might prefer a company that would have responded by email anyway.

My plan is to give them until mid-morning CST to respond, and then call. Will let y'all know how it goes.

 

Positive signs this morning. Called, the automated phone system allowed me to choose Support, but I got voice mail. Couldn't back out to Sales, so I called back again and chose Sales. That person is the same one I dealt with when buying, and it was to him that my direct email went. Not sure who gets the email from the Contact form on their website.

But he's very polite and acknowledged receiving my email, and we discussed the possible problems with the battery; I described how it performed and what I did to confirm the diagnosis. He has taken responsibility for handling my warranty claim and has promised to ship me a new battery ASAP, and I will then return the original.

It appears that, had I called in with my problem yesterday, rather than email the wrong department and sent a blank Contact that probably goes to a Marketing person, my problem would be one day closer to resolution. Again, some of you may feel that a small company, in which employees wear several hats (as the competent Sales guy demonstrates), should be nimble enough and proactive enough to recognize customer communication issues and move quickly. Having served in Sales and Support roles, I give this one a pass. Battery problems can resolve themselves or disappear for months. Customers can panic. I can see why they might have chosen to wait for me to call, since I said I would, it case the CEL goes out on its own.

 

Day 2 (yesterday) I got a confirmation that my replacement battery was shipping and a FedEx tracking number. I feel very confident that the battery will arrive as promised.

That wraps up the review. Obviously, this vendor has not convinced me of the quality of their product, but their Sales guy, Mike, is definitely helpful and polite and the warranty claim process was as easy and responsive as I need. The vendor is Best Hybrid Batteries out of the Chicago area. They deserve a shout-out for great customer support. Hopefully, in a couple of years, I'll be back, giving them a shout-out for how well the battery has worked.