Heads Up On Poor Quality Solar Deck Vent

[Mikado]

Hello CF,

I wanted to give everyone the heads up on a poorly manufactured stainless steel solar deck vent that I purchased recently.

The vents, p/n AA13027 are manufactured by AAA World Wide Enterprises in China and sold by several distributors including the one that I purchased from.........BoaterBits in BC Canada for $120 usd each.

I purchased 5 units about 18 months ago. Within 6 months the rechargeable batteries started to fail one by one. Within two months all 5 batteries had failed and the fans only worked in direct sun during the day. Shortly after, the solar panels began to fail. Within 8 months none of the 5 vents worked at all.

I've reached out to BoaterBits several times by phone, text, and email with no response. I think they may be out of business.

I then contacted Carol at the manufacturer, AAA World Wide Ent by phone and email. I explained the issue to Carol and her response was that they would not offer any options to resolve. The only advice she gave me was to replace the batteries at my cost. She didn't seem to understand or care that without functional solar panels the fans are useless.

AAA World Wide had a huge catalog of marine components, many I recognize that are sold thru US Distributors. I am going to make sure I don't purchase any of their products due to their terrible warranty and customer service.

Attached is a picture of the vents and packaging.

Thanks,

Jeff

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Hello CF,

I wanted to give everyone the heads up on a poorly manufactured stainless steel solar deck vent that I purchased recently.

The vents, p/n AA13027 are manufactured by AAA World Wide Enterprises in China and sold by several distributors including the one that I purchased from.........BoaterBits in BC Canada for $120 usd each.

I purchased 5 units about 18 months ago. Within 6 months the rechargeable batteries started to fail one by one. Within two months all 5 batteries had failed and the fans only worked in direct sun during the day. Shortly after, the solar panels began to fail. Within 8 months none of the 5 vents worked at all.

I've reached out to BoaterBits several times by phone, text, and email with no response. I think they may be out of business.

I then contacted Carol at the manufacturer, AAA World Wide Ent by phone and email. I explained the issue to Carol and her response was that they would not offer any options to resolve. The only advice she gave me was to replace the batteries at my cost. She didn't seem to understand or care that without functional solar panels the fans are useless.

AAA World Wide had a huge catalog of marine components, many I recognize that are sold thru US Distributors. I am going to make sure I don't purchase any of their products due to their terrible warranty and customer service.

Attached is a picture of the vents and packaging.

Thanks,

Jeff

I went through the same nonsense with the supposed leader in the field, Nicro Vent. I have never heard of a long lasting solar vent.

[hellosailor]

Jeff-
If it was 18 months ago, did you pay for these by credit card? Does your card offer you an extra year's warranty on purchases? Some do, if so try to file a claim promptly. A friend of mine saved about $1500 on a plasma TV repair that way.
Thanks for the heads-up. "Made in China by unknown persons" = "Beware of Dragons!"
Sadly, but often.