Xantrex service policies

[Jim Cate]

A couple of years ago I bought a Xantrex TC-10 battery charger for battery maintenance while in one of our rare marina stays. Worked ok, although it generates a lot of RF noise in the 3-20 MHz region. Then just after our clearing in in Bundaberg there was a typical Aussie thunder storm, and there were two nearby ground strikes... about 200 metres away. I was foolish enough to have the charger plugged in to shore power during the storm and Shazam! it no longer worked. After an expletive laden period of trouble shooting I realized that it was beyond my expertise to repair it. So, I e-mailed Xantrex looking for a place to send it for help. They responded with the advice that they did not consider these units to be repairable!!!

Since the bloody thing cost 375 AU dollars, and is really a pretty simple bit of kit, this seems a rather rude attitude to me.

So,
!. Anyone else had similar problems with this unit, or with this attitude on Xantrex'x part?
2. Am I being unreasonable in my expectations?

As you might expect, if I must replace the bloody thing, it won't be with another Xantrex unit!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Gladstone, Qld, Oz

[irwinsailor]

I have a Xantrax that was still under warrantee and they have not fixed it. No replacement has been offered and no one in my area repairs them.
I think the service on their products suck and I will not buy from them again.

Does that help??

[Jeannius]

Their more expensive products like the Freedom charger/inverter are repairable. Which is just as well as mine is exhibiting signs of a 3rd failure. Main unit still does its job but it seems to have lost touch with the remote control/monitor device.

[Chief Engineer]

If you had been honest with them and TOLD them aboot the lighning strike, that probably put the kabosh on anything they would do for you...Act of God stuff y'know.

[Jentine]

My experience with Xantrex is that the unit that has failed must be returned to the correct site for repair or replacement. I sent a unit to Seattle and it was returned to me. I was then instructed to send it to someplace in Illinois and they lost the package. Finally they asked for a dated reciept and sent a new one. The whole thing took seven weeks and 1/2 dozen phone calls.
They are a very fouled up company.

[bmartinsen]

I feel for you as both a user and a fixer of electronics. I worked with motorola for 15+ yrs. Troubleshooting lightning strikes is unlike most problems as it jumps around on the board rather than burning out one path. Hence, fixing it is either a 5 min if it path to ground quickly or many hours. Even if they got it working which would then have to warranty , it might not last due to latent damage. We never warranted lightning damage unless complete boards were changed. I'm not saying that maybe they could do a board swap or factory refurb or something more considerate for a customer?
Brad

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

If you had been honest with them and TOLD them aboot the lighning strike, that probably put the kabosh on anything they would do for you...Act of God stuff y'know.

Chief --

Yep, I did tell them that it was due to a nearby strike... only seems reasonable to be honest about such... BUT, this was not a request for warantee service, and I expected to pay for work that would be done.

As I read their reply, it was not the lightning that was the issue -- they simply didn't fix the damn things.

Cheers,

Jim