SWWP Poor Customer Service/Warranty

[tmcmurran]

You really have to love them folks at Southwest Windpower.  They love to take your money, and even seemed to have a pretty decent track record with the hardware they manufacture and sell.  The problem is if and when you have a mechanical problem trying to get anything out of them is next to impossiable.

I have had a Whisper 100 up and producing for a grand total of seven (7) months.  Went out to check on things as we do all the time over the past weekend only yo find the turbine stuck and not spinning.  Not an issue I thought, since if the batteries are fully charged it would not spin all that freely in the past.  Went to the power room and turned on the inverter to grab a little draw.  This would free up the turbine all other times and away she would spin.

Well after heading back outside to see if this fixed my problem I was able to see that she was still stalled.  Mmmm, ice I wondered, better go fo a climb and give it a swat.

Pulled out all the gear and went up.  This is where things became interesting.  The entire PMA section was a mess.  No longer able to turn freely by hand, but the magnet can now was lose and unable to even complete a single turn in either direction.  Ok, it's a shaft, bearing or magnet problem.  

Sent off photo's and email to obtain a RMA number.  Do you think that SWWP even has the time to get back to me?  Not like this is the first time I have sent them a message on the turbine in question.

Well thats my rant for the day.  You would think that Southwest Windpower would at least show a little interest in the customer after what they charge for a product that was to last for years.  Five year warranty, yup, I better RMA this thing every (6) six months just for preventitive reasons.

[DamonHD]

Are you positive they got your email?  They may get 10s of thousands of SPAMs a day like I do, and missing one real mail is real easy.  Follow up in another medium, eg a quick phone call.  All IMHO, etc...

Rgds

Damon

[esc]

I agree, they probably just lost your e-mail or something.   I know they can be hard to reach on the phone, be prepared for a long wait on hold, but it is probably worth the effort.  They have always treated me really well...once I got through.

They even replaced my Air 403, that was eaten by a hurricane (no fault of theirs), LONG after the warranty had expired.

[tmcmurran]

I sent a message to them a few months back regarding a grinding noise that turned into a mild vibration down the tower.  They did not respond to that one so I let it go as not an issue.  Now that the PMA section of the head is toast I sent off a few messages and photo's.

Later this afternoon I did hear back from SW, and have been informed to climb back up and check the welds at the hub.  If they are shot they will send a new head unit out right away.  Now just need to wait till I get back out and the weather clears enough to even get at it.

You really would think that they would have a few more people in tech support now that they seem to be expanding.

Guess I will see how things go now, but seems a little more promising then a week ago.

[jimjjnn]

I understand that they also monitor the Otherpower site.

Possibly, that may have helped

[dnix71]

They may be short handed like everyone else trying to stay in business now.

I wouldn't trust an email to get past spam filters. A phone call first is a better way, even if it costs you. You can call and tell them you want to send pix, that way they will be expecting the email and will read it.

I use a 1010 "dial around" number that only costs 8 cents a minute with no funny fees and no contract.

[wooferhound]

You could go to 2.5 cents a minute with ECG and not have to mess around with special numbers like 1010

http://www.saveonphone.com/

[DamonHD]

That does indeed sound more positive; hope it works out!

Rgds

Damon

[dnix71]

ECG charges 59c a month and 2.50 for a paper bill.

I already use ATT (Bellsouth) for local service. If I use 1016868 I pay 8c a minute, no minimum and no other fees at all, except the fed, state and local taxes that go with everything else on the bill

The connection isn't perfect and sometimes it's not available (like Mother's Day) when call traffic is heavy. I already get a paper bill from ATT, so there's no extra fee.

If you have a decent internet connection there is always VoIP.

[tmcmurran]

Well after my first posting on this matter I have been able to obtain a little information from them.  Now I just need to find the time and day weather permiting to remove the unit and send off some close up's of the condition (damage).  I was told that it would be replaced, so I will continue to hope for the best outcome.

Just may need to build a few DIY units to cover all my bases better now that economic factors have created the need rather then the desire.

[tmcmurran]

Thought that I would add a few images to this now that I have been able to pull the unit down.  First chance this year to do so since I noticed the problems with the turbine.  Even still it was blowing 60, with gusts to 70kmh yesterday with snow and rain when I did so.  Was not the best conditions, but I needed to get this mess fixed before summer.

 

Here you can see some of the damage inside the magnet can.  Not too sure if this will be ok and I can just bolt the can back inplace.  Seems that Southwest used forged bolts that really do not stand up too well to stress.  All three that held the magnet can inplace snapped causing the can to wobble and strike the inner core.  Ouch!  So I sent a number of hi-res images off to my friends at Southwest yesterday afternoon when I returned with the unit.  Lets see how this goes now.

[tmcmurran]

Thought I would add another image to show one of the sheard off forged bolts as well as the rust build up.  I have since spent the past two days cleaning the rust out, and still have to hear back from SWWP.  I hear they let 14 or 15 people go recently.  Not a good sign.

[tmcmurran]

Needed to add a few more photo's just to make it worth the read.

Here is the condition I found it once I pulled the magnet can off.

Here you can see the three holes that once held the forged bolts used to hold the magnet can on the unit.  Not such a bright idea for a "high wind" turbine.  The turbine was installed in July 2008, and this damage was noticed in Feb 2009.  So in just seven months is all it takes.

A little more of the inside the box conditions I am faced with.  No help from SWWP so far.  This bearing was the first to start to go.  When I contacted SWWP regarding this I never heard back from them till a few months ago.  Now with them not responding a simple fix has turned into all of this.

Broken and cracked magnets.

[TomW]

I am still wondering what the point is here?

What on earth made you think it was topical?

Crappy customer service seems to be the norm these days [no offense, Norm!].

Bitching here is somewhat useless since the people that run this site are actually more competitors of them than their support forum.

I did not read this whole boring tirade but if you did not write to them and call then you are to blame if you rely on this silly emailing them for support. Even my dog knows thats a waste of time.

I should have killed this when I first saw it but thats another mistake I will not repeat. This has no connection to this forum. We did not sell it, we do not do service for them and they are arguably competitors of those that pay for this site. That makes it totally off topic. Like going to a BF Goodrich forum to complain about your Firestone dealer not standing behind the junk Firestone sells, dontcha think?

Too late now, but a word to the wise.

T

[tmcmurran]

Before I posted this, I thought that you should read this -

Post Comment  

Please be nice. Flame wars and rude comments are NOT tolerated here, and the offending comments will be deleted immediately. Keep in mind that sarcastic and cynical comments that you might make in person (with a smile on your face!) often appear to be very rude on a discussion board.  

I needed to stop and think just a little before I replied to your spiteful take on a current issue experienced by a board member who I might add posted in the correct area (Rants and Opinion's).  Many would see your response as a resellers take on things.  You venture to say that I had not called.  Well after spending 2 hours and 45 mins on hold I decided to jump into the 21st century and email as I do with all business transactions.  Remember, the customer is always right if you ever want repeat business or referrals.  Messing with your customer base results in your business going under., plain and simple.

I am sorry; I thought that people involved in renewable energy would be a little more with it.  You know, out for the greater good of the earth, not worried about competition and marketing.  If anything a complaint against your competition should be seen as a good thing for your products if they are so important and great to you rather then informing the general public of a company or product that might not be as good as some would like us all to think.

I work and do not have the time to sit and drink beer all day in my hillside cabin building wind mills out of other people's trash to resell.  I paid thousands of dollars for a product that has not be in operation for a year yet, and now I see it sitting in my office in pieces.  As you know, the long weekend is right around the corner.  Now I will need to run a gas generator creating green house gases and noise that I tend to like to get away from when not working.

After 14 years as an Occupational Health and Safety Manager in the Oil and Gas Industry with a formal education in electrical engineering and high voltage I rather enjoy my free time without the hassles.  I purchased a unit which I was informed and shown to be from a reputable company.  The support I and others have been receiving has been fought at every step of the way.  Your analogy of tires is trite, and plays very little into the current issue.  You will remember the recall of tires on Fords Explorers; well you went to your car dealer, not the tire store.  This is a renewable/wind site, thus many readers might be interested in not only DIY, but manufactured units.  

You would think that people might like to know that a multi-million dollar company that just received a $10 Million dollar grant from the US tax payer would be able to handle a few emails if a product was as advertised, and not be so swamped with complaints that it takes over a week to respond to an ongoing issue.

I had a Skystream on order till yesterday, Cha-Ching, $16,450 with tower.  Now I will see what they do and base my next purchase on that.

That's my rant for the day.