Deltran Battery Tender

[MartyO]

My wife bought me the Deltran 10 bank battery tender.

Let me start by saying these things are not cheap but it sure is nice to have a single charger that can handle tne needs of my home shop.

Well unfortunately this weekend bank number 2 on the ten bank charger stopped working. Mind you this charger has been in service for about one month so that was kind of unexpected. I troubleshot the problem and it is in the charger and not the cables or the battery itself.

I called Deltran's "customer service" this morning and the gal who answered the phone was less than customer-oriented and did not have a good knowledge of their product or their warranty plan.

She advised me (in a rather nasty voice) that the warranty is two years (their website says three) and that there would be an automatic bench charge of $60, plus shipping.

I have no choice but to send the unit back for repair but a $60 charge for a one month old $750 list price item under warranty is BS.

I will update this thread to let you all know how this ends up.

Stay tuned.

 

[baugie]

Yeah....Battery Tenders are expensive. I use these (6 of them) much cheaper then BT and basically have the same specs.
http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductName=94026717

 

[zchrisz]

hmm, i bought a battery tender plus in november it's been in use since then, no issues. Works like a charm, so far happy with it. good luck

 

[HOTFR8]

I would think you should not have any problems. It is bad luck you struck some one that was not so customer friendly. I would keep at them and remind them of the issue and hopefully they will help you. Good Luck.

 

[PAToyota]

I've been using the same BatteryTender on my motorcycle for the past thirteen years without issues. Unfortunately, customer service seems to be an oxymoron for most businesses these days... I'd say call back and hope you get someone else that is more helpful.

 

[daveroy]

If you've only had it for one month, any chance of dealing directly with the vendor you purchased it from?

 

[HOTFR8]

If you've only had it for one month, any chance of dealing directly with the vendor you purchased it from?

I was going to add that to my comment.

 

[GTO]

The female you were talking to is probably the owners wife.I've spoken to her before.They really need to get some better tech support for their product.
I have one @ home and use 4 @ my shop.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

My wife bought me the Deltran 10 bank battery tender.

Let me start by saying these things are not cheap but it sure is nice to have a single charger that can handle tne needs of my home shop.

Well unfortunately this weekend bank number 2 on the ten bank charger stopped working. Mind you this charger has been in service for about one month so that was kind of unexpected. I troubleshot the problem and it is in the charger and not the cables or the battery itself.

I called Deltran's "customer service" this morning and the gal who answered the phone was less than customer-oriented and did not have a good knowledge of their product or their warranty plan.

She advised me (in a rather nasty voice) that the warranty is two years (their website says three) and that there would be an automatic bench charge of $60, plus shipping.

I have no choice but to send the unit back for repair but a $60 charge for a one month old $750 list price item under warranty is BS.

I will update this thread to let you all know how this ends up.

Stay tuned.

Did I miss something here?? Unit in service for one month yet it isn't within the 2yr(or 3yr warranty?) Was this unit purchased years ago then?


Anyway, my confusion aside, that's unfortunate to hear how your call with CS went. BTs are pretty good, been using two of them for the last 5yrs on motorcycles and anything else. Seems like they would hop to any unit of their that wasn't performing as well as their reputation.

 

[MartyO]

Well, I wrote a very fair letter to them with proof of purchase date and packed the unit up and sent it to them. They will have it in their hands on Friday.

I hope that they do the right thing. Time will tell.

I do like their product. I also havbe a 4 bank for the garage in my house and a one bank for something that may sit in the driveway. Those units have worked well and that is what prompted me to get the 10 bank.

I will post up when I hear back from them. In the meantime, I have my fingers crossed.

 

[MartyO]

If you've only had it for one month, any chance of dealing directly with the vendor you purchased it from?

Tried that first because they are an authorized Deltran distributor but was told that claims need to go through Deltran which is why I contacted Deltran.

 

[imom]

Deltran specifies even if it's warranty, there is a service charge. I just bought a single unit charger for my car. Works very well...I got it from amazon and through my credit card company...worse to comes to worse, you can use your credit card for warranty. My battery is well charged now.

 

[MartyO]

Deltran specifies even if it's warranty, there is a service charge. I just bought a single unit charger for my car. Works very well...I got it from amazon and through my credit card company...worse to comes to worse, you can use your credit card for warranty. My battery is well charged now.

For a charger with an MSRP of like $750, it is BS that they are going to charge me anything for a product that is less than a yea r old and in service for less than one month.

They have had my charger now for about 10 days so I am hoping to hear back from them soon.

And, like I said, I like the product (I have and use three different models of their chargers), but was taken aback by the lousy customer service.

 

[bart1]

Sorry to hear about that.

I have a Battery Tender Jr. Paid $26 for it 2-3 years ago and it has been great.

 

[MartyO]

Sorry to hear about that.

I have a Battery Tender Jr. Paid $26 for it 2-3 years ago and it has been great.

Of the three models I own, I never had a problem with the Jr.

I called Deltran this morning.

They said that my unit is on its way back and I should have it when i get home tonight. The customer service was way friendlier this time and they did not charge me for a bench charge or shipping, so so far I am happy.

I will post up again when I get the unit set back up in the shop.

 

[HOTFR8]

Sounds like a good result.

 

[GTO]

Of the three models I own, I never had a problem with the Jr.

I called Deltran this morning.

They said that my unit is on its way back and I should have it when i get home tonight. The customer service was way friendlier this time and they did not charge me for a bench charge or shipping, so so far I am happy.

I will post up again when I get the unit set back up in the shop.

Glad things worked out for the best.

 

[MartyO]

So when I got home tonight, the 10 bank was here, safe and sound.

They actually sent me an upgraded model with a warranty statement saying that units under one year old are warranted without charge!

The bottom-line is that the gal that I first spoke with was NOT knowledgable about their policies and procedures. I wish I got her name because I would let the owner of the company know that she personally was damaging his companies reputation.

All's well that end's well!

 

[IndyGarage]

I have a bunch of battery tenders that I've used over the years. They mostly all have worked fine.

I've looked at that 10 bank one, but I cannot figure out why there is no price reduction for a 10 bank unit over 10 singles. In fact it costs quite a bit more.

I haven't had much luck with battery tenders on AGM batteries, so this winter I bought a Battery Minder - which has an AGM setting and supposedly de-sulphates the battery as well as tending it. The one battery I tried it on was getting weak, and after a couple weeks on the battery minder, it seems good as new.

I don't think Deltran has done much in the way of product development in the past 15 years - the battery tenders you buy today seem exactly like the ones from 15 years ago. I think all my new purchases will be battery minders.

 

[MartyO]

I've looked at that 10 bank one, but I cannot figure out why there is no price reduction for a 10 bank unit over 10 singles. In fact it costs quite a bit more.

The good news is that you can get steep discounts if you don't buy direct from Deltran.

 

[Iggi]

The battery tender works great but i only use it to keep new batteries fully charged. The ones i buy now are battery minders because of the desulphation mode. It has actually brought back old dead batteries back to life. i buy old batteries from repair shops and the battery usually brings back about 6 or 7 out of every ten batteries i hook up to it. I love it.

http://batteryminders.com/batterycharger/home.php

 

[airbatica]

I've had both the Battery Tenders, and the Battery Minders. I much prefer the Battery Minders. My issue with the Deltran is, it tends to boil the water out of a battery fairly quickly if you don't keep a close eye on it. I only have to check the Battery Minders every 6 months, and seldom do I need to top them off.

 

[PSEUDOSENTIENT]

FWIW

I have the Battery Tender Plus; it has different charging modes that are supposed to keep a battery from over charging. Since my kids were born I don't get to ride my motorcycle like I used to, so I bought the charger. Its been plugged in for ten years and hasn't failed yet. Keeps the battery in great shape too!

If I recall correctly, Deltron or Delton or whatever the name is , is because they are built here in central Florida, in Deltona. Could be wrong about that.

 

[MartyO]

Deltran made good despite the original crappy customer service person.

The 10 bank is purring away in my shop hooked to 10 batteries, so I am happy.

 

[MartyO]

Okay, so my ten bank went down again.

I called Deltran and got to speak with the woman who runs the Warranty Department.

She was very concerned about my problem. She had me ship the unit back last week and I will have it repaired and back in my hands this week (probably tomorrow).

They made good on teh unit and they gave me free product to compensate me (they were willing to pay for shipping but I said just give me free product).

The service was much better this time. Very much better.

I can not wait to get the Battery Tender back. It is a great addition to the shop.

 

[5lima30]

Glad to hear you got it resolved! They are actually an an American company located in DeLand FL where I retired from. I can't speak from recent experience but prior to 2008 they were were a very solid company. I knew people that worked there, they had a very good benefits program including a great daycare for employees that was on-site! Hopefully they won't sell out like alot of other companies have to China. YMMV.

 

[MartyO]

Glad to hear you got it resolved! They are actually an an American company located in DeLand FL where I retired from. I can't speak from recent experience but prior to 2008 they were were a very solid company. I knew people that worked there, they had a very good benefits program including a great daycare for employees that was on-site! Hopefully they won't sell out like alot of other companies have to China. YMMV.

They made everything better than right.

I was very pleased and I let them know that.

The 10 bank is humming a long in my shop.