EV charger out of warranty but only broke after the company updated it.

Aspeight

I bought an EV charger from OHME 3 years ago. They no longer make this particular charger.
It worked well until 2 days ago when it stopped connecting to the internet and so was no longer 'smart'. It does still charge a car but not how it is meant to. 
2 days ago I also received an email from the company saying they had updated the charger remotely. They said that if it appeared 'offline' to do various things which I tried. They tried to reset something from their end but have now said it is a 'legacy model' and have offered a discount on an expensive replacement but would still land me substantially out of pocket.

It appears as though it was working perfectly till their update. I have read the article on MSE about 'how long do you have to take faulty goods back but realise it is from 2013 and things have changed. I could not see new information on products having to last a 'reasonable time'. A quick google does suggest an EV charger should last a lot longer than 3 years.

Do I have any rights in this circumstance? 

Aylesbury_Duck

These things are tricky, from my recollection of similar threads about security cameras and other devices that "go dumb" or simply stop working after an update.

Fundamentally, it's not entirely faulty - it still charges the car.   I suppose it may no longer be fit for the purpose for which it was purchased.  What do the terms and conditions of the smart functionality/subscription say?  Do they mention future obsolescence?  There might be something in there covering them because as products and software become increasingly complex, and security updates need rolling out, hardware becomes unable to support the software update or the company can no longer support legacy equipment in accordance with laws around data protection and security.

I'd try and exercise consumer rights in the first instance and see what they say.  Forget the warranty, that's a different route that's probably of no help.  They've acknowledged the problem was caused by their update, so you could push for a replacement or refund.  They can temper the cost of the solution to reflect the age of the product. How much did you pay three years ago and how much are they offering by way of a discount on a replacement?  It might be reasonable but if it's not, you can ask for more.

If none of that is successful, I don't know the precise workings of the system and how it's connected to mains power, but if it's simply a case of being able to remotely start/stop charging from an app, is there a straightforward and cheap fix where the charger is always on but is plugged into a smart plug or similar device that itself can be remotely switched on and off?

born_again

Which model it it you have?


Update that came out the other day was to change some settings that people should not have been using on certain tariffs. 
Such as Octopus Intelligent Go, where people were setting a price cap/not having dynamic charging set, which stopped Octopus from controlling the Ohme wall box, which is part of the T/C so that it can give charging slots during the day, rather than just in the off peak times.

For your consumer rights you would need to go back to the installer.

Not sure on older models, but OHME use SIM & mobile network for connection to their servers.

Jenni_D

born_again said:

Which model it it you have?


Update that came out the other day was to change some settings that people should not have been using on certain tariffs. 
Such as Octopus Intelligent Go, where people were setting a price cap/not having dynamic charging set, which stopped Octopus from controlling the Ohme wall box, which is part of the T/C so that it can give charging slots during the day, rather than just in the off peak times.

For your consumer rights you would need to go back to the installer.

Not sure on older models, but OHME use SIM & mobile network for connection to their servers.

Assuming it was bought via the installer, and not bought directly by the OP and the installer just fitted and tested it. 👍

born_again

Jenni_D said:

born_again said:

Which model it it you have?


Update that came out the other day was to change some settings that people should not have been using on certain tariffs. 
Such as Octopus Intelligent Go, where people were setting a price cap/not having dynamic charging set, which stopped Octopus from controlling the Ohme wall box, which is part of the T/C so that it can give charging slots during the day, rather than just in the off peak times.

For your consumer rights you would need to go back to the installer.

Not sure on older models, but OHME use SIM & mobile network for connection to their servers.

Assuming it was bought via the installer, and not bought directly by the OP and the installer just fitted and tested it. 👍

Good point 👍
Or think about it 3 years ago could also be one that car manufacture or dealer supplied as part of car purchase.

Hopefully OP will come back & advise. 

EVcharger_truther

Hi, sorry to hear that- good luck in getting a resolution.

I have a similar problem but this time it's IN WARANTEE and they won't replace it or refund. I would recommend avoiding the company EO. I had the EO Mini Pro 2 for almost 2 1/2 years. It would occasionally trip the circuit breaker, but over time this problem got worse so it was happening 1 or 2 times a week- quite frustrating when planning a trip to wake up to the car not charged. I contacted the installer (electrical contractor) who put me on to EO customer service. I called them a couple of times, and tried their bot on the website, but technical took over 2 months to get back to me, and in the meantime I had gone ahead with a different installer to remove the charger and replace it with a different companies' charger. They won't refund or take the faulty equipment back because I didn't use their approved installer to remove it. But I wasn't going to wait because the EO wasn't working reliably.

Chatting to my new installer, he said that the charger companies vary a lot in how good their after-sales service is. EO are clearly one of the bad ones. So far I've been happy with my GivEnergy charger, integrated with my solar and inverter also from them. I think it's one of those times where the cheapest is not the best.