UGREEN defective UGREEN Nexode Power Bank 25000mAh 200W, will not warranty.

[USB100]

Name of Brand: UGREEN

 

 

Description of your issue:

I purchased a UGREEN Nexode Power Bank 25000mAh 200W with Smart Digital Displa from the Ugreen United States website. This was purchased on 8/22/24, I received the battery bank  on August 27th. It would not take a charge from any wall charger including a green wall charger,  multiple chargers and cable combinations were tried. the BATTERY BANK would not take a charge. I requested an RMA, To see the BATTERY BANK not working, here is the video of it not working: https://youtu.be/wyUvrbf445A  

 

Have you tried solving your issue through the brand's customer support channel? If so, what was the result?

I have tried to contact them, and have a very long email chain with them getting confused about the product I wanted replaced even though I sent them the invoice and order number. They kept asking the same questions over and over even with a clear answer, made me send them a video of the product not working, which is clear as can be, they then wanted me to send them another video because they can't tell from the video that I"m charging it through their own wall charger. I have spent hours of my life trying to get an RMA for a defective product and they just keep wanting the same information over and over without giving me a resolution, I finally asked to just return the product because I am tired of the back and forth, and I  am waiting on that answer. The text file attached has the entire (redacted) Email conversation. I will update this thread when I receive a response on returning it. 

 

What would an ideal resolution of your issue look like?

It should not take 10 emails back and forth to get an RMA on an obviously defective product, it should be contacting support, they give you an RMA or return and you're done. 

 

 

To be clear, I like the other product I have from them, which is a 100W wall charger, it's been great and reliable so far. but the customer service experience on the battery bank has been terrible. 

 

Final Product Update: 

 

 

Ugreen Email Conversation.txt

Edited September 27 by USB100

[SpaceGhostC2C]

It's besides the point, but AFAIK only the first port you tried is IN/OUT, the second one is OUT only. That may explain the odd behavior when plugging it there. It recognizes correctly that you are plugging a charger in it, ("C2 IN"), so it shouldn't cause any issues, but probably won't charge either, and I wouldn't make much out of the erratic charge reporting. I'd focus on its behavior when using the first port. Have you tried leaving it plugged there for some time too?

Anyway, I hope they take care of your case soon.

[wanderingfool2]

Not saying I doubt you, but you might want to make a video of the issue you are experiencing that also shows things that will be useful to them.

 

Specifically, seeing your original video the first few things I thought [and this is just if I were to view the video and nothing else].  It does look like you were trying to charge it from the hub [again this is video only, not the messages] and you didn't power cycle it.

 

As an example of what I would show, and maybe you might consider as it will give you a better leverage to show what is going wrong.

 

1) Plug in a device like a phone and show it's not receiving a charge from the device

2) Power cycle it [hold the button for 6 seconds...although maybe for purposes of this a bit longer, then turn it back on]

3) Plug in a device again and show it's not charging

4) Plug it into the charger [and the key show that it's plugged into a wall socket].  Then show what you showed, the 0% and the 100% when plugged into different ports.  Then finally show that the cable/charger you used will charge something like a phone  

 

That would hopefully give them enough information that they can't avoid admitting an issue

 

2 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

It's besides the point, but AFAIK only the first port you tried is IN/OUT, the second one is OUT only. That may explain the odd behavior when plugging it there. It recognizes correctly that you are plugging a charger in it, ("C2 IN"), so it shouldn't cause any issues, but probably won't charge either, and I wouldn't make much out of the erratic charge reporting. I'd focus on its behavior when using the first port. Have you tried leaving it plugged there for some time too?

Anyway, I hope they take care of your case soon.

Looking at the specs, seems like both should accept power in.

[Kenji_]

Quote

To be clear, I like the other product I have from them, which is a 100W wall charger, it's been great and reliable so far. but the customer service experience on the battery bank has been terrible. 

 

Yeah they're great when they work. But warranty is non-existent 
You'll have to go thru hoops to even get an RMA and then they'll say your warranty is voided at that point.

[USB100]

On 9/4/2024 at 12:03 PM, SpaceGhostC2C said:

It's besides the point, but AFAIK only the first port you tried is IN/OUT, the second one is OUT only. That may explain the odd behavior when plugging it there. It recognizes correctly that you are plugging a charger in it, ("C2 IN"), so it shouldn't cause any issues, but probably won't charge either, and I wouldn't make much out of the erratic charge reporting. I'd focus on its behavior when using the first port. Have you tried leaving it plugged there for some time too?

Anyway, I hope they take care of your case soon.

I did try leaving it plugged in for about 2 hours on 3 different chargers on that port, according to the user manual it said both are abled to be used as power input at 65W: 

USB-C1: 5V3A 9V3A 12V3A 15V/3A 20V/3.25A 65W Max USB-C2: 5V3A 9V3A 12V3A 15V/3A 20V/3.25A 65W Max

I am trying to return it now since they supposedly have a 30 day money back guarantee. Because it doesn't work and I don't have hours to mess around with it. 

 

On 9/4/2024 at 2:27 PM, wanderingfool2 said:

Not saying I doubt you, but you might want to make a video of the issue you are experiencing that also shows things that will be useful to them.

 

Specifically, seeing your original video the first few things I thought [and this is just if I were to view the video and nothing else].  It does look like you were trying to charge it from the hub [again this is video only, not the messages] and you didn't power cycle it.

 

As an example of what I would show, and maybe you might consider as it will give you a better leverage to show what is going wrong.

 

1) Plug in a device like a phone and show it's not receiving a charge from the device

2) Power cycle it [hold the button for 6 seconds...although maybe for purposes of this a bit longer, then turn it back on]

3) Plug in a device again and show it's not charging

4) Plug it into the charger [and the key show that it's plugged into a wall socket].  Then show what you showed, the 0% and the 100% when plugged into different ports.  Then finally show that the cable/charger you used will charge something like a phone  

 

That would hopefully give them enough information that they can't avoid admitting an issue

 

Looking at the specs, seems like both should accept power in.

I understand they maybe want more information, but from a customer perspective, it shouldn't be my job to diagnose what is wrong with it, if it doesn't work they should send it to their engineers who should be able to analyze the issue. They also couldn't understand what product I was trying to RMA, I have had to return things that didn't work from other companies, if it doesn't work, you send it back and they send you a new one once they get it back. I am very disappointed with green customer service, maybe I'm biased, but I think my emails were clear, they had the order number, the link to the invoice etc were all present.

 

[wanderingfool2]

4 hours ago, USB100 said:

I understand they maybe want more information, but from a customer perspective, it shouldn't be my job to diagnose what is wrong with it, if it doesn't work they should send it to their engineers who should be able to analyze the issue. They also couldn't understand what product I was trying to RMA, I have had to return things that didn't work from other companies, if it doesn't work, you send it back and they send you a new one once they get it back. I am very disappointed with green customer service, maybe I'm biased, but I think my emails were clear, they had the order number, the link to the invoice etc were all present.

Not saying that it's right what they are doing.  Just saying what you should do to essentially eliminate all the potential options for them to come back.

 

You won't believe the amount of times I get out to a service call because xyz isn't worked; and despite asking them to check the cables and getting the whole "I checked it" only to do a site visit, plug it in and it works.  It's why the whole "have you turned it off and on" is such a common thing, doesn't matter if you did it and did basic level checking to ensure it worked.  I can guarantee that 90% of people don't do the basic level stuff.

 

So that's why I was suggesting to make a video that show things like that, as it covers all the basics of what could be wrong and eliminates the whole thing of them second guessing if the user actually tried things.

 

e.g. You showed clicking the button, but no where in any of your dialogue or on video did you actually attempt to turn off and then turn on the battery bank. [Which in this case it would be holding the power button for the 6 seconds]

[PDifolco]

Getting warranty accepted from manufacturers is so bad overall now (with some exceptions, companies like Phanteks, Noctua, Thermal Grizzly ) that I try to get everything from Amazon, the 1 month return policy no question asked ensures I'll have at least something working...

[USB100]

Update:
I heard back from Ugreen and am grateful for the complete response.

Quote

Since we gave you the return address last time, we have not received your reply.
Recently, we found that you posted about this matter in the forum.
First of all, I am sorry that you are not satisfied with our warranty service.
From your perspective, I can understand your feelings.
As a consumer, you certainly hope that the merchant can deal with the problem quickly and provide a good solution as soon as possible.
However please also try to understand that if the customer reports that there is a quality problem with the product, we need a complete video to determine the problem and we will also feedback the relevant content to the engineer for testing.
Because there are many reasons for a product to have problems, perhaps the method of use or other wires connected to the device.
For this, we need customers to record a complete video for us to eliminate all these doubts and confirm that it is our product problem.
Just like the following message in your post:

After that, we can refund or reissue the customer.
We also attach great importance to the RMA issue you mentioned, but if it can be determined that it is a product problem before the return, the customer does not need to send the product back.
Also, different platforms have different return methods.
We do not have an RMA return policy for all channels.
Finally, if you have 100% determined that the power bank is the problem, but you just did not record the entire troubleshooting process for us, we can resend or refund you which is your choice.
Looking forward to your reply!

I am still frustrated with the whole process, but they are doing their best to make it right, I did respond with some specific feedback and suggestions for their RMA process, it may be of limited or no benefit to them because I'm not part of the company or know their side of it and I am just one customer, but hopefully it can help them smooth out the process for the next person. 

 

The main frustration is being asked 3+ times for the same information and unclear expectations for the troubleshooting video, and then asked to make another video because the first one wasn't good enough. 
For context, these were their only instructions:

Quote

"Charger could not work?
So sorry to hear it,
Could you just send us a video to show the problems?
Pls no worry. We have 2 years warranty time and we will try best to solve the problem for you."

 

I like my green charger and it works really well, and I was excited about the battery bank but I don't know if I want to even go back and try again in case I get the 0.1% of faulty products and have to deal with this again. 

On 9/10/2024 at 5:18 PM, wanderingfool2 said:

Not saying that it's right what they are doing.  Just saying what you should do to essentially eliminate all the potential options for them to come back.

 

You won't believe the amount of times I get out to a service call because xyz isn't worked; and despite asking them to check the cables and getting the whole "I checked it" only to do a site visit, plug it in and it works.  It's why the whole "have you turned it off and on" is such a common thing, doesn't matter if you did it and did basic level checking to ensure it worked.  I can guarantee that 90% of people don't do the basic level stuff.

 

So that's why I was suggesting to make a video that show things like that, as it covers all the basics of what could be wrong and eliminates the whole thing of them second guessing if the user actually tried things.

 

e.g. You showed clicking the button, but no where in any of your dialogue or on video did you actually attempt to turn off and then turn on the battery bank. [Which in this case it would be holding the power button for the 6 seconds]

I definitely get where you're coming from, and if there were clear expectations of what they want that would be helpful. I know I can go and make a documentary about troubleshooting it, and if I was asking for them to just send me a new one, that would be reasonable, but again, if they just want to be sure the product is faulty, giving clear instructions and expectations. 

[wanderingfool2]

44 minutes ago, USB100 said:

I definitely get where you're coming from, and if there were clear expectations of what they want that would be helpful. I know I can go and make a documentary about troubleshooting it, and if I was asking for them to just send me a new one, that would be reasonable, but again, if they just want to be sure the product is faulty, giving clear instructions and expectations. 

Not entirely sure it's even about troubleshooting; but more along the aspect that they need to make sure it is broken [as again, you won't believe how many people claim something is broken only to realize later that they had to lets say hold the power button].

 

Not saying their email responses weren't terrible, as they are, but I've learned if you start getting a bit of pushback it's always good to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed so to speak; as it really doesn't give them any wiggle room but admitting fault.

 

Actually, that's generally why I also lay out in the majority of emails with the basic information for them to look up [when I know that it might involve new people each time].

 

Like

Hello,

 

My name is __, I purchased product ___, Order ID ___, and would like to report that said device is broken... [ongoing].

 

Then at the end near my signature I relay all the information again in an easy to use list

Order ID: ____

Product: ___

Account #: ____

etc.

 

Even when customer service is terrible, I find doing things like that speeds things along [and generally the CS people are more receptive].  Even in follow up emails, I would include the list at the end so that if it gets passed to a new rep they don't have to go digging through all the email chain.

 

The above isn't about your writing though and UGreen's terrible CS...just a thing to note as I do find it makes even terrible CS at least a bit more quick.

[USB100]

Ugreen has finally processed my refund, and I’m relieved that the issue has been resolved. However, the entire process was far from smooth. From the time I first received the defective product, it took a total of 27 days and required 11 emails back and forth to finally get the refund. On top of that, I had to cover the return shipping costs, which was an added frustration, especially given that the product was defective to begin with.

 

While I’ve now accepted the refund and am glad it’s been taken care of, the experience was overall quite frustrating. I sincerely hope that Ugreen considers revisiting their customer service process to ensure smoother and more efficient handling of defective products in the future. Clearer expectations, better communication, and a more straightforward refund or replacement system would greatly improve the experience for customers facing similar issues.

[wanderingfool2]

57 minutes ago, USB100 said:

Ugreen has finally processed my refund, and I’m relieved that the issue has been resolved. However, the entire process was far from smooth. From the time I first received the defective product, it took a total of 27 days and required 11 emails back and forth to finally get the refund. On top of that, I had to cover the return shipping costs, which was an added frustration, especially given that the product was defective to begin with.

 

While I’ve now accepted the refund and am glad it’s been taken care of, the experience was overall quite frustrating. I sincerely hope that Ugreen considers revisiting their customer service process to ensure smoother and more efficient handling of defective products in the future. Clearer expectations, better communication, and a more straightforward refund or replacement system would greatly improve the experience for customers facing similar issues.

Wait was it international shipping or did you move to another country after purchase?

 

If not, their warranty agreement [at least the one I've clicked on] states that you shouldn't have to pay for shipping it back to them.  [With the other exception being if the product you returned wasn't defective]

https://www.ugreen.com/pages/warranty

Warranty | UGREEN US

Quote

Shipping Costs Must Be Covered by Buyer in the Following Situations

* Returning products for any reason other than a proven defect.

* Warranty claims on items taken outside the original country of purchase.

* Returning items claimed to have defects but found by Ugreen quality control to be in working condition.

* Returning defective items in international shipping.

* Costs associated with unauthorized returns (any returns made outside of the approved warranty process).

So yea, if you are in the US, and purchased from the US, and they offered a refund for the defective product they aren't entitled to make you pay for the shipping.  You should be entitled for your shipping cost to be covered [unless they deem the product is not defective]

[USB100]

56 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

Wait was it international shipping or did you move to another country after purchase?

 

If not, their warranty agreement [at least the one I've clicked on] states that you shouldn't have to pay for shipping it back to them.  [With the other exception being if the product you returned wasn't defective]

https://www.ugreen.com/pages/warranty

Warranty | UGREEN US

So yea, if you are in the US, and purchased from the US, and they offered a refund for the defective product they aren't entitled to make you pay for the shipping.  You should be entitled for your shipping cost to be covered [unless they deem the product is not defective]

I should be entitled to it, but I'm honestly done with going back and forth, the cost of my time dealing with it is way higher than the cost of just shipping it back. It wasn't international shipping nor did I move, but they haven't deemed if it's defective or not yet because they have to ship it from the warehouse to someplace with an engineer I believe. But, I doubt I will see it if I don't make a concerted effort to get shipping covered that they will cover it unfortunately, which at this point is fine, I am cutting my losses and moving on. 

[wanderingfool2]

1 hour ago, USB100 said:

I should be entitled to it, but I'm honestly done with going back and forth, the cost of my time dealing with it is way higher than the cost of just shipping it back. It wasn't international shipping nor did I move, but they haven't deemed if it's defective or not yet because they have to ship it from the warehouse to someplace with an engineer I believe. But, I doubt I will see it if I don't make a concerted effort to get shipping covered that they will cover it unfortunately, which at this point is fine, I am cutting my losses and moving on. 

True, might not hurt sending a quick email saying if they will refund the shipping when it's received and verified to be defective as per their warranty agreement.  Only takes a minute to do, and if nothing comes of it nothing comes of it [but at least you get to effectively alert LMG that UGreen is even worse of a company if they don't refund you shipping costs on a broken product]