I have recommended Smokeless Image to many people, not least because of your stellar customer service reputation; however, one of my friends recently related an experience with SI support that I found rather concerning, and which has turned her from an SI loyalist to a detractor, and gives me pause in recommending SI to others, though we may reconsider our opinions if this matter can be resolved satisfactorily. I only raise this issue here, after emails and phone calls to SI have failed, in hopes of clarifying what I suspect has been some simple miscommunication about the nature of her issue (cf. ticket ESY-76621, re: order 1200015016).
She had a 1300 mAh Volt X2 manual battery fail shortly before its warranty period expired, which in itself is not a concern, as SI has excellent repute in fulfilling warranty claims. However, the replacement unit she received was DOA. Of course, being familiar with the 5-click master power feature, her first inclination was that the unit was simply switched off, but giving the button 5 clicks did not activate the unit, even after trying several times. Her next inclination was that the battery was simply discharged, so she connected it to her X2 charger; however, this made the battery quickly become too hot to touch, so she unplugged the charger and, after waiting for the battery to cool down, cautiously tried activating it again, still to no avail.
Here's where things became troubling. By the time she got around to contacting SI support to get a working re-replacement for the DOA replacement she'd received, her original battery's warranty had expired by then. She was informed that no replacement would be issued because the original unit's warranty had expired, and replacement units do not get a new warranty period of their own. While that policy is reasonable as a matter of general principle, she's not filing a warranty claim on the replacement unit; she's just seeking actual, effective fulfillment of her original claim filed within the original warranty period, which entitles her to a working replacement for the original battery. Sending a DOA replacement unit does not let SI off the hook for providing a working replacement for the original battery which failed during warranty.
She had a 1300 mAh Volt X2 manual battery fail shortly before its warranty period expired, which in itself is not a concern, as SI has excellent repute in fulfilling warranty claims. However, the replacement unit she received was DOA. Of course, being familiar with the 5-click master power feature, her first inclination was that the unit was simply switched off, but giving the button 5 clicks did not activate the unit, even after trying several times. Her next inclination was that the battery was simply discharged, so she connected it to her X2 charger; however, this made the battery quickly become too hot to touch, so she unplugged the charger and, after waiting for the battery to cool down, cautiously tried activating it again, still to no avail.
Here's where things became troubling. By the time she got around to contacting SI support to get a working re-replacement for the DOA replacement she'd received, her original battery's warranty had expired by then. She was informed that no replacement would be issued because the original unit's warranty had expired, and replacement units do not get a new warranty period of their own. While that policy is reasonable as a matter of general principle, she's not filing a warranty claim on the replacement unit; she's just seeking actual, effective fulfillment of her original claim filed within the original warranty period, which entitles her to a working replacement for the original battery. Sending a DOA replacement unit does not let SI off the hook for providing a working replacement for the original battery which failed during warranty.
