I won't even try to say this is 2 cents anymore, here's another buck fifty or so for what it's worth...
Ah, thanks everyone, I sit corrected on that issue. I must have read the few 'lucky ones' who did receive return postage... I also think I understand both the business decision on their part, and the inevitable negative reaction customers would have for having to pay for mistakes that aren't the customers' fault in the first place...
As to being lucky about the batteries, I had purchased only ashcaps for the most part, and after diamonds came out was going to upgrade a few, but ended up waiting a bit longer and then ended up getting the OMG mod when it was available. The ashcaps have all been great, I have had about 2 dozen of them with no issues... I hear the KDs are great too, just never managed to order any. So yeah, I guess I am lucky; and this helps me to appreciate that a fair number of other people haven't been. I of course have no metric on how many bad ones have happened with these last new models, but I certainly have seen many comments from customers about issues with them.
I do also see V4L stepping in to assure us they are aware of the problems, and that they are continuing to improve their products and take steps to remedy these problems. While I don't see them respond to every post, I do see them make occasional statements to let us know what is happening and assuring us that they care. I believe them on both counts, for my own opinion. I don't expect them to respond to every post in this way, as, from a business point of view they need to answer very carefully, and this can be very time consuming. For the most part, it seems to me I've seen them respond in at least one relevant thread for most issues brought up.
I appreciate their drive to continually innovate (which will virtually always end up having some issues crop up in initial production runs); given how young this industry and these brand new products are, these types of things are inevitable. In the computer software world, there is a generic saying "Never buy v1.0 of anything", and another, for MS especially, that says "wait until at least Service Pack 1 is released before you even install this app."
I think a similar amount of caution and thought is prudent here (and this is why I stayed with XL Ashcap batteries for so long; it was a proven good system that worked for me.) I'll admit I did jump the gun when I ordered the VK-OMG without doing enough research, but in the end I was very happy with it as well, and will keep it as a backup even though I've moved on to other PVs now.
I guess bottom line is some of this equipment is bleeding-edge technology, and when you are a 'first adopter', there are going to be certain risks. Buggy equipment/software is usually high on the list of issues, so no surprises here...
I humbly suggest they consider moving Titan Autos to the Weekly Specials, and include a note in the product description mentiong use of tanks/dripping and basically keeping juice out of the holes at all costs, if the problem rate with the units is significantly high enough. ( I have no data on this, just throwing it out there...)
