[Robert Tomlinson]

Can anyone offer assistance please? I have a Mitsubishi Outlander and my Pod Point was installed in late 2018 although not used until March 2019 when I moved into my house.

I have reported a fault to Pod Point but despite a considerable number of emails they are not responding and so I am resigned to the fact that the company is unwilling or unable to offer support.

The problem is a simple one. The connector does not connect cleanly to the charging port on my car. I would normally expect the catch to click into place and the charge to start but this does not happen. When it worked satisfactorily there would be a continuous red charging light on the vehicles dashboard; now, with the fault, there is a flickering red light and no charge is delivered.

The only response of any substance I have received from the company was a fix involving sending firmware to the device. I think the response was probably facetious as my description of the issue supported by a video suggests that it is a hardware issue.

Does anyone know of a private contractor who can offer support? I welcome any suggestions.

 

[davesul]

Are you able to apply pressure to the connector when plugged in - it may not be seating correctly which might explain the poor connection. I believe some people apply a light film of silicone grease to the connector outer surface to allow easier physical mating / removal of the mating connector parts.

 

[Robert Tomlinson]

Thanks for your reply. Yes I apply pressure to to the connector when plugged in. It does not offer any resistance and so I dont think silicone grease will make much difference although I shall give it a try. There seems to be quite a bit of "purchase" and the holding clip does not attach as it should no matter how hard I apply pressure.

 

[freddym]

It's a tethered charger?

If so, probably cheapest fix is to just change the cable.

I know this will grate, but probably cheaper and more effective than getting a contractor to investigate.

 

[Spiny]

If the install was with the OLEV grant then there is a 3 year warranty, this is required for the grant.

Have you tried with another Type 1 plug? A local (older) Leaf / Mitsubishi /Ampera owner will have a cable / charge point and you might be able borrow / try out the Outlander.
One thing that can happen is gunge / dead insects etc in the socket preventing the plug going fully home. Bamboo Skewers are useful

 

[freddym]

If the install was with the OLEV grant then there is a 3 year warranty, this is required for the grant.

Have you tried with another Type 1 plug? A local (older) Leaf / Mitsubishi /Ampera owner will have a cable / charge point and you might be able borrow / try out the Outlander.
One thing that can happen is gunge / dead insects etc in the socket preventing the plug going fully home. Bamboo Skewers are useful

The Mitsubishi has a flap with a seal over the type 1 socket so there shouldn't be any dead insects involved.

Has the plug been dropped? Ever?

 

[Hilltop Dave]

For my Nissan Type2 - Type1 lead, on the Type1 connector there is a rubber sealing ring within the connector which can get displaced


This can be reseated after removing the inner sleeve (two side clips will need to be pressed inwards to release the inner sleeve:

I don't know if this helps, or applies to your tethered Type1 connector.

 

[Robert Tomlinson]

Thanks guys I really appreciate your replies. I have two other Type 1 plugs. One is the plug that came with the Mitsubishi charger and the other is one I purchased to connect to charging points (such as the one at my local Asda) that do not have their own leads. Both connect perfectly. The connector has not been dropped and there are no dead insects.
It is a tethered charger on the Pod Point. I am a bit reluctant to tinker with it and attempt to replace the connector although I did find websites earlier today that offer connectors to purchase. If ever Pod Point woke up to that fact that they have a dissatisfied customer, warranty avoidance would be a credible excuse.
Thanks for the comments on the warranty. I did write to Pod Point asking for the email address of their founder and CEO Eric Fairburn as I wanted to relate my support experience to him. They did not reply. I suppose another possibility is to complain to the grant provider but I shall only take this step as a last resort. I dont want to do this for the time being if Pod Point are genuinely having staffing issues arising out of the Covid 19 crisis. On the other hand my unanswered issue originated a considerable number of weeks ago and it sticks in the claw when my emails are ignored.

 

[Spiny]

the tethered type1 cables turn up in the classifieds here and on Ebay where folks have changed to a type 2 cable for their new cars. Worth a look.

 

[andyswarbs]

I have reported a fault to Pod Point but despite a considerable number of emails they are not responding and so I am resigned to the fact that the company is unwilling or unable to offer support

When complaining forget email or telephone - complete waste of energy. Twitter rules everytime. https://twitter.com/Pod_Point

As an example I recently tried to get airline refunds from BA & Iberia by phone and email over several days, following the prescribed methods. All to know avail, apart from rapidly building frustration. With twitter both replied positively within 1/2 day, problem solved.

I can repeat with many examples if my memory serves me. Twitter rules for complaining, getting refunds. End of.

 

[Robert Tomlinson]

Thanks for that. I have written to Eric Fairburn CEO of Pod Point seeking his assistance and copying a link to this thread. I am hopeful that Mr Fairburn will respond in a positive manner in which case I shall post an update. I do not want to unfairly tarnish the reputation of this company if there is a genuine reason as to why it is not offering support to me at this time.

 

[Robert Tomlinson]

Well, no reply from Mr Fairburn, the Chief Executive Officer. The company did respond last week blaming an error in their systems "causing us to lose track of old cases". They sent an engineer to my house to remove the defective lead and replace it with a new one.
I breathed a sigh of relief at this development until I discovered that Pod Point had provided a Type 2 lead whereas my vehicle requires a Type 1 lead. Its strange that they did not consult their records before dispatching the lead.
So the engineer had to disconnect it and put the old one back on which he confirmed was inoperative ('one hundred percent' to use his words).
So its back to square one, I am afraid.
I have written to Pod Point once again and the engineer, contract by Pod Point, agreed to do likewise. I have hitherto experienced an unfortunate lack of response but I shall persevere for the moment.
In the meantime I continue to use the charger provided by Mitsubishi. It is slower and not as good as the Pod Point Charger (when it worked).