Warning! anker refurbished products beware!

#1

I took advantage of what sounded like a neat deal, a Certified Pre-Owned PowerHouse for $319 with free shipping. Upon receipt, I noticed that it would not charge. I had to put pressure on the cord for the blue power light to start, so this is defective right out of the box. “CERTIFIED” Pre-Owned. I contacted support and asked for a replacement. They asked me if I would try a new power source first. A good company takes care of things right away, but they wanted to play around and try this other option first, not accepting fault. This was ordered June 19. I received the new power supply and sure enough, the fault is in the unit itself, not the power supply. Frustrated, I asked to return it for a full refund. If these are supposedly fully refurbished and “good as new”, CERTIFIED, what trust do I have that the next one will be ok and with just a 3 month warranty? I don’t feel good about it any longer. I want my money back so I can purchase a different brand. Telling them this, they decided to retaliate and I received this email:

Dear Eric S,

**Thank you for your response. **

**I understand your frustration in this case, but I am sorry to say we are only able to offer replacements at this time, and cannot issue a refund. **

Again, I am truly sorry for the disappointment, and I hope a replacement will meet your needs. If there was more I could do in this case, I would.

We will issue a replacement to you after we receive the return package, and am looking forward to your response.

Shelly
Ticket#XXXXXXX
AnkerDirect Customer Support

Before, the emails were about how they “stand behind their products” and “please give us another chance to wow you”, but now it’s basically, we got your money, too bad, so sad, you can only accept another potentially defective “certified pre-owned” product. Best of luck to you.

This is pretty poor customer service from a company I used to respect. Be warned! I am going to escalate the email to management to see if they decide to stand by their website which reads:

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee for Any Reason
You may return your undamaged product and packaging within 30 days of purchase to receive a FULL REFUND for any reason. If the reason for return isn’t quality-related, the customer must pay the return shipping costs.

If anyone wants to see screen shots of the full email convo, let me know.

-Eric

#2

Thanks for taking the time to share your situation. Seriously, we appreciate it. This should probably (but likely won’t be) be pinned globally just so everyone’s aware that things like this can and do happen - @ndalby @technicallywell @AnkerOfficial. Fortunately, cases like yours seem to be few and far between.

From my many encounters with Anker’s support team, I am confident that their management will get it all straightened out with you, and hopefully leave you more than satisfied in the end (would you accept a refund and replacement unit?). It’s interesting that the pre-owned products don’t qualify for the 30-day money-back program. And finally, yes, this seems to hurt the credibility of the certified refurbished products. I hope Anker will make more thorough checks going forward (or at least avoid not checking them at all). But maybe it’s just one of those freak incidents where it died via shipment.

As far as the request to try another power source, it’s often necessary because you always get the occasional customer that has very little to no technical knowledge. It sometimes helps if you say that you have already checked in the initial email.

Also, just for future reference, if you’re looking for a faster solution, there’s always the option to call. Of course, it’s not always as convenient.

Sorry to hear about your experience thus far, and here’s to hoping it improves dramatically sooner rather than later,

Josh

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#3

Where does it say that refurbs don’t qualify for the 30 day money back guarantee?

#4

We will take care of all quality-related issues with a REPLACEMENT or FULL REFUND including any return shipping costs. Please note: Any provided shipping labels must be used within 20 days of purchase.

https://www.anker.com/deals/refurbished?country=US

Worry-free 90-day warranty

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#5

I was going to screen shot the original message, but it was via their support link and so the first message in my email chain is the first reply from Anker. But in it, I did state exactly what the issue is. I told them I was a bit perplexed that upon plugging in the charger, it gave me no indication that it was charging. It was at 44%, but nothing lit up to say it was charging after plugging it in, even though the charger had a green light on it. I walked away for 45 mins - 1 hour, checked it and it was still 44%. It was then I knew something was up. I looked all over to see if there was a button to press or something and it was only after I started fiddling around with the cord that I noticed a small blue light below this outlet pop on and off. After fiddling with it more I realized the light turned on when I held pressure to the cord and then off again when I let go.

I had an issue with a photography LED light from Rotolight. The thing just stopped working. I emailed them and explained the situation. Their tech asked me to record a small video so he could see the issue. After seeing it, he confirmed it was the unit itself and gave me the info to send it in for replacement. Within 4 days I had a BRAND NEW unit and not just the unit itself, but the full package with a new ballhead, filters, power supply, the whole shebang. I was blown away by that. There’s a company I’ll continue to support since they really do stand by their products and took care of me. Anker? I’m really disappointed at the moment. I hope it’s just Shelly, the rep who is ill advised and their management comes in and says, no no, sorry, we will take care of this HOWEVER you wish. I’ve purchased several of their products before. Hopefully they can make things right here.

#6

Sorry for the poor experience you have had, and I will say this is not the norm. I will tag @ankerofficial and @AnkerSupport hopefully they can help get this resolved for you.

1 Like
#7

Anker comes through. Appreciate the support, all.

Dear Eric S,

Thanks for escalating this case and letting us know your issue.

We regret to hear that your powerhouse cannot be recharged and so sorry for any unpleasant experience brought to you. Rest assured that there is no problem to return the powerhouse for a full refund.

We indeed offer 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee for Any Reason as we claimed, so sorry for the confusion in the previous email. I will forward this information to Shelly to avoid the same thing happen again. Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention, we truly appreciate it.

Please return the powerhouse and its accessories to us with the prepaid shipping label we sent (we attached in this email again). Once we receive the return package, we will issue a refund to you. If not, please feel free to get back to us.

I am truly sorry for that you went through. We look forward to resolving this for you as soon as possible.

Allen

Ticket#XXXXXXX
AnkerDirect Customer Support Manager

#8

Good to know @Eric_S , though few and far between, sometimes these email tennis things can occur but normally in the end they are resolved to most peoples satisfaction.

3 Likes
#9

Thank you for letting me know about this issue. @joshuad11 @elmo41683

Hi @Eric_S,

Since receiving your case yesterday, we take it very seriously and have a solution right away.
So sorry for any unpleasant experience brought to you. If you have any other requirements, I am happy to assist.

3 Likes
#10

Thank you for helping raise awareness on your situation and I’m glad it sounds like it’s getting resolved. I know you’re in good hands. Perhaps you can try out the PowerHouse 200 when it launches later this summer. $300 new when it’s not on sale.

2 Likes
#11

Oh no, sorry to hear about your experience. I hope things work out for you.

#12

I’m very sorry that you have this bad experience with the brand

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