Last July I bought a Gentrax generator from Outbax Camping through ebay. It was cheap, had the capacity for what I needed and a 12 month warrantee so what was the risk?
Well ... read on.
When I unboxed the item it looked
well made and a
test run was satisfactory.
So off we go on our first trip with our brand new gene.
It only ran for a total of 9 hours running before it stopped.
After that it would only start, run for a second or so then quit when the automatic choke cut out. If I held the choke on it would splutter along for as long as I had my finger on the lever.
When we got back I contacted Outbax - by email through ebay. They do not publish a phone number on their website and the only way of contacting them from there is with a form and I wanted a record of my communications with them.
There followed a series of emails where they asked me to
check a number of things including does it have a spark? (der - it will run after a fashion) and pulling all the exterior panels off the machine and re-pluging in all the electrical connectors.
At this point I asked them to arrange for a repair.
They pointed me to their website and asked me to agree in writing to their warrantee which states in part:
"Outbaxcamping offers a 12 month warranty on all products from the date of purchase, unless otherwise stated. Outbaxcamping warrants its products against defects in materials and/or workmanship. If a defect arises and a valid claim is received by Outbaxcamping within 30 days of purchase, Outbaxcamping may, at its option, repair the products, provide replacement parts, arrange a full replacement or arrange a refund minus handling and freight charges. If a defect arises and a valid claim is received by Outbaxcamping after 30 days of purchase, Outbaxcamping will replace the parts needed to repair the products. "
My italics.
Parts only? Hmmm. Does that comply with Australian consumer law?
I was not willing to sign up to that so OK off I go to Consumer and Business
Services in SA who confirmed that the supplier is responsible for the repair (or replacement). After another 2 months of negotiation and finally a few phone calls where I actually spoke to a company rep they finally agreed to supply a part. It turned up this week after a 2 month wait and it is:
Some sort of fuel port - probably unrelated to the issue. (it will run as long as I hold the choke held on, if I let it go there is a positive shut down.)
The wrong part anyway. The supplied bit of plastic has 3 ports, the one installed in the machine between the fuel tap and filter has 4!
Stay away from this mob.
If what you buy works
well all is good. If you have any problems you are in for a long uphill battle.
You have been warned and I may have a learned a lesson, but who knows. :o)
Cheers
Peter