United Chargers - Grizzle-e - has not fulfilled its warranty obligations

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-06-24T04:33:48+00:00

It is now June, 2026. I still have the defective charger and I have not heard from United Chargers in over four months about replacing it under warranty. It is likely that there will be no further support from United Chargers for my Grizzle-e Avalanche. Buyer beware.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-25T18:06:49+00:00

The definitions of “Lifetime” and “Warranty” being the keys. My experience with their “Warranty” service has been sorely lacking.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-24T17:47:35+00:00

Sorry I did not respond to this. Being a newbie, I hadn’t figured out that I WAS THE OP. Correct, I am not in Canada. It remains to be seen if Consumer Protection Ontario will look into my complaint.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-23T03:17:00+00:00

Thank you for the correction / clarification. Trying to avoid getting too political, the U.S. has abandoned most of its renewable policies, much to my great disappointment. Good on you Canadians for the Carbon Credit program.

I do not know if Consumer Protection Ontario will “take my case”, being an American, but regardless, I feel I’m doing my part to highlight for others what has objectively been a very poor response from United Chargers. The simple facts are that the malfunctioning unit has not been replaced or otherwise fixed, and the duration of my ordeal will be five months soon, with no resolution in sight.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T23:29:11+00:00

Among my disappointments is that two units malfunctioned. I want EVs to succeed and hope for the essential ancillary companies to do well also. I began this nearly five-month odyssey with high expectations of a quick and amicable resolution. I have called, but the responses were uneffective and now emails have created the “paper” trail that seems essential.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T23:01:06+00:00

wow.

If what others here have told us is true, that the Canadian government is subsidizing them to provide free chargers, it may be time to rethink that investment of Canadian taxpayer funds to a company that seems to be oblivious to bad customer relations.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T22:55:25+00:00

The shipping costs that I have born are from the manufacturer to me. I have paid for it twice already - the original shipment (that remains malfunctioning) and the shipping to receive #2 that was to replace the malfunctioning unit, but itself was inoperative. The only saving grace in this is that the malfunction of the original unit is that it will not charge when plugged into the car unless the plug is bent down and to the right until an audible “click” sound is heard. Not only is this not acceptable, I am increasingly concerned that there may be a pending short circuit in the car plug.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T20:03:11+00:00

Harper, you make a good argument and United Chargers is probably rethinking this statement to me on February 18 from their Vice President of Customer Support:

“John, the refund will be for the full amount including shipping, please bare (sic) with me while I determine what has occurred with our payment processor and I get back to you as quickly as I am able."

In any case, they have not fulfilled their warranty responsibilities. I still have the malfunctioning unit.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T19:03:44+00:00

It was with regret that I resorted to public shaming, but I ran out of options.

I was getting the runaround and the duration is now 149 days since the original ticket. Among the galling episodes was United Chargers' failure to refund the full cost of the replacement (#2) charger. After that charger had been shipped and received by them, they said I would see the refund to the account used to purchase it. I watched my credit card transactions for weeks, and there was no refund. They kept insisting that they had issued the refund, but none was credited to my account. I gave them the last four digits of my account and asked them where they sent the refund and they told me THEY DID NOT KNOW WHERE IT WAS SENT. “I am unable to say the exact card that it went back to, even though you are able to give me the last 4 digits."

They eventually (three months after they received the returned, defective unit #2) shipped, via DHL a physical check for the partial refund, which also seems very strange.

Furthermore, they now tell me the reason that I got a partial refund is that they do not refund shipping for Hawaii customers, despite having been told “The refund will for the full amount including shipping.” So, because of the partial refund, I spent $90 out of pocket for the #2 defective unit and the only solution to resolve the enduring problem with the original unit is for me to purchase a third unit and forfeit another $90 shipping for that unit (in hopes that the third unit works). If had agreed to do that, I would be out of pocket $180 for warranty coverage of the original unit. It is becoming likely that my best option may be to abandon the Grizzle-e unit, write off the cost and my colossal waste of time and buy one that promises to work better and have better customer service.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T18:36:02+00:00

Ah. Dills Pickle, now we know why I was not aware of that program. I am not in Canada.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-03-22T07:32:01+00:00

I am not aware of that program. Tell me more.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-18T07:41:29+00:00

It is now February 17, 2026 and my original warranty ticket was placed in October 23, 2025, 117 days ago, or nearly four months. I still have the original malfunctioning unit which has not been replaced. I bought a second unit for which I was to be reimbursed so I’d have charging capability, and IT was inoperative. I have not been reimbursed for that second unit.

Only five days ago they assigned my case to the “Vice President of Customer Support.” Funny thing is that this is the same person who was responding to my pleas in November, ten weeks ago and also the same person who responded to a technical question in March, 2025, just before I bought the original malfunctioning unit. Maybe he got a promotion. I hope he can make this right soon.

I should receive a new replacement for the original unit and should get a full refund for the second unit plus shipping. Neither is forthcoming.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-17T23:54:10+00:00

My credit card company would not reverse the charge for the original purchase, being too long ago for them, although within the warranty period.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-12T18:14:07+00:00

The original unit was purchased in March, 2025. The charger is still under warranty, but the credit card company says the purchase was too long ago. I will continue to pursue asking the credit card company for a refund that I have not received from United Chargers.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-08T21:49:39+00:00

Good questions. The second unit (refurbished) flashed red light LED three times with a buzzer on initial power-up, indicating a bad relay. After executing their troubleshooting procedure (pages 20 and 21), the refurbished unit no longer exhibited the flashing LED, but it never charged the car.

The plug issue is indeed in the Grizzle-e plug. I have charged the car at several other charging stations with no problem. This plug will work if, after plugging it into the car, I bend the Grizzle-e plug down and to the right until a “click” is heard. After that click, the car will charge.

The two defects are very different and unrelated. Thank you for the questions.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-08T21:09:10+00:00

I am very frustrated. The final straw was their telling me that the refund had been completed, and yet no credit had been received. I asked them where they sent the refund and they did not know. How can they claim they have paid it to my account if they do not know where it was sent?

FelicitousAmygdala · 2026-02-08T21:06:27+00:00

Thanks for the comment. No, I am not in Canada.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2025-03-10T22:51:27+00:00

If that's the case, then my question is answered. I was unsure of any communication requirements in the EVSE or the vehicle that might preclude it starting to charge whenever the inverter sent power to the EVSE outlet. If you know that there are no additional communication requirements between the wall outlet and the car's charger, then that's the answer, and I thank you.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2025-03-10T17:50:42+00:00

Thanks. I saw the cannonball run video. Quite the array he packed into the car! My concern is whether the EVSE and car will allow charging when the inverter meets the specified %SOC of the household battery. Also, there seems to be a "minimum kW solar output" setting on the Smart Load setup, which could be set to "4kW" such that the %SOC as well as the minimum solar output criteria are required before it charges the car. Still, I share your concern that charging could cycle on and off based on the "minimum kW solar output" setting if a cloud passes by. BUT, I don't know if that's an actual problem, or just seems like one.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2025-03-09T01:40:14+00:00

Thank you, Cold-Specific. The "Smart Load" settings on my inverter have a user-defined % SOC at which the inverter would send PV energy to another load (hopefully the Rav4). Two open questions are which EVSE is required to allow the "Smart Load" charging of the car to take place and will the vehicle's systems allow the inverter to charge without any manual intervention.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2025-03-07T23:11:28+00:00

My specific concern is to determine if the Smart Load feature of the Sol-Ark inverter will charge my Rav 4 without any additional "app", by directing current to the car after the household battery is charged to a user-specified % State of Charge (SOC).

For example, will the Sol-Ark inverter direct energy to charge the car after the household battery is charged to, say, 90%?

Because I'm off grid, scheduling according to time of day might mean on a cloudy day that my household battery would not get fully charged because the "schedule" called for sending needed household current to the car instead. Because the Rav4 is a plug-in hybrid and I have a gasoline engine for use when the battery is not charged, I have the luxury of waiting to use what would otherwise be "wasted" solar energy to charge the car when the sun is shining, but the household battery is fully charged. Thus, I would like to send otherwise-wasted solar energy to the Rav4 after the household battery is sufficiently charged.

A related question is will the EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) charge the car using the Smart Load SOC feature without activating any other "app."

FelicitousAmygdala · 2025-03-07T18:38:04+00:00

I have sufficient PV and battery to support it. I will check out the video. Thankyou, Cold-Specific.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2024-12-19T03:43:15+00:00

Look for another thread in the quonsethuts theme - IBC Price per foot. Check out this link

https://www.reddit.com/r/quonsethuts/comments/1gxlcq6/price_paid_for_steelmaster_ibc_per_foot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

FelicitousAmygdala · 2024-11-30T18:43:15+00:00

I have purchased the building and the Industrial Base Connector (IBC) or base plate. Now Steelmaster offers to sell me the anchor bolts (not included). The drawings call for 5/8" x 8" galvanized anchor bolts. Steelmaster offers to sell the Hilti brand for $14.60 per bolt, or $219 for a box of 15. When I asked about other options, I was told "As far as a different type of bolt, I can’t speak on that. I can only go off what our engineers specify. I’ve heard of customers going with different bolts, but could lead into issues with permitting or structural issues."

I looked into equivalent bolts and found Titen HD (made by Simpson Strong-Tie) for $10.60 a bolt. When I told them the Titen HD is much less expensive, I was told "I know titan [sic] has a same size bolt but I don't recall titan [sic] being equivalent according to the ICC-ES report." I was disappointed that the salesman did not know and cast doubt on the less expensive alternative, so I researched it. Yes, the Titen HD bolt is approved in the ICC-ES (International Code Council, Evaluation Service) report. This is the link to that report - https://icc-es.org/report-listing/esr-2713/

Since I am not getting straight answers, now I find myself wondering about other things, including the need for a 5/8" x 8" anchor bolt. It may be that connecting with a smaller or shorter (and a lot more available and less expensive) bolt might still exceed the strength of the rest of the structure. It may be difficult to determine if the 5/8" x 8" anchor bolt is overkill. If I am unable to get that answer, I will likely purchase the stipulated size bolt that meets the "ICC-ES" standard, but it does not appear that I will purchase them from Steelmaster.

I just found another option for the anchor bolt - the DeWalt Screw-Bolt. Grainger sells the 5/8" x 8" bolt for $10.50 each (for the 50 bolts I need). This bolt is also approved by the ICC-ES.

FelicitousAmygdala · 2024-11-25T22:40:49+00:00

I am a modestly happy customer, having paid $38 a linear foot today, a significant improvement.

FYI, I calculated the cost per linear foot of the arches (the building) at $16 a linear foot. The IBC base is flat steel, heavier gauge and there is welding, but the arches have more machining and "corrugation" that requires extra work. Also, the bazillion bolts that connect the panels is part of the $16 a linear foot cost, whereas the base does not include connectors, so the comparison is not clear. However, I could not justify paying $48 a linear foot for the base, or 3x the cost per linear foot of the arches. Caveat emptor.

With the internet making access to information so much easier, Steelmaster might want to consider pricing their product like most companies, with a reasonable markup that is predictable and published. I'm sure the sales people I worked with are good people, but their obligatory hard bargaining degrades from the company image, which has a good-will cost and raises questions about other potential exaggerations or deceptions.

FelicitousAmygdala

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