Immediately below is my reply to Blink's response to my November (!) visit further down. Note there is no empathy, admission, or apology for the experience, let alone the overcharging, to which the agent admits. CEO, cc'd on my reply, has yet to respond.
Promoting their own at-home charger option seems ridiculous for someone who's owned a Model S for a year and a half. Don't you think?
Anyway, you'll get the gist and come to your own conclusions...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal, while I much appreciate CarCharging's reply to my call, being in Sales, it is not a letter I would have ever written.
First, in the more than year and a half since I've had my car, I have NEVER once paid for charging, anywhere in California at a non-Tesla SuperCharging station. That said, I acknowledge that, in the remote town of San Ysabel, I was a captive audience for Blink and knew, by the signage that I would have to pay.
What I did not know, for which there was NO signage, was the rate, nor the rate of charging, nor what to expect. At a gas pump, I know the price, I know the size of my tank, and can readily approximate cost of sale. That cannot be said of this Blink station.
Moreover, to have had to leave my car overnight, and then some, unattended, at your station, to yield the measly (as in not fully charged) 75 kWh used, was not inline with what Tesla's target market would expect.
While you indicate that standard CA rates are $.39 per kWh , according to the agent on the phone, I was in fact charged $.49 per kWh.
As I indicated to said agent, it was beyond egregious to be charged ($37.21) nearly HALF as much as what it costs me at home MONTHLY, at twice the charging rate.
Where CarCharging is in its corporate evolution is irrelevant to the experience at hand and what you need to do as an organization to be competitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting the Blink Network. It is our goal to make EV charging an increasingly easier, more understandable, and better total experience for any EV driver utilizing our services.
While we are excited to finally offer kWh pricing, we do understand that drivers may be surprised by the rates. However, in order to provide the infrastructure required to support EV charging, there are various costs involved. For example, while a Tesla can accept a charge up to 7.2 kW, a Chevy Volt can charge at a maximum rate of 3.3 kW. Therefore, taking into consideration the costs involved in owning and operating the stations, including electricity fees and reimbursement, transaction fees, host payments, service, and maintenance, pricing must be based to accommodate all EV models.
As a new Blink member, we have gone ahead and issued a one-time complimentary credit of $10 to your Blink account. Please Note for the future that the rates are stated on the screen and when you press “Charge” you are accepting the rates listed for that unit. In California, we typically charge $0.39 per kWh for members on Level 2 chargers. Also, if you are interested, we have a great home charger called the Blink HQ that we think you might be interested in. You can learn more by visiting www.blinkhq.com.
We welcome any constructive criticism we can get so that we can recognize our weaknesses and grow as a company. However, we do ask for some patience and understanding given that Blink Network went through a bankruptcy and lost government funding all within the same two months. We are still in the process of reorganizing and getting back on our feet. Now we are solely here to make your experience, and others EV drivers such as yourself, better as a whole. We aspire to separate ourselves from the competition with newer and higher expectations for reliability and reputation.
Please do not hesitate to contact us. Our Blink support line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at (888) 998-2546 or at [email protected]. You may also contact me directly by responding to this email or by phone at (480)525-7710. Thank you for choosing Blink Network and enjoy your holidays!
Promoting their own at-home charger option seems ridiculous for someone who's owned a Model S for a year and a half. Don't you think?
Anyway, you'll get the gist and come to your own conclusions...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal, while I much appreciate CarCharging's reply to my call, being in Sales, it is not a letter I would have ever written.
First, in the more than year and a half since I've had my car, I have NEVER once paid for charging, anywhere in California at a non-Tesla SuperCharging station. That said, I acknowledge that, in the remote town of San Ysabel, I was a captive audience for Blink and knew, by the signage that I would have to pay.
What I did not know, for which there was NO signage, was the rate, nor the rate of charging, nor what to expect. At a gas pump, I know the price, I know the size of my tank, and can readily approximate cost of sale. That cannot be said of this Blink station.
Moreover, to have had to leave my car overnight, and then some, unattended, at your station, to yield the measly (as in not fully charged) 75 kWh used, was not inline with what Tesla's target market would expect.
While you indicate that standard CA rates are $.39 per kWh , according to the agent on the phone, I was in fact charged $.49 per kWh.
As I indicated to said agent, it was beyond egregious to be charged ($37.21) nearly HALF as much as what it costs me at home MONTHLY, at twice the charging rate.
Where CarCharging is in its corporate evolution is irrelevant to the experience at hand and what you need to do as an organization to be competitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting the Blink Network. It is our goal to make EV charging an increasingly easier, more understandable, and better total experience for any EV driver utilizing our services.
While we are excited to finally offer kWh pricing, we do understand that drivers may be surprised by the rates. However, in order to provide the infrastructure required to support EV charging, there are various costs involved. For example, while a Tesla can accept a charge up to 7.2 kW, a Chevy Volt can charge at a maximum rate of 3.3 kW. Therefore, taking into consideration the costs involved in owning and operating the stations, including electricity fees and reimbursement, transaction fees, host payments, service, and maintenance, pricing must be based to accommodate all EV models.
As a new Blink member, we have gone ahead and issued a one-time complimentary credit of $10 to your Blink account. Please Note for the future that the rates are stated on the screen and when you press “Charge” you are accepting the rates listed for that unit. In California, we typically charge $0.39 per kWh for members on Level 2 chargers. Also, if you are interested, we have a great home charger called the Blink HQ that we think you might be interested in. You can learn more by visiting www.blinkhq.com.
We welcome any constructive criticism we can get so that we can recognize our weaknesses and grow as a company. However, we do ask for some patience and understanding given that Blink Network went through a bankruptcy and lost government funding all within the same two months. We are still in the process of reorganizing and getting back on our feet. Now we are solely here to make your experience, and others EV drivers such as yourself, better as a whole. We aspire to separate ourselves from the competition with newer and higher expectations for reliability and reputation.
Please do not hesitate to contact us. Our Blink support line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at (888) 998-2546 or at [email protected]. You may also contact me directly by responding to this email or by phone at (480)525-7710. Thank you for choosing Blink Network and enjoy your holidays!