Hello,
Anticipating the need for help and advice, I joined this forum a few months ago. While searching the forum in general, I came across this post inquiring about anyone's experience with Gobel Power batteries (which I was intending to use). Based on my area (Hawaii) and possibly other islands, the transportation story has some twists and turns which I will share. Bottom line: after a couple of false starts, communication with Gobel Power commenced and I was assigned a sales person (Nancy). Communication was very good and questions were answered promptly. The transaction went smoothly and the batteries are resting comfortably in their assigned spot.
If we can believe Andy, they will work very well but this post is just about getting them.
So, how did they get here? For the US they offer shipping to a mainland address. Very straightforward. For most of the rest of the world, it's probably similar. But, I'm on an Island. Even though I consider Hawaii to be illegally occupied, I still have a US post office address (handy for Amazon-hate'em but shipping here costs a fortune). However, that doesn't count. Nancy said Gobel Power can only deliver to the Honolulu port in Hawaii, not an address. So, if shipped to the port, I would have had to get it through customs, pay any duty, get it to the local pier, ship it to my Island (Hawaii Island-we call it the Big Island) and then pick it up or have it delivered to me. Cost: around $1,500 and a big headache. But, if shipped to the mainland, they take care of customs, duty and delivery. So, I had them deliver my batteries to a Hawaiian freight forwarder in LA and, for just under $300, they shipped them back across the ocean and dropped them off in the driveway. I'll skip the horror stories about learning the alphabet soup names given to lots of paperwork and certifications based on the extra hop. But, it worked and was worth the effort.
I haven't looked up any financial reports on LiFePo4 battery manufacturers but my impression is that Gobel Power is a smaller company working hard to increase sales and gain a foothold in the business. To that end at least, the sales dept. was very responsive. I'm hoping any technical questions I have will be met with the same gusto.
Anticipating the need for help and advice, I joined this forum a few months ago. While searching the forum in general, I came across this post inquiring about anyone's experience with Gobel Power batteries (which I was intending to use). Based on my area (Hawaii) and possibly other islands, the transportation story has some twists and turns which I will share. Bottom line: after a couple of false starts, communication with Gobel Power commenced and I was assigned a sales person (Nancy). Communication was very good and questions were answered promptly. The transaction went smoothly and the batteries are resting comfortably in their assigned spot.
If we can believe Andy, they will work very well but this post is just about getting them.
So, how did they get here? For the US they offer shipping to a mainland address. Very straightforward. For most of the rest of the world, it's probably similar. But, I'm on an Island. Even though I consider Hawaii to be illegally occupied, I still have a US post office address (handy for Amazon-hate'em but shipping here costs a fortune). However, that doesn't count. Nancy said Gobel Power can only deliver to the Honolulu port in Hawaii, not an address. So, if shipped to the port, I would have had to get it through customs, pay any duty, get it to the local pier, ship it to my Island (Hawaii Island-we call it the Big Island) and then pick it up or have it delivered to me. Cost: around $1,500 and a big headache. But, if shipped to the mainland, they take care of customs, duty and delivery. So, I had them deliver my batteries to a Hawaiian freight forwarder in LA and, for just under $300, they shipped them back across the ocean and dropped them off in the driveway. I'll skip the horror stories about learning the alphabet soup names given to lots of paperwork and certifications based on the extra hop. But, it worked and was worth the effort.
I haven't looked up any financial reports on LiFePo4 battery manufacturers but my impression is that Gobel Power is a smaller company working hard to increase sales and gain a foothold in the business. To that end at least, the sales dept. was very responsive. I'm hoping any technical questions I have will be met with the same gusto.
Best regards Frank
