EEL Experience

[automatikdonn]

I just wanted to share my experience with everyone in hopes they will avoid using sellers who engage in misleading business practices.

The story starts on the 28th of Dec 2022. I ordered two EEL 48V 16S Server Rack Battery DIY Unit BOX Stackable Type battery cases. I found these units in the US Stock section of their website. here is the current link to the product

At the time they listed these units as being already in the US.
A couple weeks go by, no big deal - its the holidays and I'm not in a super big rush to get them anyway. On the 13th of Jan I get this email asking for more money to actually ship the item to my door.. but wait - I thought this item was already in the US.. why are they asking for more money??? Seems a bit suspicious.

So I responded with this on the same day (13 Jan 2023)


I also sent a question asking if this item was stocked in the US on the 14th... This was met with crickets. No response.
On the 17th I sent another email asking if they planned to respond. I also opened a dispute on PayPal to get their attention. This of course worked and they responded within a few hours (because paypal immediately claws back any money when a dispute is opened)
EEL finally responded saying they were out on the Chinese new year, which is understandable. I know this celebration is important in China, so I am surely not going to hold that against them. No big deal right...
So I asked them when the item had been shipped from China... and it hasn't even left the shores yet.. its been a nearly a month. They also cut a fedex label trying to make it look like the item has shipped, when in fact it hasn't even left the shore yet. No explanation for why, i just get it will be shipped this week.


To be fair, none of this is exactly a problem. The problem is the dishonest listing, lack of response until I am forced to poke them. If they would have fully explained the situation in the first or second email I wouldn't be writing this post to warn others when doing business with them. Telling me they were out of stock in the US and waiting on parts from someone else is perfectly reasonable and it happens.. not big deal. But when you are not being forthright with your paying customers, they tend to go out on the internet and say something about it.


The whole reason I bought from them in the first place was because they lied about where the item was stocked (which they have since updated). I would have just ordered another pair seplos cases if I wanted to wait for them to come from china.

I wanted to share my experience with others so they know what the deal is when ordering from EEL. If I am being obtuse, please let me know.

 

[Mattb4]

I really hate the practice many companies have as listing something as shipped when all they have done is obtained a shipping number. Often shipping does not actually happen for days and sometimes weeks afterwards. I am presently fighting with one that declared that my package is waiting for pickup at my local distribution center (USPS) when the USPS tracking system shows it as awaiting pickup from the company.

I have another item that was shipped freight due to weight limits that tracking on it had it going and departing my location a couple of times over a couple of weeks before the truck driver (Fedex ground and not listed as the shipper) called me to pickup at the local highway since he was worried about my County dirt road address. I just checked tracking information on it and it shows the item being sent to a State a long distance away and no mention that I already have it.

Over the years living remote I have gotten used to having to chase down things I order.

 

[automatikdonn]

I really hate the practice many companies have as listing something as shipped when all they have done is obtained a shipping number. Often shipping does not actually happen for days and sometimes weeks afterwards. I am presently fighting with one that declared that my package is waiting for pickup at my local distribution center (USPS) when the USPS tracking system shows it as awaiting pickup from the company.

I have another item that was shipped freight due to weight limits that tracking on it had it going and departing my location a couple of times over a couple of weeks before the truck driver (Fedex ground and not listed as the shipper) called me to pickup at the local highway since he was worried about my County dirt road address. I just checked tracking information on it and it shows the item being sent to a State a long distance away and no mention that I already have it.

Over the years living remote I have gotten used to having to chase down things I order.

It just seems a bit ridiculous to me. I think honest and open communications about the status is a great start. Being a business owner is super hard and I think most of us on here get that. Things happen.. but when they do - maybe try communicating that to someone who has spent money with you. We aren't talking about a couple hundred dollars in most cases. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't have 1500 bucks to loan to someone else while they figure out how to deliver on something they listed for sale.

 

[Alkaline]

Before you go and try to return, be sure you understand if it needs to be returned in the US or to China, this can change the situation quite substationally.

Sending things from China to USA cost 1/4th what it cost to send form the USA to China so returns can get crazy or even impossible.

 

[automatikdonn]

Before you go and try to return, be sure you understand if it needs to be returned in the US or to China, this can change the situation quite substationally.

Sending things from China to USA cost 1/4th what it cost to send form the USA to China so returns can get crazy or even impossible.

Well the items haven't even shipped yet. I told the seller to just refund the money and I will move along. That doesn't seem to be what they want to do - so time will tell for sure how this all works out. By my math, things take at least 30 days to get here from China, which will be long past the escalation date currently set in Paypal. According to Paypal, the items have until the 6th of Feb to arrive. If people are interested how this all shakes out, I will keep the thread up to date.

I will not accept a delivery for the items if they are even slightly damaged at this point. Considering they used FedEx to handle from port to final destination, that is an unlikely event.

I hate having to be picky, but at this point I feel like I have no choice in the matter.

 

[automatikdonn]

So now the seller is trying to say I used the china shipping link, when I know I did not. Lets say for example sake that I did. Is it reasonable to expect the seller to correct those kinds of mistakes (when they supposedly have stock in the US)? Say for example when they asked for more money to ship the unit? I understand mistakes can be made, and I am of all people not above a mistake..

Anyways
I don't know the answer. Honestly, I just want my battery boxes so I can move along with the project.

 

[cattledog]

Hi there, I too have an order pending with Eel Battery. So far I am not exactly pleased with the experience, however my order is being shipped from China which I expected. My main complaint is lack of affirmative and timely communication from them- Howard seems like the guy that does "everything" there. Comms were fine when I was shopping and planning the purchase, then got crappy, slow and vague after that.

How can you obtain proof that you order has been shipped via Sea carrier? Eel provided me with UPS tracking numbers, but they are not fully recognized by UPS yet as the order has not made it to the USA yet. Is it reasonable to ask them to provide some sort of proof that the sea carrier shipment has taken place? What would this proof be?

Cattledog

 

[automatikdonn]

Hi there, I too have an order pending with Eel Battery. So far I am not exactly pleased with the experience, however my order is being shipped from China which I expected. My main complaint is lack of affirmative and timely communication from them- Howard seems like the guy that does "everything" there. Comms were fine when I was shopping and planning the purchase, then got crappy, slow and vague after that.

How can you obtain proof that you order has been shipped via Sea carrier? Eel provided me with UPS tracking numbers, but they are not fully recognized by UPS yet as the order has not made it to the USA yet. Is it reasonable to ask them to provide some sort of proof that the sea carrier shipment has taken place? What would this proof be?

Cattledog

Well I opened a dispute on PayPal because I felt like they lied to me. I know I ordered from the US Stock link, but they are saying I ordered from the China stock link... seems misleading, so I reported them. I sure got their attention when I opened the dispute and now they want to communicate.

Also I ordered on 28 Dec and by 18 Jan the units hadn't even left the shores of China yet. Again, misleading - they act like they have stock... but it doesn't take 3 weeks to ship something when you have it in stock. Still waiting to hear when the units will actually make it off the mainland of China.

 

[automatikdonn]

Before you go and try to return, be sure you understand if it needs to be returned in the US or to China, this can change the situation quite substationally.

Sending things from China to USA cost 1/4th what it cost to send form the USA to China so returns can get crazy or even impossible.

I will likely not be accepting the delivery at this point. It has been 30 days since the order from something that was supposed to be in the US. Its misleading at best, fraud at the worst.

 

[cattledog]

I don't understand Eel's behavior. If they just put more effort into communications, both in terms of timeliness and quality they would avoid a lot of trouble and COSTS. They seem to forget that forum posts like this are the first place many will end up when researching a company like Eel, and once negative opinions are expressed, it will take 10x or more positive experiences that people report to overcome them. People are much less likely to report positive experiences too. So... I don't get it. A few negative customer posts can significantly destroy an online business.

All they would have to do is hire a US based fresh college grad to act as their communications front end here in the USA - answer messages and make sure customers are happy. Of course they need completely truthful in all customer interactions as well - but that should be a given!

 

[Alkaline]

All they would have to do is hire a US based fresh college grad to act as their communications front end here in the USA

Are you for real?

 

[automatikdonn]

I don't understand Eel's behavior. If they just put more effort into communications, both in terms of timeliness and quality they would avoid a lot of trouble and COSTS. They seem to forget that forum posts like this are the first place many will end up when researching a company like Eel, and once negative opinions are expressed, it will take 10x or more positive experiences that people report to overcome them. People are much less likely to report positive experiences too. So... I don't get it. A few negative customer posts can significantly destroy an online business.

All they would have to do is hire a US based fresh college grad to act as their communications front end here in the USA - answer messages and make sure customers are happy. Of course they need completely truthful in all customer interactions as well - but that should be a given!

I think at this point they could safely offload it to ChatGPT. My main problem is less than honest advertising and when asked, more half truths.

 

[Dim Bulb]

Poof

 

[automatikdonn]

I have also ordered two(2) EEL DIY cases on 1/30/23. I went the Amazon route though. Delivery estimated 3/1-3/22. See what happens, good luck to all.

Well I finally got mine (if they had said they were coming from China, the delay would have been fine). My linker boards (balance boards) were not in a functional state OOB. I reported it to them and they asked if I could just solder it myself. I can, but my rate is higher than they wanted to pay.

 

[Dim Bulb]

Poof!

 

[Dim Bulb]

Poof!

 

[Dim Bulb]

Poof!

 

[Surferdudemi]

Well I finally got mine (if they had said they were coming from China, the delay would have been fine). My linker boards (balance boards) were not in a functional state OOB. I reported it to them and they asked if I could just solder it myself. I can, but my rate is higher than they wanted to pay.

View attachment 133930View attachment 133931View attachment 133932

Did they replace the linker boards?

 

[ghostwriter66]

All they would have to do is hire a US based fresh college grad to act as their communications front end here in the USA - answer messages and make sure customers are happy.

1. Why does it need to be a college person?? You could just hire ANYONE - 8th grade education as long as they can use a computer.

BUT with that said:

2. Chinese companies feel that they are in business to make money - not provide customer service. There is NO way they are going to hire anyone to just provide customer service. Thats just the way it is. Their basic attitude is that you're paying for a product and if you want good customer service then you need to pay extra for that.

3. Most Chinese companies don't mind negative feedback and simply see this as YOU not understanding the process or what you ordered or the 50 other excuses that are preventing your item from doing what it you thought it would do.

 

[Surferdudemi]

Just received the one I ordered in mid-April. Took about 2 hours to put it all together and start it up. Overall it goes together pretty well. A couple of issues:
1. There's no key cap for the RESET button. Maybe it's supposed to be slightly recessed?
2. The copper strap at the rear is not the correct length. As most people have found out, when you connect two rows of cells, the crossover strap/bar has to be longer because of the geometry of the posts on the cells.

Two nits:
1. There's a slight misalignment in the screw holes on the top, so you have to make sure to start all of the screws before tightening any of themn down.
2. There's no good way to retrieve screws, washers, or nuts you drop down the side once the cells are installed, so be really careful. I'm going to try removing one of the handles to see if I can get the one I dropped in to fall out the side hole.

I used a temporary strap (which will not handle 200A) to test it out. The front panel started right up when I pressed the power button. Everything seems to work, looking at voltages and temperatures. I've sent an email to Howard asking about the two issues.

 

[Quattrohead]

I am going to add to this thread instead of creating a new one, keep all the EEL battery stuff together.

I ordered 2 kits that was listed as USA shipping. Well sure enough the boxes came from CA but the BMS were shipped via air to the USA. It took 9 days, not bad at all.
However, when I got the box it was suspiciously small and indeed only contained 1 BMS. I messaged them and after a delay was told the shipper must have lost it and they would send another.
Well I had to pester them for shipping info and now see it just sitting awaiting collection from the supplier for 5 days so far. I messaged them again and after yet more delay/ghosting they are telling me it was shipped by sea and will take 30-40 days....what a crock.

So, typical transaction with the far east. Great if everything is OK but annoying if there is a problem

 

[Alkaline]

Well its either go with them or pay $$$ for ready made one. I seen some of the EEL videos the box design they have is nice. The white with black handles one and curved front:

EEL 48V 16S V3 Server Rack DIY Unit BOX Built-in Seplos BMS stackable type(suit for 230/280/302Ah cells)

Looking for a cost-effective way to assemble your lithium-ion batteries? DIY battery box is an easy and affordable solution. Get more info here.

www.eelbattery.com

Not sure about the sepolos BMS though, all other manufacturers seem to be using pace so they must know something, Avoid cells form EEL they are not grade A like they claim.

Only thing that would make the EEL case better is the 200AMp breaker.

 

[MrSwede]

Why didn't i find this forum before i placed an order from Howard @ EEL.
I was soooo close to buy the apexium box and batteries from Jenny Wu, but i liked the EEL box better.
I just hope i get decent batteries and not some junk.



This order is an evaluationorder, if it is good, we (my company) will buy alot more boxes, i guess you need to start some where.
If we are not happy, I'll go with Apexium and Jenny instead.

I'll try and remember to keep you posted, as i noticed there are others that are nervous about their EEL order.

 

[G00SE]

Well, on 9/19 I ordered 2- v2 boxes with US warehouse listed on sale for 1063 shipped.
I had the boxes fedexed to my door in 1 week. Howard stayed in contact for that week and mentioned the BMS would deliver separate via usps.
I never received BMS tracking and then Howard stopped replying.
Last night, to my surprise, 2 BMS in my mail!
Box one contents look good so far. Need to evaluate box two

 

[G00SE]

Why didn't i find this forum before i placed an order from Howard @ EEL.
I was soooo close to buy the apexium box and batteries from Jenny Wu, but i liked the EEL box better.
I just hope i get decent batteries and not some junk.

View attachment 170275

This order is an evaluationorder, if it is good, we (my company) will buy alot more boxes, i guess you need to start some where.
If we are not happy, I'll go with Apexium and Jenny instead.

I'll try and remember to keep you posted, as i noticed there are others that are nervous about their EEL order.

That’s some reasonable pricing there. I’m in for close to the same amount with v2 boxes and envision 305 grade B cells. I’ll be interested to see how your cells do. I could use 2 more kits