I was a backer on Indiegogo for the Omnicharge Omni Off-Grid power station. The original design had a 1500Wh LiFePO4 battery which was upgraded to 2000Wh before the campaign ended. Delivery was to start in June 2021. Fast forward to October 2022 and the third design iteration is finally ready for production. The big gotcha: regardless of what you contributed to the campaign, the cost is now $1999 and you need to pay the difference ($701 in my case) if you still want an Off-Grid. (You could also use your contributed funds on their small power banks, but I really didn't have a need for multiple <150Wh units.)
I finally received my Off-Grid earlier this month (June 2023), and immediately noticed that two of the receptacles on the back were NEMA 6-20 designed for 240VAC circuits but which only output 120VAC. I thought this must have been a manufacturing error (probably intended to be NEMA 5-20), so I posted on Indigogo and also sent an email to their support address. Their response was "We added the NEMA 6-20 to accommodate customers who requested a 240V port, even though the original version only had a 120V port."
I pointed out--again via Indiegogo comment and via email--that this makes no sense as devices using NEMA 6-20 plugs require 240V, and dual-voltage compatible devices with 240V plugs manufactured outside the US won't be NEMA 6-20. Their response was to tell Indiegogo that I was receiving a refund so now I'm not a backer and can't post additional comments. Unsurprisingly when I sent an email asking about my refund I got no response.
This has been, by far, the worst experience I've had with a crowdfunding campaign: two years late, 54% increase in price, and a product delivered with a design/manufacturing defect. Combine that with absolutely the worst customer service imaginable, and I will never purchase an Omnicharge product again.
I finally received my Off-Grid earlier this month (June 2023), and immediately noticed that two of the receptacles on the back were NEMA 6-20 designed for 240VAC circuits but which only output 120VAC. I thought this must have been a manufacturing error (probably intended to be NEMA 5-20), so I posted on Indigogo and also sent an email to their support address. Their response was "We added the NEMA 6-20 to accommodate customers who requested a 240V port, even though the original version only had a 120V port."
I pointed out--again via Indiegogo comment and via email--that this makes no sense as devices using NEMA 6-20 plugs require 240V, and dual-voltage compatible devices with 240V plugs manufactured outside the US won't be NEMA 6-20. Their response was to tell Indiegogo that I was receiving a refund so now I'm not a backer and can't post additional comments. Unsurprisingly when I sent an email asking about my refund I got no response.
This has been, by far, the worst experience I've had with a crowdfunding campaign: two years late, 54% increase in price, and a product delivered with a design/manufacturing defect. Combine that with absolutely the worst customer service imaginable, and I will never purchase an Omnicharge product again.
