I bought this 6 weeks ago and thought I’d use it first time at the weekend.
I was on the train, so I plugged my phone into it, lay it on my bag and when I lifted them both up got caught a bit on strap. The connection snapped because it had no give.
I wrote to company but they refused refund and offered 50% off new one. Their site has 40% for Black Friday sale anyway.
I don’t want another if they are that easy to break. Anyone have advice? Thx
Hi @Jeaniousau, welcome to the community.
Is it a Powerbank charger you are calling a Pulse Charger?
And what part broke?
Maybe a photo and details of make and model would be of assistance.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, there are three aspects which are relevant. The first being ‘fit for purpose’. Fit for purpose means a product does what it is designed to do through usual use. If for example, the ‘connection’ was of poor quality and would break extremely easily through usual use, the it may be possible to argue the ‘connection’ was not fit for purpose. If the ‘connection’ is that which would be standard for such a product, it may be difficult to argue it wasn’t fit for purpose.
This leads onto the second aspect. If the ‘connection’ broke because it was exposed to something which it isn’t designed for, then this would be considered misuse under the ACL and it breaking is excluded from the consumer rights. This means it isn’t covered by any warranty and the damage is your responsibility.
Generally connections for electronic devices aren’t robust and some care is needed to ensure they aren’t accidentally damaged. A connection being caught on a strap could easily result in forces on the ‘connection’ it wasn’t designed to take.
But in saying this it leads onto the third aspect, if the device is sold as being strong/unbreakable, the flip side could apply. That being a device designed to be ‘strong’ should withstand greater forces than a standard product, and as such, the product doesn’t meet its claims as the 'connection wasn’t stronger than a standard product. Not meeting its claims is grounds to take it further under the ACL.
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As you can see in picture, it’s the connection that plugs into phone that snapped.
It’s the only part holding the phone and charger together, so not very strong at all.
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Assume these are their Refund/Warranty conditions?
Relative value for 4,000 mAh capacity with wireless charging??
Interesting pic. Does the charger plug directly into the phone or have a cable? It appears to be the first of these.
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Yes. Unfortunately that’s their policy but I didn’t expect first time using for it to snap.
The small part that snapped plugs into phone.
It does use phone charger at the side to charge at home. Then you’re supposed to use it as you travel.
Yes it is advertised on channel 7 morning show.
So, relatively new.
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The charger was a pack of two for $149. One is for my daughter for Xmas. So it’s wrapped up without trying. If it doesn’t work or breaks as quickly as this one, I will be overwhelmed with it all.
They do say in their policy 12 month warranty for faulty item applies but because it broke it’s not covered.
I asked for a refund and they said no.
I said I might have to go to consumer affairs and they replied” do what you have to”
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I’m just hoping for a resolution. Ie: full refund or full replacement. $50 off buying another doesn’t help, seeing they have 40% off their prices now because of Black Friday sale.
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Any chance of a photo that shows a view of the charger from an angle that shows how the broken piece fits into the charger? Assume it is located where the small rubber pyramid shape is shown. And or one of the phone in simulated connection with the charger? The website is very minimalist with the product details or showing how it is intended to be used.
Are you saying the connection between the charger is rigid? It seems odd if one has to rely on just the snapped off plug to support the weight of the phone on the charger or vice versa. Mobile phone charging cradles have typically relied on similar fixed plug design. However they have some way of supporting the weight or cradling the mobile when attached to the charger.
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Yep the bit that snapped is the only thing keeping them together. So if you hold it wrong I reckon it would snap if you’re not careful.
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I really thought it would’ve been lighter than it is. Also a small cord that gives a bit would’ve helped. I’ve seen others since buying this one and for the same price.
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Thanks for the photo.
If I am right from the photo, the white bit is fixed to the black bit - it is rigid connection with no cables and plugs into the charging port on the phone. It sort of dangles below the phone and is used as a power bank.
Looking at their website, they indicate that it can he used when operating the phone, namely:
Yes! The compact size and design of your Pulse Charge means you can easily text, take calls, or surf the web all whilst charging your device – that’s the convenience of Pulse Charge!
The above information tends to indicate that it would need to be reasonably strong if the weight of the pulse charger is hanging off the connection.
The challenge will be proving that the force from being caught on the bags strap would be similar to it dangling off the end of the phone. I suspect that the force will be significantly greater as usually some effort is needed to lift a bag. This effort would have been transferred onto the connector when it snagged on the strap.
I can’t see any reports online with other users readily breaking the connector which isn’t helpful to mounting an argument under the ACL.
Personality, I think the design isn’t the best. Hanging a 4000mA battery via a small rigid connector at the bottom of a phone might save cables, but, unless the connector flexes or articulates, it would be a point of failure when the force on the connector is somewhat greater than the battery/device’s weight. I think a traditional power bank with sufficiently long cable is a better proposition as the cable can provide some level of protection to the connectors.
I am unsure whether you have a good chance of success as there is doubt to whether the design or the snagging when lifting your bag caused the connector to break. I believe it could be within their rights to refuse resolution under the ACL as they can easily claim ‘misuse’. Misuse because the force on the connector from being snagged was excessive.
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Oh! Thanks for your help. Doesn’t look like I’m going to get anywhere.
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Probably not. Unless you like to take the business through the legal system.
But thanks for the heads up that this product is easily breakable.
I would think the same would apply to any connection between two devices that relied on the structural strength of a plug and socket. Especially mini things like USB or whatever Apple has.
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Lightning connector.
I could find readily a wealth of details on the connector M&F electrical and dimensional, but zip on the mechanical strength. Suggests the connection was never intended for supporting a battery pack, or vice versa.
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Consider the probability of success and how much time, effort and cost you might need to commit?
How much will it cost to purchase a more conventional style power bank as a replacement?
We can all draw conclusions as to the fitness for purpose of the design.
P.S.
We are all the better informed from your sharing the experience.
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I’ve gone to PayPal and lodged a dispute.
The company has escalated the dispute.
Opinions on anything I can do?
Or should I just wear it and let them get away with treating their customers so abruptly?
There are two issues.
The first being whether the broken charger is covered by the Australian Consumer Law. As indicated above, there is a chance that it won’t be as it will be classed as misuse under the ACL. While you may think that the connection broke easily, I haven’t been able to find an significant online reviews indicating that it is a faulty design that causes the connection to break. Not finding reviews could be because the business/product is relatively new onto the market or that other consumers haven’t broken it yet from exerting too much force on the connector. Limited negative online reviews aren’t really in your favour for escalating or achieving success in requesting a refund or replacement. If you say look at power banks with cables, if one say stretched the cable out and a bag sitting on the cable was lifted pulling on the cable, causing the cable connector on the power bank to break, would one think that this should be repaired under the ACL? Thinking about this answer may give you some thoughts on your own success of disputing.
The second being the way that the deal with their customers - or what is called customer service. This is different to the first issue and has no relation to the ACL. Where it had effect is whether a customer recommends the business to friends, goes back and buys another product from them or provides a honest positive/negative online review about the business’s customer service. From your experiences you have outlined, you experiences haven’t been positive and they have lost you at least as a customer (and potentially many more if other potential customers read the thread. Because one had poor customer service, it doesn’t mean one can seek refunds or resolution for products they have bought from the business.
It appears that your desire to take it further may be driven by the second issue, rather than the first.
I fully appreciate that you must be extremely disappointed and frustrating to break a new and relatively expensive device/product.
This memory stick could be taken as a point of interest or a point of design quality. I have a few devices with similar ‘naked’ USB connectors. Notice the thickness of this one as compared to the apparent thickness, and thus probably strength, of the image provided of the broken Pulse Charger - although that aspect is not clear. Since the sockets are standard it is probable all the naked plugs are the same thickness for them to work for their purpose. Needless to say the memory stick weighs almost nothing and it obviously needs a bit of care looking and feeling a bit fragile, but not too fragile for purpose.
A network dongle with the more common metal surround plug style got an unfortunate jolt and the top and bottoms separated but the USB did not break, just bent where it was attached to its internal main board. It was easily straightened and glued back together.
Perusing the Pulse Charger web site was interesting in that I did not notice a single image showing the plug, that I would make my own judgement call on whether it looked robust enough, or cheap and possibly dodgy for the purpose.
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