Marinco has terrible customer service

R

Robski97

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Both my new EEL power cords lost the lens covering the led light on the male end . Cords aren't even a year old . Called and left vm 3 x over the last week and emailed them as to what to do and if they are safe . No reply no call back . After u wait on hold for 10 mins it autotransfers to vm . I left messages in both customer service and tech support .

Kinda sucks . Anyone having an issue with these what I thought were cool cords

Rob
 
I have a short one I use as an extension sometimes. It's about a year old an no issue yet.

The stupid thing with that LED design is that the cord has to have power applied (hot) in order for the LED to work. I try to avoid plugging hot cords into 30 or 50 amp outlets to reduce arching. And what if one was to drop the cord in the water while hot?
 
Lens is gone on both. I looked in the locker. I hope they sell new len's

Kurt,
I shut the stantion when I plug in. Also the boat side is off.

Rob
 
Oh,you're talking about the blue LED that shows the cord has power? Not the "flashlight" LED on the female end at the boat? That's the LED I think it rather useless for people like us that shut down power before connecting or disconnecting the cords.
 
See and I like the blue light. So I know when I power up the stantion has power . The one on the female end is useless in my application.

Funny how different boats . different habits

Rob
 
I have those also and right before haul out for the season I noticed that one of the blue lights at the female end wasn't lite...I really didn't look at it close when I put the cords away for the winter. I like the blue lights, on our boat I plug in right at the entry way and the extra light is nice. I never used the flashlight on the female ends.

Niles
 
I have to comment on the original post.

That kind of shabby customer support drives me nuts! Marinco charges a lot for the shore cords they make and yet they can't even answer the phone and provide a courteous reply.

I had the same experience with them although I wasn't calling about all the little light they have added. Don't need those to plug the boat into a power source. I was looking for a part and I never did get an answer.

Not sorry for the rant. Those people deserve it.
 
Rob,
You do know your one season them using them is equal to about 3 seasons to the average boater. :)
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robski97

See and I like the blue light. So I know when I power up the stantion has power . The one on the female end is useless in my application.

Funny how different boats . different habits

Rob

Click to expand...


What's funny is how you and I both keep reading each other's comments wrong! :-)

I agree, the "flashlight" LED is useless. The blue LED is useful.
 
ahhh YEs the flashlight is stupid.. Who would plug a live cord in ? That's really stupid

Rob
 
Are those cords even tinned? I know some Marino shore cable is not which is just as stupid as encouraging people to hold a live shore power cord....

Couple of years ago I ordered 80' of Marino 50amp bulk cable and when I picked it up it was no tinned... Obviously didn't accept it
 
Customer Service in general has gone so down hill at all companies.
Ever notice how on alot of sites now, you can't send email. they want you to call.
Then you call, and they make you talk to a computer for 20 minutes to frustrate the crap out of you and try to avoid you talking to a live person!
I can't tell you how many times I give up which is exactly what they want!
 
Pascal. I don't know if they are. Everything is covered in rubber . its a good question.

Dave,
its a bad company when u cant call and all u can do is email. I emailed Marinco again and got an answer

They are mailing new lens

Rob
 
Rob,
It is bad, but you know as an owner of a business that live support is very costly. In this internet price competitive market its difficult if not impossible to provide the support we have all come a custom to. In other words, when you were paying $300.00 for a cord there was enough margin form live support, now that you pay half of that, there is not.

I have this same problem in my industry.
 
So people complain about off shore (India) support so they do away with all support? Some companies have poor support, others have poor support at times so it might be that you called at a bad time.

I have a Marinco cord that has a red LED on the female end to show that the power is getting that far. It's not critical, but it's convenient at times like when you're at a transient dock and aren't sure if the power pedestal is working or not.
 
Ron,
The new chords moved the LED to the male end . So u know when u plug in. They also added a " flashlight to the female end. Which i stated was dumb as u need to plug the cord in hot to ur boat. Id never do that .

Rob
 
I have a question regarding this topic without hijacking the thread... I understand that plugging in a shorepower cord with power causes arcing, leading to premature failure of the cord and/or the plug. I have always shut down power on the boat via the the two main breakers on the panel inside before disconnecting/connecting. Our breakers are off the dock, up the hill at the meter, and therefore we never click those off. Our power cords are permanently run from the dockside receptacle to the side of the boat where our hookups are so that we only make the connection between the female end of the cord into the shorepower inlet and then tighten done the retention collars (we have spare cords stored on the boat for when we are away at other docks); but my thought process has always been that if there is nothing pulling a load on the boat side, that no arcing would occur even if the cord is energized from the dock. Is this a wrong assumption? One that could be putting our cords at risk for fire and premature failure? This is two 30/120 shorepower connections that I'm talking about. The current set up allows us to dock and undock without ever getting off the boat... water, cable and electric, along with the dock lines are all handled from onboard the boat, meaning it would be a serious PITA to have to disembark the boat, run up the hill to the meters to have access to the breakers (especially at night, as the meters are in an unlit area on the side of a steep grassy bank).
 
LBD i believe this is correct. I have been doing the same procedure for the last 11 years on the same boat, withe the same power cords (power cords are probably 15 years old, and still have clean solid tabs), and have had no issues with either cords or connectors. If the breakers are turned off inside the boat there should be no draw or arcing as cord is connected. at that point all you are doing is extending the lenght of three unconnected wires.
 
I understand LBD and sublimetime's point of view however what happens if you drop a live cord into the water?
That's why many of us shut off power on both sides of the circuit.
Bill
 
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