file a compliant together-Free to Charge does not work

I have been trying to use this so called "EZ-Charge" free to charge card and so far all I got is being charged. I found the supposedly free to charge station from "EZ-charge" website and the same site is also listed in charge point. To make the story short, I tried 2 times and 2 times both got charged. Called EZ-Charge, told me to call chargepoint, called chargepoint and told me to contact "carcharging inc" and no response. I decided to take this up to Nissan and below is a script of what I got. Anyone who is having the same issue, we should file a joint complain to Nissan because it is definitely part of their campaign and they cannot just kick me over again back to "EZ-Charge" Feel free to leave a message on this topic and I definitely believe this is a false advertisement from Nissan. :evil:



Chelsea: Thank you for contacting Nissan LEAF Aftersales, my name is Chelsea. How may I help you today?
You: I received my free to charge card in Sep and I tried to use it 2 times, both time got charged
You: I want to make sure I can use this card, I spoke with ez-charge and charge point and no one want to clear this issue for me
You: so I am asking Nissan now
Chelsea: I would be more than happy to look in to this for you James. Can I have the VIN so I can pull up your account?
You: thank you
You: can you hold a sec so I can login to leaf portal?
Chelsea: Yes not a problem.
You:
Chelsea: From what I see on here I do show that you are eligible for the No Charge to Charge card. Unfortunately anything with the use of the card is not something we can offer further assistance with. You would need to email EZ Charge at [email protected] or contact them at 8443924274. We do not have access to see why you were charged at these stations but EZ Charge will be able to do so.
You: I did
You: and I did spoke with charge point
You: and car charging INC
You: no one is willing to resolve this issue for once
You: I believe Nissan offered the program
You: since no one can really resolve this issue
Chelsea: I would recommend contacting EZ Charge again because this is not something we can assist with. The only thing in reference to EZ Charge we can help with are sending cards to customer who have not received their card from dealer upon time of purchase.
You: so unless Nissan take out this advertisement
You: you are part of this issue
You: Nissan is part of the issue
You: otherwise take out this program
You: I have been emailing around everywhere
You: and getting no where
You: if you want, you can have someone from nissan who knows how this program give me a call
You: seems no one understands how it works
You: including ez-charge themself
Chelsea: We do represent Nissan the manufacture of the vehicle. We can assist with things in the service department of the dealer like parts on back order for instance. But this program was offered for Nissan customer but is managed by EZ Charge.
You: or I guess if you can give me an email address I can email to I can email the whole conversation over so someone can take a look
You: then take out this advertisement as it does not work as advertised
You: I found a free charging station from ez-charge website, go there and charge
You: and get charged
You: so I had to dispute over and over again
You: and each time at the end of the conversation, someone will tell me to find the other company to complain
You: what is this?
You: Or Nissan should contact EZ-charge and ask someone who knows about their own program to give me a call
You: i am like a ball being kicked around now
Chelsea: Well sir, if you used a level two charger for over an hour there would be a charge incurred or a level three charger for over thirty minutes there will be a fee to pay. The NCTC program covers the charge for a specific period of time.
You: no
You: it does not
Chelsea: I do apologize for the frustration but this is not something that Nissan the manufacture can assist with. We work with the vehicle itself.
You: I charged 20 minutes they charged me
You: I charged 45 minutes they charge me
You: all level 2
You: all listed on EZ-charge website
You: all even listed on chargepoint website
Chelsea: This is a concern with EZ Charge sir this is not something that Nissan can rectify. This is something EZ Charge will have to assist you with.
You: They can
You: ntt
You: I called emailed
You: the only thing they can do is telling me to go contact charge point
You: and when I contact charge point, the only thing they can tell me is to contact carcharging INC
Chelsea: Nissan does not own the chargers or EZ Charge or the NCTC program. This is not something the manufacture of the vehicle is able to assist with.
You: so stop advertise this free no charge program then cause it does not work
You: it is part of your campaign
Chelsea: I can make sure your complaint will be lodged but there is no further assistance Nissan will be able to provide.
You: and Nissan wants to take no part of this
You: so disappointed
You: will save this chat and post to share to other people who are having the same problem
You: I don't believe it is just me
You: search around and found many people have this issue
You: everytime has to dispute
You: or simply stop using this card like what I do know
You: now
You: anyway
You: I guess this is what Nissan stands for
You: Thank you

Additional points

I believe it is Nissan's responsibility to straight this out instead the car owners or "EZ-Charge" cause it is Nissan that is promoting this and getting the media attention for marketing purpose.

If you google, you will see lots of news/articles like the below.

Nissan Launches “No Charge to Charge” Program For LEAF ...

Nissan Leaf buyers offered two years of free public charging ...

Nissan launches programs to make LEAF charging free and...

None of these articles really mention who is really behind this program, and Nissan looks like the owner of this program.

I believe if enough people file compliant to Nissan, they will resolve this issue instead of passing all the stress and hassle to the consumers.

sigh.. for me "EZ Charge" means just plugging in at home... can't be much EZ-er than that. (I realize not everyone has access at home, but that's a different issue).

Personally I'm really annoyed that Nissan even thought to offer this program.
Now folks who feel entitled to free electricity will hog the stations that others might need (and be willing to pay to use).

At my prior work one time we had a guy come by and drop off a Tesla 85 at our non-networked clipper creek EVSE in the evening. Next morning someone dropped him off in a minivan and he drove off in his fully charged Tesla. C'mon.. really?!?

ChargePoint dropped out of the "free" part of the EZ-Charge program. The card will still work to activate their charging stations, but they will bill you. This was covered in the media, but of course Nissan and dealers don't "advertise" it.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Electric-car-charging-program-hits-speed-bump-5493482.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my opinion, it was silly of Nissan to have one of the four networks (NRG/eVGO) administer the program, and that is apparently why ChargePoint dropped out.

Are there any Blink, eVGO or AeroVironment stations nearby that you can use? I have never had a problem with any of them.

ps. Please add your location to your profile so people don't need to ask this repeatedly.

To Greg,

Understand your point.

Unfortunately my place has no 240V outlet and is built in 1920s. The current price for paid charging stations is rip off at 0.49 cents kWh, it's more than 3 times of home electricity.

If I have to constantly pay this amount at a paid station, then my goal of being ECO while saving money diminishes.

This free to charge issue is however a different issue. When you offer something like this and even calculated the supposedly saving a car owner will have over the 2 years, and it does not work, it is false advertisement.

Someone might have got a leaf instead of another EV because of this program offering. Now can they return their leaf?

To mbender,

I am in Los Angeles Area. No, i have not used any of the other networks. When I contacted charge point, I was told they were not part of the program and do not believe EZ-charge or Nissan. Now I am reluctant to try any other networks.

One question for you and hopefully you know the answer. When sign up, I need to make 2 connections on the charge point website. One is called "carcharging inc" the other one is called "350green", I thought some charge point stations are owned by these 2 companies and that's why I purposed chose the stations showed up in the EZ-charge site that shows these 2 signs. It still does not work.

I think Nissan and dealers still consider ChargePoint to be "part of the program" because, even though they do not offer the free-charging benefit, the EZ-Charge card still activates their chargers. This was probably a tough call for Nissan to make, given the pluses (still only one card needed to activate a station on any network) and minuses (members thinking that if a card works, then the session will be free).

ChargePoint, on the other hand, probably sees it in their best interest to just say that they are not part of the program.

Regarding the double signup for Carcharging and 350green, I do not know. I was already a member of most of the networks, so my signup process was probably different and easier. I know a lot of 'newcomers' had problems getting their cards to work early on (the other thread).

In any case, I believe that Carcharging is the parent company of Blink, and bought (LA-based, and troubled) 350green, but they use hardware made by competing networks. So it all gets pretty tangled, and I believe that that was one of the problems that EZ-Charge was designed to fix, or at least lessen. As I say though, they picked one of the least-liked networks (NRG/eVGO) to administer the program. And as a result, ChargePoint dropped out and caused more confusion to enter into the picture, not less.


Add location to your profile if you plan to continue to contribute here. Having it stated in one post does not help in future posts... (Nothing personal: this is a frequent request to new members who omit it during signup.)

no point in arguing with Nissan customer service. I leased the leaf with the belief that I would be eligible for the no charge gimmick. Fine print, only available if you buy in participating cities, doesn't matter if you live and work in the city that you participate. Nissan's gimmick is just pr. I just charge at home and got the blink and nvgo cards just in case.... No more leaves for me when my lease expires, unless they have a 200 plus driving range in the future (3 years).

A big part of the problem is the sales end. Too many sales people selling Leafs without actually owning/driving them and having experience dealing with issues like this

Our one sales person who knew from personal experience the ins and outs of Leafs and the charging scenarios was let go. ( I see Mr. Teeny has recently been hired ... by a Nissan dealer in Portland.)

I have cards, fobs, etc that overflow my wallet and key chain into a zip lock bag I keep in the car. (I travel in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.)

Between my home charger and $20/month to Aerovironment, I'm well covered in this area. The other chargers are either free or used so seldom that the occasional charge up is not too hard on the finances.

Nissan needs to man up to the problem and offer a resolution.

Turnover said:

A big part of the problem is the sales end. Too many sales people selling Leafs without actually owning/driving them and having experience dealing with issues like this

Click to expand...

Bingo. We've had this issue for ages and it's ridiculous the amount of misinformation people have been given or how they've been misled. If they actually owned/leased one, this would be less of an issue.

I sure hope the "100 mile" range crap still isn't going on (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, but it still seemed like it was going on in 2013 from my original post there and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=383722#p383722" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

GregH said:

...
At my prior work one time we had a guy come by and drop off a Tesla 85 at our non-networked clipper creek EVSE in the evening. Next morning someone dropped him off in a minivan and he drove off in his fully charged Tesla. C'mon.. really?!?

Click to expand...

Tesla use of the Nissan dealer DCQC has been a problem here. (The Tesla owner has the adapter. $5K :?: )
The Tesla pulls the 44 kW unit rating for a very long time and causes the unit to trip.
Not a problem with LEAF. It doesn't pull 44 kW for very long

TimLee said:

GregH said:

...
At my prior work one time we had a guy come by and drop off a Tesla 85 at our non-networked clipper creek EVSE in the evening. Next morning someone dropped him off in a minivan and he drove off in his fully charged Tesla. C'mon.. really?!?

Click to expand...

Tesla use of the Nissan dealer DCQC has been a problem here. (The Tesla owner has the adapter. $5K :?: )
The Tesla pulls the 44 kW unit rating for a very long time and causes the unit to trip.
Not a problem with LEAF. It doesn't pull 44 kW for very long

Click to expand...

Classic! Paying $5k to spend hours of your life sitting at a Nissan dealership rather than just paying $30-$40/mo to charge at home.
(veering horribly OT here) reminds me of that guy with a Tesla S 60 who decided it was WORTH another $10k-$20k to upgrade to 85 so that he could drive the East coast corridor on the coldest day without having to drop below the speed limit (or heaven forbid, sit at an L2 station for an hour or two) along the way. Even though he never actually had done this trip.

As for the OP, I sympethize with your situation (and that of other apartment dwellers or folks who can't charge at home). It's hard for me to conceive of a plug in vehicle without access to home charging. I agree there need to be solutions to this but giving away free charging at stations that others might rely on to extend their range seems wrongheaded to me.

TimLee said:

GregH said:

...
At my prior work one time we had a guy come by and drop off a Tesla 85 at our non-networked clipper creek EVSE in the evening. Next morning someone dropped him off in a minivan and he drove off in his fully charged Tesla. C'mon.. really?!?

Click to expand...

Tesla use of the Nissan dealer DCQC has been a problem here. (The Tesla owner has the adapter. $5K :?: )
The Tesla pulls the 44 kW unit rating for a very long time and causes the unit to trip.
Not a problem with LEAF. It doesn't pull 44 kW for very long

Click to expand...

Sounds like the DCQC is a poorly designed POS...
If a Leaf 2 has a substantially bigger pack this will become a commonplace issue for all. I guess I am more surprised that a Tesla is welcome to just drop by and hog the thing in the first place.

A rep specialist called and again end up all I hear is "We are the manufacturer of the car, we have nothing to do with these charging stations"

If the person can just say, "Let me go into this issue and find out how the program really work or how the website really work to ensure there will be no problem in the future I would feel much better.

Even though they don't own the program, at least they can call EZ-charge and see what is going on

Nissan has no customer service standard what so ever.

They should send a letter or email to the owners letting them know the program might not work as expected.

Again if any person is experiencing the same problem. You should speak up or go to Nissan leaf's website to express your frustration, hopefully you will get a person who is at least more customer service oriented than what I got.

https://www.facebook.com/nissanleaf?fref=ts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mbender said:

I think Nissan and dealers still consider ChargePoint to be "part of the program" because, even though they do not offer the free-charging benefit, the EZ-Charge card still activates their chargers. This was probably a tough call for Nissan to make, given the pluses (still only one card needed to activate a station on any network) and minuses (members thinking that if a card works, then the session will be free).

Click to expand...

The "one card" feature is a joke. Who cares if you carry one card or 3 (or even 5). The carrying capacity of a Leaf is more than adequate to carry those, and there are plenty of convenient places to put them in the car.

I expect the "not knowing if the session is free" was intentional. How many sessions get charged where the user decides to just pay it instead of claiming a refund?

TimLee said:

GregH said:

...
At my prior work one time we had a guy come by and drop off a Tesla 85 at our non-networked clipper creek EVSE in the evening. Next morning someone dropped him off in a minivan and he drove off in his fully charged Tesla. C'mon.. really?!?

Click to expand...

Tesla use of the Nissan dealer DCQC has been a problem here. (The Tesla owner has the adapter. $5K :?: )
The Tesla pulls the 44 kW unit rating for a very long time and causes the unit to trip.
Not a problem with LEAF. It doesn't pull 44 kW for very long

Click to expand...

No, http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/model-s/products/chademo-adapter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is NOT $5K. It's still listed as "coming soon" for $450. It used to be $1K, coming soon (https://web.archive.org/web/20131009055824/http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/model-s/products/chademo-adapter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false.

However, it has been available to Japanese Model S customers for some time already (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16401-CHAdeMO-adapter-wait-frustration/page44?p=752151&viewfull=1#post752151" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16401-CHAdeMO-adapter-wait-frustration/page46" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Not sure why it's still in coming soon state for the US.

That Japanese Model S driver reported eventual smoke (!!?!) when he used a http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; there: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16401-CHAdeMO-adapter-wait-frustration/page50?p=770813&viewfull=1#post770813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Regarding dropping off EVs/PHEVs to charge for free, I see this all the time at http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/7989" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. All different makes and models are there all the way from Smart ED all the way up to Rav4 EV and Model S, including numerous PHEVs such as Volts, Ford Fusion/C-Max Energis, etc. I sure hope those folks have run the numbers and end up pulling enough juice to justify their gasoline costs. At least they began prohibiting overnight parking earlier this year...

alanlarson said:

mbender said:

I think Nissan and dealers still consider ChargePoint to be "part of the program" because, even though they do not offer the free-charging benefit, the EZ-Charge card still activates their chargers. This was probably a tough call for Nissan to make, given the pluses (still only one card needed to activate a station on any network) and minuses (members thinking that if a card works, then the session will be free).

Click to expand...

The "one card" feature is a joke. Who cares if you carry one card or 3 (or even 5). The carrying capacity of a Leaf is more than adequate to carry those, and there are plenty of convenient places to put them in the car.

Click to expand...

It's not so much a matter of space but there can be issues for those who have no idea what charging networks there are in their area and having to go thru multiple signup processes just to get on. I'm serious. I live in the Bay Area, work at a tech company and have spoken to numerous new to EV/PHEV drivers (including some at my work) who aren't enthusiasts and don't know.

We have Chargepoint stations where employees can charge for free (they have to be in our group). Some folks at my work were confused about Chargepoint. Another was confused about why they were being charged $ to charge (apparently due to some sessions outside of work where they ran past the free time limit at stations at Target and they didn't know how to view their history and fees). The list goes on...

Some guy from WA state (haven't followed it) has made a roadtrip in his Leaf down to CA but mentioned that it was big pain to use the NRG eVgo stations because he didn't have a card. Sounded like he wasted a lot of time making phone calls each time, since he didn't have their card. Why should he? I don't believe they even have a presence up there.

gatonekomao said:

A rep specialist called and again end up all I hear is "We are the manufacturer of the car, we have nothing to do with these charging stations"

If the person can just say, "Let me go into this issue and find out how the program really work or how the website really work to ensure there will be no problem in the future I would feel much better.

Even though they don't own the program, at least they can call EZ-charge and see what is going on

Nissan has no customer service standard what so ever.

They should send a letter or email to the owners letting them know the program might not work as expected.

Again if any person is experiencing the same problem. You should speak up or go to Nissan leaf's website to express your frustration, hopefully you will get a person who is at least more customer service oriented than what I got.

https://www.facebook.com/nissanleaf?fref=ts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

I sympathize and do hope Nissan is working closely with these guys to get this working smoothly.
However, if I get a free gas card with a purchase of an ICE, and a gas pump is out of service, is that the responsibility of the car manufacturer or of the gas pump operator?

I understand that the EV charging infrastructure is in its infancy and it is in Nissan's own self interest to insure this plan works smoothly.
I would suggest though being a bit more forgiving.

It's a different issue again. If I get a free gas card and the gas pump is not working of course I will either 1. Find another gas pump. 2. Call the gas station.

This is when I get a free gas card go to gas pump, and put the gas, then realize money is taken out of my pocket, now should I call the gas station? They will tell you "I don't know? Maybe call the company who gave you the card? I see a Nissan logo on the front of the card now who should I call?

1) Never call Nissan CS for anything , they are script readers and they also make things up all the time when there is no answer. They also do not do the billing, administration, etc for this.

2) If you use a station and the station owner says it is part of the program and you are billed and they will not resolve it, simply dispute your credit card charge and watch how quickly the issue is resolved!

3) If they charge you and they are not part of the program, then then that's the way it is. No point in complaining once you know.

It's not really about getting a refund.

I just want an official answer or acknowledgement from Nissan/EZ charge that there is a problem with this program. They can tell me they are trying to fix it and will let me know it will be fine

they can even say "This free to charge program is no longer available at your area" I would be fine.

It's just a simple principle that businesses should disclose information when something is not working right and the willingness to help customers.

we manufacture cars and it has nothing to do with us is not an acceptable answer. Nissan logo is clearly on the front of the card.