When I previously contemplated getting a Li battery for my wife's Roomba, everything I read indicated the OEM charger could not be used with them. When I visited the ProTech Robotics site, it was unclear from the "Details" about their Li battery whether a separate charger or the OEM charger was required:
"Each cell has is own PCB to protect against over charge, discharge and short circuits"
I wrote to ProTech customer service asking if a separate charger was required as I couldn't find one on their site. I got no reply. A month later I wrote again and got the following reply:
"since the question is covered in the details for the Li-ion battery we did not feel a reply was warranted. http://www.protechrobotics.com/proddetail.php?prod=4565445-LI"
-
Elayne S.
Customer Service Representative
cs@protechrobotics.com
Apparently, my question was still too stupid to "warrant" a polite or curtious reply. I can only guess at the reception of ProTech's "customer service" if I had a question or problem with a purchase from them. Are there any other suppliers of Li batteries for the Roomba or am I stuck with the original? Damned if I will deal with a company who can't answer a simple question or treats me the way ProTech did.
Comments
Sorry to hear that you had
Submitted by fraggboy on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 11:55pm.Regards, Chris
Questions? Check out the READ FIRST section. Your question might have been answered already. It opens up in a new window.
Protech Robotics
Submitted by ProTech Robotics on Sun, 11/21/2010 - 4:04pm.maximzodal, its regrettable that you feel that Protech Robotics treated you badly and please accept my apology if Elayne in CS came across that way. I'm sure It wasn't intended.
We try to accommodate all customers but we do ask that as a customer you research what you are looking for as much as reasonably possible before submitting a question to our staff, the email-us page on our site specifically deals with trying to assist our customers in finding what they are looking for before emailing us.
Most all questions are covered on the site and as Jim T. on our support staff stated to you, we would rather all customers be informed when making a purchase from us and that the information that they get be "written" on the site and available for future review instead of what was relayed through an email reply.
Your Q: is a separate charger required for a LI-ion battery
http://www.protechrobotics.com/proddetail.php?prod=4565445-LI
From the site detail page link above: Can be charged with both the roomba Standard(black) and APS fast charger(Gray). Compatible with all 41XX and 42XX Discovery series models.
I hope this answers your question.
The other question is concerning availability. No, there are no other suppliers for the Li-ion Roomba Scooba cells worldwide.
--
Regards,
Chris
ProTech Robotics™
C. R. Home Improvements inc.
repairs@protechrobotics.com
//////////////////////////
Chris ProTechRobotics.com
A bunch of smart-@$$#$.
Submitted by Patrick on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 11:46pm.Protech Robotics review
Submitted by yrral66 on Sat, 07/23/2011 - 3:21pm.Protech lack of customer service
Submitted by devaja on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 4:12pm.A scam for them to get dirt-cheap parts they can sell
Submitted by tandem on Mon, 02/21/2011 - 4:53pm.ProTech Robotics is a SCAM - do not use!!
Submitted by treatmeright on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 12:52pm.Same Experience - Avoid this scam!
Submitted by mrfeeto on Wed, 03/02/2011 - 9:40am.No customer service and overpriced
Submitted by Xamindar on Thu, 03/03/2011 - 9:31pm.http://www.protechrobotics.com/proddetail.php?prod=4565445-LI_500&cat=39
It has been a week and still no reply. They state about that battery; "If your power supply is below the manufacturers rated 22.5v needed you may experience an Err5 code", which is a lie. Not "may", you WILL experience Err5 no matter what. Even with the standard charger which measures around 22.55v like mine. I simply asked them which power supply would stop the error and still no response. Now that I found this list of complaints it is clear that they are a scam and liars. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. All their parts are close to, if not more than double the price that they can be found elsewhere.
Hopefully more people find this before doing business with this company. Note that you will rarely find any product reviews on their site lower than 5 stars. That should throw a big red flag to anyone.
I was going to buy a Li- Ion Battery pack BUT NO WARRANTY
Submitted by medic427 on Wed, 06/15/2011 - 3:53pm.Protect Robotics is a RIP OFF
Submitted by Nekeele on Sat, 07/02/2011 - 11:12am.My experience
Submitted by ru4cats on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 3:24pm.