Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/12/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband and I bought a new ******* Ionic 5 which includes 2 years of free charging thru Electrify America (30 mins sessions at a time) with the purchase of the vehicle. Soon after beginning to use Electrify America for our charges, we had an error on our app which said we were still plugged into a charging station hours after disconnecting. The next time we tried to charge we were unable to do so and had to contact customer service to notify of the issue. Long story short, the issue has not been fixed and it's showing we have been plugged into that station for over 700 hours. Every single time we need to charge we gave to call Electrify America's customer service and spend at minimum 20 minutes to get someone on the line who do a "remote start" and allow us to charge. It is often closer to an hour on hold to actually get the issue resolved. We have notified them everytime of the issue and that it needs to be corrected. Every. Single. Time. It's awful and seems very negligent and like a breach of contract that we are being blocked from charging due to a clearly identified app issue. I'm considering seeking legal counsel if they do not choose to rectify the situation. Thank you for your help in this matter

  Business Response

  Date: 12/14/2022

  December 13, 2022 

  Dear Dispute Resolution Team: 
  

  I am counsel to Electrify America, LLC, (“Electrify America” or the “Company”) and I am in  receipt of your correspondence dated November 21, 2022, under the above-referenced file number and the related complaint regarding Complaint ID ******** (the “Complaint”). I  will refer to the person that made this complaint as the “Complainant”. 
  

  Electrify America is a coast-to-coast electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station operator and as  part of its services, offers customers direct current (“DC”) fast charging services for EVs. The  Company is currently the largest open DC fast charging network in the U.S., and is investing  more than $2 billion in Zero Emission Vehicle (“ZEV”) infrastructure, education and access.  The investment will enable millions of Americans to discover the benefits of electric driving  and support the build-out of a nationwide network of ultra-fast community and highway  chargers that are convenient and reliable. Electrify America expects to have more than 1,800  total charging stations with over 10,000 individual chargers in the United States and Canada  by 2026. During this period, the company will be expanding to 49 states and the District of  Columbia, supporting increased ZEV adoption with a network that is comprehensive,  technologically advanced and customer friendly. 

  Electrify America’s portfolio of charging stations around the country is still in its early  stages1, and is growing rapidly2. As part of Electrify America’s commitment to provide  customers with a quality charging experience, Electrify America maintains a comprehensive  maintenance and management program for its EV charging stations, and monitors charging  stations through a number of channels. Electrify America maintains a Contact Center, which  operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to provide Tier 1 support for  customers. Additionally, and importantly, the Contact Center has linguists available to  respond in 240 languages and dialects if the customer’s first language is not English.  
  

  Electrify America’s Network Operation Center is staffed by engineers around the clock to  respond to technical issues and dispatch maintenance to the stations, if needed. Electrify  America has engaged a third-party maintenance and repair vendor to perform routine,  regular, pro-active campaign, and emergency maintenance to help keep the charging stations  operational. Further, in January 2021, it launched a Roaming EV Test Fleet program to  conduct intensive field tests of our network. This means that each of the Company’s chargers  are tested almost every two months. The Company deploys nine teams of inspectors who  complete a full checklist to ensure that its chargers will provide a quality experience to our  customers. This works to help ensure that each charging cable, all payment methods, and  other facets of the customer experience will provide a high-quality charge. The inspectors  utilize a fleet of electric vehicles to perform charging tests. In addition, they inspect the  stations to ensure all equipment and aesthetics are in top working order including the  chargers themselves, power cabinets, transformers, lighting, EV charging parking stencil  signage, among other things.  

  The Electrify America network is proactively monitored through a backend software system  to ensure the Electrify America chargers are online and available for customers, and if issues  occur, technical assessment is conducted promptly and escalated to the appropriate channel  for diagnosis, response, and repair.  
  Electrify America has teamed with numerous car manufacturers to offer various charging  packages, or “premium offers” to customers that purchase new EVs. One such premium offer  is available to Hyundai consumers that purchased a new model year Ioniq 5 EV, where such  purchaser is eligible to receive, from the date of vehicle purchase and subject to various  conditions, two years of included charging.  

  The Complainant states that they are a recipient of this Ioniq 5 premium offer. They further  state that they are having issues with activating the charging benefit from their premium  offer at Electrify America stations, and that they have needed to call the Contact Center repeatedly in order to activate charging remotely. Their requested settlement is simply for  Electrify America to “[f]inish the job”.  
  

  After investigating our records internally, however, I am told that the Complainant has no Contact Center cases associated with their name. Further, Complainant gives no detail in the  Complaint as to whether specific chargers that they used presented issues when activating a  charging session. This lack of detail in the Complaint makes it difficult, if not impossible to identify the root cause of Complainant’s issues and directly address whatever difficulties the  Complainant may have. 

  While it is unfortunate that the Complainant may have experienced challenges charging, the  Company will continue to diligently and promptly resolve and repair issues via its Network  Operations Center and backend monitoring in order to help EV drivers enjoy a quality  charging experience on its network. And importantly, since Complainant makes no claim for  refund or restitution, we consider this matter to be closed. 
  

  Should the Complainant have any further questions, they should please contact the Electrify America Contact Center 24/7/365 at 1-833-632-2778.  
  

  Sincerely, 
  David A******** 
  Senior Counsel

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/10/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was trying to access Electrify America Station ****** at 160 N. Gulph Road, Suite 2700 King of Prussia, PA 19406 (King of Prussia mall location) at 12:52am on 11/10/22. The station was listed as 24 hour access and that the chargers were available. . Gates were up around the mall. I stop at one of the gates and it listed the number to call EV Charger Access ************ and mall security asked where I was and that they would send someone security over to open the gate. I called 10 minutes later since no one came, and was told there would be no access since the chargers were unavailable. The security crew called a supervisor who said access was at their discretion. There are many red flags here. I called Electrify America and they said the chargers are open 24 hours but some properties won't allow acces. Upon calling EA, I was told that the station is 24 hours, but some property won't allow access. That is not acceptable. Coordinate with the property owner and have your app reflect the hours of access and that chargers are unavailable! Also, ***** Property Group should not have an "EV Charger Access" sign if they have no intention of letting someone in. There should be coordination between ***** and EA to not misinform the public that a charging station is available and "lure" EVs with limited range to come to your combined facility. It's potentially very dangerous where you would leave people stranded. This seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Someone runs out of range after being denied in subzero temperature. That's not where I am going with this. Just get it right and fix it. Finally, I might guess that someone received some tax break or incentive for putting a Public Charging station at the mall. That's why I think the EV charger access sign is on the gate - for compliance. There is definitely something wrong here.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/15/2022

  December 15, 2022 

  Dear Dispute Resolution Team: 
  

  I am counsel to Electrify America, LLC, (“Electrify America” or the “Company”) and I am in  receipt of your correspondence dated November 21, 2022, under the above-referenced file  number and the related complaint regarding Complaint ID ******** (the “Complaint”). I  will refer to the person that made this complaint as the “Complainant”. 

  Electrify America is a coast-to-coast electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station operator and as  part of its services, offers customers direct current (“DC”) fast charging services for EVs. The  Company is currently the largest open DC fast charging network in the U.S., and is investing  more than $2 billion in Zero Emission Vehicle (“ZEV”) infrastructure, education and access.  The investment will enable millions of Americans to discover the benefits of electric driving  and support the build-out of a nationwide network of ultra-fast community and highway  chargers that are convenient and reliable. Electrify America expects to have more than 1,800  total charging stations with over 10,000 individual chargers in the United States and Canada  by 2026. During this period, the company will be expanding to 49 states and the District of  Columbia, supporting increased ZEV adoption with a network that is comprehensive,  technologically advanced and customer friendly. 

  Electrify America’s portfolio of charging stations around the country is still in its early  stages1, and is growing rapidly2. As part of Electrify America’s commitment to provide  customers with a quality charging experience, Electrify America maintains a comprehensive  maintenance and management program for its EV charging stations, and monitors charging  stations through a number of channels. Electrify America maintains a Contact Center, which  operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to provide Tier 1 support for  customers. Additionally, and importantly, the Contact Center has linguists available to  respond in 240 languages and dialects if the customer’s first language is not English.  
  

  The Complainant states that they tried to gain access to our station located at the **** **  ******* Mall after midnight on November 11, 2022, but was unable to, as access was  restricted by a locked gate. Their desired relief is for Electrify America to “repair” this issue. 
  

  We appreciate the Complainant bringing this issue to our attention. After conducting an  internal investigation, I am told that access to the instant site is secured after hours due to a  recent uptick in vandalism throughout the area. However, I am also told that Electrify  America’s Real Estate Team has been in contact with the site host, and that going forward,  their security personnel will be re-instructed to open the secured area to customers calling  the listed number when arriving outside of the mall’s operating hours. Further, I have spoken  with our Contact Center, and they have begun the process to make additions on both the  Electrify America app and website concerning the procedure to access the chargers at this  site after-hours. Therefore, going forward, this site should be available 24/7, with a clearer  notice to customers concerning after-hours access. 
  

  Should the Complainant have any further questions, they should please contact the Electrify  America Contact Center 24/7/365 at 1-833-632-2778.  
  

  Sincerely, 
  

  David A******** 
  Senior Counsel

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/20/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 

  
  

  I believe that many EV drivers at this location will benefit from your action to this complaint.   
  
  Thank you.,
  
  *****************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/17/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have an Electrical Vehicle. Every time I go to charge my EV at Electrify America, 50% of the time it doesn't work. Lately, it has been running my card for $50, up to $200 in holding fees when the charging station doesn't work. They say that the $50 holding fees will be reversed, but last time they weren't, and when I called to get a refund, they said they had already refunded --- and I had to call my bank to reverse the charges. I have never said OK for them to even have a $50 holding fee while I charge -- I have only agreed to be charged 43 cents per killowatt per minute ---- and I have never received a text message receipt I have asked for on the screen. When I call customer service, they say "download the app." Every different company of charging station wants you to download an app to do business with them -- when I don't want them making money off my data --- and I don't want another app on my phone. I just want to pull up to the charging station and pay and get a receipt and leave like a gas station. This tech is insanely intrusive, unethical, and erroniously charging people. An app is not a receipt. A receipt is a receipt. If I give my credit card over, I expect a receipt -- not a business telling me I have to download an app that will suck free data from my phone.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/04/2022

  November 4, 2022 
  

  Dear Dispute Resolution Team: 
  

  I represent Electrify America, LLC, (“Electrify America”) and write concerning your  correspondence dated October 23, 2022 regarding Complaint ID ******** (the “Complaint”). I will refer to the person that made the Complaint as the “Complainant”.  
  

  Electrify America is a coast-to-coast electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station operator and  as part of its services, offers Complainants direct current (“DC”) fast charging services  for EVs. Electrify America is currently the largest open DC fast charging network in the  U.S. and is investing more than $2 billion in Zero Emission Vehicle (“ZEV”) infrastructure,  education, and access. This investment will enable millions of Americans to discover the  benefits of electric driving and support the build-out of a nationwide network of ultra fast community and highway chargers that are convenient and reliable. 

  Electrify America offers transparent pricing, and multiple options for payment at our  charging stations. Each charger is equipped with a credit-card reader and a large  touchscreen that explains how customers can charge (the “Human-Machine Interface”,  or “HMI”) and the specifics of our pricing. Should the consumer prefer, Electrify America  also provides an app for both Android OS and Apple iOS that allows for payment, and  commencement of a charging session through one’s smartphone.  
  

  The Complaint states that Electrify America inappropriately applied a pre-authorization  hold on when the Complainant used a credit card to pay for charging sessions at an  Electrify America station (a “Session”). They state that Electrify America “has been  running my card for $50”, and that they “had to call [their] bank to reverse the charges” to their credit card. The Complaint also states that they called the Electrify America Call  Center (the “Call Center”) asking for a method to avoid the $50 “holding fee.” An  Electrify America Call Center representative explained that the Complainant can avoid pre-authorization holds by downloading the Electrify America app and using the app to  initiate charging sessions. However, it appears that the Complainant never did so because, according to the Complaint, they “don’t want another app on [their] phone.” The  Complainant now seeks a refund for the “holding fees” applied to their credit card for  Sessions initiated via their credit card.  
  

  The “$50.00 holding fee” referenced in the Complaint relates to the temporary payment  authorization hold, or “pre-authorization,” which is a customary and accepted practice  in cases where Complainants must receive authorization to charge a debit or credit card  prior to knowing how much the charge will be. This practice is used regularly in a variety  of industries, including hotel, rental car, and gasoline dispensation. In fact, pre authorizations are encouraged by the card brands in order to combat fraud at automated  fuel dispensers (see, for example, ******** ******* Merchant Regulations – U.S., Section  12.7.2 (Apr. 2018): “We recommend that you: Set a pre-authorization request of $100 at  your CAT gas pumps.”) 
  Further, applicable rules permit Electrify America to use its discretion in setting the  amount of the pre-authorization. For example and absent any direct guideline for EV  charging stations, in the case of unattended Automated Fuel Dispensers, the 2018 ****  Payment Acceptance Best Practices for U.S. Retail Petroleum Merchants states that the  amount should be a “good faith estimate based on spending patterns at the  merchant,” but no more than $500. 

  In Electrify America’s judgment, and based on its experience, $50.00 reflects a  reasonable, good-faith amount that appropriately estimates the total cost of charge and  reduces the risks of fraud on such transactions. As demonstrated in the enclosed  Exhibits A and B, the $50 pre-authorization fee is clearly disclosed on the Electrify  America HMI as well as its website. Importantly, this pre-authorization is typically lifted  from the Complainant’s credit card between 24 – 48 hours after such transaction,  although the exact timing of the release of the pre-authorization is subject to the issuing  bank’s discretion.  
  

  Although the Complaint does not reference the dates of the Sessions at issue, I am told that the Complainant’s Session occurred on October 9. The transaction settled on  October 9, and a refund was issued to the Complainant on October 10. Thus, by the time  the Complainant spoke with an Electrify America Call Center representative on October  13, 2022, the pre-authorized amounts held had already been refunded. During that call,  the Electrify America Call Center representative asked for documentation from the  Complainant supporting demonstrating that the pre-authorizations were not refunded,  but the Complainant was unable to provide such information. 
  

  As a result, because the Complainant has already received a refund, we believe this  matter is closed. Please let us know if you have any further questions.  
  

  Sincerely, 
  

  David A******** 
  Senior Counsel