BP Pulse rapid charging customer satisfaction poll - share your experiences

[Stuart Wright]

How would you rate your experience charging with BP Pulse chargers?
If you have used their chargers, please vote on the poll.
And if you have any additional comments to make, please reply in this thread.
Thanks

 

[Jake]

I have an account with BP so they are my first go to and have used them far more than Shell & Instavolt which I voted Excellent for both as I had no problems at all. The times I have had problems with BP their help line advisors have been very helpful and either suggested nearby alternatives or have managed to re-boot their charger and often given a free charge to compensate.

Overall I am very happy with BP but they could have better reliability so could only vote Good.

 

[notdodgy]

Locally there is a 16Amp free one in ASDA which I have used a couple of times - worked without any problems.
There are chargers in the town centre car parks. Due to lockdown, I have not yet tried them (also avoiding ASDA due to the non mask wearing horde hordes and the charging bays frequently being iced).

Just came to the end of the 3 month trial and have cancelled.
Main reason being an erroneous charge at a charger I have not used.
Have been told this morning that it was a remote activation rather than the RFID card, but the invoice shows the card number.
Until they can explain what happened I don't trust their system.

 

[ALANB]

Since BP acquired them (Polar/Chargemaster) the service level has declined in respect to the assistance given via phone. This is perhaps an indication of the number of chargers that are not in service.

 

[Stuart Wright]

I like BP Pulse. Have the Polar RFID still, which worked the last time I used it in January.
They are good, but not excellent. Too many have been out of service (despite looking ok and even after a reset by the central control folks) to get an Excellent mark from me.

 

[John G]

I also rated 'good.' I can't charge at home and so rely on the Pulse 7kw chargers that are sprinkled around locally. For most of last year I had no problems at all. Then as they rebranded to BPPulse their systems went haywire. My RFID card was refused and the app would start a charge but not allow me to finish it. The staff at the call centre were fantastic but having to call every other day for a month was a problem. But eventually a new card was sent and I was not charged for two months. I haven't had to use the app so I have no idea if its working yet.
On long journeys I look for Pulse/Polar first to get the discounted price. Over the past year my energy cost has been 1p mile. All the local posts are on free vend for the first year, so that will go up soon I guess.
Of it hadn't been for the December screw up, it would have been excellent.

 

[Electric George]

Iam a member of Polar/Pulse I have two rapid chargers in my area and and some 7kw chargers never had any bad experience with them maybe iam lucky but very happy as I have no home charger so excellent for me.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I’ve used them on numerous occasions, including a quick 10 KWh top up yesterday at Ipswich with no issues, cost me £2.50.

 

[MAS]

I rated good as I use 7KW charger at ASDA without any problem. Got 3 month free membership, I will probably cancel it after 3 month and use free PodPoint at Sainsbury, while shopping.

 

[smithgt]

I too have had a Polar subscription, so I try to head to one of their units for charging. I too voted excellent - though their customer service can take far too long to answer.

With a combination of their app and PlugShare/ZapMap I'm able to check if the unit is working before making the final approach.

When I visit Derby the city has lots of Rapid and Fast charge car parks. And halfway from home to Derby there are a few Polar units at Holiday Inns.

So long as I average two charges a month, then the membership fee is covered when compared to 35p at Instavolt. I also get free charging at my local Asda.

 

[Ron61]

I have only tried to use a BP pulse rapid charger once and it was a disaster. I tried to initiate a charge 3 times but nothing happened. Then I found out that BP had taken £15 from my credit card for each failed attempt to charge i.e. £45 in total. The money was eventually credited back after 4 or 5 days but I think it's a complete liberty.

 

[ALANB]

Today....shocking!!! This my latest trials and tribulations with them.....off shore response which explains a few things, especially the weird language.. But still the App doesn't work...and still I cannot log into my account. Jeez. This is on the back of absolutely shocking accounting issues last year.

Today I had problem with a unit in Lincoln. It did not accept my BP Pulse membership card, so I had to use the app to start the charge. When I returned to the car and used the app to stop the charge, the charge stopped but it did not release my cable. Out of desperation I tried my BP Pulse card which it then recognised, and released my cable. I would tell you the number of the unit but I now find that my account will not log in on your website, saying that the email or the password is incorrect. So I reset the password, got the reset password straightaway and reset it successfully, but it still doesn't work. When I tried the app to see if I can find the unit name, it gives me a silly page display saying that the activity page is iced so I can't tell you the device number. Also I don't seem to have had any invoices lately and I have no idea what my current credit balance is.....it should be around £400 in credit. Can anyone give a clue as to what is going on?

03:37​

BP Pulse​

Hi Alan, we are sorry for the insolvencies that you have experienced on one of our charger. I have replied to the e-mail that you have sent earlier with detailed information about as to why this has happened and the credit/invoices information requested. If you have any enquires feel free to contact us at any time. GS.

 

[marcopolomt]

used to be better. prices have now gone up from what they first were when I got my car but reliability hasn't. the most useful charger to me is currently inaccessible as the hotel is being used to host Afghan migrants (why we still can't access the charger is beyond me).

Overall membership is a complete rip-off for the service provided. instavolt is my first preference. never had an issue.

 

[smithgt]

I used to have a Polar subscription and would head there as my primary stop on my 180mile journey. However, cancelled this a year or more ago, the only downside is I can't easily activate the 7kW posts as my local ASDA/Retail park. (I can use the App when that's working). The days of a single rapid in a pub car park have passed, and we need 7kW posts at destinations.
I now head to Instavolt, Osprey & Gridserve for my Rapid Charge requirements

 

[Zoomy]

7kw posts seem reluctant to start via the app. Often the app will sit waiting to initiate the charge.

They really need to issue RFID away from the subscription product if they can't get the communications right.

I've seen on Twitter that you can use a meter key to drop the access panel and throw the breaker in order to kick the unit.