Public charging glitches

[amdmad]

I had some trouble with the PodPoints in the Glyndebourne audience car park. At least one wasn't working, but the real issue seemed to be that if you plugged in before "claiming" the post, the damn app would tell you it was already taken, not available, and once that happened nothing would change its mind. Picture a bunch of people in fancy evening dress shunting cars from one post to another on a bit of a slope with rough pebbly surfaces, in the blazing hot afternoon sun.

Podpoints are supposed to give you 5 or 15 minutes to claim a charge,so you don't have to stand there and wait .

 

[mj224]

A big thumbs up for Osprey, their modern chargers work so easily with a tap and pay. Gridserve is also one of my goto charger. I recently had trouble with Instavolt, but it worked once I downloaded the app. MFG seem to be pretty reliable, other than on one occasion a year or two ago....

AC Chargers are hit-and-miss for me, the local Clenergy, and Dragon chargers can't write proper software.......

 

[tsedge]

Just thinking about this - I never have any payments problems at chargers but then I always use my phone to pay via ApplePay for the convenience and extra security.

I wonder if those getting problems with bank card are getting a different experience. I know contactless cards decline every so many payments and sometimes want extra checks depending on bank policies.

 

[amdmad]

A big thumbs up for Osprey, their modern chargers work so easily with a tap and pay. Gridserve is also one of my goto charger. I recently had trouble with Instavolt, but it worked once I downloaded the app. MFG seem to be pretty reliable, other than on one occasion a year or two ago....

AC Chargers are hit-and-miss for me, the local Clenergy, and Dragon chargers can't write proper software.......

Our only problem with Ac is if its charging and you unlock car "forgot something " it stops the charge . Then got to start charge again,another £45 hold on debit card ....

 

[securespark]

Had that in Derby where the charger failed a couple of times, so we had 3 x £45 charges. It affected the available balance, but in the end, only one went through.

As for Visa, all the high street banks our family Bank with have deserted Visa like a sinking ship. I guess it's due to higher fees or something like that.

 

[Rolfe]

Sorry to hear that. I would suspect it might be your bank at fault. I've used them a lot, all over on my travels and never had a problem.

Dunno. I've got my Electroverse card working so I just use that. Handy little discount with it too.

Podpoints are supposed to give you 5 or 15 minutes to claim a charge,so you don't have to stand there and wait .

The issue seemed to be people plugging in first, then trying to claim a charge, and the bloody app insisting that the post in question was already bagged.

 

[amdmad]

The issue seemed to be people plugging in first, then trying to claim a charge, and the bloody app insisting that the post in question was already bagged.

I've always plugged in first lock car walk away,remembering the pods name,and confirm charge inside the store .

 

[EvTek23]

I've used Podpoint for some time when away from home at Tesco in Bournemouth and charged many times without any problems by connecting to the car, claiming the charge and locking the car, in that order. I've only had one problem charging when the charge stopped after the allocated 15 min claim your charge time. I couldn't get that outlet to charge again by either unlocking and relocking the car or trying to claim the charge again. In the end I had to move the car to a different charge point.
I've recently also charged in Tesco Loudwater (High Wycombe) twice and on each occasion, and as I recall they were on different charge points, that when I unlock the car to stop the charge the lights on the charge port have remained green with the plug locked into the car. It has taken a further re-lock and unlock cycle of the car in order to release the lock on the charging port.

 

[Rolfe]

I've always plugged in first lock car walk away,remembering the pods name,and confirm charge inside the store .

The Glyndebourne ones don't seem to work like that.

 

[GaryMG4]

While on holiday in the N. York Moors recently I had to plug in, lock the car and quickly get back to the cabin to use the wifi to claim the charge, no phone signal in that part of the forest. Failed once, I guess I wasn't quick enough.

 

[Martinonline]

When I last used the pod point at my local Tesco I left the car unlocked, plugged in, used the car's WiFi to specify the unit and commence charging. Then removed the shopping bags, locked the car and shopped.

 

[hmibennett]

I had some trouble with the PodPoints in the Glyndebourne audience car park. At least one wasn't working, but the real issue seemed to be that if you plugged in before "claiming" the post, the damn app would tell you it was already taken, not available, and once that happened nothing would change its mind. Picture a bunch of people in fancy evening dress shunting cars from one post to another on a bit of a slope with rough pebbly surfaces, in the blazing hot afternoon sun.

Yes, been there, done that! Good to have so many chargers provided on site, but needs to be more user-friendly underfoot (I actually tripped and fell on the hardcore this summer) and a few rapid chargers wouldn't go amiss - or, at least, tap and go chargers.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, been there, done that! Good to have so many chargers provided on site, but needs to be more user-friendly underfoot (I actually tripped and fell on the hardcore this summer) and a few rapid chargers wouldn't go amiss - or, at least, tap and go chargers.

Picture me reversing up to the third different charger, in blazing hot sunshine, an evening dress and fancy shoes. The car wheels are scrabbling for a grip on the rough stony surface and spinning, because I'm trying to reverse uphill. Not the perfect start to the perfect day. But although I was struggling a bit on the stones in these shoes, at least I didn't actually fall over.

I've heard people complaining that the chargers are of limited use because they won't fill the battery in the time, I think it was a couple with a car with a large battery who lived close to their car's range away and didn't want to stop on the way home. But to be honest mine has only failed to fill once, at Tristan und Isolde last year. Don't know why, I was there for ages but the chargers were really slow that day.

I think these chargers are quite old and they rely to some extent on that wind turbine. Maybe they need to rethink their provision as technology moves on. They suit me though as I'm staying with friends quite nearby and just need enough so that I can get well on my way home the next day. (I made it to Longbridge this year, over 160 miles on the motorway in the SR.) I'd just like them to work first time. (They do have a techie lad hovering to help mind you.)