I purchased a group 31 at the end of 2015 for our crawler we go to JV with. Right before our trip to JV in 2016, I was prepping the rig and left the CB on overnight. It ran the battery down to the point it would not start the rig. I used the smart charger on it and it popped up on the display as a bad battery. Knowing a bit about AGM batteries, I put a known good similar capacity AGM in parallel and charged it that way. It took a couple of days but I finally got it to take a charge. This is not an abused battery, I keep a Battery Tender on it and check it frequently so I do not let it sit discharged to keep it from a sulfate death.
This year before our JV trip, I'm doing prep again and it was slow to turn the rig over and got worse. I pop it on the smart charger again, no good, another battery in parallel, no good. So, according to Northstar when I chatted with them directly in 2016, Batteries + Bulbs is my warranty center. I have to take it in, let them try to charge it, wait 2 days while that happens, then if the battery is bad, they have to order one in instead of taking one off the shelf and handing it to me. In 2016 that was an annoyance, now it is just a pain in my ass because I purchased another one to get me going on the trip while they evaluated the first one. They left a message while I was out in the desert and said the battery is bad and in order to get it warrantied, I have to pick it up, bring it home, pack it, and then ship it to High Tech Battery solutions in Ohio to get it covered.
I called Northstar this morning and asked them why I had to do it that way and they have no answer other than, "If you want to warranty it, it has to go back to the original place of purchase". No amount of conversation will change that. I referenced our previous conversation in 2016 and was told "I don't know who you spoke to but they told you wrong". I said "alright, where do I get that fancy box to pack it in to ship it back?" His reply? "not from Northstar".
So, beware of the fine print, it can be a real assbiter at times. I will divest myself of any Northstar product and will not use anything with their name on it.
This year before our JV trip, I'm doing prep again and it was slow to turn the rig over and got worse. I pop it on the smart charger again, no good, another battery in parallel, no good. So, according to Northstar when I chatted with them directly in 2016, Batteries + Bulbs is my warranty center. I have to take it in, let them try to charge it, wait 2 days while that happens, then if the battery is bad, they have to order one in instead of taking one off the shelf and handing it to me. In 2016 that was an annoyance, now it is just a pain in my ass because I purchased another one to get me going on the trip while they evaluated the first one. They left a message while I was out in the desert and said the battery is bad and in order to get it warrantied, I have to pick it up, bring it home, pack it, and then ship it to High Tech Battery solutions in Ohio to get it covered.
I called Northstar this morning and asked them why I had to do it that way and they have no answer other than, "If you want to warranty it, it has to go back to the original place of purchase". No amount of conversation will change that. I referenced our previous conversation in 2016 and was told "I don't know who you spoke to but they told you wrong". I said "alright, where do I get that fancy box to pack it in to ship it back?" His reply? "not from Northstar".
So, beware of the fine print, it can be a real assbiter at times. I will divest myself of any Northstar product and will not use anything with their name on it.
