Recently, a Dewalt 60V Flexvolt batteries went bad on me. Fortunately for me, the warranty period was still valid so I was able send it in for warranty service. This is my honest review of Dewalt’s warranty service.
Dewalt warranty repair service, Keeping Things Anonymous
The Defective Tool
Let me start by explaining what went wrong with my Dewalt Flexvolt. It simply wouldnt charge. The charger would indicate that it was charging, but after a few minutes the charger would tell you that it had finished charging. However, the battery fuel gauge would still show 1 bar. I have several chargers and all did the same thing and would work perfectly fine with my other batteries so I was able to single out this battery as being faulty.
Contacting Dewalt, The Phone Call
To initiate the warranty process, I called Dewalt at 1-800-4DEWALT (1 800 433 9288). I was friendly with the man who answered my questions, including what’s wrong with the item. He also asked for information such as model number, product date code, and my address. The date code is used to determine when the item was made. If you don’t have your order receipt, they also use this information. However I did have my original receipt so they go by that date instead since items are obviously sold at a later date than they were made.
Dewalt was supposed to be able to ship me a box with a prepaid shipping label to allow me to send the defective battery to them. However, that wasn’t my experience. They did not get my address information but they used it to locate the closest service location. My closest service location was 16 miles away and according to Google Maps was roughly 27 minutes away. They couldn’t ship the battery to me at no cost. This upset me. Although 16 miles seems not far, it was difficult for me to make the drive due to my busy schedule.
Service Rep for Dewalt Warranty Repair Service
I tried to convince the rep that they would email me a pre-paid shipping label so I could box the item myself, but he refused. I was told that shipping is not available to users who are located far from service centers. Again, I was upset that I had to take time out of my busy schedule and take it to the service myself and waste time and gas however I had no other choice.
Another thing I wanted to mention was that the warranty call center doesnt guarantee theyll honor the warranty. They leave that decision up to the physical service center to make sure the product failure was due to a defect or other factors like user error, user breaking the product or the item breaking from normal use. I was upset that not only did I need to drive to their local service centre, but warranty coverage was also not guaranteed. At this point I didnt know if I would drive all the way down there just to find out if they would accept or refuse warranty.
The rep did open up a case number so I could share with the local service center and also provided the service centers phone number and address.
Next Step, Physical Location
I had to wait a few more weeks before I could finally make the time to drive down to the service station.
The location was a very nice warehouse style building in an office park. The building’s interior was well-designed. The interior was designed to look like a storefront with many Dewalt products displayed.
A young lady approached me and was friendly. I explained what was wrong with the battery to her and gave her a copy my original order invoice. She was able to confirm that the battery was still covered by warranty, and she began testing it. After a while, she returned to me and said that they would honor the warranty. They would also take the battery for shipment to another place.
I asked her if I would be getting the same battery back after its been fixed or if I would get a replacement refurbished battery. I would get a new battery, not the old one or a refurbished one. They would send the new battery to me in two weeks. I would be contacted once it arrives so that I could pick it up.
She said that they were shipping the battery. I asked her why she didn’t ship it to the service center. I would be able to save the effort of driving back up there. Since their location wasnt exactly down the street from where I live. After receiving the battery, she assured me that shipping to me would be possible at no additional cost. So I accepted her advice and was soon on my way home. So far so good.
Next Step, Wait For Replacement
15 days later, I got a call from my Dewalt local service center. I was informed that my Dewalt Flexvolt battery arrived by them via voicemail. And that it was ready for pickup or to ship out to me. They called me back and took my address information so that they could ship it to me. They said that it would arrive Monday or Tuesday of the next week, even though it was Thursday. Sure enough my battery arrived the next day on Friday which was extremely quick.
New Replacements
Just as the service representative had described, the battery arrived in perfect condition. And even had the terminal cap and sticker that holds it in place. The item was not packaged in a retail box, but it arrived on its own with no documentation. Just safely padded in the shipping box.
Service warranty repair by Dewalt, Replacement Condition
I noticed that they used something to melt and hand etch a date on the plastic. It could have been a wood burning or soldering tool, or another similar tool.
It was 2016. It was the exact same date as my original invoice for the first battery. Using the same tool, they also scribbled out the new batteries date code. Im not sure why they did this and frankly makes the battery look like its been mutilated a bit. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but I don’t like markings on my belongings. Whether they be tools, electronics, furniture or anything else.
Dewalt warranty repair service Conclusion:
Dewalt honors their warranty. They don’t make you jump through hoops to get it. In my experience, they didnt send me my old item back or a someone elses refurb. They sent me back a new unit albeit with a few odd markings. Overall, Dewalts warranty service was very smooth and everyone I spoke to along the way was friendly and helpful. My gripe was that they made me drive to the service center. I wish they would change the way I was treated during my warranty experience. It would be to offer
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