[dmatt13]

Sat. we took our first road trip in my new 2017 Volt. Drove up to Santa Barbara, about 54 miles one way. Found a charging station in public parking area, a ChargePoint station. The display simply stated $2/session.....nothing else. Plugged in and enjoyed our day.

Later after we got home I received a notification from ChargePoint that the total bill was $4.19 for the charging session. Not bad at all. Except, the station said $2/session. Sent an email to ChargePoint asking about this. The following day (Sunday) I received a response stating the station owner charges $2/session AND for the total electric used, thus $4.19

However, due to the confusion, ChargePoint refunded the entire $4.19 back to my account. I thought this was darn good service and a pleasant surprise.

 

[Runion]

I am always leary of deceptive advertising, in this case, the $2 sign and not the actual full charge.
You made out but others are going to be deceived and pay double and not know it till they get the bill at home.
Perhaps this needs to be regulated, but I hate bringing in any form of government control.

 

[dmatt13]

Yup, I agree. That was why I even bothered with contacting them. Didn't realize that they had no control over pricing, etc. Live and learn I guess.

 

[llninja]

Well, that's better than my local chargepoint which is $2/hour for the first 4 hours, then $8/hour after that, even if you are full and not charging. I understand discouraging people from leaving their car at the charging staton all day preventing others from charging, but the pricing is rediculous. Thus, I often find the stations empty. But once I have my mortgage paid off and have no payments in the world (other that taxes and feeding my face) I will indeed start plugging in daily.

 

[JC Volt]

You made out but others are going to be deceived and pay double and not know it till they get the bill at home.
Perhaps this needs to be regulated, but I hate bringing in any form of government control.

I agree that this is great customer service from ChargePoint and also that other EV drivers need to be warned about the actual cost of using that station.

There is a place in both in the ChargePoint app and the PlugShare app to post comments about specific stations. I would recommend posting in those comment fields that there are fees both for the session and for the amount of electricity used during the session at that location. We can help each other out this way. I usually check comments for stations in advance of using them for the first time (mostly to make sure the station is actually working and to see if it is reported as being frequently blocked by an ICE or an EV that stays plugged in all day long).

 

[dmatt13]

Good point. I will do that. Thanks

 

[rhodomel]

I always double check to make sure that the charging is free for the first few hours. If it isn't free, I look up the rate. It should not be more than $0.12/kWh, if it is more, I'll skip.

Sat. we took our first road trip in my new 2017 Volt. Drove up to Santa Barbara, about 54 miles one way. Found a charging station in public parking area, a ChargePoint station. The display simply stated $2/session.....nothing else. Plugged in and enjoyed our day.

Later after we got home I received a notification from ChargePoint that the total bill was $4.19 for the charging session. Not bad at all. Except, the station said $2/session. Sent an email to ChargePoint asking about this. The following day (Sunday) I received a response stating the station owner charges $2/session AND for the total electric used, thus $4.19

However, due to the confusion, ChargePoint refunded the entire $4.19 back to my account. I thought this was darn good service and a pleasant surprise.

 

[tony604]

ChargePoint customer service is great. I accidentally ordered an extra card and called them to cancel and they just refunded me but said they'll send the card anyways

Hope they keep it up