Stunning delivery performance of battery charger

[charleville]

This might be a helpful testimonial for anyone wanting a battery charger for their boat batteries, either for the cranking battery or the deep cycle battery.


Based on what I have read on various Ausfish posts, I decided last night to buy a CTEK M200 15 amp battery charger. They aren't cheap but these Swedish designed chargers are said to be the "duck's guts" in battery chargers for marine applications. I have been looking at them for a while but the best price that I was aware of through normal marine outlets was $369 from Whitworths (RRP $429).


So I started looking for the best price online last night and it was from this Brisbane based 4x4 accessories crowd ... http://rvtek.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_69&products_id=154

Their price was $298.95 with free delivery Australia wide.


So, how's this for delivery performance?!

I placed my order online and paid with Paypal at 1.45 am this morning; the product all neatly packaged up in its sealed box in a bubble wrap satchel was hand delivered to my door at 1.57 pm this afternoon. Given that no one would have been at their workplace at 1.45am, that represents just about a half day delivery performance for an online purchase.

Absolutely stunning delivery performance!!! :)


They do sell via eBay or via their own website and I did do due diligence in checking customer ratings before committing my hard-earned. All the customer reports reflected the sort of delivery performance that I have just received.


Truly amazing!


Obviously, I'd recommend them based on their performance on this first purchase of mine. Did I mention that they also had the cheapest price in Australia? :)



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[Boat Hog]

Wow. That is unbelievable!! Charlie, are you sure this guys not operating out of his home garage around the corner from you??

Cheers,

[charleville]

Wow. That is unbelievable!! Charlie, are you sure this guys not operating out of his home garage around the corner from you??




I am sure that it is a home based business as the only address that I can find is a PO box at Park Ridge.

I am on the southside of Brissy so I guess that it is possible/probable that they do afternoon Brissy delivery runs themselves rather than paying Aussie Post for 3 kg satchels but either way, I am one very impressed customer.


There are some terrific home based businesses operating within Australia. eg "Bob the Welder" is one of my favorites operating out of Ballina.


There is an adage that "retail businesses have to get big, get small or get out." These are a couple of examples of small operators who know what generates good testimonials and referrals. May they get very rich.


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[Jarrah Jack]

Thats great Charlie. When is the new toy due?

[charleville]

When is the new toy due?



Haven't ordered it yet. When we got deluged with miserable weather over the past couple of weeks, I turned to doing some woodwork and never defocused from that enough to get the motivation to go and order the new toy. It was only last night I decided that I had better make a start on the project and at least get an suitable charger.


Just so that other readers don't feel left out of what looks like a private discussion, I am about to put a 80 lb thrust, 60" shaft, satellite guided Minn Kota on my little runabout. The idea of drifting around the edges of sandbanks and hugging the banks at slow speeds in places like Cobby Creek or Kalinga Bank under pre-set satellite guidance whilst lazing comfortably at the back of the boat appeals to me. ::) It needs two beefy 12V batteries and a charger that is up to the task so hence my purchase of the CTEK charger.


Everything that Charlie does is somehow intertwined with a long term plot. When I had a power point installed a few months ago on the outside wall of the house adjacent to where the boat sleeps it was, in part, because I knew that I would be wanting to leave a battery charger connected to the boat for long periods of time. The CTEK is built to be OK out in the weather.


I know where I will be buying the Minn Kota. Now to find the best place for Trojan deep cycle batteries. :D


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[deckie]

Will look at them in future for anything. They want to work for the business they deserve it.

I've had stuff from the states turn up in 2.5 days via cheap delivery. Big fan of the interweb thingy.

By contrast i ordered 5 rod holders from BCF over a week ago. Got an email saying it was dispatched last monday. Still nothing arrived and its not as tho i live anywhere difficult.

Best recent experience was the national diabetes crowd (govt). Ordered some stuff that came to $28...half the order arrived (the half that cost $4) and the rest was simply ignored/lost/whatever. Checked my account later and they'd charged me $280 not $2.80 for a total of $4 stuff as it turned out. Now another week gone waiting for the rest of the order making 2.5 weeks in total. Farrking Wundebar.

[Boat Hog]

Yep, you're right Charlie - good service and personal touches will always get repeat buisness and good referals from me too.

So often, it is the smaller opperators not the multi nationals or chain stores who give the best in that regard (well, if they don't sell or provide the service then they don't eat -- always a good motivator!).

Good luck with the leccy motor install!

Cheers,

[charleville]

Just a postscript to this story to close the loop.

As it turned out, after getting outstanding delivery performance from the vendor as related above, I discovered that the charger had a fault. It has been something like 35 years since I had to use a voltmeter in "anger" in working life and it was not immediately apparent to me that the charger was faulty. This is because the modern microprocessor driven chargers only have buttons and lights on them and not a good old faithful analogue voltmeter on them that can instantly tell the story of what is going on with the charger. Also, I had not actually used the charger on a battery that was flat so I could not tell if it was actually charging at all.

So, it was with some relief that I discovered that the importing agent for CTEK battery chargers is a mob called Bainbridge technologies and that they are located in Brisbane, at Hemmant, not too far away from my humble abode.

So I took the charger there on Thursday and was greeted most cordially. The guy at the desk even said that since my suburb was enroute on his way home from work, that he would deliver it to me personally when it was fixed.

That did not happen because yesterday morning a courier arrived at the front door with a new one. I am pretty happy with that. The agent also spoke highly of the online vendor who I bought the product from.


You always have to be careful when buying stuff online from Aussie vendors that it is not "grey market" merchandise that carries a warranty that is not honoured in Australia. Clearly, as my warranty experience demonstrates, RV Technologies are the real deal in this regard. So overall, it has been a very satisfying transaction.


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[Jarrah Jack]

Very nice to see you being satisfied in one way or another Charlie...........;D