Fenix Power - Took money and but never delivered

There's some more drama at https://www.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/. Looks at least one person had gone past their credit card company's chargeback time limit. If your CC has a stated limit and one plans to go that route, best to do it ASAP.

I find it interesting that Fenix ignores refund requests but by reports they do not fight chargebacks and apparently remit the money to the credit card company.

I presume it has to do with Fenix* not being willing to lose their credit card privileges ... for now. When they decide to enter into BK that will change overnight. The customer will still get their money back if they are within the chargeback window but it will be paid for by the credit card company.

* Or perhaps the Bysingers themselves. I don't know if personal liability is involved.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/ has a bit more chatter but I noticed nothing useful. It's strange that there are a few folks who will continue to defend Fenix despite not having received anything from them and no evidence of anyone having one of their "CPO" packs installed.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/permalink/701767497138690/ was a post from Dec 11:

Fenix Power Revolution is on the way, look for a significant announcement over this weekend. The road has been difficult, but the results will be worth the effort both now and in the future. 2021 will be a good year for you all and for Fenix.

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The weekend came and went. There was no announcement. Even if there were, I'd expect whatever date they might've announced to be missed again...

2020: This is our year! Big things are happening. Stay tuned!

Dec 2020: Big things will happen in 2021!

I imagine some poor sap driving his 4 mile range leaf around town waiting for his battery from Fenix and growing old.

There isn't a lot of activity at https://www.facebook.com/FenixPowerCo/community/?ref=page_internal but the story there from visitors posting doesn't look any better.

More promises for the first few weeks in January from Fenix. They got real active the last couple days since they supposedly having funding now for 12-18 months and expect to be profitable soon lol. I’ll believe it when I see it.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/

https://m.facebook.com/groups/LEAFs/permalink/3569562843133061/

RonSwanson said:

More promises for the first few weeks in January from Fenix. They got real active the last couple days since they supposedly having funding now for 12-18 months and expect to be profitable soon

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Fenix collected ~ $2k each from customers to supply a battery refurb and he supplied zilch in return. Those are the facts, and no mountain of BS and promises alter the facts.

When do broken promises turn into lies and a con ? I say about two years ago, but reasonable people can disagree and suggest up to a year ago.

About two years ago (in mid January 2019) I put down the minimal order amount ~$150 if I recall. Have no epectations at this point of ever promises being fulfilled. My replacement "Lizard" battery seems to be holding up quite well - so it would be another couple of years before any need anyway.

RonSwanson said:

More promises for the first few weeks in January from Fenix. They got real active the last couple days since they supposedly having funding now for 12-18 months and expect to be profitable soon lol. I’ll believe it when I see it.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/

https://m.facebook.com/groups/LEAFs/permalink/3569562843133061/

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Sigh... another bunch of long-winded replies in there, much of which I skipped over. He claims "possibly profitable before the second quarter of 2021". LOL!

At https://www.facebook.com/groups/FenixPowerCoForum/permalink/695432934438813/?comment_id=709653773016729, he claims the ex-employees embezzled nearly $30K and pins the blame on their ex-COO Grant Posell for stealing $.

I’m getting the hint that perhaps I may just have lost my $150 deposit. I was one of the first 100 to sign up. Guessing that means little in getting a refund. That’s a couple of bottles of very, very nice wine but I should probably drink less anyway.

cwerdna said:

he claims the ex-employees embezzled nearly $30K and pins the blame on their ex-COO Grant Posell for stealing $.

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Maybe Grant was responsible for vermilion, too.

jlv said:

cwerdna said:

he claims the ex-employees embezzled nearly $30K and pins the blame on their ex-COO Grant Posell for stealing $.

Click to expand...

Maybe Grant was responsible for vermilion, too.

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I have to admit that Bysinger comes off as sincere.
So either he gains my sympathy, he is a very well meaning fool, or he is one hell of a liar. Whichever way, I don't expect anyone to get value for money sent Fenix's way. Anyone still able to clawback their money through a credit card should get it done yesterday.

Addendum: After some thought, I find his story full of holes. E.g., if he had $30k in the bank up until a few weeks ago, why didn't the refurbs ship long before ? If he had $30k in the bank, why has Fenix ignored refund requests for months and months and months ?

My magic 8 ball says "outlook not good".

SageBrush said:

jlv said:

cwerdna said:

he claims the ex-employees embezzled nearly $30K and pins the blame on their ex-COO Grant Posell for stealing $.

Click to expand...

Maybe Grant was responsible for vermilion, too.

Click to expand...

I have to admit that Bysinger comes off as sincere.
So either he gains my sympathy, he is a very well meaning fool, or he is one hell of a liar. Whichever way, I don't expect anyone to get value for money sent Fenix's way. Anyone still able to clawback their money through a credit card should get it done yesterday.

Addendum: After some thought, I find his story full of holes. E.g., if he had $30k in the bank up until a few weeks ago, why didn't the refurbs ship long before ? If he had $30k in the bank, why has Fenix ignored refund requests for months and months and months ?

Click to expand...

Same here. When I first learned of his plan, I had doubts in that a lot of money was needed to do what he wanted to do and they didn't have it. He assumed investors would be knocking his door down after he had collected some deposits and that simply didn't happen. Just another good idea that will likely fade away.

DaveinOlyWA said:

SageBrush said:

jlv said:

Maybe Grant was responsible for vermilion, too.

Click to expand...

I have to admit that Bysinger comes off as sincere.
So either he gains my sympathy, he is a very well meaning fool, or he is one hell of a liar. Whichever way, I don't expect anyone to get value for money sent Fenix's way. Anyone still able to clawback their money through a credit card should get it done yesterday.

Addendum: After some thought, I find his story full of holes. E.g., if he had $30k in the bank up until a few weeks ago, why didn't the refurbs ship long before ? If he had $30k in the bank, why has Fenix ignored refund requests for months and months and months ?

Click to expand...

Same here. When I first learned of his plan, I had doubts in that a lot of money was needed to do what he wanted to do and they didn't have it. He assumed investors would be knocking his door down after he had collected some deposits and that simply didn't happen. Just another good idea that will likely fade away.

Click to expand...

Fenix *never* had in-house engineering. They *never* had the capital to jump start a Nissan LEAF new battery replacement industry. And most fundamentally, they never solved the business case of how to buy/make a pack, handle the huge logistics costs, and still make a profit at a price old LEAF owners would want to pay. Charging people ~ $2,000 to get an almost dead refurb pack, along with a promise of future, almost dead refurb packs as needed is somewhere between gross stupidity and an outright scam.

Bysinger has learned the art of BS and hyperbole, and he has dreams. Maybe (maybe) he even started out with good intentions. Nothing more.

Fenix has wasted/lost some $30k from people who will miss their deposits dearly. From a distance, I would say that Fenix should be shut down yesterday, before anyone else loses their deposits. But for what it's worth, there may yet be a silver lining to the Fenix sob story: there is an emerging 3rd party network of technicians able and willing to install used LEAF replacement packs. That may yet benefit the LEAF community and I'm inclined to say that Fenix had some part in that happening.

If you were lucky / smart enough to put it on a good credit card, i.e., Amex, Citibank, you can get it refunded. Good luck.

cwerdna said:

jlv said:

They really need to update their website that says "Installations starting in July!" everywhere.

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Of what year?

I also noticed at places like https://fenix.systems/product/leaf-cpo-battery-new-customer talking about 60 days. It seems folks have plunked down their $ and waited longer than that.

This purchase will work as follows: We’re going to try to optimize the shipping of batteries to our installers, so please understand that once your purchase we will contact you and connect you with your local installation partner to arrange for installation. We have tools lead time of about 4 weeks, and a battery shipping lead time of about 2 weeks, but guarantee this purchase will deliver the installation of your certified-pre-owned OEM Leaf battery within 60 days of purchase.

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It's funny that their web site still shows July all over the place.

It could come true by July 2021.

Report Fenix Powers Cyber Crimes to the FBI, if you are a victim of their Battery scam.

File a Report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center

If you are the victim of online or internet-enabled crime, file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) as soon as possible. Crime reports are used for investigative and intelligence purposes. Rapid reporting can also help support the recovery of lost funds. Visit ic3.gov for more information, including tips and information about current crime trends.

Contact Your FBI Field Office
If you or your organization is the victim of a network intrusion, data breach, or ransomware attack, contact your nearest FBI field office or report it at tips.fbi.gov.

Woah... I'm not sure I'd go that far yet. At least start with the FTC (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/faq and https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-you-were-scammed).