10/10/2008
In an economic climate where consumers are trying harder to make money and to save money, Freetricity has just the thing to set off sparks in both cases.
Freetricity, a Hemet company, offers their E2D WindMaster, a "towered wind generator" whose dimensions we can't determine from the pictures, to lower electric bills by "supplying your home the electricity produced by it."
According to their website, less than three percent of U.S. homes have a renewable energy source product. They claim that their WindMaster will produce from 100 to 700 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, depending upon the system you buy. Since they say that the average U.S. home uses 1200 KWHs per month, they project savings of more than half of what you pay for electricity by using this windmill-like device. Those savings assume an average wind speed of a modest 12 mph for 6 hours a day. Prices for the generator start at $1,399.
If you want to make money with the WindMaster, you can become a distributor with contractually-protected area rights and a coming national advertising campaign, or you can become an installation rep.
Complaints to the Better Business Bureau have trickled in since June 2007, with five of the total of only 15 filed since January 2008. One consumer says he purchased a system early in September 2007 and as of May 2008 still did not have a working system. He first had to wait two months just to receive his WindMaster. It arrived without the battery. As soon as it was installed, in January 2008, he says, the blades flew off the prop head and landed about 50 yards away. WindMaster sent two repair parts, each taking a month to be delivered. By the time this consumer filed his complaint with us, the "upgrade" system the company promised still had not arrived.
WindMaster refused a refund because their 90-day return policy had expired. In their final response to his complaint they offered to replace and upgrade his system, without charge, as soon as he had returned his current product.
Another complainant who purchased 13 wind generators and became a distributor says he received only two of the promised 13 in an 18-month period. Those two, he says, were non-working. "[They had] parts missing, showed poor workmanship, and could not perform as claimed . . ."
This complainant says his investment was more than $7,000.
And another complainant who paid over $5,000 for a distributorship and three systems says he's been given over 10 shipping dates that have come and gone. ". . . the main thing I bought was the business territory, [but] the unreliable information and delivery of the product make the territory worthless," he says. He, too, says he was denied a refund because his 90-day refund period had expired.
Freetricity has a "D" rating with the Better Business Bureau. Before spending upwards of $1,400, we recommend you get a current BBB reliability report.
Freetricity's webpage on Warranty, Returns, and Cancellations might affect your buying decision as well. They offer a five-year warranty on both parts and labor for the first year and parts only thereafter. Yet delays caused by the company could easily use up all the time allowed for at least the first year. Moreover, the warranty does not comply with provisions of either California or federal law. And returns may be made within 90 days of purchase but the product must be operating properly to be eligible for a full refund. Presumably, the customer may not return a defective system at all. Either way, though, returns could be difficult and costly.
This company's performance so far should raise the question of whether they would honor their warranty in the first place.