BR 800 IN Failureresulted in damage to my modem and Notebook adapter

[Anonymous user]

I bought this product sometime in May 2008 and it was a dead unit. After numerous calls, and 2 months later, I got a replacement unit(New). SO i guess the warranty should start in July 2008 instead of May 2008.

Anyways.. since then the unit was replaced 4 times, the last being in Feb 2010. I had such a bad experience with the product as well as support that i am not sure if this will even help me.

Last week, there was a huge spark and smoke from the UPS which resulted in the damage of my modem and the pc adapter. I called APC support immediately to report this. The tech agent asked me to disconnect the unit and told me that an engineer wull visit. Unfortunately after a lot of calls later, the engineer did visit and checked the UPS. While the UPS was not connected to the mains, neither any product was connected, the engineer switched on the unit to get few more sparks and smoke. HE said that the PCB of the unit has gone. I then spoke with Roshni and she told me that since UPS is out of warranty then need to charge me for this.

I agreed to pay them on a condition that APC should replace my modem and adapter since they got damaged when they were connected to UPS. She could not answer that and asked me to wait for a call from one of the managers. Finally around 8 in the night i got a call from Srinivas who also said that the product that failed due to UPS malfunctioning was not their responsibility. After a long converstation he said, that he will send another engineer on Monday (18th Oct) to my home to see if my site had any issues.

The engineer came and checked my home but there was no issues with my home. He then cheked the UPS and said that the UPS appears to be fine but should not be used. I had to call the support and ask for Roshni on the update. She insisted on charging me for the repairs. Her manager Srinivas called me and said the same. I am very surprised as on APC.com it clearly states that:
***Power conditioning Protects connected loads from surges, spikes, lightning, and other power disturbances.***

Anyways now i am stuck with a defective UPS, had to pay for the modem, and since the laptop was in warranty, i got a replacement adapter. The people at APC does not understand the problem. Why should i pay for something which was supposed to work in a specific way didn't work.

I am very very dissatisfied with the support as well as APC and this is the last time that i ever buy any products from APC.

*{color:#ff0000}PLEASE DO NOT BUY APC PRODUCTS AT ALL.{color}*

Regards,
Sumit

[Anonymous user]

Here are the details:

UPS directly connected to Wall Outlet.
1. Laptop: Connected to the back of UPS.
2. Printer: Connected to the Surge putlet of UPS.
3. Modem and router connected to the back of UPS.
4. DSL line connected to the Modem and Phone.

There was no lightning as it was a brigh sunny day. No voltage fluctuations and no issues with site as per the field engineer who checked my site. No other elctronics failed even though they were directly connected to the wall outlet without any surge protector.

I am without a working UPS for last 5 days which is affecting my job. Planning to buy a new UPS and Invertor today but definately not an APC.

Regards,
Sumit

[Techie_apc · Accepted solution]

We apologize for the inconvenience. I would like to gather some more information to understand the cause of the failure. What was the equipment attached to the battery backup and surge protection outlets? How the equipment was connected to the UPS? Was it through extension cord/junction box? Was the internet cable from your internet supplier port attached directly to the Modem? Was there any foul weather or lightning prior to this incident?

Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!