Merlin Equipment aka Power Store

[Talulah]

Bought a Balmar alternator off Merlin Equipment via their eBay store.
Alternator described 'As new but x display model.'
Alternator has clearly been dropped. Rear case misaligned with front of case. Bolts joining the two halves bent. Split around one bolt in the rear case.
Pulley does not rotate smoothly.
In addition, insulator on B+ post missing. Had I not realised this and connected it up the positive would have been clamped tight up against the case causing a direct short with Earth.

No response from Merlin Equipment.

(Cannot have been fault of carrier. No damage to packaging.)

Avoid.

 

[pvb]

I'd suggest emailing James Hortop, Merlin's MD, at james.hortop@merlinequipment.com

He's an Expert Contributor to PBO, and I'm sure he'll want to keep you happy. For what it's worth, I've had good service from Merlin/Powerstore.

 

[Talulah]

I'd suggest emailing James Hortop, Merlin's MD, at james.hortop@merlinequipment.com

He's an Expert Contributor to PBO, and I'm sure he'll want to keep you happy. For what it's worth, I've had good service from Merlin/Powerstore.

Many thanks.
I have sent him an email.
I'll update as and when.

 

[EugeneR]

I've only had good service from them. When I needed a special part, they even imported it for me. The part was only £1 and they did not charge extra for the effort.

You do not say how long it was between receiving the part and contacting them, or how long you have given them to respond. Please let us know the outcome!

I had a similar experience with a water pump, recently. The pump arrived with water inside and missing some connectors. Since I still had the old pump's connectors, it was not a bit issue since the pump looked and worked like new. It was agreed that they would refund me the equivalent of what the postage cost would have been - to and back from them - had I returned it for a new one. So, was a win-win, sort of.

 

[Talulah]

James has responded and as a result I'll send the alternator back.
I didn't give Merlin much time to respond to my initial complaint but as you can imagine when these thinks happen you want some response asap even if it is only an acknowledgement.
What I can't excuse is why this alternator was described 'as new but x-display' and sent out in the first place. It is possible that the person who was asked to put the unit on eBay was unfamiliar with what they were dealing with and wouldn't have noticed the damage.

I too have been a satisfied customer of Merlin in the past and expect this event to be rare.

 

[Talulah]

Here is an update regarding my experience with Merlin Equipment aka Power Store.
Having emailed James the MD as per pvb's suggestion James took it on board to sort out the problem. So far so good. I have no doubt he quizzed the person who sent out the damaged alternator in the first place.
I returned the alternator and got a refund. Well almost.
They refunded a penny less than I paid.
In addition James said "... If you also can include a receipt for the post back, I can ensure it is refunded."
So when I posted the alternator back I got a receipt and posted this in as well. (£9.50)
Since then no apology, no refund of postage and no response to email regarding refund of postage.
So I'm afraid that whilst I was starting to gain my confidence back in Merlin Equipment I am now back to square one.