Generac Power Systems - Generac Guardian Generator, massive failure of equipment and service
Anyone thinking of buying a General Guardian electric generator should take into account the failure my wife and I experienced last year with our then four-year-old Generac Guardian generator and the wretched service we received from the company.
On the evening of August 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene arrived with a day and a night of weather trash. Electricity from BG&E, our local electric provider, went at 8 o'clock or so. The Generac Guardian, a stand-alone unit just outside the back door of our garage, worked as advertised for about an hour and a half before it failed. The electricity and the lights returned. A second or two later the two of us heard a second, loud pop, and the lights went out in earnest. My wife and I sat in darkness, the wind howling and rain falling outside. No electricity, no sump worked. My wife and I spent the next three hours moving a library we have in the cellar and other goods that would be ruined by the water that could no longer be kept at bay by the sump pumps. While I am in reasonably good shape as is my wife, my 77 years of age, and working by flash light, made the experience nightmarish. The water invaded the basement and proved to be a mess to clean out.
Not until late November did the replacement rotator arrive. I asked my generator serviceman, why should I pay $2,062.50 for a replacement rotator? Why throw good money after bad? He replied that Generac had redesigned the rotator to improve the design. Hurricane Irene had caused many of the Guardian generators to fail because of that design flaw. Pay $2,000 or pay several times that amount for another, new brand. Considering that we had paid $5,562.50 for the original Generac, we now had $7,562.50 invested in a piece of ***.
When I contacted Generac to pay the bill for the failure of their flawed equipment, they admitted no fault and would pay nothing, saying it was out of warranty and serviced by a company unauthorized by them. When I asked the Generac representative on February 6, 2012 to have Generac state in writing why they would not pay, she said, yes. Generac's attorneys would do so. Generac must have had a multitude of Generac failures and complaints. Surely the backlog is the reason for their latest failure. The written explanation has yet to arrive.
James Sayler
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
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Same thing here! Hopefully our reviews and comments will sway future purchasers and do more damage to the company than if they had taken responsibility. Super pissed here in Ohio!!
I have had a similar very bad experience with Generac, Very poor quality and customer service.
I'm happy that you were given support by Generac, our story was disappointing. We used a "Platinum" listed Authorized installer and service company from the Generac website and Generac threw him under the bus.
He continued to support us even after Generac refused to support either of us. We went through part after part, cost after cost. Finally, our generator works, but we never really trust it. Shameful behavior on the part of the company.
I do all I can to discourage the purchase of a Generac.
My best effort was when I contacted the Attorney General to file my complaint. I found out that an employee in the office was in the process of evaluating generators.
Karma!
James,
What was the final outcome? My battery recently exploded.
I've replaced it and when I went into work today to tell another coworker and I said the word battery he stopped me and said it exploded? I said yes.
He advised me he has had three batteries explode. Now I Google this problem and see it is widespread.
I purchased a 7k stand by for back up power. The machine worked for almost 1 year before the bottom of the engine cracked in half.
Generac told me because I was off grid and using solar panels to power my home and not an on grid provider, that I was using the machine as prime power and would not replace the unit that was full of oil. That was one year ago.
I told Generac to go to H_ _ L and I would just blog to my 2,000 friends to never purchase from this company. My new Tran is working just fine.
All generators must be serviced by a factory authorized tech. This is important to the life and function of the genset.Not enough info here .
Proper pmi? Excersize settings?I service Koehler and generac, can't even count how many customers don't properly maintain their units, even do ridiculous things like turn off the gas or ex cycle because " I don't want it to run unless the power goes out". Well no ***.
" my brother in laws friend is an electrician " " I used to be an electrician and I decided to do the maintenance myself" "I like to break stuff and not pay for it".Get you're generator installed by an authorized dealer, make sure they register make , model, serials on start up , schedule regular periodic maintenance , don't touch it, and you'll be ok.with 15 years of experience in the field I can honestly say nothing is "perfect" but following and UNDERSTANDING you're warranty guidelines will help you more than anything. If a tech shows up and can't immediately point out some common problems and fixes in the first 30 mins , he has no experience on you're system, but remember , you have to pay to play
I used a Platinum authorized Generac technician and still got no support from Generac. Even my technician (who is certified, trained and recommended by Generac on their website) wrote a letter to them as to how bad my unit is.
They not only told me they won't help, but threw my installer under the bus. We have a service contract and followed EVERY rule, only to be abandoned by Generac. I make sure people know how bad they treated us every time someone mentions getting a generator.
I have literally changed the mind of at least 5 people this summer alone.
FYI; Generac is having a class action lawsuit filed against them.Too many people had failures of brand new units! Please contact me for info...it doesnt matter if its 1 or 2 or 3 years old etc! They should last longer then that for the $$$ paid to Generac!
How does someone contact you to find out more about this?
I had a problem with the control device on my 16kw unit, it would not allow the weekly test run to happen. After contacting two local repair co.
one said they were busy for three weeks out and the other said he didn't renew his contract with Generac on time. I contacted Generac myself and was given the name of another repair co. DM SHAVER INC. The man contacted me and he came to look at the problem, ordered a new controller and installed it five days later.
The service was fast and good, still never heard from the other service co. .
I feel good that I have a reliable repair co. avaliable to call if needed.
It's a rotor not a rotator.
I have a three year old generac that has broken 9 times in 3 years. It never ran during any power outages except long enough to break.
By the time all of the major parts broke (we were 9 parts per 9 runs) it was out of warranty. Generac covered the last part and labor after I complained bitterly that I already spent a fortune. They refuse to give me any other concessions.
Now they are trying to blame my Generac Approved Installer on "bad installation" in order to have a scapegoat for poor performance. What a bad investment!!
I have a generac 12kw that I purchased 5 yrs ago,when needed for three storms in these yrs,
it didnt work, 1500.00 in repairs,and now it
sits there a total loss,discusted $7000.00
waste,never even got to use!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When your back-up generator, which likely cost more than $5000 to have
installed, doesnโt work, or only works for a short time, the money spent
seems wasted.
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I have also had nothing but problems with my Generac 13 KW generator. The final straw was that it began spewing oil during a maintence cycle and nearly burned down my house.
What a steaming pile this has been! Customer disService does nothing but argue with you for weeks until you repair their design flaws yourself!
Yes Generac did have an issue with the design of these generators. I do understand your anger, however we are an Authorized Dealer and because we did regular maintenance for our customers, we were able to help them out by informing generac their generator was maintained properly and most got t new rotar but had to pay labor on those out of warranty.
Always make sure your maintenance is done by an Authorized Generac Dealer.
Check their website dont trust what they say.