A heads-up! I purchased a reconditioned battery from Green bean / Bumblebee in Greshem Oregon last spring. Got the extended warranty and paid about $2500 installed at their facility. Not long after I started getting CEL and throwing codes. Had a few instances of no-start and Stop safely now. I contacted them to get a warranty claim going. They were hard to communicate with when I bought the battery and harder for the warranty. Eventually I found on a Google search that someone had filed a BBB complaint against them and they seemed to respond rather quickly then. I filed the claim below claim with BBB on 8/15.
Complaint Details
I placed an order for a reconditioned hybrid battery for my car on 2/13/24. I was told it would take some time to have one ready and eventually brought my car to their shop in Gresham Oregon to have it installed on 4/12/24. I paid $2424.00 for the battery with installation and a three year warranty. I started experiencing problems with the battery on 4/20/24. I think I initially filed a warranty inquiry online on 5/21. I submitted additional information as requested on 6/11 and have inquired twice about this since then. I have had no communications from them since to indicate when this might be resolved.
I got an email from BBB on 9/10 with the following response from Green Bean.
MESSAGE FROM BUSINESS:
We apologize for the delay. Because of the delays on our end, we are refunding the customer in full effective 9/9/24.
I was hoping that they would fix the problem, but I guess I should be happy to get my money back. Now I'm back to looking for a long term solution.
Is it the battery or another issue like the power train control module? Or do you now have 2 or more related or unrelated issues?
I am not sure what the real problem is. I am not as experienced with these issues as some others on this site. I know that I was experiencing better performance and higher mileage right after the installation and now it's the same or worse than before I had the battery replaced.
On Forscan I'm regularly showing a Del mod v of .19. I can tell that the hybrid system is working intermittently.
Here is a shot of my Forscan screen back in May when the problem first appeared.
Forscan screen for 5/21/24
I'm still driving it and it doesn't seem to self-discharge quickly like it did on the old battery. Now that Green Bean is out of the picture I guess it's time to look for another long term solution or cut my losses.
This link has another link to Green Bean Battery's website where they are showing FEH batteries for sale. It looks like the same site I used when I bought the battery from Bumblebee. They have thousands of glowing reviews, but there are also quite few recent BBB complaints.
I know you watch this stuff all the time. would you do business with Green Bean or do you have another recommendation for FEH battery failure?
I am not sure what the real problem is. I am not as experienced with these issues as some others on this site. I know that I was experiencing better performance and higher mileage right after the installation and now it's the same or worse than before I had the battery replaced.
On Forscan I'm regularly showing a Del mod v of .19. I can tell that the hybrid system is working intermittently.
Here is a shot of my Forscan screen back in May when the problem first appeared.
Forscan screen for 5/21/24
I'm still driving it and it doesn't seem to self-discharge quickly like it did on the old battery. Now that Green Bean is out of the picture I guess it's time to look for another long term solution or cut my losses.
Greg
0.44V del_mod_v = failing cell(s).
What is likely happening is that one or more cells are losing their charge notably faster than the others. Regular driving *may* help reduce this number and keep it low, but periods of sitting will show this number increase to to self-discharge.
This link has another link to Green Bean Battery's website where they are showing FEH batteries for sale. It looks like the same site I used when I bought the battery from Bumblebee. They have thousands of glowing reviews, but there are also quite few recent BBB complaints.
I know you watch this stuff all the time. would you do business with Green Bean or do you have another recommendation for FEH battery failure?
Thanks,
Greg
The personnel at the Bumblebee location did the vast majority of the work associated with cylindrical cell packs (primarily FEH/MMH and Hondas). Those personnel had significant experience with those platforms, though obviously, they were not perfect.
With that location closed, and all of those people laid off, I would conclude that Greenbean does not possess their prior level of expertise/competence with those platforms.
FYI, I was contacted by Green Bean after the refund. I told them that I really didn't want my money back. I wanted my car to work right. We made a deal for me to buy another battery, which I will install myself. I just received it today and hope to have it in and running by end of the day.
Does anybody have a link for a DIY for the R&R?
Car seems to be performing well with "New" reconditioned battery. Getting much more EV only time and mileage is up. Should I be surprised that I'm getting better mileage on the freeway than around town?
BTW, thanks S Keith for the links to the install!
With Scangauge III I'm showing SOC at up to around 58% regularly and Mdv is .01 which I don't believe. I tried to manually enter a xgauge entry for TB amps but to doesn't work. I'll try to reenter it and see if it works unless one of you tells me to not waste my time with it.
On Forscan I was showing almost 80 amps of peak traction current. Mdv was usually between .13 and .19 and SOC numbers were also maxed at about 58%.
What's a good value for the core if I want to keep it?
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Green Bean, Bumblebee Battery Fail
