About two years ago, we purchased a DuroPower 6000ELP propane generator for our cabin in NM from their internet website. Because we need a generator only in case of occasional power failures, we decided that a propane generator best suited our needs, but they are hard to find, especially at a reasonable cost. We contacted DuroPower because they do distribute propane units and explained that the generator had to be adjusted for high altitude use (8800'); they assured us that this would be done. We also explained that because we are at our cabin only intermittently, we needed to have it delivered by a specified date (a month in advance). They assured us that this would not be a problem, so we purchased the generator.
The first problem we encountered was that, despite their assurances, the company was unable to deliver by the time we had to leave for the winter. We left instructions on where to store the generator in our garage and it was delivered after we left. When we returned to NM, we assembled the generator with difficulty. We started and ran it for about 10 minutes. That was the last and only time it ever ran; it failed to start on all subsequent attempts. My husband contacted Brenda Cole, the service manager, who was not available, and left a message about the problem. As the rest of the stories on this website describe, she remained "out", "in a meeting", or "unavailable" for numerous calls that we placed over the next months. She did return a call once, giving some suggestions for tuning the generator that we tried, to no avail.
We took the generator into Albuquerque to a generator service center, and paid for them to examine the generator to see what the problem was. They concluded that the problem was that the engine was not capable of holding the necessary compression, but said that they were unable to get parts for repair. We contacted DuroPower again to find out how to handle the problem, finally receiving the name of a company to handle warranty repairs, but they were unable to locate anyone to repair the unit (the company handling the repairs appears to be a call center and does not handle repairs itself).
We contacted American Express, the company that we had used to charge the generator. They contacted DuroPower about our complaint since the generator was effectively useless from the day we had received it. DuroPower failed to answer their complaint. We also contacted the Better Business Bureau in California and the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs. The response was always the same— DuroPower refuses to respond in any way to complaints and fails to honor warranties. Our next step is to file a suit in small claims court— the product can't be used, fixed, or sold as it stands.
I fail to understand how a company can sell a defective product with a meaningless warranty and be allowed to continue in business.
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