On the road again, and went in good faith to one of the newish Chargepoint deployments that have been popping up at Hyundai and other dealers. I figured that as a Hyundai owner, the people at the site would be fairly welcoming. Well... not so much in some cases. This is a copy of what I sent off to Plugshare support last night. Thank you for finally adding the "restricted" flag to location 465985 at Duncan Hyundai/Honda in Christiansburg VA. I was going to ask that it be de-listed entirely, because I had an incredibly hostile experience there earlier today. You may want to revisit that site's status anyway after reading this. The site contact for Chargepoint is Greg Shortridge, presumably the general manager. I am a Chargepoint customer and had charged at that location before, without any issues, and a friendly reception from the dealer staff in the building including gratis coffee.. Today, I found an unfriendly sign on the unit saying only dealership customers were welcome, and my Chargepoint card didn't work to start it. I went inside to ask about it, and one of the staff was kind enough to come out and start it with his phone. As the session was nearing its end, I went to the other building and found Mr. Shortridge. If he was going to genuinely take this pair of Chargepoints private, I asked, could he have them *not* show up on the normal Plugshare map? Because my understanding is that it's the site owner's option to list Chargepoint locations in Plugshare or not, not that of Chargepoint even though they manage the database., Since it still appeared in the public listings, I arrived in good faith expecting an accessible facility. He responded by YELLING at me, tellimg me to not "tell him how to do his job" and the like, and referred to me and the rest of tne public as "damn freeloaders". Huh?? I'm a Chargepoint client, I expect to pay for my charges and have no problem with that. I told him the listing was confusing, and it was up to him to remedy. Then he as much as kicked me out, a la "why don't you just get in your car, and get OFF my facility." Reverting to a childish power-trip instead of discussing why I was there and how to fix it agreeably, like reasonable adults. I went back to the car and as the charge was almost done, went through a few steps preparing to get going again. Mr. Shortridge then stormed his way between the buildings into the one near the chargers, went inside, and powered off the entire station from the panel. *UNDER LOAD*, something you never want to do on high-current circuits. In other words, Short-bus behaved like a total dick, and is clearly not qualified for a position in public-facing retail. If he had the best deals in the entire state, knowing what I know now, I would never buy a car from a bufoon like that. This guy needs to be cleaning toilets for a living, not running a dealership pretending to be any sort of EV advocate. I filed a formal complaint with Chargepoint, because situations like this make them look bad along with everyone else up and down the line. Perhaps they're the ones that contacted you for an updated listing? If any email was sent about this, I haven't seen it yet because I've been on the road. By end of business that same day, the normal listing in Plugshare had disappeared, but now shows up as dark brown [how appropriate] if the "show restricted" filter flag is on. I may also call the dealership on Monday and see if it has a real owner, who would hopefully be horrified by the story and make the appropriate personnel adjustments. _H*
I contacted the dealership owner and reported all this, and his reply was similarly sour: anyone who didn't buy a car from them gets summarily run off the premises, police possibly called, and ended with "buy your own charger". What a hostile attitude, and does nothing to further EV advocacy. Let's hope it doesn't spread to other dealerships that have put in similar Chargepoint installations, who have to date been quite cordial. _H*
They had. but 1> I had charged there before, and 2> the first guy I talked to was so willing to just pop out and activate a session, I figured it was fine and that their sign was only a suggestion, or a vague priority statement. _H*
Better yet, I wish they would monetize it. You said you’d be happy to pay for the charge. I would be too. And then 1) they’d get a stream of revenue, 2) usage would be lower, eliminating actual freeloaders, and 3) they gain positive mindshare with EV drivers (who are potential future customers!) Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
