question

Here is the full warranty policy for reference, available directly from the consumer-facing site:

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Victron-Energy-Limited-Warranty-Policy-2023.pdf

I'll note that while I can't speak with any certainty since I don't know where you are, what the circumstances are or the mode or cause of failure, nor what authorized Repair Centre you'll be dealing with, I've seen an average turnaround time of roughly 2-3 weeks for MultiPlus-II repairs in the US over the past year or so, which is far better than most other brands are capable of doing.

@nickdb Has pretty much summed up quite nicely the situation.

I would like to say that I am in no way conversant with consumer law in the US, as I live in the UK. I am an inland waterways installer for canal boats, like a floating RV!

In the UK, within 30 days of purchase the entire onus is on the seller (it is possible if bought direct this could be the manufacturer of the item or provider of the service) to collect the faulty item, or pay the buyer for the cost of return.

Here, the contract for purchase you have is with the seller of the item. The manufacturer has nothing to do with it, you did not contract with the maker.

Furthermore, almost all faulty products I attend when out of statutory rights time limits, or warranty for ad-hoc customers (DIY fitters) are almost always down to incorrect, legally non-compliant installations or abusive use.

That aside products fail, it is a fact of life. Victron have an amazing distributor and installer network and really seem to care about their customers and installers and distributors. They don't want unhappy end-users.

So:

1.) Contact your seller / installer, advise the situation and give as much detail about the fault, installation and provide pictures, logs / warnings etc (you would be surprised how much can be fixed over the telephone). If you used a competent installer who charged you for doing so, they should be your first point of call.

2.) Ask if your seller / installer would be prepared to attend to diagnose / repair, of if you could take your RV to them. Also ask if they could provide a temporary unit, ex-demo / EoL product to get you by.

3.) Here in the UK, both parties must be reasonable in resolving / finding the fault or indeed determining if one exists. Remember if the item is returned only to discover the product is not faulty or was damaged due to installation or use (and that can be determined) the buyer could be liable for incurred costs. (Most reputable brands and sellers want you to be happy, so would almost always forgo such a course of recovery, if you have dealt with them in a reasonable way)

4.) Be patient, yes it is annoying when things fail. But things take time to ship and track, especially large heavy and expensive items. Then proper and accurate fault finding takes time (Remember Victron will want to also establish if this is a production issue or software fault, which they will want to resolve before more units are returned at their cost).

5.) Remember you bought a quality product, from a quality brand, and you paid for service. You should get it, after all that's why you should choose to pay for quality so if things go wrong you will be helped to get back to enjoying your product as soon as possible.

6.) However though for those that try to save by installing themselves, there is always the possibility that they in fact may be to blame for the fault (suo periculo egit/fecit). They should not try to hide the facts, it will only take longer to resolve any issue. Even in these circumstances, if you have been reasonable a good seller or installer will still try to help you out as best they can.

I hope you get to resolve the issue, and it's always good if you could feedback what the fault issue was so we can all learn.

I hope you'll stick with Victron Energy products even if you feel you need to use a different supplier, try and go online and get recommendations.

You may also like to know that Victron products now ship with a sticker in the product box that actually links to the distributor who sold the product for support. So if I stop doing installs, my customers can still get support. Also my distributor knows who they sold that exact product to and have an entire audit trail back to me. If I was doing bad installs and they were dealing with unhappy users, they would terminate my supplier / installer account. They are not many companies that have that level of commitment to service. Installers and distributors can access additional literature, support and training that obviously isn't available to DIY installers.

I'm biased, I install Victron Energy, but I also live Victron too! It literally powers my world as I live on a boat too, totally off-grid. I rely on Victron every day. Never let me down yet. I wouldn't recommend a product range I didn't have confidence in.

Did your seller or installer recommend a Cerbo or similar product? I almost always do.

1.) Logging of all connected device faults.

2.) Long term logging so you or your installer / seller can spot potential faults or service failures due to abusive use (e,g drawing more power than your system is designed for).

3.) Remote updating and maintenance.

4.) Better overall system management by the Cerbo.

5.) Proactive advice based on historical trends and data.

6.) Additional functionality only available via Cerbo / VRM, like Dynamic ESS for on-gridders selling excess energy or buying energy at cheapest rates / times.

I have a staggering number of installations in my VRM. I'd like to think all my installs are happy with their energy investment, and the advice and service I give. I like repeat business its the best and easiest and I make new friends.

Thanks for all your replies. I have been in IT for 35 years and have become used to a level of service which includes advanced replacements, paid shipping, etc. when you pay this much for equipment especially with failures in the first week.

I understand your comments about DIY and I've seen some really scary things full-timing for the past 3 years. I do know what I'm doing and the system was preconfigured from the reputable Victron supplier here in the states.

I have contacted my supplier and told them everything in full with lots of documentation. They opened the RMA case with Victron. I asked about Victron's RMA policy as the warranty is with Victron, not my supplier.