My Zendure X5 died and the “warranty” is worthless

Zendure X5

I have a Zendure X5 battery pack I initially liked well enough. The day after I got it I put it through its paces and was impressed; within a few days I was “a believer.” The pack performed as advertised. I’ve been using it lightly but consistently (a few times a month) ever since; it became my “tablet pack,” not as heavy to lug around as my ~99 Wh packs (for laptops), but with enough capacity and output to be able to meaningfully extend the life of an iPad on the go.

Until recently. Twice now I’ve recharged it for a half day or so and had four LEDs (indicating full charge) and then, when I go to use it an hour or five later, with nothing plugged in, it’s dead.

I submitted a support ticket to Zendure; I ordered it at the end of June 2022 and it was delivered July 5th, 2022, and it has a 2 year warranty (for ~$100 it should...). I detailed the issues I was having. They responded asking for the serial number, which I don’t see anywhere on the unit. I responded so stating, and sent photos of the unit, and PDFs of my order confirmation and shipping details (all provided by Zendure). That had better be enough...

Initial submission to support@zendure.com (Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 10:54 PM):

I have a Zendure X5 I purchased in June of 2022 (delivered early July 2022). I understand it has a 2 year warranty? It appears to be dead. I had charged it to 4 white dots (full) and had it in my backpack for about 8 hours. When I went to use it it was completely non-responsive. I tried holding down the button for 10 and for 20 seconds, no change. I double-clicked the button and got the "cycle" of lights to show it was in hub mode, and then double-clicked it again to put it back in power bank mode. It's currently hooked up to a 30W USB-C PD Anker power supply and a Klein ET720 meter. The Klein is showing it negotiated 20V but it only sporadically shows any amperage draw (~1.4 when it does, but almost always 0). It’s been hooked up for an hour and according to the Klein only 80 mAh of charge has been transferred. The first of four lights is blinking, the other three are dark.

I use this pack regularly but not heavily (3-4 times a month, to recharge an iPad and/or iPhone on the go, occasionally a MacBook Air), and several times recently it's had less of a charge reporting than it should have, but now it doesn't seem to be taking a charge at all and it discharged fully (if it was actually charged at all?) in a few hours with nothing connected to it. :/

Is there anything else I can try? If not, how do I get it serviced under the warranty?

 

Almost immediate I got an auto reply with a ticket number.

 

I added some observations to the ticket as the night wore on:

 

Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 12:21 AM:

So, weirdness, after about 90 minutes on the charger, it went from blinking one LED to all four lit. I hooked it up to an iPad Mini 4 and it's charging it at 11W (per the Klein meter). Any explanation for this erratic behavior?

The iPad is at 11%, I'm going to let the X5 charge it as far as it can and see where I get.

But I don't trust the X5 anymore ... I shouldn't need to "jump start" it?

Oh, and, I did definitely charge it to 100% within 7 days of receipt; I even blogged about it :) http://flying-geek.blogspot.com/2022/07/zendure-x5-charging-macbook-usb-c.html

 

Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 12:29 AM:

 

Okay, it took the iPad from 11% to 21% and now the X5 is dead again (not even enough power to fire up the Klein meter). It was showing 4 full LEDs of charge 7 minutes ago, now none, completely dead again. 

 

Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 12:31 AM:

But when I hook it up to the charger (19.91V 1.47A) it's got one solid LED and one blinking... So weird ...

Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 1:19 AM:

Okay, it's back up to 4 LEDs lit and the Klein is showing 20V 0.00A and 128 mAh transferred, which of course is not enough to have charged it from one solid to four solid LEDs. I removed the USB C charging cable and it's still showing 4 LEDs. Back connected to the iPad Mini 4 (21% starting charge), the X5 is providing 4.87V 2.06A.

Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 1:33 AM:

And it's dead again, bringing the iPad up to 30%...

So far the only response I’ve gotten (Tue, Apr 16, 10:54 PM): “Hello, Thank you for reaching out to us. To assist you further with the issue you're experiencing, could you please provide us with the serial number (S/N) of the product you are referring to? This will help us better understand the situation and provide you with the appropriate support. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to resolving this matter for you. Best regards, Zendure”

I don’t see a serial number anywhere on the unit...

The only information I can find on the Zendure X5

I hope they stand behind this thing. It has not been abused and I’d be shocked if it had 75 cycles on it. Batteries should not fail that quickly.

Update Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 3:38 AM: “Hi there, I hope this email finds you well. We will escalate your issue and provide you with an update shortly. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Best regards, Zendure”

Update Thursday April 25, 2024 at 6:05 PM: I’ve followed up every 1-2 business days and have received no response whatsoever. Zendure is just ignoring me. I guess they don’t stand behind their warranty. I used to be a fan. No more. Definitely not going to consider using them for the solar stuff I’m doing. Sigh.

Update: A few hours after I updated this post venting my frustration, they finally responded:

Date: Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 4:31 AM

Subject: 回复：[## TICKETID ##] Order ORDERID - X5 - deadm
Cc: <support@zendure.com>

Dear customer,

Thank you for your letter and we are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

After reviewing the video you sent, our technical team believes that your power bank is defective. We are willing to replace the power bank with a new one for you. You do not have to return the original one and can dispose of it yourself. Do you agree with this suggestion?

If agreed, we will arrange delivery to you as soon as possible. Is your address the same as the original shipping address? If the address changes, please send us the new address.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Date: Sun, Apr 28, 2024 at 03:42

 

... In this case, we will arrange the shipments soon. Please wait more patiently. 

 

Date: May 4, 2024 at 3:17 AM (after about a week of my following up):

 

Regrettably, I must inform you that due to inventory issues, we are unable to fulfill your request for a replacement of your model of the power bank. Our warehouse has reported that this particular model is currently out of stock.

 

 Given this situation, we would like to propose an alternative solution. We are prepared to offer you a partial refund to compensate for the inconvenience. However, as the product has been in use for 21 months, we will need to deduct depreciation fees from the total refund amount.

 

Therefore, we propose a refund amount of 12.53USD. Please let us know if you agree with this solution.

 

No. I bought the X5 on June 30, 2022, price then was $89.99 (I got it for $76.50 ($100.20 with tax and shipping) with a discount code. At the time the warranty said simply it would cover “refunding your purchase or replacement of your product with a similar /equivalent or comparable item.” (Captures: May 25, 2022; July 14, 2022.)

Currently it contains this language: “In situations where a replacement is not an available or preferred option. Zendure will offer a partial refund according to the usage time of the device.” But that wording was nowhere to be found in the warranty when I placed my order.

 

Even after I pointed that out, Anson Li of Zendure Customer Service is refusing to budge: “Regarding your request for a full refund, we would like to clarify our warranty and refund policy. Please note that products that have been used for a longer period of time will not be eligible for a full refund, but will be partially refunded based on the number of months the product has been used. This is common among many companies and this policy has been developed to ensure fairness to all customers and to maintain the high quality standards of our products.” (May 11, 2024 at 03:22)

I withdraw all the positive things I once wrote about the Zendure X5 (and now I’m worried about my SuperTank Pro batteries...). If this is how long their products last, and if this is how they treat their “2 year warranty,” my strong recommendation is to avoid Zendure, including (especially) their pricey solar generators etc. (So far I’m really liking Renogy in that space...)