Disappointing, Sick of loaning Blink $$
I’ve been using Blink stations and the app for more than 5 years. Originally the app was stable and worked well. Now, more often than not, I am standing in the rain at a charging station, trying to get the app to work, but it frequently crashes. Or it will tell me to plug the cord in to begin charging, and then, when I do, it does not start charging but gives an error message, sometimes charging me $1.70 for keeping the charger plugged in after it had “finished charging” – even though it never started charging! So incredibly aggravating. And then there is the pre-loading of $20 if the Blink account balance falls below $10. So I am loaning blink $20 interest free until I dip below $10 balance again and they charge me another $20! Anytime I can use Chargepoint or any other charger besides Blink, I do. Blink stinks.
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Response from developer
We're sorry to hear that. We are always looking to improve the experience for our users, and really appreciate the feedback. If there is anything specific we can look into, please contact us at support@blinkcharging.com letting us know about your experience with our app, and we will be more than happy to assist you. Thank you and Charge On.
Easily the worst charge company to work with
Multiple chargers dead or non functional, to the point it’s barely worth checking for them. On top of that the company is aware of it and couldn’t care less, per their customer support many of these chargers are deactivated by them on purpose and they do not update this status in the app. As bad as EA is at least when they have 1/4 chargers working they are updated on the map.
It’s really sad because I never had any problems with SEMAconnect until blink acquired them and now it’s a waking nightmare. Ghost charges, meters reading innacurately (always in their favor) and ten minutes on hold to find out that they did it on purpose and don’t care. I’d rate it lower if I could.
It’s really sad because I never had any problems with SEMAconnect until blink acquired them and now it’s a waking nightmare. Ghost charges, meters reading innacurately (always in their favor) and ten minutes on hold to find out that they did it on purpose and don’t care. I’d rate it lower if I could.
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Response from developer
We're sorry to hear that. We are always looking to improve the experience for our users, and really appreciate the feedback. If there is anything specific we can look into, please contact us at support@blinkcharging.com letting us know about your experience with our app, and we will be more than happy to assist you. Thank you and Charge On.
Why is it so difficult?
An EV charging app really only has one job: Let me charge my car with a minimal amount of friction. So when I pull up to the charger and plug it in, why do I have to tap through this app and try to convince it that I am in fact next to a charger, that the charger is available, and that I really would like to initiate the charge? Instead I have to tediously find the charger’s ID, which constantly scrolls through the tiny LCD, and then in an unintuitive way select it in the app to start start the charge? And why does my car know it’s now charging, but the app never acknowledges it? This thing really needs a refresh from a UX perspective. And please let us have a Blink card in our Apple Wallet to just tap the charger to start charging.
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Response from developer
Hi, we are always looking to improve the experience for our users, and really appreciate the feedback. If there is anything specific we can look into, please contact us at support@blinkcharging.com. Charge On⚡️🔋
One issue after another
Blink needs to just move to a web-based app instead of trying to maintain their phone app. I have to update it all the time, they have different directions for accessing their chargers at the three different locations I use, the app is not easy to identify the station so it takes a long time to turn on the charger, and they make you have a credit balance to use instead of having a credit card on file and charging it after the full balance is determined. You also have to go to the website to do some of the activities anyway or call customer service, which is hit or miss whether you get someone who will be condescending and treat you like an idiot because you didn’t know they got a new app platform and you have to delete the old one and upload the new one. Which, by the way, is not much better than the previous one.
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Response from developer
We're sorry to hear that. We are always looking to improve the experience for our users, and really appreciate the feedback. If there is anything specific we can look into, please contact us at support@blinkcharging.com letting us know about your experience with our app, and we will be more than happy to assist you. Thank you and Charge On.
Borderline scam and incompetent too
1. No way to ID which charger corresponds to the one on the app. Luckily my guess activated the one next to me so I was able to make the cord reach without moving my car. Starting charging but t really slow.
2. Went to sleep in the Element Hotel wthe chargers are located only to be wakened by a text from Blink that my charge was finished and parking fees would begin if I didn’t move my car to make room for other EVs to charge. I got dressed and went downstairs to fund my car at 66% and no other stall being used.
3. Back to asleep until I received the same text again about 1:30am. I git dressed again and went and moved the car.
4. Minimum to open the account was $20. I just checked the account and see they charged me Over $17, @ $.94 per kWh! Tesla charges $.35 for much faster charging.
I texted and emailed these jokers with no reply. I hope Element Hotels dumps them .
2. Went to sleep in the Element Hotel wthe chargers are located only to be wakened by a text from Blink that my charge was finished and parking fees would begin if I didn’t move my car to make room for other EVs to charge. I got dressed and went downstairs to fund my car at 66% and no other stall being used.
3. Back to asleep until I received the same text again about 1:30am. I git dressed again and went and moved the car.
4. Minimum to open the account was $20. I just checked the account and see they charged me Over $17, @ $.94 per kWh! Tesla charges $.35 for much faster charging.
I texted and emailed these jokers with no reply. I hope Element Hotels dumps them .
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Zero stars
App requires a ton of personal information for no reason. No integration with Applepay, so you have to manually enter all payment info. Then, get this, it requires you to prepay $20 before it will let you charge, regardless of how much you use. You have to maintain a $20 balance. What a joke. I can’t do that for 16 different EV apps. Just let me pay.
Apparently you can sign in as a guest and pay more. That still requires your email, HOME ADDRESS and other information. Why? There is so much friction between plugging the car in and getting electricity to flow. They spent all of there money making it harder for a plug connected to a grid to NOT charge. These people are monsters.
Apparently you can sign in as a guest and pay more. That still requires your email, HOME ADDRESS and other information. Why? There is so much friction between plugging the car in and getting electricity to flow. They spent all of there money making it harder for a plug connected to a grid to NOT charge. These people are monsters.
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Response from developer
Hi, we are always looking to improve the experience for our users, and really appreciate the feedback. If there is anything specific we can look into, please contact us at support@blinkcharging.com. Charge On⚡️🔋
Bad experience
I am traveling and rented a EV. I have never used a charging station before and assumed it would be fairly easy, so I went to the nearest one. It turned out to be a blink station and half of the 4 stations weren’t working, and other cars were using the working ones, so I drove to the next one.
I was having trouble starting the charging process so I decided to contact customer support. The hood music told me it would be 8 minutes. When I was next in line it transferred me to another line and just played annoying music in my ear for 30 minutes. Ugh. What a horrible experience and I will avoid this company/service if possible.
I was having trouble starting the charging process so I decided to contact customer support. The hood music told me it would be 8 minutes. When I was next in line it transferred me to another line and just played annoying music in my ear for 30 minutes. Ugh. What a horrible experience and I will avoid this company/service if possible.
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Unable to add home charger
Called twice for support , I was told I was missing address for billing (doesn’t make sense!) added and no where with the app .. charger is working great .. but regretting installing with poor customer service!
Buggy & Unresponsive
I don’t normally write app reviews, but I just want to highlight how bad this application and the services offered by Blink are.
The chargers offered by Blink rarely work. But, when they do, they’re good for maybe 1-2 charges on the charger. After that they end up freezing and being unresponsive.
Now onto the app, which is hardly functional for anything other than using a map and adding money to your balance.
I’ve had issues where after charging sessions my session doesn’t actually end and other folks can use my session and rack up my bill. The UX of the application is poor at best, offering little indication to any user interactivity.
If you attempt to submit an issue in the app you’ll likely find that you get no confirmation, no error, or any indication about the submission of the issue you’ve tried to submit.
Then you’ll attempt to call in and resolve the issue only to find that your “3 minute wait time” actually takes 20 minutes. Great, you’ve finally got ahold of someone, hope is on the way! Except you will soon learn that you’ve waited 20 minutes only for them to “try” to reboot the system unsuccessfully and then be told that you’re being transferred to the “technical team” which will result in you being transferred to a phone number which never answers and can’t receive any voicemails because the mailbox is full.
The chargers offered by Blink rarely work. But, when they do, they’re good for maybe 1-2 charges on the charger. After that they end up freezing and being unresponsive.
Now onto the app, which is hardly functional for anything other than using a map and adding money to your balance.
I’ve had issues where after charging sessions my session doesn’t actually end and other folks can use my session and rack up my bill. The UX of the application is poor at best, offering little indication to any user interactivity.
If you attempt to submit an issue in the app you’ll likely find that you get no confirmation, no error, or any indication about the submission of the issue you’ve tried to submit.
Then you’ll attempt to call in and resolve the issue only to find that your “3 minute wait time” actually takes 20 minutes. Great, you’ve finally got ahold of someone, hope is on the way! Except you will soon learn that you’ve waited 20 minutes only for them to “try” to reboot the system unsuccessfully and then be told that you’re being transferred to the “technical team” which will result in you being transferred to a phone number which never answers and can’t receive any voicemails because the mailbox is full.
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Lag between app and charger
This is my personal experience, which has been nothing but frustration. At this time, I would NOT recommend using this app or the blink stations. Just go to nearby chargepoint or evgo stations.
I’ve been using a private blink station in my apartment that charges $1 per hour of parking for up to 5 hours. There has always been a lag between me unplugging my car and the app recognizing that the charging was discontinued (up to an hour at times, and thus being overbilled). My biggest frustration recently has been that I was charged $12 and $8 for charging less than 2 hours each of these times. I have made multiple inquiries by app and also by email, but these problems have not been addressed, and I have not been refunded.
I’ve been using a private blink station in my apartment that charges $1 per hour of parking for up to 5 hours. There has always been a lag between me unplugging my car and the app recognizing that the charging was discontinued (up to an hour at times, and thus being overbilled). My biggest frustration recently has been that I was charged $12 and $8 for charging less than 2 hours each of these times. I have made multiple inquiries by app and also by email, but these problems have not been addressed, and I have not been refunded.
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