by Ron Oster
(Belize, Central America)
I have sent my Whisper 500 back to the manufacturer for warranty work. I live in Belize Central America on an island named Caye Caullker. After 4 years of operation there was evidence of extensive corrosion. I sent pictures to the manufacturer and was told its hard to tell how extensive the damage was without seeing the actual unit. I arranged to send the unit back to them for warranty work. This cost me over $1,000 and involved having to get a couple of customs brokers involved in both the US and Belize. After Southwest Windpower examined the turbine, they told me it needed to be completely rebuilt. They proceeded to rebuild the unit and customer service emailed me it was crated up for shipment on Feb. 18th. They said they would need help to figure out how to ship to me. I sent them instructions the following day. Since that time I have heard nothing from them other then an automatic response saying they will get back to me in 7 days or so. Nothing has been heard. If you call you only get an automated response. I appreciate the honow their warranty but it doesn’t do me any good sitting in the shop waiting for shipping. I live completely off the grid and the turbine is what I use for power. I have had to buy a generator for the 3 months that they have had the turbine. Not sure how come they don’t know how to ship the turbine back to me when I’ve given them complete instructions on getting it back to me.