Author Topic: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review  (Read 19998 times)

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Offline Rottodiver

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Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« on: January 07, 2014, 05:37:13 PM »
So I have now had the easy cool fridge for just under a month...... When I received it, I plugged it in on 240 volts in the house and put a carton of warm coke in it and set it at 4 degrees, it took a good while to cool the cans but acceptable I thought.. After a couple of days of it keeping them nice and cold and after we did our shopping for our trip away I turned it to -18 degrees and put frozen stuff in there and a few things to be frozen, the next day the frozen stuff was still frozen and the stuffs to be frozen only froze if in the centre of the freezer so I had to put them in the household freezer to freeze. I wasn't too comfortable with the freezer as it fluctuated between -10 and -18 so I turned it to -22 as thinking the fluctuations would be ok if it only went down to -18.. All seemed to work..
The night before we went away I at about 6 pm( been a 40 degree day so was quite warm outside still) I put the freezer in the car on 12 volts(still at -22) with battery voltage on the battery at about 12.8 volts(brand new battery bought that day ...allrounder) by the time 4am arrived when we left the battery was 11.5 volts...... So far from practical for 12 volt operation.
In this time I had left negative feedback with "dreamrider online" ( the company I bought it from) due to there terrible communication and customer service. That day I received emails and a phone call from there sales manager asking me to change the feedback for 60 dollar refund... Sounded good to me so I changed it they refunded instantly and I had the mobile number of the sales manager now.
After the day driving and setting up camp on a powered site all was going fine with the freezer. Over the next few days I kept a close eye on temps and it really fluctuated from -22 down to 2 degrees...not so good... Unless the items in the freezer were in the middle or bottom they were starting to thaw ( mainly the stuff on top)...
After 4 days the temp started to rise I. The freezer and wouldn't get below 0 degrees and everything started to thaw.....
Basically the motor stopped working, the temp gauge etc all worked fine and buttons all set it to what you want but no cooling what so ever.
I emailed dream rider..... No response, I texted the sales manager.... No response....... I then threatened with lodging a dispute... No response..... So in the end I have now had to lodge a dispute through paypal because it was with in 40 days of purchase.
They have now said that I have to pay postage for the item and I get a full refund (still lose a heap as Perth to nsw is a bit pricey) and they have only given me a po box address so I have paypal chasing up an actual address as couriers to deliver to po boxes(which they know).

So to sum things up....... The cheap crap fridge/freezer is not worth it, the customer service is the worst ever and they buy their positive feedback which to me makes it worthless system...
So hopefully people can learn from my mistake...
Scotty

Offline jetcrew

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2014, 07:33:40 PM »
Sorry to hear that mate ..but I do have to say ..what did you expect. It's called fleabay for a reason.

If i ever buy anything on there i factor in the cost of sending back then the price don't seem so good.

More than one seller has been known to send out faulty goods on purpose just to profit from high postage and handling fees when they return the item.

And the paying for good comments ..well that $60 it cost them just sucked in another 10 people so they are all smiles.

I am glad that you managed to scrape through your trip away and hope it was an enjoyable break. Could have been worse like my mate whos brand new tent had no poles in the box  :'( :'( :'( :'(


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Offline baldheadedgit

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2014, 07:39:43 PM »
Keep your eye on "EBay", you will find plenty of Engels and  them other plastic fridges  on there,  be patient and you will find a bargain...

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Offline muzza01

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2014, 08:00:20 PM »
Can you post up a link so we know who the seller is on eBay.

Offline Rottodiver

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2014, 10:24:32 PM »
Here is the link for the fridge/freezer
http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/231091966442?cmd=VIDESC
I actually bought it as a second fridge / freezer to go with the Waeco...
I agree on the postage thing ... It is a scam...

Scotty
« Last Edit: January 07, 2014, 10:27:57 PM by Rottodiver »

Offline Fathom

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2014, 08:26:00 AM »
I have an Easy Cool 80 litre fridge freezer too.

I bought it for a Cape York trip two years ago. We decided as we would be away for a month, we better get a bigger fridge than the 50 litre we had, and our 50 litre is a 3 way, thus not as economical as a compressor fridge. And if I got a dedicated fridge for the Truck, I could leave the 3 way in the CT permanently as we normally only use the Camper for longer stays and it will become a dedicated gas fridge.
  I was a bit concerned cause I knew it was an E-Bay cheapie - although Dreamrider had a very professional add, looked like a big seller and had a reasonably long warranty , So I figured I would be pretty safe. Even if the fridge only lasted 5 or 6 years- still cheaper to buy 3 of these than an Engel or Waeco...
To be sure - I purchased it a few months prior to the Cape trip so I could take it on a few weekend trips with my 4wd club to make sure it is all good. After all, the last thing you want is to find out its faulty mid way into a month long trip away.....
The sales process with Dreamrider was exceptional. They sent numerous emails, confirming payment, confirming shipping, expected delivery date.  I thought to myself this is a professional organisation.

Did a few weekend trips with the new Fridge, Worked a treat, so well in fact that some other members of the 4wd club I was in considered buying one.

All went well until the 3rd week of our trip. The fridge started heating up - getting up to 17 degrees and the freezer plus 2. We checked our batteries, checked the trucks wiring (all this has been upgraded from factory) - no fault..We took all the food out, pulled the panels off, checked as much as we could for faults, checked the cord etc..  Even tried plugging it into 240 as we were at Loyalty Beach at the time. One of the people in our group was a Sparkie - so the check was reasonably thorough.. It was decided the fridge was Kaput. We put our food/beer in our friends fridges and began the search for a new fridge to continue or trip.
Our choices seems to be: Ship on from Cooktown a few days to get there - a local mechanic offered to sell me his 60lt  two year old Engel for $2k. The Hardware store on Thursday Island had a 50lt Waeco brand new for (from memory) only a few hundred more than what I would pay in Brisbane. ( I think it was $1599?) I bought it.. I paid for it over the phone. They ran out to the Ferry and got them to wait so they could load it on that trip. I picked my new fridge from Seisia Jetty within hours of paying for it. Exceptional Service.
When we finally got home - I put the Easy Cool in at a fridge mechanic and sent an email to Easy Cool. the Fridge Mechanic diagnosed a fault in female electrical socket hardwired in the fridge that the cord goes into, making power intermittent, thus causing the fridge to heat up.
Easy Cool replied pretty quickly.. saying their warranty does not include electrical... I pointed out it is the fridge socket itself, not the cord.. I told them the above story.. A few emails went backward and forward. the said sorry but no cigar... they pointed out I has used the fridge while 4wding.. and therefore voided my warranty.. I couldn't see this in any paperwork I Had, but the truth is, I thought stuff them, cant be bothered arguing, the repair is only $100, I will just pay for the repair myself, get a working fridge back. (they hardwired the 12v cord into the fridge)
Thinking at the time - I still really wanted the 80 litre capacity, so get the bigger fridge repaired, sell the brand new Waeco that's too small for our needs.
Sold the Waeco for a fraction of what I paid for it.. I think from memory about $900

The guys in the 4wd club I was in, that were considering an Easy Cool suddenly decided they didn't want to buy one of these anymore....

Used the Easy Cool a few more times, on about the third weekend trip.. it got a Gas leak. Leaked at a kink in the copper pipe.
Again I contacted Easy Cool. (sent a couple of emails) No reply this time.  Booked it into the fridge mechanic.. welded up the pipe/re gassed etc for around $200..

I think to myself that's gotta be all right????

About three months later it got another gas leak while away on a trip, just above the last one. I didn't even bother contacted Easy Rider this time I just went and bought the new dual Zone 65 litre Waeco that had just come out ( wanted the 80 litre - but it didn't fit in my rear drawers) And put the Easy Cool down in shed and pretended I didn't own it....

On a camping trip I was telling this story to a few blokes round a camp fire, one of, a guy who lectures at TAFE on fridge mechanics said, he knew a great fridge mechanic on my side of town that would look at it for a carton and tell me if it was worth doing anything with, or whether I should let it continue to gather dust, or toss it...
I figured, in for a penny in for a pound.. cant hurt to get an opinion
 
He was excellent, pointed out a design flaw with how the had the copper pipe secured, it would vibrate due to the angles of the copper and minimal amount of points securing the copper piping onto the frame of the fridge. He repaired the leak, re structured the copper piping so it wouldn't vibrate, added several securing points and re gassed the fridge for a few hundred bucks and a carton of beer. He did state the components are of reasonable quality, that he doubts I will ever have a problem again.

The fridge right now, is sitting in the same place it was prior to the last repair.. In my shed... I have lent it to a few friends for weekend/week long trips (they all know this story) and it hasn't missed a beat. SWMBO however has lost all confidence in it. She will never.. I mean NEVER.. let me load it into the truck to use.
I figure, it may be good for a beer fridge when we have people over etc...

So long story short  not been short- sorry about that) I have a fridge I originally paid approx. $600ish for, spent that again on repairs, then lost the money on the Waeco I bought in Seisia. This is now one of the most expensive dust gatherers I have in my shed. :-[

PS.. The New Dual Zone 65 litre Waeco has been great!  8)



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Offline Toppa

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2014, 08:40:51 AM »
Ive got the same one.  Worked fine for the few years I've had it.  Sorry to hear you have a dud.  I did find the the low voltage protection is a PITA.  If i had any connection inline with the fridge like a fuse block,  it would stop working. I had to connect it direct to the battery. I also found it wont last through the night.  I still think its the inbuilt low voltage cut out module in the fridge electrics .  I want to see if i can bypass this as i have a usi-160 that will cover the low voltage.

After reading the post about the dodgy connection,  i might have a close look at that.

Still if yours is not fit for purpose then under the new consumer guarantee laws you should be able to get your money back.

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2014, 08:43:02 AM »
I have an Easy Cool 80 litre fridge freezer too.

I bought it for a Cape York trip two years ago. We decided as we would be away for a month, we better get a bigger fridge than the 50 litre we had, and our 50 litre is a 3 way, thus not as economical as a compressor fridge. And if I got a dedicated fridge for the Truck, I could leave the 3 way in the CT permanently as we normally only use the Camper for longer stays and it will become a dedicated gas fridge.
  I was a bit concerned cause I knew it was an E-Bay cheapie - although Dreamrider had a very professional add, looked like a big seller and had a reasonably long warranty , So I figured I would be pretty safe. Even if the fridge only lasted 5 or 6 years- still cheaper to buy 3 of these than an Engel or Waeco...
To be sure - I purchased it a few months prior to the Cape trip so I could take it on a few weekend trips with my 4wd club to make sure it is all good. After all, the last thing you want is to find out its faulty mid way into a month long trip away.....
The sales process with Dreamrider was exceptional. They sent numerous emails, confirming payment, confirming shipping, expected delivery date.  I thought to myself this is a professional organisation.

Did a few weekend trips with the new Fridge, Worked a treat, so well in fact that some other members of the 4wd club I was in considered buying one.

All went well until the 3rd week of our trip. The fridge started heating up - getting up to 17 degrees and the freezer plus 2. We checked our batteries, checked the trucks wiring (all this has been upgraded from factory) - no fault..We took all the food out, pulled the panels off, checked as much as we could for faults, checked the cord etc..  Even tried plugging it into 240 as we were at Loyalty Beach at the time. One of the people in our group was a Sparkie - so the check was reasonably thorough.. It was decided the fridge was Kaput. We put our food/beer in our friends fridges and began the search for a new fridge to continue or trip.
Our choices seems to be: Ship on from Cooktown a few days to get there - a local mechanic offered to sell me his 60lt  two year old Engel for $2k. The Hardware store on Thursday Island had a 50lt Waeco brand new for (from memory) only a few hundred more than what I would pay in Brisbane. ( I think it was $1599?) I bought it.. I paid for it over the phone. They ran out to the Ferry and got them to wait so they could load it on that trip. I picked my new fridge from Seisia Jetty within hours of paying for it. Exceptional Service.
When we finally got home - I put the Easy Cool in at a fridge mechanic and sent an email to Easy Cool. the Fridge Mechanic diagnosed a fault in female electrical socket hardwired in the fridge that the cord goes into, making power intermittent, thus causing the fridge to heat up.
Easy Cool replied pretty quickly.. saying their warranty does not include electrical... I pointed out it is the fridge socket itself, not the cord.. I told them the above story.. A few emails went backward and forward. the said sorry but no cigar... they pointed out I has used the fridge while 4wding.. and therefore voided my warranty.. I couldn't see this in any paperwork I Had, but the truth is, I thought stuff them, cant be bothered arguing, the repair is only $100, I will just pay for the repair myself, get a working fridge back. (they hardwired the 12v cord into the fridge)
Thinking at the time - I still really wanted the 80 litre capacity, so get the bigger fridge repaired, sell the brand new Waeco that's too small for our needs.
Sold the Waeco for a fraction of what I paid for it.. I think from memory about $900

The guys in the 4wd club I was in, that were considering an Easy Cool suddenly decided they didn't want to buy one of these anymore....

Used the Easy Cool a few more times, on about the third weekend trip.. it got a Gas leak. Leaked at a kink in the copper pipe.
Again I contacted Easy Cool. (sent a couple of emails) No reply this time.  Booked it into the fridge mechanic.. welded up the pipe/re gassed etc for around $200..

I think to myself that's gotta be all right????

About three months later it got another gas leak while away on a trip, just above the last one. I didn't even bother contacted Easy Rider this time I just went and bought the new dual Zone 65 litre Waeco that had just come out ( wanted the 80 litre - but it didn't fit in my rear drawers) And put the Easy Cool down in shed and pretended I didn't own it....

On a camping trip I was telling this story to a few blokes round a camp fire, one of, a guy who lectures at TAFE on fridge mechanics said, he knew a great fridge mechanic on my side of town that would look at it for a carton and tell me if it was worth doing anything with, or whether I should let it continue to gather dust, or toss it...
I figured, in for a penny in for a pound.. cant hurt to get an opinion
 
He was excellent, pointed out a design flaw with how the had the copper pipe secured, it would vibrate due to the angles of the copper and minimal amount of points securing the copper piping onto the frame of the fridge. He repaired the leak, re structured the copper piping so it wouldn't vibrate, added several securing points and re gassed the fridge for a few hundred bucks and a carton of beer. He did state the components are of reasonable quality, that he doubts I will ever have a problem again.

The fridge right now, is sitting in the same place it was prior to the last repair.. In my shed... I have lent it to a few friends for weekend/week long trips (they all know this story) and it hasn't missed a beat. SWMBO however has lost all confidence in it. She will never.. I mean NEVER.. let me load it into the truck to use.
I figure, it may be good for a beer fridge when we have people over etc...

So long story short  not been short- sorry about that) I have a fridge I originally paid approx. $600ish for, spent that again on repairs, then lost the money on the Waeco I bought in Seisia. This is now one of the most expensive dust gatherers I have in my shed. :-[

PS.. The New Dual Zone 65 litre Waeco has been great!  8)





Ouch, sorry to hear that story :( Its a classic case of poor man pays twice and I mean that with no disrespect, I too have been the poor man paying twice on several occasions.
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Offline Yowie

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2014, 07:40:37 AM »
I bought one of these also and had the exact same problems I have dropped it of at a Waeco repairer he is having a look at it now these are definitely a piece of Shit poor quality

Offline jetcrew

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2014, 09:02:59 AM »
Thumbs up to you guys :cup: :cup:

And I really do mean that .

Most people post up how they have saved XXXX dollars on a new fridge /solar panel /inverter and it is just as good as a major brand but 1/2 the price and why would you pay more just for a brand name. etc etc and never post up the drama and hassle that follows.

Those same people  will sing the praises in 4-5 posts then never to be heard of again, as they would have admit their decision was wrong, so new members come along and read all the posts and think hell yeah I'll save a few hundred and buy off ebay too, heaps of members have.

So a massive ...(emoticon for RESPECT here) goes out to you fellas who have been man enough to post up what tends to happen more times than not with ebay and give a full appraisal of the process and the long term end result in both hassle and cost.

If people would follow up their praises with a review after a few months or trips then maybe things would be different, Its obvious that ebay sellers will pay cash to have negative comments removed, this form of censorship  is  disgraceful and should not be allowed. IMHO

maybe we need an ebay feedback thread...as it obvious the system on ebay is corrupt.

 I don't hate ebay I do buy some things off there, but anything elec/refrigeration or other complexed item No way....


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Offline Mik01

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2014, 09:10:07 AM »
Thumbs up to you guys :cup: :cup:

And I really do mean that .

Most people post up how they have saved XXXX dollars on a new fridge /solar panel /inverter and it is just as good as a major brand but 1/2 the price and why would you pay more just for a brand name. etc etc and never post up the drama and hassle that follows.

Those same people  will sing the praises in 4-5 posts then never to be heard of again, as they would have admit their decision was wrong, so new members come along and read all the posts and think hell yeah I'll save a few hundred and buy off ebay too, heaps of members have.

So a massive ...(emoticon for RESPECT here) goes out to you fellas who have been man enough to post up what tends to happen more times than not with ebay and give a full appraisal of the process and the long term end result in both hassle and cost.

If people would follow up their praises with a review after a few months or trips then maybe things would be different, Its obvious that ebay sellers will pay cash to have negative comments removed, this form of censorship  is  disgraceful and should not be allowed. IMHO

maybe we need an ebay feedback thread...as it obvious the system on ebay is corrupt.

 I don't hate ebay I do buy some things off there, but anything elec/refrigeration or other complexed item No way....


Jet ;D ;D
   

 i saved heaps of $$ buying an evakool 80l fridge. could never afford a waeco or engel. think i paid $699 with a cover.
after a year, it works well - it probable doesn't hold temp quite as good as i like, however ive never had another fridge to compare it to. (ie if i set it to 2 it will cycle to that, and then settle on 4 - i don't know if it is really 2, or it has a tolerance of a couple of degrees before the compressor kicks in to cycle it back down).

x 2 on the ebay feedback thread - great idea Theo - why don't you get it started?  ;D
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Offline jetcrew

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Re: Easy cool fridge/freezer from dreamrider online(ebay)... Review
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2014, 11:24:01 AM »
i saved heaps of $$ buying an evakool 80l fridge. could never afford a waeco or engel. think i paid $699 with a cover.
after a year, it works well - it probable doesn't hold temp quite as good as i like, however ive never had another fridge to compare it to. (ie if i set it to 2 it will cycle to that, and then settle on 4 - i don't know if it is really 2, or it has a tolerance of a couple of degrees before the compressor kicks in to cycle it back down).

x 2 on the ebay feedback thread - great idea Theo - why don't you get it started?  ;D

Evakool have been around a long time mate and built quality units, their newer budget range is still backed by the parent company so reckon that was a safe choice in any case mate  :cup: :cup:

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