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Sync Drive critical battery

  • 23 September 2017
  • 28 replies
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I am an employee of T-mobile. I purchased the sync up drive for my own personal use. During the 2nd week, it kept telling me that my battery was low, and failing. A couple of days later I had to have my alternator replaced which cost me $450.00.

Since my issue, i have come across other customers that have returned this device.One customer said she was getting the same battery failing message. Another customer returned her device after she too,had to get her alternator replaced. By no means am I saying the sync up drive is causing this. But I am suggesting that there may be a correlation between these battery issues and the sync up drive device. How do I look into this?

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Best answer by tmo_chris 30 September 2017, 17:24

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Userlevel 4

Hey @magenta2712237

With the SyncUp drive sole purpose of being a diagnostic tool, I would hate to believe that it is causing issues with the end users vehicle. This is something that we would definitely need to report up through Mojio through an escalation. The next time you get a chance, check out DOC-429922 as it will go over the steps for a Mojio escalation.

I have the same problem with my car which started less than two months after I installed Sync Up drive.  As of today the following parts have been replaced in my car.

Battery

alternator

Definitely draining the battery (I've seen several complaints online regarding this).  When I bought it at the store, I wasn't advised that I have to unplug it every night or if my car is not in use.

Nothing was recorded in Sync Up drive about the battery.  When I checked from the app, the battery status is good although it's not.  The status is not accurate.  My car stalled  4 times, but nothing was recorded in the history.  I was trying to get some error code so I can show it to my mechanic but there was no code.

I've also had a problem with the SyncUp drive draining my car battery. My car is only 2 years old and after 1 1/2 months of installing the SyncUp Drive, it sent me a notification of my battery being in a critical condition. I've had to have my battery replaced, but it seems as if my alternator is now starting to give out.

I bought this device earlier in the year then i went on a trip to Las vegas for 1 week and came back to a dead car I had my battery swapped out a couple months ago and I'm still getting this warning I Js had to jumpstart my car in the blistering cold trying to take my 8yr old home. This is getting ridiculous. That dip in the image is me that Sunday trying to start my car and there's been nothing but fluctuations with battery issues. Is it possible for me to return this device and get my money back????

Userlevel 4

@marielur@magenta2808412​ and @shadow8043

The SyncUp device should definitely not cause these kinds of issue with your battery! If you suspect that the device is causing adverse effects on your car, this is something we will want to check out and escalate up to the support teams. Please contact us when you have a moment so our tech support teams can gather your information and get this investigation started.

. T-Mobile should reimburse all customers for non-disclosure on the sync-up device for  batteries and warranties tgat were voided and alternators. The Sync Up device should be unplugged when the vehicle is not in use because it draws power from the battery 24-7.

It's only fair.

Not To be rude but Magenta2808412 is right how about we escalate our money back and get reimbursed for the damages. I will do as you ask tmo_chris but this whole situation is b.s.  I've since unplugged the device from my car and my car has be running fine. I also did some research and progressive had the same issue with their snap shot which is pretty much the same thing with out hotspot.....here's a link to one of the atricles. I-Team: Drivers Say Insurance Device Put Them In Danger On The Road « CBS Boston

I will call support I will tell them my issue but T-Mobile needs to take responsibility for the damage this device has already caused.

Just had to jump my battery (less than 1 year old) because it was drained. The only new addition was my sync up device that I installed about a month ago. AS A said something is draining the battery. I've uninstalled it and would definitely want my money back.

I have the same issue. My old battery died when the temperature dipped below freezing, got numerous critical battery warnings. I assumed it was the cold weather veen though the car has been fine prior to installing the SyncUp Drive. Took it in and the dealer replaced the battery. 3 weeks later, I haven't driven my car for 2 days and I go down and my battery (brand new) is dead. This is definitely the syncup drive. I un-installed mine tonight and will now try to figure out how to return it.

I will come right out and say it-sync up drive damaged my battery. I have a 2014 Range Rover Evoque. My son drives it to college. I bought this device so I can make sure he gets back-and-forth to college safely. After putting this device in this car, after about a month, he kept telling me that he thinks this device is wearing down his battery. On my app it kept telling me at certain times his battery was critically low. I went to the Cadillac dealership and ask them to check the battery and they told me I needed a new one. I ignored my son comments and figured the battery was just bad for other reasons which was hard to believe because it was not that old of the battery.Paid for the new battery which wasn’t cheap at the Cadillac dealership. After month again, I kept seeing battery critical low periodically and never mentioned it to my son. He’s kept telling me again, I think that device is draining my battery because I’m getting symptoms of a battery low with my vehicles back door and I think it’s ruining this new battery. My conclusion after reading this thread this device is definitely damaging batteries. Someone mention you should be removing the device overnight or when not driving but that defeats the purpose of sync ups monitoring if someone bumps or messes with your car, it alerts you -if you remove it then that is a useless feature. We had our sync up for only about four months and the whole time the location of our vehicle was never accurate. My son was in Tampa but the device said he was sitting in my driveway in Clearwater. T-Mobile sync up team continue working and never could correct the problem so I got my money back and gave the device back. Now after reading this thread and of all these complaints I am glad I do not have this device anymore because I would end up buying another battery and down the road who knows what other damages it would’ve caused. It’s definitely damaged our battery. I will contact T-Mobile and see about them reimbursing me for my battery.For some reason this device doesn’t work on certain cars and damages some cars batteries.I would just warn anyone who is going to have this in the car or buy this —keep an an eye on it right away to see if your car is going to be one of the unfortunate ones that it ruins their battery. This could be a great device which I was really excited to have but they need to fix the problem that damaging certain cars and also find out why it’s not accurate. If they do that I would be willing to buy another . But at this time till they fix these two problems for me I’m going to stay away from this device and look for a better one.I am now hoping that I get reimbursed for the money I had to spend out on my new battery so even though I got my money refunded back for this device I’m still out a lot of money!!!!

DEFINITELY killing batteries. My battery was fine before the syncup drive went in my car. Slowly died over time, until the point I had to replace my battery. I had the syncup in the OBD port for a few days with the new battery, and it was hesitating to start (the hesitation was not too significant, but just enough to be noticeable on a brand new battery), I took the syncup out, and I have not had a problem with my battery since. T-Mobile should definitely do something about this, not just have employees "Make an escalation with Mojio." Do something about it guys.

exactly I had to replace my battery in November and now am getting the same critical battery message I believe it is T Mobile and the parent sync up company's responsibility to reimburse us all who have had repair /replacement cost  due to this device.It is not a coincidence that I live in Fl I bought 2 device one for me and 1 for my daughter who lives in Southern California and she just had to replace her battery as well on Monday .NOT A COINCIDENCE that so many people are have the same issue.

Even if the Syncup drive drains and or cuases battery to go bad it can not effect the Alternator. I am a Mechanic the alternator only runs when car is on and a normal alternator is made to be able to handle what little power the sync up drive draws from it while vehicle while running

I've also had to replace my battery because of this. I didn't have any issues until I plugged that thing in my truck. When I called to disconnect it I was asked why and I told the lady that it was killing my battery. She asked if there was anyone else I could give it to so that they could use it...I told her I wouldn't be giving it to anyone else and killing their car battery also. I think that we should definitely be reimbursed for the new batteries we've had to purchase. The battery that I had to replace wasn't even 2 years old.

I see mention in the original post of people returning their SyncUp Drive.  How did they go about this?  I was told the device has a whole 14day warranty for returning.  After that you get to pay $20 to exchange it for a refurbished one that has the same problems. 

I recently purchased this device as well and also receive the same critical battery message. I've replaced the battery and now a week later I go to start my vehicle and the battery is drained. I, too, think it is the device.

Hello like many of the others on this post I too have had to replace a perfectly good battery recently.  I just had my vehicle a 2016 Ford Explorer in to the Ford dealership February 2018 for normal service.  They reported the battery as in good condition.  Approximately 1 month later in March 2018 my wife went out to take the SUV and it wouldn't start.  The battery was completely depleted and had to be replaced.  I checked it over once we got it jumped off no lights were on, none of the door sensors were reporting faulty and there was no other devices connected to the electrical system but the SyncUp.  I replaced the battery which cost me $289 and removed the SynUp from the vehicle. 

I agree with many of the other posts on here that this is a faulty device as there are too many instances of this now reported and feel that T-Mobile should reimburse us for our repair costs as a result of this device being in our cars.  We bought it in good faith that your company had done the proper development and testing to make sure it is safe for our (the consumer) use.

I also feel that T-Mobile should reimburse us for the months of payments that we incurred using a device that could do harm to our property.

I like many of the others enjoyed this device as it was a great way to enjoy the hot spot capability while on trips which I take regularly with my job, but the risk of the damage to my vehicle is too great to consider continued use of this device. 

Sincerely,
Dallas Stump

Userlevel 4

Hey folks! For issues with the Syncup, we want to make sure we get this up to the vendor ASAP. We will need to look at your accounts and gather specific information from each and every one of you. Please contact us when you have a moment so we can get the ball rolling on this.

Hi Chris I have spoken with support and they are sending me a new Sync-UP device out to test with.  As I explained to the support representative I took the vehicle into my mechanic and tested the battery with the engine turned off and having set for 30 minutes with no run time.  To make sure any devices or electronics in the vehicle had time to stop pulling a draw on the battery.  Upon testing the battery he found there was still a draw being pulled against the battery.  We removed the Sync-UP device and the draw on the battery immediately stopped.

So once I get the new device I will hook it up and go to my mechanic and have him perform the same test.  If we still incur the draw against the batter then I'll respond back with the findings.

Sincerely,

Dallas Stump

I spoke with a t-mobile rep and was emailed a return label for my sync up

device. It is on the way back to t-mobile. I do not want to use this device

in my vehicle. I am a small business owner and I need my truck to make

deliveries. I cannot risk losing business because of this device.

I hate to say it but I've had my car stall out with a critical battery warning twice since I started using the syncup. I've gotten 2 batteries and been okay since I disconnected the sync up. This is especially difficult since I'm an employee and we have quotas with this product.

I'm having same issues with my car too. I didn't have any problems with my car battery or the alternator before I started using Sync-up. I had to replace my car battery and alternator a month after I started using the sync-up device. I contacted T-moble customer care and reported the issue. the representatives were not helpful at all. They kept transferring my phone calls from one department to another. at last I was able to talk to a representative and he said I cannot cancel sync-up drive till I pay it off and he hug up on me. T-mobile customer care suck. @tmo_chris​How about pay us for the damages caused by this devices.

I have had my SyncUp since it first came out and I have replaced my batteries 3 times. My original battery I replaced and just thought it was a couple years old maybe it didn't like the move to the cold weather. Then I bought a yellow top and it died after having it in my car for a month, got a replacement and it died after a week. I kept getting the critical battery error on my sync up app and just thought I must've gotten crappy batteries. Now battery number four is in the vehicle and I recently went out to a dead battery and it is a yellow top also. So maybe I have found the reason for these issues. I have had my car for 8 years and NEVER had a battery issue like this. TMOBILE.  Have you found  any connection between our battery issues and the device?

I removed the device like a week ago and my car battery is working fine.

BOGO SyncUPs! Sure, I'm interested. I called, got more info but not ready to pull the trigger. Then I found this post.....and many others just like it. So I called back and spoke with a representative and asked about the battery issue, and of course, the representative didn't know anything about it. Given that you can't Google SyncUP without tripping over 'Dead Battery' posts, and the fact that T-Mobile mods have chimed in on this post, I find that hard to believe. I deduce that one of two scenarios happened:

  • Management is aware but is withholding this information from the front lines for plausible deniability, leaving the agent on the phone to run impromptu damage control with no idea why.
  • Management has instructed the front lines to act as if this is the first time they'd heard of the problem, leaving the agent on the phone to run scripted damage control.

What I was hoping to hear was, "Yes, we are aware and we are working on it. Meanwhile, you can check on progress by visiting xxxxx.com." That would've kept my interest. But for now, I'm gonna hang on to these two revenue streams.

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