Ballard Technologies

I purchased an OmniBusBox unit, manufactured by Ballard Technologies, from a large customer of Ballard's last year.

As this unit is licensed for their Copilot software, I called customer support to inquire about obtaining the drivers and PC software which is needed to operate this unit, and was told that I should register for a free support account after which the software would be freely available for download.

After attempting to open the support account for a period of 4 months with no reply, I finally received an email from a sales manager asking for more information about my unit and promptly telephoned his office to discuss the matter.

During our conversation, I was told that since I would potentially re-sell this unit in the future, Ballard had no interest in providing any of the services normally offered to owners of the OmniBusBox, and instead demanded $2000 for software and drivers which had already been 100% paid for.

I tried my best to explain to the gentleman that these tactics were well beyond discrimination and that all I was asking for is the same drivers/software which are freely provided to all rightful owners of the OmniBusBox , however he denied any and all assistance unless the $2000 ransom was paid.

As I was getting nowhere quickly, I thanked the sales manager for his time and wrote an email to all of the executives at both Ballard and Astronics, their parent company, however received no response whatsoever.

As it was clear there was nobody in this organization which cared to respond, I called Astronics and spoke to an extremely nice lady named Tanya which tried her best to help and directed me to send email and leave voicemail for David Burney, the CFO of Astronics, which I did.

Needless to say, I have not received a telephone call nor response from either Mr. Burney or anyone at Ballard / Astronics, and this has lead me to write this review in hopes that folks will not do business with either of these deceptive companies.

Essentially, if you spend $15k on a product from this company and you decide to re-sell it down the road, your entire investment is obliterated as their unfair, deceptive, and discriminating tactics will render it worthless.

Thank you to all the folks at Ballard and Astronics for your assistance, I am truly appreciative.

Regards,

H.A. Jordache