$93 for four days?

Last Sunday, I went for a photo shoot in Vermont. I got to my location, pulled out the Rolleiflex, took the first photo – and the camera jammed. I don’t know if it’s the film inside, or the cold outside, or the Rollei’s entire side, but the trip was a waste. Ugh.

No matter. On the way back from Vermont, I stopped at one of those tourist shops that dot US-7. It was a place called Big Moose in Hoosick Falls, and it was packed floor to ceiling with various souvenirs and boutique hot sauces and boutique spice rubs and boutique knickknacks. 

I wasn’t planning on stopping there – but their parking lot has an EV car charging station. Guess what. One charging station = one shopper named Chuck. The car charger was operated by a company called Skydancer, which partners with EV Connect, one of the three car charging companies that power my Chevrolet Volt (the other two are ChargePoint and Livingston Energy). I can usually get somewhere between 15c/kilowatt hour and 25c/kilowatt hour, which can generate a full charge for somewhere between $2 and $4. Man, think about the last time you paid $4 to fill your tank.

I stopped in the Big Moose store, and after walking the aisles for about 20 minutes, I found a bottle of Rufus Teague sugar-free barbecue sauce. Figured I’ll give it a try. Paid for my purchase, went back to the car and disconnected the charging port. I spent maybe 25 minutes at the souvenir store, which garnered me about 3 or 4 additional miles of go-go spark on Lightning’s Girl. 

Fast forward to last Thursday. My car charging connections will send me emails to alert me when my charging started, when it stopped, and how much I must pay. And EV Connect sent me an email on Thursday … noting my charge on Sunday. 

I charged Lightning’s Girl for maybe 25 minutes, tops. 

The charging station credited me with a charge that lasted – I kid you not – FOUR DAYS. FOUR DAYS OF CHARGE. With a bill of $93.

What in the name of Rivian T. Prius is going on here? 

A quick call to the EV Connect customer service line, along with confirmation that I did NOT leave my car at that charging port in Hoosick Falls for FOUR DAYS … along with proof that I charged my car at an EV Connect station in Albany on Monday, during that same four day period … and EV Connect immediately wiped out that $93 charge from my card.

Okay. A few things here. Accidents happen. Gizmos go wonky. That charging station probably got used maybe twice a week if at all. I mean, it’s Hoosick Falls, for God’s sakes. 

And at least EV Connect realized that whatever was going on at that charge port was an aberration and not a swindle. So there’s that. But man oh man, I’ll think twice before I stop at that tourist trap again for a driving break and a recharge.

Besides … that bottle of Rufus Teague sugar-free barbecue sauce?

I glimpsed the expiration date on the bottle’s shrink-wrapped neck. BEST IF USED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 2023.

Fantastic. I bought a bottle that was three months past its shelf life. 

Yay me.