I purchased this cable in June 2013 to replace my 12 year-old Marinco 30-Amp 50' power cable used on my 27' sailboat in a marina in Florida. The cable was routed along the anti-skid deck, and over the deck rail above the rub-rail to the concrete dock where it was connected to the breaker panel for that slip. I looped the cable around the dock cleat to prevent any tension on the shore-power connection. Slack cable was coiled on the anti-skid foredeck, with bungee cords "managing" the slack such that a loop wouldn't develop with the normal rocking of the boat, and cause the cable to drop into the water. This was identical to how the old Marinco cable was routed and managed. In October (2013), I noticed quite by accident what looked like a black streak on the cable, as seen from the dock. Investigation showed that the yellow outer sheathing had worn down to the inner conductor black conductor insulation. I couldn't believe it!!! With the outer sheathing breached, this now became a safety hazard. If any of the black #10 insulation had become compromised, any contact with the bow pulpit, or water on the deck could have produced an electrocution hazard. I immediately pulled the cable out of service. The original cardboard insert tie-wrapped to the coil of the new Conntek cable stated a 5-year warranty by the manufacturer. Per Amazon policy, I went to the Conntek.com website, and tried to find a means to submit a warranty claim. I was unable to find such a means. I used the "Contact Us" function on the site to attempt to start a claim. After 7 days with no response whatsoever, to include a confirmation that my message had been received (other than when I left the original message on their site), I attempted to call the company directly. The phone call resulted in a voice-mail response stating "mailbox full". That implied to me that nobody was monitoring the voice-mail, in addition to the website "Contact us" messages. So much for the vendor warranty!! I contacted Amazon with the details of what happened with this "defective" cable, stressed the safety issue, and got immediate support to resolve the problem. Granted, Amazon shouldn't have had to get involved at all. This issue should have been resolved directly with Conntek. However, failing attempts to get Conntek's attention, Amazon provided the solution. In the end, I opted to go back to the Marinco product that, although a little more expensive, was a product line that I could trust, and have trusted for many years. The Conntek cable was less expensive, but in a financial pinch, I opted to try it. Obviously a lesson well learned.....go with what I've had excellent experience with for over 30 years of sailing. I'll not go back to Conntek products again. But thanks to Amazon, I remain an extremely happy Amazon customer. I believe they went above and beyond to resolve this, and keep me a very happy customer. My hat's off to Amazon Customer Support for their very timely assistance in resolving this matter. As such, I easily rate Amazon Customer Support with 5 gold stars.
