Swarco Holding AG Reviews 

When I got a EV I signed up for a few charging providers. Tried to use Swarco chargers a few times at different locations. When I got there they all no working. Tried the help line a few times, found them rude and unhelpful when answered. So I decided as this was such a bad company I would close my account. I emailed them in April 2024 to request this. Got an email in May 24 saying they needed more info as it seemed they had lost my details. Sent the info again late May. Got a email late Aug 24 to say they had done that.
What a bad company!! A real inference to EV ownership, no wonder some people suffer with range worry. There should be laws to ban companies like this from trading in the UK. In a year of EV ownership, this is the worse company of any I have tried to use. My advice is to avoid at all cost. Maybe they will go bust. Would give zero stars if I could

I applied for a CPS RFID card on 31st May 2024 (two months ago). I had to send a follow up email but did eventually receive my card, which didn't work when I tried to charge my car. I contacted CPS (Swarco admin) to request support. I have since received two emails from different people asking me to confirm my identity. I have replied to both of these messages, but have heard nothing more. I have tried contacting Swarco again, without any success. Does anyone know how to get a useful response from them?

Swarco is just downright bewildering! Their chargers are the dominant ones in Worcester where I live and reasonably priced so were actually a factor in my decision to get an EV. I have used/tried to use them three times and the experience has got progressively worse. First time was a right faff but I eventually got there. Second time I couldn't unplug the cable for about 30 mins - support very helpful but a good chunk of my precious Sunday evening went down the pan which i still resent! Third time, there was absolutely no conceivable way of paying. The app is completely pointless - it serves no purpose at all and has no correlation with what you are trying to achieve. It has your details stored and a charging map - that's it - no logical path to the charging process, it's completely bizarre. Oh and for good measure it logs you out every time. (We all know what fun it is putting email addresses and passwords in repeatedly). Fortunately for me, on all three occasions that I've been 'Swarco'd', I was near home and just needed a top up, safe in the knowledge I had a plan B. So, back to attempt three (which will be the last), I tried two locations, first one had a barcode to scan which led me to a website which told me the charger ID number didn't exist. Never mind, not much else on tonight I thought, so headed to location two. No barcode to scan here so there was simply no process to follow. I saw sense and headed to Waitrose to pay top dollar to use their Shell chargers (which as ever went like dream). I called Swarco support on the way to Waitrose out of curiosity more than anything and after 15 minutes was still on hold - that would have been lovely miles from home on a dark night with a young family.I never did get through. I'm being a bit flippant about that bit, but actually this simply isn't good enough and could cause serious distress - there is a responsibility here you people!! So, in summary, these Swarco units in Worcester may as well be empty metal boxes that look pretty. They are cheap to use and always available. Hmmm...draw your own conclusions on that one! In all seriousness, Swarco simply shouldn't be operating as they currently stand. I've no doubt the hardware is fine, but the structure behind it is not. Interestingly, in Worcester, all of them are on City Council car parks..did our smart local civil servants do one of their 'races to the bottom' again?
If in Worcester and in need of electrons - go to Waitrose, you'll pay for the privilege but you'll remember why you got an EV in the first place as it's so seamless. Try to use Swarco and you'll be back on the unleaded in no time!

Just arrived in Watchet and decided to sign up to Swarco, to charge my PHEV. Signed up, no problem. Got to the part where they ask for the ID number of the charging unit. Number submitted, not recognised. Tried ALL configurations, not recognised! Gave up!! I am so glad I've got a PHEV and not relying on a pure EV! Until this country can guarantee that ALL charging stations can be relied upon, I'll be keeping my PHEV.

I wish I had read the reviews before I attempted to charge my car.

At Central Middlesex Hospital, the only charge option (if you consider it an option) is a double Swarco branded machine.

Does it take contactless? No

Does it take something like electroverse? No

So the steps involved, register. Simple enough, register and use the machine? No

After you register, you need to give your card details. Great, now can I use the machine? No

You need an RFID card, specific for Swarco, and it's £12.00 to get one! Is it loaded with credit? No

Things like this, unnecessary steps are what put people off going electric, it reflects badly on the Trust that commissioned it & badly on the company that installed it. Save yourself the hassle & don't waste your time with them.

Tried two SWARCO EV chargers in Bude, Cornwall. Neither were contactless so registered an account online, downloaded the App, set up a Direct Debit and a pre- authorised Apple Pay for £35. Net result - nothing. Worst charging experience I’ve had.

All of the previous reviews confirm the awful experience I had in Tintagel Visitor Centre carpark. Do not assume you will be able to charge your car there. I have previously used an InstaVolt EV charger in Wimborne, Dorset. I parked, attached the cable, tapped my bank card to start and tapped again to stop charge. No app. No registration. No up-front payment. How I wish these were the only EV chargers.

Tried to charge my car in Worcester today. Both times it didn’t charge but Swarco have taken 2 lots of £35 and I still have zero charge. Avoid.

Awful experience trying to charge in Cornwall. Cornwall seem to have ‘invested’ in EV charging to support tourism but they have got it badly wrong with SWARCO. Chargers not working, app very difficult, some chargers don’t work with their app! And they don’t accept credit card payments. What’s the point in having a charger in the tourist information car park that you have to wait for SWARCO to post you a RFID card before you can use it! Worst EV charger experience I’ve seen in the UK and I used a lot !

We stopped at Cairns Lodge services to charge on 27th December. I followed all the instructions, but it failed to charge the first time and the machine asked me to present my card again. The person next to us said they'd had the same issue.
It automatically stopped charging when the battery reached 65%, enough to get us home, so I wasn't too bothered.
However, when I checked my online banking, there were two payments of £30 pending. One payment finally changed to £29.05 a couple of days later - expensive for a charge of approximately half an hour, but as I didn't take note of the rate I'm not sure if this is correct or not.
There's still a £30 pending payment on my bank account, but the bank can't do anything until the status changes from pending.
I've contacted SWARCO via a contact form on their website but have not had a response as yet.
I've never had issues with any other EV chargers.
I'd never use a SWARCO charger again.

Have been charged for 60kw over 17hrs. Was only connected to the charger for 2hrs and have proved this by sending a copy of my car's journey record. Furthermore my car only has a 50kw battery. Swarco still refusing to refund the difference. Gave me a load of bs that the a battery could take more than its capacity and that the Technical Team have done a full investigation and insist that I left my car in the car park overnight. A car park that is six miles from home. This company is either run by a bunch of imbiciles or crooks.

What a disgrace as a company. I would advise not to download the app and use this company as basically what they are doing is fraudulent. Have taken £26 from us even though the app didn’t work and no charge was made. Have raised a fraudulent claim with our bank. Everyone at the services station was having the same experience.

The app is shambolic. As are the chargers. Would strongly advising using other charging facilities if away on holiday in Cornwall. It will just eat your precious holiday.

Used in an emergency at Esso, Redbridge, Ilford, Essex. I paid £29.34 in total for the charging of my vehicle now I’ve just noticed another £15.66 is pending and I have no idea as to why? There are no notices on display to explain that there would be a secondary charge, just called the company, been sent from one department to another. Customer Service person informed me to send an email, as he was unable to locate the charging station, SERIOUSLY?

Staff members verbally abusing neighbours and taunting them and their children 24/7

Probably the worst charger experience I have ever had. If we are to encourage people into electric vehicles it is companies like this that will be major blockers to people wanting to transition into EVs. Chargers situated in location with no signal and required to download app. Requirement to download a lot of personal data, all which is unnecessary for ‘fuelling’ a car. Then you have to set up a direct debit and charged a holding fee - awful experience

Still waiting for my deposits to be refunded after 10 days. Contacted customer service who advised me to speak to my bank!! Will only use if obsolutely necessary

It takes a deposit and it isn't refunded until a week later it should be instant I now use other providers shame as the service works

I have just been charged £750 for a 1.5 hour charge. Spoke to customer services and told the machine ‘bugged out’ and now I have to wait til their admin team who work 9-5 are back in. Someone needs to contact me!

Used several times as the charger is convenient from where we live and is mostly available when we need it (due to issue with home charger). However I don’t use the app to pay but contactless and every time you use the charger it instantly takes £20, whether you have used it for 5 mins or 2 hours. I’m new to all the EV technology so had some trouble with connecting the charger to my car which resulted in me plugging in the charger 3 times before it worked. This has resulted in me spending £60 to get 40miles worth of charge. It’s been a week from when I did my first try with this charger and the transaction is still saying pending so I don’t actually know how much it is going to charge me for using the charger!?!? How can it take a week to advise the price for how much the charge they paid for is?

Not a great experience, good if you need a quick charge and are okay to pay out £20 until you know the actual cost a week later! Or in my case longer, as it’s still pending in my side.

This company need to give their customers an instant price per KM before charging and once finished a price for the charge that’s done. It’s unacceptable to take £20 for a charge that hasn’t even worked or lasted minutes due to errors.

If you have another charging option available.. use it. I wouldn’t recommend unless you have no choice.