Check in Best Practices

We encourage all of our users to provide honest experiences and feedback whenever possible; it can make a major impact on someone's decision to visit a location. Many locations and owners take pride in their PlugScore, too - they generally want to make every user happy!

Here are our tips for making the most of PlugShare check ins:

  1. Check in every time you charge
  2. Leave a helpful check in comment
  3. Remember that check ins are public to the PlugShare community
  4. Select the right check in status (on the web)
  5. Select the right check in status (on Android or iOS)
  6. Add a station photo (if appropriate)

 

Important Note: If you're experiencing issues with a specific charger, you should contact the charging location directly for support. If there is not more information on the charger itself, we have compiled a list of our more common charging networks and their contact details here: Network Support Details

While we do our best at PlugShare to support our community whenever possible, PlugShare is not able to control or assist with issues at specific charging locations. Please be sure to leave a Check in whenever you have a negative experience, and feel free to leave edits or report details on the location's listing whenever possible. This is the best way for our community to stay informed of location issues before their next visit!

 

Check in every time you charge

Check ins are intended to be a quick and simple way for every user to contribute to the PlugShare community.

Note: To preserve the integrity of the PlugScore, please only contribute one (1) check-in per visit to a charging location.


Even if you don't want to share any comments, check ins:

  • Help your favorite locations maintain their positive PlugScore
  • Keep the PlugShare community informed on the best (or worst) locations in their searches (or in the community Activity Feed)
  • Save to your personal Activity Feed so that you have a robust history of your location visits
  • Allow you to more easily find locations that you enjoy using

You can find more specific direction for checking in from your preferred platform, check out our more technical article here: How to Check in at a station location

 

Leave a helpful check in comment

Check ins keep our community informed so that users can determine if going to a particular location is right for their needs. A successful or unsuccessful check in history can certainly be telling, but our community often cites check in comments as a prime benefit to using PlugShare.

Check in comments can take many forms: sometimes they provide helpful tips on how to navigate those hard-to-find chargers at certain locations; sometimes they provide recent updates for a location; other times they act as a review for charger or network reliability.

The best check in comments clearly identify information that is helpful to other PlugShare users or to location owners. Here are some questions to consider when leaving your comments:

  • Is the location very crowded or is it easy to quickly access the charger?
  • Would you have benefit from any specific guidance for finding the actual charging station at a location?
  • Do you have any tips for using the particular plug(s) at the location? Does one work better than another? Are any broken?
  • How was your payment experience? What was your payment method, and did you experience any issues?
  • How long did charging take? 

A note on inappropriate content:

While we always want our users to provide honest comments about their check in experience, we expect our community to remain respectful and polite at all times. Our editorial team monitors check ins for appropriate content, we encourage you to let us know if you see anything falls short of our values.

If you find information that is not helpful or even if you post an incorrect review on accident, please Submit a request so that our editorial team can help resolve the error.

 

Remember that check ins are public to the PlugShare community

When we say that check ins are public, we mean that other PlugShare users will be able to see:

  • Your display name
  • Your type of vehicle
  • The date you checked in
  • Your check in type (whether it was successful, negative, or neutral)
  • Any comments you choose to add

If you are concerned about your anonymity, please know that you can edit your display name at any time. Most users will include only their first name or a pseudonym that works for them. You can find specific instructions on editing your PlugShare account here: Update your PlugShare Account

If you would like to delete a check in that you created, find more here: Delete a station check in

 

Select the right check in status (on the web)

If you check in at a location from the web (or from a browser on your mobile device), our platform will assume that you have either already charged or left the location. Your check in can impact a location's PlugScore, and you will have the options of:

Successfully Charged

Meaning that you were able to charge your vehicle as intended at the location. This option positively influences the PlugScore. If your vehicle charged, but you ultimately had a bad experience, feel free to leave a neutral comment to describe your experience.

Could Not Charge

You might select this option if you were unable to charge because the charger was broken, payment wouldn't work, or there were other vehicles preventing you from charging. You will be prompted to provide the reason you could not charge, and we encourage you to provide any comments which might help inform other users on the issues you experience. If you select this option, it will have a negative impact on the location's PlugScore

Even if the reason is outside of the station owner's control, we encourage users to be honest about their experience. A PlugScore often informs whether users visit a location, and a consistently busy and unavailable location would be a reason that our users might want to look somewhere else. Remember, PlugScores reflect the experiences of its most recent users to provide our community with the most updated information possible on any given location - if the location improves, its PlugScore will rise in no time!

Leave a Comment

This option does not influence the location's PlugScore in any way, but it allows you to provide any helpful details to other PlugShare users or the owner. It also adds the check in to your personal Activity Feed

 

 

Select the right check in status (on Android or iOS)

When you're on the go, you'll find more options to choose from when checking in. Just like other statuses, you check ins from a PlugShare mobile all can still impact a location's PlugScore. However, we recognize that many users prefer to save time by checking in while charging, so feel free to use any of the options below which best suite your current status:

Charged successfully

Meaning that you were able to charge your vehicle as intended at the location. This option positively influences the PlugScore. If your vehicle charged, but you ultimately had a bad experience, feel free to leave a neutral comment to describe your experience.

Charging now*

We understand that some users prefer to complete the check in process while they are charging; it's a great use of time while waiting to fully charge!

When you select this option from your mobile app, you will be able to inform other users that you are currently using the location along with the type of plug, duration, and any comments you have. If you have an estimate for how long you intend to use the charger, this information can help nearby users decide if they'd like to wait or find another charging location nearby.

Could not charge

You might select this option if you were unable to charge because the charger was broken, payment wouldn't work, or there were other vehicles preventing you from charging. You will be prompted to provide the reason you could not charge, and we encourage you to provide any comments which might help inform other users on the issues you experience. If you select this option, it will have a negative impact on the location's PlugScore

Even if the reason is outside the location owner's control, we encourage users to be honest about their experience. A PlugScore often informs whether users visit a location, and a consistently busy and unavailable location would be a reason for users to look elsewhere. Remember, PlugScores reflect the experiences of its most recent users to provide our community with the most updated information possible on any given location - if the location improves, its PlugScore will rise in no time!

Waiting to charge*

You can let other users know how long you have been waiting for the charger to become available. After you are able to begin charging, you can then update your charging status to "Charging Now"

Comment only

This option does not influence the location's PlugScore in any way, but it allows you to provide any helpful details to other PlugShare users or the owner. It also adds the check in to your personal Activity Feed

*Reminder: Check ins are intended to reflect your overall charging experience. When checking in with a live status (Charging now or Waiting to charge), your temporary Check in will be visible for a set amount of time until you "Check Out." Checking out when you complete your charging session will:

  • Update PlugShare's live data to notify other users that the charger is now available
  • Save your check in to your activity feed
  • Publish your check in and comments to the location

If you do not Check Out from this status, your temporary Check in will be lost.

 

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