New EV owner here. We charge at home so I don’t need to use them, but stores nearby have chargers. I tried them to see how they work. They are often broken.

One store has a Volta charger (free!). It worked great the first time; the next time I went it was broken.

Walmart has an Electrify America fast charger. The first time I went, 1 of 3 was not working. The next time I went, 1 of 3 was not working, but it was a different one.

Was I unlucky, or are these charging networks unreliable? Has it been getting better or worse over time?