ComplaintsforBatteries Plus Bulbs

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a battery from batteries plus bulbs the first time which was a bad battery so I bought the battery back tried to exchange the battery it took a week before he finally get in touch with his people nd they exchanged that one but the only way I could get a exchange is if I paid a the difference from a battery which costed a hundred dollars more So when I came back with this battery nd told him about this one, which still has a Warranty on it and I was told I can’t get or exchange my battery even tho it still has a warranty coverage on it

  Business response

  04/20/2023

  I really don't know where to start because everything he has put in this complaint is not true.  The customer originally purchased the SLI78AGM on 10/4/2019.  He had a legitimate warranty claim on the battery he purchased.  The SLI78AGM was on backorder and out of stock at our warehouse. I ALWAYS DO WHAT I CAN DO TO HELP THE CUSTOMER WITHIN REASON.  Since I didn't have a replacement and couldn't even get one at the time, I took a brand new battery off the shelf for him to use until I could get him one like he originally purchased.  This cost me $145 because I would not be able to sell that battery to another customer with it being used, but I was fine with that because it wasn't his fault that I didn't have a replacement battery to fulfill his warranty issue.  After a week or two the customer dropped by the store to check on the status on getting his battery. He was talking with my store manager, **** and he mentioned that we had a Blue Top battery which was $90 more.  **** talked to him about paying the difference and just going that route so we could get everything squared away. When I arrived at the store, **** asked me if we could do that?  I went to the back and found the Blue Top SLI34-78AGMDP.  One of the corners had a crack which was just cosmetic.  The battery was brand new and had just come off the truck a few days earlier.  I wasn't going to charge him anything because I feel everybody's time is worth something and he had to make a couple trips up to my business for this situation.  I warrantied out the Blue Top SLI34-78AGMDP for the SLI78AGM and adjusted the prices so it zeroed out costing him nothing extra. The part I can't quiet understand is where the customer is getting that he paid extra for the Blue Top SLI34-78AGMDP.  He didn't pay a penny extra.  Like I said I adjusted the pricing on the warranty battery so it would even out the cost.  Once again I gave another $90 in order to take care of the customer. I provided the invoice to prove it.  I can not tell you how many times I have went above and beyond to help customers and they act just like this customer.  No matter what you do there is no pleasing them. Anyway, the customer comes back in March one day (can't remember the exact day) saying his battery is bad and he needs to trade it to get another warranty exchange.  As far as the date he was within the warranty date but the thing this customer doesn't obviously understand is the definition of warranty. Customers like this guy think they can buy a battery and just do whatever he wants to do to that battery and its covered under warranty.  LOL...obviously showing he doesn't know what a warranty is.  He brought the battery in and it was at 4.8 volts. The warranty states that any battery discharged below 10.5 volts is VOID OF WARRANTY. This is considered neglect or not being properly maintained.  NO BATTERY WILL HOLD UP IF ITS NOT PROPERLY MAINTAINED. Wouldn't be a very good business model for me to invest everything I have to my name and me to have to cross my fingers and depend on customers to charge their batteries to feed my family.  My manager told him that the battery wouldn't be covered under warranty due to it being 4.8 volt which is neglect.  The customer started cussing and threatening my manager.  **** calls me and puts me on speaker phone to explain what was going on.  When he told me the voltage, I said that battery wouldn't be cover under warranty.  Customer starts cussing and running his mouth.  I asked him, "How long did you let your car set up without driving it?"  We deal with this everyday.  We know that a 12 volt car battery can't get down to 4.8 volts  unless something pulls it down like that.  Example, a car sitting up.  Customer said that his family member had something going on and he had to go out of town or something like that.  I can't remember exactly.  I member telling him that i was sorry to hear about the troubles he was having but it wasn't my fault and the battery had been neglected which VOIDS the warranty. He was provided warranty papers when he bought his original battery.  It states word for word this exact situation.  Seriously, Its like it is talking about the very situation we are discussing here.  Come to find out the car set up from sometime in Dec. 2022  to  March 2023. I tell customers if they would just look over their warranty papers it would save them a lot of time and money.  We even talked to the customer the night I gave him the Blue Top about keeping your charged and not letting it sit up, etc. The customer was very rude and disrespectful inside my business in front of several customers. Once I heard how he was talking to my employees inside my place of business, I was finished with him.  He acts like that Inside my business when I had done nothing but help this guy.  He's the one that didn't take care of his battery.  Think about this for a second.  This guy is the one that let his car set up for over three months and ruins his battery, yet he calls the BBB to complain about the business owner (ME) that spent over $250 between loaning him a battery and giving him the upgraded battery at no charge. I hate that he out of that much money, but I'm not responsible for his Negligence....and if he would have been acting respectful like a grown *** man, I would have helped him somehow even if it was just selling him another battery at half price.  When he acted the way he did cussing and threatening my employee....I'm not going to help with anything.   

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩