Batteries Plus

I had a somewhat similar experience with a UPS (power backup for my computer). My advice is to know the potential problems, ask questions up front and be an informed consumer. This is definitely a "buyer beware" situation.

I went in to the Lake Forest store right before the July 4th holiday and had an unusual battery. I was helped by a young man who informed me he could make one. It was an aaa 300mah/3.6v rechargeable unit for a small radio. He disappeared to the back room area, and I was told by another employee it would be about ten minutes. I was there close to 40 minutes, I paid close to $20.00 I asked, "What if it doesn't work?" I was told it would and I could just bring it back.

I tried the battery for the past few days, charging it for close to eight hours during bright sunlight and only got a 5-10 minute charge. The next few days were no better. I took the battery back and was told THEN, by a different employee, that it was a non-refundable item, because it was custom-made. I explained that I was not told before or at the time of purchase of this policy. The young man told me, "It says it right there on the receipt." I told him that I didn't have a receipt until AFTER I had payed for the item. He proceeded to give me a STORE CREDIT for under $9.00! The other $10.00 were for labor costs.

My parting comment was, "If I had only known this before, I would have purchased it for $4.00 on ebay with FREE shipping and gotten the same result; but I would only be out $4.00!" Had I known before, I would NOT have taken a near $20.00 chance on a battery.