Re: NEVER BUY WALMART'S BATTERIES OR YOU WILL BE SORRY

> Regardless if you used their batteries or not, they won't let you return > no matter what!! Plus 75% of their batteries will cause your car to have > faulty Fuel Reading. > > > Full Story: > > There was no clear written "No Return" policy in front of the battery > section, one of their managers tried to point out to me that there is a > No-Return policy, I was surprised, later you read it, I did not see any > where did it say "No return". They just made up their policy as they go > these people. > > I bought one of their batteries a few days ago, I had never opened its > seal nor used it. I later discovered that my other battery in my car is > fine, something was wrong with my car's charging system. Any way, I > thought I wouldn't be needing this new battery, now I am stuck with their > battery. > > One more thing to keep in mind, their EverStart batteries (black color) > had jumpy Current flow, its Current+Voltage will jump from 12.80v to > 13.76v, also to 15.45volts, this will affect your Fuel Pump meter, you > will get fluctuated Fuel level reading, because the fuel pressure depends > on how hard the pump is doing its work. > > This is another reason why you should avoid buying from Wal-Mart no matter > what they said. Their technicians will lied to you to get you to buy > their low quality batteries, it costs me more troubles and good. Be ware. > > Tom

You are full of crap. Tell me about some other store where they let you return a battery.

Your dribble about voltage is equally ridiculous. There are only about 3-4 companies in the US that make batteries, and Wal-Mart gets theirs the same place as many other retailers.

Reply to
Mark A
Loading thread data ...

I have always gotten my batteries at Walmart and they have all lasted me in each vehicle I have owned. Tom is an idiot.

Reply to
Go Mavs

Costco

Reply to
ToMh

Good thing I still have my Costco membership, I may have to renew it though since my batteries are still new ,1 1/2 years together with the car. I really haven't paid attention to the batteries in Costco. Are they Kirkland batteries or good brands? Are they like in the tire center and they will install the battery for you and test them?

Reply to
EdV

They are Kirkland signature, but that just means they are made by some other battery makers. I've used a couple in my vehicles, never had a problem, never owen the car long enough for one to fail. People used to say that their Alkaline batteries were no good, but they are just relabeled Duracell (Consumer Reports). In my experience the kirkland brands are pretty good quality.

Reply to
ToMh

Consumer reports again? ehehe. I had returned 2 kirkland products. Shampoo and dish washing liquid. The dish washing liquid label says lemon fresh scent, but it actually smells like stinky feet. I like the vitamins and other products, never tried batteries yet, hopefully when that time comes I'll buy one from them.

Reply to
EdV

At the Costcos that I have been to here in SoCal, the batteries are on racks with the other auto related merchandise. You find the right one, put it in your cart, and take it home. I am pretty sure there is a guide hanging there so you can look up the right battery for your vehicle, but that's about it. Thing is, after you take it home and install it, you have to figure out a way to get rid of the old one. I had my old one in the garage for a couple of years before I was able to properly get rid of it at a community hazardous waste collection event.

Reply to
Truckdude

The Costco "Kirkland Signature" Batteries are from Johnson Controls

- "Eveready" and a few hundred 'house brands' for chain stores. But of course they can make those private label batteries to many different quality levels to meet the price point of the retailer.

Whoever makes the batteries for WalMart can deliberately skimp on the overall quality (life span, long term current capacity, etc.) to meet the price point target they are given.

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

That's enough - but go over to the Groceries side and buy two or three 10# bags of Baking Soda, and a box of the rubber gloves over by the Pharmacy. Chemical Splash goggles and a 2" "Chip" disposable paintbrush you'll have to get elsewhere.

The Baking Soda serves double duty. You'll use maybe a quarter pound of it to make a water-soda paste for cleaning out the small residue of escaped acid from the battery tray and surrounding area - and the rest of the open bag (and the spare) is kept right there (along with a charged garden hose) ready for emergency sulphuric acid neutralization in case you drop and break the battery, or make a spark at the wrong time and blow the top off.

If something goes very wrong you need a large quantity of baking soda and running water on hand Right Now, no running back for it. Delay could cost your eyesight.

If it's kept in a sealed bag it doesn't go bad, at least for acid neutralization. Might not want to use an old bag for odor reduction in the fridge, or the lettuce will smell like axle grease...

Scrub off the outside with some more baking soda paste (so you don't wreck your trunk carpet), toss it in the trunk on top of a trash bag, and take it back to Costco. They have a pallet for collecting old batteries in the Tire Service area, when the truck drops off a load of new batteries they send the dead ones back for recycling.

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

It's good to know that you can at least take the old battery back to them on your next Costco visit.

Reply to
Truckdude
[buying a battery at Costco]

When I bought a battery at Costco, I took the old one to my local Sears auto department. They have a pallet for old batteries sitting next to the building.

Geoff

-- "Is it true that Dorothy Parker named her pet parakeet Onan because he kept spilling his seed upon the ground?" -- David Mikkelson

Reply to
Geoff Miller

That is good to know. Thanks.

Reply to
Truckdude

have my issues with Consumer Reports also, but battery testing is pretty straight forward, plus they revealed that the AA Kirkland signature batteries are the same as the Duracells they sell for 4 times the price, and there test also showed that all alkaline batteries are essentially the same, no matter what the label, so you may as well just buy the cheapest.

Reply to
ToMh

Stinky foot scented soap can't be good :) We buy there soap products all the time, and never noted any problems, but now I'll have to smell it first!

I have my issues with Consumer Reports also, but battery testing is pretty straight forward, plus they revealed that the AA Kirkland signature batteries are the same as the Duracells they sell for 4 times the price, and there test also showed that all alkaline batteries are essentially the same, no matter what the label, so you may as well just buy the cheapest.

Reply to
ToMh

///snipped drivel///

When I worked at the Sears Auto Center in Fairbanks AK we would take batteries back if (big if) the battery had not been damaged and tested good. I can't vouch for that policy Sears wide and I know that when Sears cut back on the scope of their service and closed some stores that, it seemed to me, that the "bottom line" had gained prieminence over Customer Service. That is why I quit working for them.

True...There are only about three (major) battery manufacturers in the U.S. but the batteries they make are built to the specifications set by each individual retailer. They are not all the same. Nor are they all equal in quality.

DaveD

Reply to
Dave and Trudy

Many retailers do not accept returns on electrical items because it is very difficult to determine whether they have been damaged or abused. I suspect that a lot of people buy and install new batteries and then find out it was some other problem.

I would prefer not to shop at any retailer that allows returns on batteries or similar items. The reason is that means the returned items will be put back on the shelf for another unsuspecting customer who ends up with a used item. Anyone who thinks that retailers who allow battery returns is not reselling them to other customers as a new battery is smoking something illegal.

About 20 years ago, Sears had the most liberal return policy of any retailer. Satisfaction guarentted or your money refunded without conditions. I was with a friend of mine when he returned some items he received as a gift about a year before. The items had no tags, no receipt, and it was not even obvious as to whether it was sold by Sears. Sears no longer has such a policy, probably in part because some customers have probably tried to cheat them.

Agreed, they are not necessarily equal in quality, but there is no reason to believe that Wal-Mart's are any worse than anyone else's. Of course most retailers (including Wal-Mart) have more than model, each of different quality (usually differentiated by the warranty). I would bet a lot of money that a Wal-Mart battery is as good or better than any other battery being sold elsewhere at the same price (unless there is a major sale price being offered). But clearly, there are some batteries that cost a lot of money that are probably better than the ones Wal-Mart sells.

Reply to
Mark A

DaveD,

I too had been a tech in a Auto-Service Center, Many years ago, before the current restructuring. Even then, we would accept a returned battery, in new condition, if the customer had purchased the wrong type for their vehicle. Many times the customer would guess about the size they needed, even though they were advised and shown what would be the proper fit for their car. Usually, their recollection was the battery was smaller than what they were looking at, only to find out they were wrong, once they got the battery home. Then back they'd come, asking for the proper size or a refund if they ended up getting the battery elsewhere.

As for Sears and the cut backs, their big goal was the $, and not really customer servcie. All too often, a customer would bring in a battery because it'd be giving them a problem. We were required to fill the electrolite to the proper level if it was low, then check the voltage and load test the battery, if the voltage was with a specific range. But if the voltage was too low, we'd have to give the customer a temporary loaner battery and put their battery on a slow charger for 3 days. In most cases, the customer would return, only to be told their battery was no good and they'd need to replace it. Maybe Sears figured that if the customer couldn't or wouldn't wait the 3 days, they'd just buy a new battery. Anyway, I didn't care for the policy because I felt for the customer. The time and inconvience it took (4 days) just to replace a battery you've already checked out to be bad. Personally, I preferred killing a cell in the battery to make it a done deal and get a replacement right away.

Point of note: while at Sears, heads looked the other way when certain service advisors sold things that weren't needed and made big bucks on commissions from the sales. The honest service advisors and whench turners got screwed when they kept adjusting the "incentive" bonus amounts. It initally started out as a reward for working hard , but when upper management saw what everyone was earning, they restructured everything the following year. Long story short, the harder the you worked, the more you got screwed.

Reply to
: P

I would think the illegal smoking would come from someone who thinks like that.

According to your statement... You would prefer to buy a new battery, which could possibly be defective from the assembly line, and be stuck with the bill and a defective battery?

Most any large retailer is not going to put something used or damaged back on the shelf, as they simply can Return To Vendor or dispose of the item and get credit.

Reply to
M78Ultra

And the 3 companies are JCI, Exide, and Delphi. JCI stands for Johnson Controls Inc. and they make Interstate and Optima plus many others.

Exide sells batteries under its own name and the Wal-Mart batteries where I live say distributed by Exide technologies on them. They also have their own version of the Optima spiral cell battery called the Exide Select Orbital.

Delphi makes the AC Delco Freedom batteries along with the clones that have a flat top with the "Delco Eye" and a flat oval vent hose port at either end of the top.

I know this isn't a very long list but a simple google search can tell you the rest.

Reply to
Daniel Who Wants to Know

Don't forget the silver hazmat suit with the little window in the front of the hood, and a Geiger counter. (What the hell's a "Geiger," anyway?)

Oh, and that symbol of neurotic risk-aversion, a bicycle helmet. Get an extra-large one, so that it'll fit over the hood of the hazmat suit. Andf maybe a reflective vest in DayGlo orange or lime yellow. You can't be too careful, you know.

Jesus, are you talking about cleaning off a battery, or fueling a Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket fighter? You forgot to mention calling the local public-safety authorities and having the three- block radius around his house evacuated before he begins.

Look: just hose down the battery, and the tray after you've removed the battery, and sprinkle some baking soda onto it right from the box; no need to make a paste. Then when the fizzing stops, hose off the areas where you'd sprinkled the baking soda. Piece of cake. Forget the goggles; just use c*mm*n s*ns* and don;t stick your face over the engine bay when you're spraying water. The same 1-lb. box of Arm & Hammer ought to be good for 2-3 battery replacements.

"Borrow" a plastic milk crate from behind a supermarket or Sebm-Lebm, and put the battery (wrapped in the aforementioned garbage bag) into that, to prevent it's falling over when you go around a corner. I always preferred to carry them in the front passenger footwell instead if in the trunk, so I could keep an eye on them, and grab the battery if necessary.

Or wait until after nightfall, and drop the old battery down a storm drain. The city public-works workers will eventually take care of it for you.

Geoff "No Dumping - Flows To Bay" Miller

-- "If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick." -- Ann Coulter

Reply to
Geoff Miller

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.