Poor Quality Batteries from COSTCO

[y_p_w]

I found something about the replacement policy. Costco will apparently do it as a free replacement and not just a refund of the original purchase price, but the cashier has to override the price if it went up. There’s a class action lawsuit over this, where the lead plaintiff wasn’t told this at the time he just got a refund and was charged the difference.

Costco’s ‘free replacement’ car batteries aren’t really free, lawsuit claims

Issaquah-based Costco is facing a challenge by consumers who purchased the wholesale club's Interstate Batteries and ran afoul of a replacement policy.

www.seattletimes.com

The suit claims that Costco’s failure to honor the Free Replacement Warranty and/or disclose to customers that they must pay an additional cost for a new battery violates state laws barring unfair and deceptive trade practices.​

​

In a Feb. 9 court filing asserting that the case has met the standards for class certification, attorneys said that Costco had a policy in its Refund Manual requiring that any additional cost for a free replacement battery be overrode at the cash register.​

​

But that didn’t happen for Skrandel, his original complaint states.​

​

Skrandel purchased an Interstate Battery with a 36-month replacement warranty for $72.99 at a Costco in Palm Beach Gardens on Dec. 19, 2017, the suit says.​

​

Skrandel returned to the store with his old, failed battery 19 days before his warranty expired, the suit states.​

​

Instead of a free battery, Skrandel was given a refund of his original price and then told the new battery would cost $78.99 — nearly six dollars more, the suit says.​

I remember the time I returned a failed battery with the Kirkland Signature brand under their full refund warranty. They no longer had the battery type (group 51) so I just took what they got and ended up getting a Die Hard at Sears really cheap. It was really weird too as I bought it online for pickup where they had north and south versions at different price points. I think the north version was $55 and the south version maybe $100, and I saw estimated inventory at my closest store. But when I got there for pickup, the employee said just grab one off the rack and that they only had one version that wasn’t identified as north or south. That battery was near indestructible, suffering several jump starts and that lasted about 8 years anyways. The Deka that replaced it has been doing great even after about 5 months parked in the driveway with sporadic attempts to charge it with a external charger.

 

[sky jumper]

for several years I was convinced Costco batteries were bad and were failing after a few months. after about 4 warranty replacements I finally decided to check parasitic draw on the 1998 Jeep GC, and sure enough it was draining the batteries dead while it sat idle. so I tracked it down and pulled the "courtesy lamp" fuse, and recharged the battery --- and that same battery from 2018 is still in there and going strong. still measures some 860cca.

 

[Carmudgeon]

I found something about the replacement policy. Costco will apparently do it as a free replacement and not just a refund of the original purchase price, but the cashier has to override the price if it went up. There’s a class action lawsuit over this, where the lead plaintiff wasn’t told this at the time he just got a refund and was charged the difference.

Costco’s ‘free replacement’ car batteries aren’t really free, lawsuit claims

Issaquah-based Costco is facing a challenge by consumers who purchased the wholesale club's Interstate Batteries and ran afoul of a replacement policy.

www.seattletimes.com

The suit claims that Costco’s failure to honor the Free Replacement Warranty and/or disclose to customers that they must pay an additional cost for a new battery violates state laws barring unfair and deceptive trade practices.​

​

In a Feb. 9 court filing asserting that the case has met the standards for class certification, attorneys said that Costco had a policy in its Refund Manual requiring that any additional cost for a free replacement battery be overrode at the cash register.​

​

But that didn’t happen for Skrandel, his original complaint states.​

​

Skrandel purchased an Interstate Battery with a 36-month replacement warranty for $72.99 at a Costco in Palm Beach Gardens on Dec. 19, 2017, the suit says.​

​

Skrandel returned to the store with his old, failed battery 19 days before his warranty expired, the suit states.​

​

Instead of a free battery, Skrandel was given a refund of his original price and then told the new battery would cost $78.99 — nearly six dollars more, the suit says.​

I remember the time I returned a failed battery with the Kirkland Signature brand under their full refund warranty. They no longer had the battery type (group 51) so I just took what they got and ended up getting a Die Hard at Sears really cheap. It was really weird too as I bought it online for pickup where they had north and south versions at different price points. I think the north version was $55 and the south version maybe $100, and I saw estimated inventory at my closest store. But when I got there for pickup, the employee said just grab one off the rack and that they only had one version that wasn’t identified as north or south. That battery was near indestructible, suffering several jump starts and that lasted about 8 years anyways. The Deka that replaced it has been doing great even after about 5 months parked in the driveway with sporadic attempts to charge it with a external charger.

Costco left the barn door open on that one, by not using precise, or consistent language. The animals may indeed escape.

Unlike Walmart, Costco does post their terms online. The fine print is uncommonly brief, but also a bit ambiguous.

If there is a defect in material or workmanship (not merely the battery being discharged), this limited warranty provides that upon return of the battery to any Costco Wholesale warehouse, excluding Puerto Rico, the battery will be replaced or the purchase price refunded, excluding fees and taxes.

It should also be noted that Costco has not used the term "Free Replacement" but "Limited" in reference to the warranty since the term was reduced from 42- to 36-months. The sub-site refers to it as a limited warranty, not free, as do the product labels. The old 42-month labels did specify free.

However, dig a little deeper into this site, which specifically pertains to the batteries (not the home site), and the language is different:

If there is a defect in material or workmanship (not merely the battery being discharged), this limited warranty provides that upon return of the battery to any Costco Wholesale warehouse, the battery will be replaced, at purchase price, excluding fees and taxes, and be refunded, according to the life of the battery warranty as stated on the battery label.

Maybe they assigned a first year associate to write those terms, but neither are as clear as they could, or should be, or address when they are in effect.


The only example of Walmart's terms I could find online is old, but their language is clear:

If your battery tests defective within the Free Replacement Period, we will exchange your battery for a comparable new one at no charge.

Who said what, when, and which explanation is more convincing to the judge will win; in short, let the lawyering begin.


The one time I warrantied a Costco battery, I left with a full refund in my pocket (including the recycling free), and had no problems with that. It was a different size than the H6s I usually buy, belonging to the more common, but more questionable Group 35s that probably give JCI/Clarios a bad repuation among some here. Never had an issue with their H6s.

I happily took that money (and the two years of service it provided) and bought something different, and hopefully better. Why would I want more of the same, at whatever cost, which is also what a pro-rata warranty does (while also only returning a fraction of the value)? The freedom to choose a different product, and not be locked in to another potentially mediiocre, if not bad one, are more attractive terms to me.