I purchased a battery from the coperate website of Batteries Plus Bulbs in 2023, with a warranty that lasts until 2027. Well, the battery stopped holding a charge two years later - now in 2025.
I gave the battery to the Rockville location so they could do a 48hr trickle charge, after telling me they only needed it for 24hrs. After the 48hr hold, they said the battery is good as new. I took it back to my car, installed it, drove it to the Autozone next to Batteries Plus Bulbs, and they said it won't even hold 50% charge. I then took the battery, and my OBD II scanner that shows the alternator holding strong at 12v back to the Rockville location of Bateeies Plus Bulbs. They eventually agreed to warranty replace the battery.
If my ordeal was over here, it would have been a frustratingly decent experience, because I would have been safely back on the road.
The story is not over. They didn't have it in stock, so we checked the online inventory, and was told that the location in Bowie Maryland had it in stock. We figured the coperate online inventory system is probably not accurate, so we called the owners of the Bowie location and asked them to physically check to see if it's there. The woman confirmed that it's there, and tried to convince the Rockville location to tell me to go back to Virginia where I "originally bought the battery", and have them replace it. We told her that I originally bought it online from coperate and had it shipped to the Virginia location, and that I will be at their Bowie location to pick up the battery the next day, as I no longer live in Virginia.
The Rockville manager told me that because these are franchise locations, typically they don't want to honor warranties from different stores because it comes out of their inventory, and they have to wait for coperate to reimburse them for the inventory that is lost to the warranty replacement.
Fast forward to my 1.5hr long trip out to the Bowie location, in the rain, and my car won't even start. I had to get a neighbor to jump start it just to get out here. I arrive, and they tell me that they don't actually have it, and that they never physically checked to see if it was in the store. At this point, I don't know if they're lying just to protect their inventory, since it's nearly a $400 battery, or if they never actually did check, and the inventory system is just not trustworthy. Either way, it is very likely that this location is just lying, and that coperate Batteries Plus Bulbs has no control over their franchises, and allow their customers to be screwed over in the process.
I have to now jump start my car in the rain, and don't have enough gas to get back home - which means I now have to violate Maryland state law and leave my engine running while pumping gas, all because Batteries Plus Bulbs is an untrustworthy company.
Let's home I don't catch fire in the rain, because that's clearly what's happening to this brand. read more
