TL;DR - Overall, had a very dissatisfying experience with them. They are apparently unorganized, cannot communicate well, and are, in general, difficult to work with. Please see the rest of this review for details.
I placed my order online at the Batteries + Bulbs website on May 17th, 2016. My laptop's battery had died and I was looking to replace it, but apparently HP doesn't manufacture this model anymore. I selected the option to have the battery shipped to the location near my parents' house for pickup.
Strike #1:
The next morning, I received a phone call from someone telling me that my particular battery model was on back-order or something of the sort, and that they would contact me when the battery was ready. A couple hours later, I received an email telling me my battery was ready for pickup. Uh. What? I was confused, so I decided to give it some time. One week passed, and no phone call, so I dropped by the store. Clerk there took a few minutes to look up the status, and the battery was still on back-order... So I guess someone mistakenly confirmed receipt of my battery?
Strike #2:
Okay. I guess I'd have to wait an undefined amount of time before my battery is ready. Guess that's what happens when you're using a laptop model that's 6 years old. Fast forward over one month. It was June 29th, and I still hadn't heard anything - not even a status update. So I gave them another call. Clerk says, "Oh, are you Michael?? We've been trying to get in touch with you! Bunch of emails, phone calls, no response from you!"
Well, I don't think they're lying, or at least will give them the benefit of the doubt, but I had received no such emails or phone calls. So I was a little irritated at that point, but whatever. I just wanted my battery.
I went into the store that weekend, and the clerk there spent about 30 minutes looking for my battery. Couldn't find it. Complained that some other clerk misplaced it. Are you serious?
Strike #3:
I told them, "Look, I can't keep doing this. It's an inconvenience to drop by to pick up a battery you tell me is there just to find out it isn't." So the clerk tells me, "Yeah I'll leave a note for the other clerks. We should be able to find it this weekend, and will give you a call. If not, I normally can't/don't do this, but we can have it shipped to you directly for your convenience."
Weekend passes... no phone call. Not even a voicemail.
Conclusion:
So on July 6th, I gave them another call. Different clerk from the previous two I had spoken with said that the battery was definitely in, and that she was looking at it. I came back to my parents' house this weekend and picked up the battery today, Saturday, July 9th. At this point, all 3 of the clerks standing in there knew who I was and what had happened, but I walked out and none of them had said a word. Ordered May 17th, picked up July 9th. 10 days shy of 2 months.
I don't think I'm an overly demanding or ridiculous customer... am I? But this is ridiculous. And the fact that none of them said anything as I walked out is the final cherry on top - I absolutely despise people who don't own up to when they completely messed something up. If you screw up, apologize, and acknowledge that you can do things better.
I won't be shopping here again.
THINGS I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER:
* I had no idea this particular battery model was so rare. If I had known it would take so long, I would have asked it to ship to a B + B location closer to my own home rather than my parents'. It added plenty to my frustration, but admittedly, that's not their fault.
THINGS I WISH THEY WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER:
* I wish they would have been more organized. From the mistaken "ready for pickup" email, to MIA emails and phone calls, to miscommunication and misplacement of a single product, I really wish that they would keep better records of what has happened and when. If any one of the clerks would have known exactly where my battery was at any given moment, that would have made this so much easier.
* I wish they would have communicated better. I'm still confused about how they could have "called or emailed several times" and none of those emails or phone calls managed to reach me. I can believe email being screwy sometimes, but it's not likely that both email and phone servers would happen to magically screw up in the same time period, and with the same customer (me). And it seems like they don't communicate well, even with each other. One guy says the battery is in over phone, and then the other guy can't find it, and then they call each other and talk while I'm standing around and waiting... man.
* I wish they would have been more professional. I don't know what kinds of drama or strife they have between their clerks/employees, but pointing the finger at someone else is seriously unprofessional, even if it's truly their fault. If you guys are a team, you succeed as a team, and you fail as a team. And god did you guys fail this one. read more