Over the last 12 years I have used this company for my car batteries as and when required until a battery they sold me had shown the same symptoms of the batteries they had replaced previously.
I called into the shop to explain and a member of staff came to my vehicle with the same battery tester they had previously used to diagnose batteries prior to sale.
For some reason on this occasion I was told they were unable to test a battery without it previously being charged outside of the vehicle for a minimum of twelve hours.
I asked how come I had never been told this when I had purchased batteries in the past and was told that the same equipment used on previous occasions would not give a correct reading without the battery being charge for the twelve hour period.
This seemed strange to me and confirmed before they were willing to test a battery they had sold me I had to fully recharge and bring back in a fully charged state, the answer was yes, that is the procedure.
When asked why this procedure was different to when I came to purchase a battery, when the same testing equipment was sufficient, they could not answer.
To confirm that this was the case I called a different branch of the same company, explained the situation and was told, yes bring it in and we will test it. I asked whether I would need to do anything before bringing it in, like charging, and was told no, as long as it has enough charge to start the car it can be tested, so a different story entirely at their sister branch.
Luckily I had the battery that had previously been replaced so charged both batteries prior to returning to the shop.
On this occasion the same member of staff tested both batteries which gave a reading of 9 volts. According to Griffin Batteries a fully charged 12v battery gives a reading of 9v, not 12v or 12.6v as the battery has 6 x 2.1v cells but 9v.
To me it seems a dishonest, perhaps fraudulent, that the procedure when they can make a sale is different to when you try to take a battery back. It also seems that people are being duped into spending money that they needn't have spent if all they needed to do was charge the battery.
For my clarification I asked again why the procedure when buying a battery (Test done, no problem) is different to when you take on back under warranty(Must be charged for a minimum of twelve hours before we can test) and again was told that is the procedure.
If you are looking to buy a battery my advice would be, shop around. I have used Griffin Batteries for many years before this experience but can guarantee I will never use them again.
But, should you want to be misled, overcharged and unable to take a battery back under warranty then maybe they are the people for you. read more
