Bad Battery Buying Experience

[coolguy]

I thought I'd share my recent bad battery buying experience. I realize Botach is a horrible shop for your lighting needs. Well, I can't exactly recommend sunnbattery company. I recently ordered 16 1800mah nexcell batteries from them in a dutch auction over ebay. I was semi confident in bidding with them because they had 12,000... that's right 12,000 good comments. But they had like 200 negative ones. I thought that the 200 negative comments were such a small percentage, what are the chances that I will be burned.

Anyway after the auction was over I paid immediately with paypal to get my merchandise as quickly as possible. Well, that was on January 24, it's feb 8th today. I called them out of concern for my order. I thought that the mail was just taking long but, they said that they sent it on Jan 25 via priority mail. How can the batteries be two weeks in transit from a domestic company? I asked them about double checking my order and about a possible replacement but, the lady rudely refused and dropped the call! I really don't know how I will be able to prove that I haven't recieved my order. I'm not an experienced web buyer so I've never really had this kind of trouble before. I really don't know how to argue with a company in another state to get my batteries to me. Well, buyer beware. Here's the sight for those that are interested. sunnbattery

 

[Sean]

I would complain to ebay & see what coverages paypal has. I guess the bottom line is, if you don't get insurance, your SOL.

 

[papasan]

i've never done it, but i'm told you can retract paypal money up to six months after the transaction...e-mail them and ask...

 

[txwest]

I haven't had any problem with priority mail, bu 1st class & 3rd class has gotten terrible from the east to TX. NY to TX - 12 to 15 days. AR to TX - 2 weeks (that's less than a 8 hr drive). I just got a 1st class pkg from CA in 2 days. I haven't experienced any delayed deliveries from the West yet. I would say with the way things are at the post office now, expect 3 weeks for shipping. (they may not have shipped priority mail). TX

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Well,I just ordered 20 2016 batteries from Sunn and got my order confirmed ,as delivered, via e-mail.I will post to this thread if I have any similar problems.It does concern me that a customer sevice rep would hang up on you.That's no way to run a business.
troy

 

[coolguy]

Thank you all for your replies. It gives me peace of mind knowing of the delays in the postal system. I guess I'll wait and be a little more patient. In the mean time I will write to ebay and paypal to see what the policies are on this matter. In any case, Troy, I hope you get your 2016 batteries with no problems. I'm sure you will as 12k something people have posted good comments.

Thanks again everybody

 

[DArklite]

Sorry to hear of your poor encounter with Sunn.
I've also bid on three of their eBay dutch auctions: the first auction was for 12 of the Nexcell AA 1800 maH and the second auction was for MAHA C204F charger. A third auction was for 12 of the GP 1800 maH NiMH AA's; and a fourth auction was for 12 GP 700 maH AAA's.
I guess I was lucky; I received all my auction items on time and in new condition. However, when I called them to pay (for the first two auctions; I used the Paypal online for the 3rd and 4th auctions), they did have a little difficulty finding the paperwork for the first auction, but they did find it after being put on hold for a few minutes. Everything went smoothly after that.
Hope everything turns out well for you.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

My 20 batteries came today.Packaged nicely.The only problem is they were bulk packed and have no date.I guess i will have to get freshness info from Sunn.They shipped proptly though.
troy

 

[coolguy]

Hi everybody I have an update regarding my experience. I decided to try calling again as email correspondence does take a little while. Today I spoke to one of their reps. She was quite adamant that my batteries have gone out on the 25th of January, however she admitted that the invoice was hard to find and that another set of batteries would be sent out today. The condition being that I send the others back should I recieve them. She was a little harsh toned taking an authoritative tone as I would expect because I do sound young. In spite of that, her gesture to send out another batch of batteries have redeemed the companies reputation in my eyes. I still feel that the other rep should not have dropped the call, and reflects poorly on the type of business they are running.

thanks all!

 

[machspass]

I don't know how much you paid for the batteries, but the cheapest place I've found for CR2016's, CR2025's and CR2032's is Digikey Electronics. You can buy them for about 40-45 cents a piece in quantities of ten or more. I think there is a minimum order requirement of $20 or $25, but they also have a variety of other useful electronic parts, such as DC-DC converters, regulators and high brightness LEDs.

You can check them out at http://www.digikey.com

Regards,
Jason

 

[SurefireM6]

I've never had any problem with USPS, in fact I shipped to txwest and it got there in 2 days flat if I remember correctly (SoCal to Tx). Priority with insurance is the way to go if you can wait a few days.

Paypal insures payments, and Ebay will intervene and act as a moderator. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Lux Luthor]

I once failed to receive a delivery via USPS for some kerosene lanterns (from Vermont Lanterns). After numerous ignored emails, I finally sent an email threatening to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. They then promptly responded and credited my account. They said they shipped it a long time ago, and that there is a small failure rate through the USPS. It's possible that's true. At least they covered that risk for me in this case, assuming they really did ship the order.

 

[sunspot]

coolguy167. Also don't forget that you can post a negative rating on ebay against Sunn. If a seller gets too many in a specfic time period they will be suspended from ebay. They also have the right to respond to a negative from you so be careful in what you email them. Be polite to them even if you want to reach through the phone line and rip their heart out.

 

[Quickbeam]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I finally sent an email threatening to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This works exceptionally well, but I wouldn't use it except as a last resort. The Better Business Bureau in your state will log the complaint and the retailer must respond to the complaint. It is also added to their permanent file.

I would try any and all means to rectify the situation directly with the retailer. Try taking to managment. Wait at least 4 weeks to see if your package was lost in the mail system. Be patient - it happens. Later, If it's a credit card order, you can dispute the charge via the credit card company. As mentioned, check PayPal for their policies if that's how you paid. Failing that, use the BBB tactics above. They almost guarantee a response.

Always be polite, professional and direct in your communication. Cussing someone out gets you the label "crackpot" and you'll probably be ignored. e.g. "I was VERY upset when the representative I was speaking to hung up on me" vs. "The f----ng b--ch cut me off!" You get the idea...

 

[lightlover]

One *communication* technique that really helps when phoning is to make sure you first get the name of the person you're speaking to.
Before you say anything else, ask who you're talking to.
If the person won't give a name or an individual reference to ID them, ask for their supervisor.

lightlover

 

[coolguy]

More thanks to those who offered advice! I have been polite and I usually am because as mentioned, not being polite can hurt you when you need to take action. Jan 25th was when my package was originally "sent". Perhaps USPS misplaced it. Perhaps not. In any case as I mentioned this past monday... the 11th I called the company for the second time out of concern for my batteries. At least they conceded and in their words they "re-sent" the batteries. If it was sent at all is a mystery. But, at least the service rep took the action. I am thankful for that. I am not thankful for the poor service aside of her act.(did I mention their slow replies to emails. I didn't did I?)

It is Friday night or early Saturday for those east of my state, and I still have not received the batteries. That is understandable however because Florida's on the other side of the nation in my case. I am hoping that the batteries arrive tomorrow or on Tuesday. If it does not arrive soon, I may start to worry again.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Well I guess I should add this:I emailed the company after I recieved my batch of batteries last week.I had a concern that there was no date on the batteries they sent me,and I wanted to know if they could give me an idea of an expiration year..A week has gone by and they have not gotten back to me on the matter.It isn't an indictment of the company by any means,just a concern.I bought a good tester,and all of the cells tested out good under load.Coolguy-you said earlier that you thought you recieved less respect from the first person you talked to on the phone because you sounded young.I don't think that that is right.Customer service is customer service regardless of how old or young the customer is(sounds).I hope you get your batteries.I think I will find other places to spend my money.
troy

 

[brightnorm]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Troy Webber:
...I bought a good tester,and all of the cells tested out good under load...troy<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Troy,

Please forgive this off-topic question.
What exactly does it mean when you test batteries " under load"? I have a cheap tester from Radio Shack that gives me battery voltages, and I thouight that this was all one needed.

If the explanation is technical, please put it in layman's terms.

Thanks!

Best regards,
Brightnorm

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

The battery tester I have is a RS digital tester.The instructions said that "Tester is accurate for checking batteries under designated load conditions"and indicated that the load for testing was 1mA.As far as what this means from a technical standpoint?I don't have a clue.I have seen threads where people have said they put a battery on a battery checker(red or green light)and someone invariably comes along and says that there is a difference between a battery "checker" and a battery "tester".Then the testing under load conditions subject comes up.I just wanted to be clear that I had actually used a "tester" and the batteries showed themselves to be good.I still wish the company would give me the freshness info.
troy

 

[vcal]

Hello Norm,
Just a quick note here:
When you turn on one of your many flashlights

, you're putting the batteries in the light under load right? -The tester does the same thing (artificially), to indicate the real condition of your batteries while they are delivering power.
So, as we know, the voltage with no load is different than the voltage under load.