Costco (Canberra) Sold Me a Dead Battery - Sharing Return Experience

tik tok on 29/04/2024 - 19:09

Hoping it helps someone, sharing my experience of purchasing a car battery at Costco in Canberra. I bought an Exide car battery CMF55D23L from them. Because it was the cheapest in the market at ~$107 after discount. Hooked it up on the good'ol Camry. The car wouldn't start. Went to SuperCheap, tested the battery and the dude said cells were dead and the battery was useless. Got a Century battery from them. When I went to Costco to return the battery, I was surprised with what I had to face.

When I told them the battery was dead, the dude pulled out some sort of a multimeter and said it shows 12 Volts so nothing wrong with the battery. When I said the battery perhaps didn't have the CCA to start the car he was clueless what CCA meant. It means cold cranking amps, btw - "I can't measure something I dont know". I was told "battery cover says 12 V, the meter shows 12 V - not my problem". I can't quite remember if the battery label mentioned the CCA but I was already anxious.

Showed him the supercheap fellas battery test slip/report. He said, can you prove the test was for this battery? Then he actually asked why did SuperCheap not charge the battery when their meter showed the battery was faulty! While this should have been an indicator of what I was dealing with, still, I showed him a video clip of me hooking up the multimeter to the battery and the voltage dropping to less than 5 when cranked, still wouldn't believe me. I was making videos to find out if the alternator had gone tits up. Somehow, an older dude came by, looked at things and said "ah well, we'll refund"

All this anxiety and putting myself at risk (the (power) steering would stutter after I turned the blinkers on, the radio wouldn't let the blinkers turn on, etc) was just not worth it. Horrified at the return process with Costco. Been shopping there for years but never returned anything. Going by what I read, was under the impression it'd be a cake walk.

Also, almost no one installs the car battery for free. Not even Battery World. When I pointed them to what was on their website they said "Oh we are in the process of updating it". $30 to install isn't the end of the world, but doesn't hurt to know in advance. Repco doesn't install at all. SuperCheap at least extends the warranty by 3 months if they install it.

Costco car battery
SuperCheap's test
Voltage dropping

Automotive Car Battery Rechargeable Battery

Related Stores

Costco Wholesale
Costco Wholesale

Comments

  • brendanm on 29/04/2024 - 19:12
    +7

    All this anxiety and putting myself at risk (the (power) steering would stutter after I turned the blinkers on, the radio wouldn't let the blinkers turn on, etc) was just not worth it. Horrified at the return process with Costco.

    Thoughts and prayers 🙏

  • askbargain on 29/04/2024 - 19:14

    why bother arguing with him?

  • boomramada on 29/04/2024 - 19:15
    +6

    Sold Me a Dead Battery

    Why didn't you checked with Costco first instead of supercheapauto ?

    Also, almost no one installs the car battery for free.

    They doing a service, you have to pay them or you could do it by yourself.

  • MS Paint on 29/04/2024 - 19:18
    -3

    How was it showing 7/8 volts at SCA but 12 volts at Costco?

    • bhubb18 on 29/04/2024 - 20:03
      +11

      Supercheap tester puts it under some load

    • WT on 30/04/2024 - 08:03
      +3

      car batteries need to be load tested, putting a multi meter on just shows its no load voltage

  • spackbace on 29/04/2024 - 19:20
    +1

    Also, almost no one installs the car battery for free.

    For most cars, it's not very complex…

    • Presence on 29/04/2024 - 20:28
      +1

      It can lock the radio in a lot of cars. It's just not worth the hassle of problems.

      • MS Paint on 29/04/2024 - 20:40
        +3

        Then you simply re-enter the PIN.

        • Presence on 29/04/2024 - 21:01
          +2

          Yeah but its not worth the hassle of dealing with Karen customers who don't have the PIN (or the right PIN) handy.

          It happenned to me a decade ago in a Nissan, i had to go to the dealership, get the PIN, leave the keys in the ignition for 10min, etc, etc. Sure its not a big deal but the sort of people who cant change a battery are the exact same sort of people that couldnt work out how to enter a PIN lol.

        • Sinnerator on 30/04/2024 - 08:34
          +1

          99% of people have zero clue what their car radio pin is
          and whats the process going to a dealer to ask them $$$

      • spackbace on 29/04/2024 - 20:41

        A "pro" (at Supercheap etc) isn't going to change that from happening, unless they keep power to the car constant, which is highly unlikely

      • skillet on 01/05/2024 - 00:12

        Also some toyota windows. Then battery recoding for most Euros.

  • altomic on 29/04/2024 - 19:45
    +5

    I am never going to shop at costco Canberra

  • freefall101 on 29/04/2024 - 19:56
    +11

    Costco always replace/refund a dead product like that (and are required to under law), it sounds like you just got to deal with someone who had a rod up their behind rather than any issue with the policy.

    Somehow, an older dude came by, looked at things and said "ah well, we'll refund"

    Old mate knows what's what. If you're still really pissed, write a complaint to costco/facebook/7 news and it'll get sorted out. Or just accept you got your refund and move on.

  • TEER3X on 29/04/2024 - 20:06
    +7

    Fairly sure this bozo would get fired if he did indeed act that way and someone with half a clue that works.l there witnessed it.

    You need to file a complaint against this nitwit.

  • AustriaBargain on 29/04/2024 - 20:08
    +2

    You should have asked to speak to someone else. Sounds like this guy's ego was on the line.

  • JimmyF on 29/04/2024 - 20:28
    +1

    Its Costco, returns are normally painless. Take it back to the counter, say you want to return it as it doesn't work/fit. Done.

  • elgrande on 29/04/2024 - 21:45

    Tip: "change of mind"

    Your welcome

    • MS Paint on 29/04/2024 - 21:48
      +5

      Tip: "Your welcome"

      You're welcome

      • elgrande on 30/04/2024 - 17:41
        +1

        Thanks teacher Muzeeb.

  • Ozbfan on 29/04/2024 - 21:46
    +3

    A multimeter is the wrong tool to test this test. It tests, No low voltage where you need to test loaded voltage. Which is what SCA used.

    • Tricon on 30/04/2024 - 06:04
      +2

      Agreed. The "voltage dropping" test appears to show an initial 12.0v. If that measurement is true (with minimal load) the battery is flat as a 12 volt car battery should measure around 12.8v when healthy and charged.

  • Mumbles on 30/04/2024 - 02:16
    +4

    I too had a similar bad experience when swapping an Exide battery at Canberra Costco 4 years ago.

    At the time I thought it would be a simple change of mind as many OzBargainers had been hyping up how good Costco's return policy was.

    It was such a terrible experience dealing with the salesman that I stopped viewing Costo's change of mind policy as a way to justify their $65 membership fee. I didn't renew my membership 1 years ago around when Costco increased the renewal fees.

    I used to do a lot of impulse buying at Canberra Costco and spent heaps on technology as I thought I had the safety net of an easy 100% change of mind policy. After the bad salesman experience I stopped impulse buying at Costco. I treat Costco equal to any big competitor. Which meant I rarely bought any technology items from Costco purely because their pricing isn't competitive enough.

    As a single person household I haven't missed my $65 Costco membership. There are tastier food options nearby at Ms Ba Co. I hardly use petrol since Covid changed my commuting habits. I can still window shop at Costco with family and friends who are Costco members.

    If I see something decently priced at Costco like a washing machine the sales people at JB Hifi will offer to price match Costco and their delivery costs.

    • antheak on 30/04/2024 - 09:25
      +2

      That's been my experience at Costco too. Used to buy technology from them, due to the stated returns policy. Even though their prices aren't great, you can usually do better by shopping around, it was a nice reassuring thing to have.

      Until I impulse bought one of those Philips pasta makers, tried it out and found it made thick, claggy pasta, and tried to return it. Nope. According to the returns female, you now had a month to return "change of mind" things, and this was just over 30 days, so no-go.

      It's cluttered up a drawer ever since, and I only buy things from Costco that are really worth it. Which is mostly meat and the odd sauce or slippers. I rarely go there, even less since I discovered you can get petrol in Queanbeyan for 2c more and no queuing. The membership renewal is coming up and it's going to be even more of a difficult decision this time. FOMO might not cut it any more.

  • neo on 30/04/2024 - 09:42
    +1

    How's the bozo at Costco with his $12 multimeter vs. a 1k battery tester designed specifically to test more than just idle voltage hahahaha

    • bamzero on 30/04/2024 - 12:07

      In the state it was in, a 50W halogen bulb would have been enough load to show a drop below 12V on the multimeter.

      • neo on 30/04/2024 - 12:41

        That's kind of the point and many others are making. He only chucked on a multi-meter, saw 12V and said yep that's fine when it clearly wasn't under load.

    • skillet on 01/05/2024 - 00:15
      +1

      Old school carbon pile load testers very cheap under $300, highamp tests ever truck batteries.

      Modern digital load testers are even cheaper.

  • AnyFurtherDiscount on 30/04/2024 - 09:45

    Surprising. I mostly have no problems with Costco return / Price protection at all. I am in Vic, Moorabbin Costco

  • orangehead911 on 30/04/2024 - 17:04
    +1

    Surprised you had to argue at all. The return policy is pretty clear, with some limitations, which don’t include car batteries, you can return an item any time for any reason and receive a refund. Put in a complaint about the employee so he can receive training. https://www.costco.com.au/member-care/refunds-and-return/wha…

  • Toph Beifong on 30/04/2024 - 20:15

    I've purchased supercharge batteries before that didn't have the CCA to start the car despite a 12V multi-meter reading. This tool only tells you half the story. I bring it back to Autobarn/Autoone, they normally perform a load test to see if the battery has dropped a cell, which is usually the cause of the issue. Got a replacement battery every time, no problems. It is a regular occurrence, sometimes the battery may be left on the shelf for too long and not topped up.

  • mini2 on 01/05/2024 - 10:12
    +1

    What colour is that little dot on top of the battery? I find those things fairly accurate…green = good, anything else = charge it.

    Might've been easier to say you've bought the wrong battery then come back and buy another one when that dude isn't around.

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