I started this blog because I wanted the freedom to write about my experiences and reflection about various brands I come into contact with along the way. Some of these experiences will be positive and other will not. This post is about a negative experience I had today with Batteries Plus – a company I was a big advocate of prior to this experience.
My wife and I purchased a car battery from Batteries Plus that was still under warranty. The battery died over the weekend, so we took the car in today to get it replaced and have the warranty honored. From the start, the salesperson made this our problem – not that a dead battery isn’t problem enough! He told us that he would guarantee us that the battery was not dead; rather, in his words, we had just run down the battery and it needed to be charged. He suggested that we drive the car for two hours straight and then return it to be tested. When I told him that his suggestion was ridiculous, he then let us know that they could charge the battery there and then test it. After a fairly hostile exchange, where we pointed out that we are the customers and he should give us the benefit of the doubt, he charged the battery and found that it was indeed dead! Some vindication.
Later in the day we returned to Batteries Plus, the location on Highway 54 in Durham, North Carolina, to pick up our vehicle and handle any paperwork. The owner was minding the store and had no time for us. When we tried to talk to him about our experience at his store, he just walked away from us. He told us that he had other customers waiting to have batteries put in their cars and didn’t have time for us. The last thing I saw was the back of his head as he walked away.
The lesson: This was an opportunity to win a customer for life. A missed opportunity. He turned brand advocates (we had made several purchases at this store) into brand adversaries. And, as I told the CEO in my email, we are adversaries with a voice. How many people will hear this story and wonder if Batteries Plus stands behind its products? And I’m left to wonder if this is indicative of the service given at all of their locations. What kind of customer service training program does Batteries Plus have for its franchise owners? Perhaps the franchise is growing too fast and they can’t keep up with quality. I believe that this franchisee runs three stores in North Carolina. The other two stores are in Raleigh: Atlantic Avenue and S. Wilmington Street.
So rather than treat a valued customer well, this operator chose to make the customer his adversary; not a good way to run a business, particularly in this day of social media, citizen journalism and user-generated content. It will be interesting to see how the folks at Batteries Plus respond to my direct complaint about my experience. I’ll be sure to write about it in my blog!
Dandunlop, it’s unfortunate to hear that you had one bad visit at BatteriesPlus. Being an employee for a BatteriesPlus franchise I can assure you that not all BatteriesPlus stores give out the poor customer service that you received that day. Questioning all BatteriesPlus stores’ quality based on one experience is simply unfair. I would recommend giving BatteriesPlus another chance before you are so quick to bash their service.
Jessica
BatteriesPlus Houston, Texas
Don’t judge an entire franchise based on one bad experience with a few uncaring employees, asserting something like “And, as I told the CEO in my email, we are adversaries with a voice. How many people will hear this story and wonder if Batteries Plus stands behind its products? And I’m left to wonder if this is indicative of the service given at all of their locations.”.
Come on. Now you’re the one being ridiculous. Just because I couldn’t return something to a wal-mart once does not cause me to call the entire national brand into question. Use your “voice” for something more productive.
What amazed me was that Batteries Plus corporate could not even get the franchise owner to respond to me. The way they’ve structured their franchise agreements, the owners do not appear to be accountable for quality customer service. There was no recourse. I wrote a follow up post about the attempts Batteries Plus Corporate made to try to rectify the situation and gave them due credit. I’m sorry: When they sell you a product they need to stand behind it, particularly if that product is under warranty. If not, then deal with the consequences of your actions. It may seem harsh, but their behavior to my wife was harsh. And we were established customers. People who spent money with them. People who would have returned over and over again.
Thanks for your comment!