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Old 07-07-2017, 09:00 AM   #1
Kosovoeric
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Angry Autocraft Battery Check

Please read and make this go viral. I know there are many more victims out there. Thank you.

My name is Eric and I have a serious complaint about the service that I received at the Advance Auto Parts Store located in Homosassa Florida. I believe the store number is #92.
I entered the store on September 8, 2016 and was interested in purchasing 6 new batteries for my golf cart. I was able to locate Autocraft GC8 batteries and noticed that they were priced in the $130.00 range (give or take a few dollars). The sales associate (can’t remember his name but I am sure you have a record of it) asked if I was interested in the batteries and I stated that I needed six new batteries for my golf cart and if there was a reduced price or a package price if I purchased six of them. The sales associate went to the register, looked something up and advised me that he could give me six of them for around $80.00 or $85.00 a piece plus tax and that I had to bring the old ones I had back to the store. I can’t remember the exact price but it is located on the receipt which you have in the store computer. I advised him that I would take them and the sales associate started to ring up the purchase. He was having some difficulty and called a manger (I believe it was Rick) over and stated that he needed his “secret code” to ring up the batteries. Rick asked him what he was lowering the price to and the associate stated $80.00 some odd dollars. Rick told the associate that they could not go lower than $110.00 on those batteries but told the associate to give them to him anyways since he had already told me that price. I completed the purchase and charged it to one of my credit card. (The credit card receipt statement is attached). The total purchase price was $557.44.
On July 2, 2017, my wife had an accident with our golf cart which resulted in severe front-end damage. I contacted a golf repair company (who has been in the golf cart business for 20+ years) and he arrived at my residence on July 3, 2017 to look at the damage and to give me an estimate. The damage was severe and I asked him about the possibility of parting out the golf cart if it was too expensive to fix. I mentioned that I had six batteries that were less than a year old and the rest of the cart was in great condition. The repair person (whose name is available upon request) looked at the batteries and stated it looks like time goes by faster than money. I asked him what he meant and he stated that the batteries in the golf cart were three years and three months old. (3 years, 3 months old). He explained to me that all batteries are produced with production dates on them and that my batteries were showing a five-digit code of D42GT. He explained to me that the D represents the fourth month of the year (April) and that the 4 represents the last digit in the year produced (2014). The batteries I purchased on September 8, 2016 were 2 YEARS AND 5 MONTHS OLD WHEN I BOUGHT THEM! They are 3 YEARS AND 3 MONTHS OLD AS OF TODAY!
I conducted some research and due diligence and discovered that most (if not all) batteries are code dated to show the date of production and it corroborated what the repair person was telling me.

On most golf car batteries somewhere near the battery terminal post, usually engraved in dot matrix print or stamped in letters, you will see a letter followed by a number.
Reading from the left to the right the first digit is a letter and the second is a number. The letter is the month of manufacturing and the number is the last digit of the year of manufacturing. Hence, in this example the date code on the battery is September of 2013. We know this because the letter is the ninth letter of the alphabet and equates to the ninth month of the year which is September. We know its 2013 because of the newness look of the battery. If the battery looked aged and the sides swelled out we could calculate that it is a 1993. However, we used a new battery just delivered to us at the time of writing this article: 03-2014.
Please note that some batteries have a code date on a sticker usually found on the side toward the top. In addition there may be several coats of battery terminal sprays that will need to be removed to see the imprinted code on the flat part of the lead post. Be careful not to create a spark when attempting anything around a lead acid battery. Sparks can and will lead to the battery exploding. Unfortunately, this author has both seen and experienced it too many times. Again, be careful what you do around the golf cart or any other battery for that matter.
Once you know the age of the batteries you can calculate several things concerning your golf cart. For example if you are contemplating purchasing a golf cart and want to know the age of the batteries you won't have to rely on the seller's ethics! You'll be able to apply the great president, Ronald Regan's philosophy:" trust but verify" to the situation.
Another thing that will help you when you know how old your golf car's batteries is to be able to diagnose malfunctioning charging issues. Let's say you can only drive your golf car for about twenty minutes after charging the batteries. If you have brand name batteries that are less than two years old, then we would probably rule out the batteries being the problem and look elsewhere starting with the battery charger or the golf car's charging computer. However, if the golf car's batteries are three years of age or older, then we would want to first check the batteries for being the drivability issue.
So we can see the major benefits of every golf car owner knowing how to tell the age of their golf cart's batteries! I hope you found this article helpful in your understanding of your golf car, for helping you better take care of your golf car is the reason I write. Check out my blog for more great information about golf carts.

I went back to the store on July 3, 2017 and spoke with Rick the manager. I pointed out all this information to him and he advised me that D42GT has nothing to do with the age of the battery and that he had no idea what it stood for. He told me, “We put white stickers on the side of all our batteries that show the age of the battery. I can’t keep golf cart batteries on my shelves longer than two months before I sell them.” He took a battery from the back and showed me a golf cart battery with a white sticker on the side. He said that there was nothing he could do for me.
I went home and contacted Advance Auto Parts, via telephone, at 1 877 238 2623. I spoke with Jay for over an hour and received a reference number of 8398393. After explaining my problem to Jay, she spoke with many supervisors and placed me on hold several times. Jay stated that I would have to contact the manufacturer of the batteries (JCI) to determine the date of production because no one in the office knows what those numbers mean. She then advised me that she would be able to refund me 50% of the cost of the single battery if I was willing to take that. WHAT? You don’t know anything about production dates but you offer me a 50% refund on one battery when ALL SIX are stamped D42GT?
I then called Amber at JCI batteries. This is the company that makes you batteries. The number given to me was 1 888 583 6886. I spoke with Amber and advised her of my situation. Amber advised me that almost all batteries produced come with a production date code on them. I asked her about production dates on Autocraft batteries and she stated, “Those batteries are produced by us for Advance Auto Parts and they DO NOT SHARE ANY OF THEIR CODING WITH US BECAUSE IT IS PROPRIETARY.” WHAT?
I called Jay back and informed her of the information I had received from JCI. She referred me to this person at this email address and I was advised that the District Manager would have to get involved.
I have attached pictures of the batteries and there ARE NO WHITE STICKERS on the sides like Rick said there were. I would have never purchased 6 batteries that were 2 years and 5 months old.
It appears that I have been frauded and want a full refund of $557.44. I do not wish to have new batteries nor do I wish to have store credit. YOU SOLD ME OLD BATTERIES AS NEW AND I CAN PROVE IT IN COURT IF NEED BE.
I spoke with Scott, a supervisor, on the phone at 12:00 pm on July 5, 2017. Scott advised me that the district manager is busy in the morning and he didn’t want to disturb him until he settled in for the afternoon. What kind of customer service is that? I am on the phone as a customer!
I randomly called four Advance Auto Stores in Tampa and Jacksonville and four employees confirmed the information about the coding on Autocraft golf cart batteries. Store #9572, spoke with Matt who confirmed the coding. Store #7532, spoke with Diego who confirmed the coding. Store #9287, spoke with Brittany who stated, “That is factual” about the coding. Store #9292, spoke with Sharon who stated, “That is correct” when asked about deciphering the code on the top of the batteries.
I reached out to Charles, Scott’s supervisor, in the afternoon of the 5th since I was not happy with Scotts handling of the situation. Charles advised me that he sent the information to Johnson Controls and was awaiting word from them on the coding process. He said that he would contact me again on July 6 when he hears back from them.
Charles called me back on a recorded line from number 540 561 4051. He admitted that I was correct and that the batteries were 2 years and 5 months old when I purchased them. He told they would give me back 50% of the total cost. WHAT? You admit wrong and only give back 50%. Off to the legal office we go. I received the call on July 6, 2017 at 1612 hours.


Respectfully,
Eric
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Old 07-07-2017, 09:06 AM   #2
Kashmir
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

W T F ???


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Old 07-07-2017, 09:20 AM   #3
NCPW
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check



Welcome to BGW Eric!!!!


This ain't FB and I almost nodded off reading this long post; so this probably won't go viral. Good luck with your endeavors Sir.
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Old 07-07-2017, 09:25 AM   #4
dawgfan316
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

man that's a lotta trouble. i'd take the 50% and go get some new batts.
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:00 AM   #5
Gregorio
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

Take the 50% and move on. That is a fair remedy. After all, you should expect 5 years average and they were 2.5 years old when you got them.
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:17 AM   #6
1sharphook
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

I'm glad I learned to look at date codes on batteries before I purchase them when I was in fifth grade.
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:30 AM   #7
NoleFan4Ever
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

Wrong post wrong area wrong forum. Not being hard on you but really???

Can appreciate your enthusiasm but this is not the best way to handle a situation in a public forum. Work it out, get the best resolution, then learn from your experience and share your "learning" experience - like "I only paid $80 for $110 batteries, but I did not know to check the date code and learned how now. The supplier returned $x amount of the batteries I used for almost a year. Please learn from my experience to check the date code before the purchase!"

Hope your wife is fine and this works out for you.
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:32 AM   #8
NoleFan4Ever
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1sharphook View Post
I'm glad I learned to look at date codes on batteries before I purchase them when I was in fifth grade.
I hope you and everyone else learned the same thing about tires. You would be shocked to find brand new tires that are 12-15 months old when mounted on your vehicle.
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:33 AM   #9
DilZnak
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

****** Luck!

Last edited by lockman1; 07-07-2017 at 11:45 AM.. Reason: language
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Old 07-07-2017, 10:49 AM   #10
crash test dummy
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Default Re: Autocraft Battery Check

just a little info for some who may not know ... the lead stamp in neg post or the burned in lettering on the plastic is the date filled ,not the date made
D42GT. may be the production code
the "white" label is sometimes printed with the date filled
i have run into this problem with powertrons (trojan black)
they do have the fill date stamped on the neg post
also they have a sticker that is a punch out date code for when the dealer sells them

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