Big tiny battery woes

December 4, 2006

I recently bought a Bell Spinfit bike speedometer for $16 at Kmart, a store near my house that I usually loathe for being out of the most common items. The AG12 1.5 volt battery out of the box had about a day's worth of power left so I tried a few stores for a replacement. Best Buy, famous for untrained and unknowledgeable sales people, didn't have it and urged me to go to CVS, which had some batteries that looked close, but did not exactly match the AG12 designation. I later discovered AG12 is a Chinese battery number. A guy at CircuitCity at least had good advice - try RadioShack. In my experience, the sales people at CircuitCity are superior to Best Buy's. I don't go to Besy Buy much anymore.

Being the persistent SOB that I am, I decided to go back to Kmart and get some satisfaction. After all, it sold me the defective battery. The speedometer was installed and working so I was reluctant to put more time in to return it. It's a nifty item and Kmart has for $1 less than Amazon. The Kmart store manager (Kim?) gave me $4 to buy a new battery, a fair settlement. So I strutted down to Radio Shack 400 feet away and the sales person instantly knew that an AG12 was an Energizer 386, the one I refrained from taking a chance on at CVS. I paid $5 for it. So a couple of gallons of gas and an hours later and a buck poorer, I was up and running. I usually use Radio Shack for niggling purchases like this, but maybe should try some big ticket items there, too.

Posted by John Dodge on December 4, 2006 | Comments (3)

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December 5, 2006

In response to: Big tiny battery woes
Piense El Tanque commented:

I get what you are saying regarding response. I also understand that a training program would be helpful...I can't figure out why they don't get that part. Oh and they guy that says "hello" on the way in always seems creepy. I would love to say I will NEVER go to Best Buy again, but alas the closest Circuit City is 250 miles away!

December 5, 2006

In response to: Big tiny battery woes
John Dodge commented:

I dunno....a human can respond in analog and digital (does that make sense?). BestBuy's training programs for floor people are non-existent. I could give a rat's tail that there's a guy who says hello to me when I go into the store. Of course, that's the same person checking bags when customer are on the way out.

December 4, 2006

In response to: Big tiny battery woes
Piense El Tanque commented:

brrrrrrrr...it was 25 below zero this morning with the wind chill so I am having a hard time getting my brain unfrozen. I have given up on consumer electronics retailers. I wish they would replace the sales staff with strategically placed interactive kiosks that could help me figure out what I want and tell me where it is. The human beings in these stores should do no more than stock shelves and cashier.

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