Anyone have shipping connections?

ScottyJ · Post by **ScottyJ** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:23 pm

I need to ship my Optima blue top to Illinois to get it exchanged under warranty and the cheapest shipping rate I can get is like $65. It's AGM non-spillable so it is legal to ship and total package weighs 63lbs. Its all boxed labeled and ready to go. It is a bit too big dimension wise to send thru the USPS flat rate. Anyone have an account or company in the area that could help me out?

Thanks!
Scott

Brian D. · Post by **Brian D.** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:56 pm

Are they really making you ship the batteries back to the factory? Seems rather cost prohibitive. Would a dealer help you?

Hollywood · Post by **Hollywood** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 5:02 pm

Brian D. wrote:Are they really making you ship the batteries back to the factory? Seems rather cost prohibitive. Would a dealer help you?

I would think any Johnson Controls owned or franchise should be able to handle this with ease or if you bought them from Costco just return those pos batteries back to costco.

I went through 4 sets of Optimas in a 10 month period before I finally returned them for a full refund and spent the money and got the DEKA AGM Group 31 batteries. Love them and would never put a different battery in the boat!

ash · Post by **ash** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 5:28 pm

Hollywood wrote:
Brian D. wrote:Are they really making you ship the batteries back to the factory? Seems rather cost prohibitive. Would a dealer help you?

I would think any Johnson Controls owned or franchise should be able to handle this with ease or if you bought them from Costco just return those pos batteries back to costco.

I went through 4 sets of Optimas in a 10 month period before I finally returned them for a full refund and spent the money and got the DEKA AGM Group 31 batteries. Love them and would never put a different battery in the boat!

I agree with Wood and Brian, and sealed or not you are still shipping a dangerous goods and they need to be labeled as such according to CFR49 standards. If Optima is stating that you need to ship them to honor the warranty they are JOing you and you should push back.

ScottyJ · Post by **ScottyJ** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:04 pm

I bought them online through Bigtimebattery.com and I called Optima and they said that the company I ordered them from would have to do the warranty exchange. The online company said I have to pay to return the bad battery and they cover shipping on sending the replacement. Im thinking of calling Optima tomorrow and seeing if they can have a local company exchange it cuz its not fair I get stuck with the shipping bill on a defective product. Any thoughts?

kopper_bass · Post by **kopper_bass** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:07 am

Scotty,
no offense to you at all, as i would have likely done the same thing, but this a great example why buying "online" to save a few bucks can really bite you vs. buying "local".
it's not always worth the few dollars in savings.

Sorry for your troubles, but hopefully a good, local dealer can help you and earn your future business too.

Good Luck,

Kopper_Bass

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:11 am

ScottyJ wrote:I bought them online through Bigtimebattery.com and I called Optima and they said that the company I ordered them from would have to do the warranty exchange. The online company said I have to pay to return the bad battery and they cover shipping on sending the replacement. Im thinking of calling Optima tomorrow and seeing if they can have a local company exchange it cuz its not fair I get stuck with the shipping bill on a defective product. Any thoughts?

The way I see it: A local brick-and-mortar store could ship it back for you as big favor to a non-customer but just because they also sell Optima doesn’t mean they’re obligated to. If you can get Optima to work an exchange locally by reimbursing that dealer with a replacement battery (floor merchandise that could have otherwise been sold) it’d be convenient for you but extra work for the business that had nothing to do with the original transaction.

You takes your chances buying large, hard-to-return items through out of state online dealers. Some are probably big enough to eat return shipping costs (like Cabelas or BPS) but this one sounds like they’re not…

CN · Post by CN » Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:19 pm

Beware of on line purchases. I am in wholesale and we buy direct from the factory and many WILL NOT honor any on line purchase warranty's.

ScottyJ · Post by **ScottyJ** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:03 pm

kopper_bass wrote:Scotty,
no offense to you at all, as i would have likely done the same thing, but this a great example why buying "online" to save a few bucks can really bite you vs. buying "local".
it's not always worth the few dollars in savings.

Sorry for your troubles, but hopefully a good, local dealer can help you and earn your future business too.

Good Luck,

Kopper_Bass

Unfortunately between their already low price, no tax and no shipping they had any local dealer beat by a large margin. As I now know the hard way, I didnt anticipate/calculate there being a warranty issue and having to pay to return it, let alone return it to Illinois. I guess I will call it a lesson learned when shopping for similar purchases.