Batteries Plus

I made my first visit to Batteries Plus this morning and was very impressed by the sheer amount of stock in this compact-​sized store and the friendliness of its salespeople. I was there to recycle light bulbs and batteries. I am sure that I will return in the future. Note: the store is near the strip shopping mall which contains Sylvan Learning Center and Goodrich Tires, on the northwest corner of Ridge Road and Halsted Street in Homewood.

I was really excited about this place and was thrilled to support a local, non-​big box store until…
After the terrible storm last week, on day 4 wo/​power, I went looking for a battery charger. Stopped here and clerk seemed knowledgeable and helpful. Recommended a $ 19.99 charger for all battery types which I bought (doesn’t show clerk name but has a station code of 276 – 02). He spent a lot of time showing me how to use it and explaining which batteries go «where».
I charged 8 D’s and 4 C batteries wo/​a problem but on last round of 4C’s, I began to smell a terrible smell in other room. Went in there and charger was oozing some liquid into 1 battery slot, very hot and had turned grey/​black in slot for 1 of 4 batteries. Unplugged and went to return today.
I bought this on Thursday and today, Sunday, went to return in along with original packing and receipt. Expected no problem.
Clerk quickly told me I couldn’t return it but didn’t offer why until I pushed him to explain. He asked who sold it to me, looked at receipt and smirked saying that this happens quite often. Apparently you can’t charge «regular» household batteries w/​this charger and yes, it could have started a fire (nice…). Said it was «customer negligence». Said I could come back and talk to manager or franchise owner or leave it there and come back later in the week (it was still leaking some sort of gooey liquid all over the place). It was quite clear that this happens a lot and that I wasn’t going to get my money back. I left charger, packaging and bag full of leaking goo there. Why does customer have to be repeatedly inconvenienced w/​several trips to store for their faulty product or advice.
This was not customer negligence (on purpose or wo/​direction for their sales clerk) and the thing could have started a fire! it’s $ 20 and their salesmen sold it to me after a lengthy conversation about my needs. Horrible, horrible service. Don’t stand behind their products and most importantly I have no faith in their ability to provide safe advice. Damage done to them over mishandling of a $ 20 item far outweighs credit they could have rec’d having handled situation ethically. Really disappointed.

After the crazy storm knocked out power to the entire area yesterday, I was wigging out over what to do. I run a small business from home, and wi-​fi is absolutely crucial, as the vast majority of my work has to be done within hours. By chance, I happened to spot Batteries+ from a neighboring parking lot, and gave it a try.
The guy who helped me out (MDJ?) helped me pick out a small power inverter, so that I could charge my laptop in my car. He fully explained the difference between the options, offered his advice on the smaller gadgets I picked up while waiting in line, and he even let me know that when there are storms, they check the power outage map in the morning; if there are outages nearby, they show up and open early. I went home and was able to charge my laptop, phone, and even plugged in my 4G router to supply an open network for anyone in range during the outage (gotta pay it forward!), all from my car, for barely over $ 30.
Seriously, how awesome of them? As a small business owner and operator, these dudes really helped save my day. I’m ashamed to admit that I found them while waiting for Best Buy to open. If you have any needs for batteries for whatever, inverters for wherever, or anything related whatsoever, I HIGHLY recommend checking these guys out before spending money on related goods elsewhere. MDJ’s service is the sole reason I created a Unilocal account to leave reviews, instead of just reading reviews without an account.
Thanks guys, really!