Complaint Review: AC Delco Saturn - Honolulu Hawaii

My business sells and installs literally thousands of batteries each year. The "side terminal" battery that this complaintant is reporting is almost ALWAYS misused. The side terminal CANNOT be over tightened and when it leaks is was over tightened. The ENTIRE battery industry warrantees batteries the same. AFTER the initial "free" replacement period (usually 18 months) the charge for a replacement is prorated based on LIST price. If the user did not pay list price then they will not receive the full replacement price. If the complaintant has any real complaint, it should be directed to whoever serviced his battery. since the cable was replaced, it is almost a certainty that the battery had NOT been service correctly or the cable would not have been corroded. Battery terminals must be serviced often to prevent corrosion from the battery acid fumes. OBVIOUSLY this battery was not serviced and therefore not really under warranty. Usually a corroded terminal is simply tightened therefore breaking the seal and causing corrosion. EVERY vehicle operator is responsible for the maintenance of his vehicle. For a cable to have been corroded enough to requite replacement, it must have needed maintenance for quite some time. The complaintant needs to learn how to do simple maintenance on his vehicles.

Appreciate the input. I know it is not a perfect world. As I have said, I understand that batteries die. Just doesn't make sense to me when, under normal conditions, one "throws up" onto other engine components. Just last week a neighbor of mine had a similar problem with his battery, and sure enough it was an ACDelco battery. I know warranties are tricky animals, and that under their language the manufacturer is only responsible for replacing the item that was warrentied and nothing else. Maybe it's me, but that just doesn't seem right if the faulty battery is the cause of additional dammage. If a have a warrantied battery and it suddenly explodes and causes my car to catch fire and I die as a result, I would like to think that the manufacturer could be held responsible for everything, not just replacing the battery. To answer your question, I paid for EVERYTHING - Prorated battery, labor to install battery, new positive battery cable, labor to install battery cable. And I might understand a $60 charge for installing a cable, but not an additional $60 for installing the battery. All they had to do was put the battery in and strap it down (I had already removed the old battery and cleaned up all the acid). Of course, I do take the blame for allowing them to do the work. I could have declined it and bought a battery from elsewhere and installed it myself. Silly me for thinking that I could actually save money by taking my warrantied battery to the dealer. Btw, I hope you didn't pay a cent for your new battery. Most manufacturers have at least a 12-month, 100% free replacement warranty on batteries. If you had to pay a pro-rated rate as you mentioned, then I think you got ripped off.

Not all things are made perfect. Not all things will last. And warranties usually do not cover labor costs. Did you pay for the damaged cable? Or did you just pay for the labor to install it? $60 / hr labor is about normal as I see it. Installing a battery means they also will have to charge it. That can take time. And they would have to look at how the cable was damaged, and if you have a tight engine bay, it could take time to make sure they remove it and install the new one properly. 2 hours of work? A battery I purchased recently failed after three months! Did I gripe? No, I just took it back to the dealership and got a refund for the pro-rated rate. The only $$ owed you was the pro-rated worth of your defective battery. AC Delco does not owe you towing fees nor do they owe you the cost of labor to install a battery, you pretty much got for free.

I work at a g.m. meduim duty dealership and g.m. uses AC DELCO batterys in all their new cars and trucks. Most will last 3 to 4 years.