Layout:
Home > Battery Bleahs

Battery Bleahs

February 11th, 2011 at 12:48 am

Stupid me. I volunteered to purchase a battery for a timer we use at school to test fluency. It's just a small little stopwatch with a button battery, no problem, right?

Have you been to the battery section lately? I thought this shouldn't be a problem, the battery had a number on in. Oh, what a naive person I am.

Dumb me. I looked, and looked, and looked and couldn't find a battery with a number like it. I started holding the battery up to the packages thinking maybe that would help. That narrowed it down to a couple, but I wasn't for sure.

Of course like most stores there is little assistance when you need it. I know they cut back on employees to save money. I wound up spending close to 30 minutes looking for this battery. I finally located a genteel older clerk and explained my difficulty. She said, "Oh, you have to look at the bottom of the packages because many companies say this specific model replaces different battery numbers."

Easier said that done. I think the print that said that had to be either 4 point or possible 5 point fonts. Then, I couldn't find one that said the exact same number. The serial number had an extra letter than my battery.

What is wrong with our country when you have to have a multitude of different battery sizes? It's a struggle just dealing with AA and AAA's and now button batteries with different sizes and numbers. And why does this number have to replace a multitude of different numbers?

And, for those of you who have had the charming experience of battery buying lately, you know these little button batteries aren't cheap. I certainly didn't want to select the wrong one and have to keep it because it didn't fit. I'm not sure what the return policy is on batteries that have been taken out of the packages. For those of you not in education, most of these little purchases come out of our pocket, so although you might think spending $5 on a battery isn't bad, imagine spending it and not being able to use the battery and still having to purchase another battery. I guess I could glue it to my ear for an earring, but other than that, I am not sure what other uses I could come up with.

I found that nice lady and asked her and she said that it was the same and although there was an extra letter in the serial number, it would work. I hoped she was right. I certainly wasn't going to go back and kick her if she was in error, but I had already spent 30 minutes being frustrated. I didn't want to add to my stress.

I'm happy to report the battery worked. It fit, the timer worked, and I tested for fluency today.

As for volunteering to find a battery for something else, I'm going to leave that for someone else. I hope I can find someone else.

And for the battery makers I have one word, "Bleah!"

3 Responses to “Battery Bleahs”

  1. snafu Says:
    1297404844

    I feel that frustration when needing a battery replacement for a wrist watch. I found it was best to go to an ethnic jewellery store where the owner is so knowledgeable he instantly knows what is needed, pops off the back & replaces, polishes & shines all while I wait...5 minutes tops.

  2. Jerry Says:
    1297453306

    Yikes, what a pain! I have a couple of watches that just need new batteries, and I can't seem to lead myself to go buy a new one. I will probably pay for a replacement at the jeweler (at almost twice the cost) just to have some insurance of saving my sanity...
    Jerry

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1297476443

    Yep, your sanity is worth something!

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]