Batteries Plus — Local services in Brookfield

Don’t waste your time like I did…

What an unpleasant experience I had at the Brookfield, WI Batteries Plus store yesterday.

I needed a CR2330 3V lithium battery, which in knowing that I could order a five-pack from Amazon with free same-day delivery for about the same price as a single battery at Batteries Plus, I made a deliberate decision, as I often do, to support my local retailer in that I am a small local business owner myself.

Unfortunately I must report that it was the wrong choice in this case.

In first entering the store I checked for the battery at the appropriate display but it was not there despite the website showing the product “In stock”.

In seeking assistance I only see two Batteries Plus guys busy at the checkout area who are attending to a fairly short customer queue so I get in line. Despite only two customers ahead of me at each register it takes nearly five minutes to advance to the checkout counter.

In waiting to advance I become acutely aware of the lack of line movement in noticing that every time someone calls the store asking if a particular battery or light bulb is in stock the Batteries Plus guys stop whatever they are doing to make the incoming call their utmost priority until the call is completed.

While standing in line while multiple people call in to be served to their complete satisfaction ahead of me, I begin regretting not using Amazon to obtain an item that would have been delivered with free same-day service right to my doorstep with one easy click of my mouse button.

When I finally get to the register and ask the Batteries Plus guy for the CR2330, he spends a minute or two searching the store for the elusive item, finds it, and starts ringing up the sale.

Right in the middle of my much-delayed transaction the phone rings where my Batteries Plus guy immediately takes the call and fully devotes himself to the task of providing for the caller’s needs ahead of mine.

After it becomes evident it is not going to be a short/simple call and it is obvious that my purchase is going to be further delayed at my expense due to this rather unsavory practice, I interrupt the Batteries Plus guy to ask why he has chosen to make the incoming phone call a priority over my business transaction after I have waited so long?

The Batteries Plus guy blows-off my legitimate consumer question/concern with “I will be with you in a minute” and then totally abandons me in mid-transaction to run off in an urgent search of the store shelves for some item that a random caller has inquired about.

When the Batteries Plus guy fails to return in short order, I see him across the store and call out to him seeking his return to the cash register to allow me to finish my purchase; to which he does finally advance across the store towards me--though unfortunately not to complete my in-process transaction but rather in making rather stern demand that I not yell at him across the store.

The Batteries Plus guy #2 sees/hears what's going on and wisely interjects indicating that he will assist me when he is done with his current transaction while further stating that they are told that they must make all incoming phone calls a priority. I asked who insists on such an in-store-customer-unfriendly policy to learn that it was the store manager, which the website shows as being “Zach Mathews”.

I shared my thoughts that perhaps the right thing to do would be to answer the phone to ask the “caller” to wait a minute while they finished assisting the in-store customer they were currently serving where then another customer in the adjacent register line espoused his support of such a rudimentary retail store customer service concept.

Mr. Matthews, I will not be back to your store again. I would like to know if this a Zach Matthews-specific policy or should I expect similar ill-treatment at all Batteries...

Absolutely Horrible – incompetence beyond belief As Square Trade’s preferred (and only) approved service centers for cell phone repair, this Batteries Plus Bulbs lacks even the basic skilled technicians to service a smartphone. Initially contacted to repair a Samsung Galaxy S8, they didn’t have the correct parts in stock and said they would order them; I could come in in 2 weeks to have the phone repaired. After waiting 2 weeks, and calling them to ensure they had received the correct parts, they couldn’t find any record of the request and said they would place them on order and again have to wait two weeks; they would call me. After waiting for more than 2 weeks, I called again and was told that one of the parts was on back order but should be received in a couple more weeks… so I waited. Again, waiting 2 more weeks, I called – and was told the vendor sent the wrong part so they had to order it again, but it would be received within the week. I waited 10 days and called again because I had received no call to find out that they had everything they needed to repair the phone. I went in on a Sunday morning at 11:00 to have the phone repaired and was told that, “The guy who normally fixes phones wouldn’t be in until after 1 pm” but the guy that was there, Bryce, said he would read the manual and try to fix it. So, I walked over to Starbucks and waited… and waited… and waited… only to get a call to find out that the part they ordered wasn’t enough to fix the problem. I went back and was told that the part they needed to fix the problem wasn’t available from their vendor and they couldn’t fix the phone. WHAT???!!! They put the phone back together and I went on my way 4 hours after going it to have it fixed which followed almost 8 weeks of screwups from the “ordering parts” perspective. I had to send it Square Trade and they replaced the phone. What a waste of time! This was the worst customer service...

I purchased a Duracell deep cycle battery from this store. I installed the battery in my boat. By the way I was a professional mechanic on both gas and diesel, so installing a battery is child's play. After I installed the battery it wouldn't even run a bilge pump unless my ship to shore charging unit was on. I double checked the electrical system and determined that the battery was defective.  First chance I had I took the battery out and drove back to the store.  I told the salesman that the battery was defective. He put it on your tester and said it could not communicate with the battery. After a volt check it was at 4.5 volts, however I never touched the battery and had my battery selector switch set to off. So the guy tells me he will have to charge it and then test it. So I left after 2 days of hearing nothing I called. I was told that the battery was fine and come pick it up. So for the third time I drive back to the store and the guy tries to test the battery in front of me but again is unable to. So he gives me a new one and says my warranty is now done as it must have been my fault that the battery went bad and that they would never let a bad battery leave the store. Well I know this not to be true as my girlfriend had a Duracell battery installed in her car and it was junk. You can verify that with the Germantown store. So basically I drove to your store 3 times to get a working battery with no warranty or even a discount for all the running around I had to do. Furthermore the guy was going to let me leave the store without checking the battery so I told him I wanted it tested and he couldn't as his equipment was broken. I will never return to batteries plus and will be advising everyone I know and work with to...