Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Rechargeable Batteries
Over the past 2 months, I have noticed that both my NiMH battery chargers (a Duracell brand purchased from Best Buy and a “no-name” brand purchased from Drugstore.com) have been destroying almost all of my NiMH AA and AAA batteries (ranging from 2,000 MaH to 2,650 MaH) to where they were no longer chargeable. Earlier this afternoon, after noticing a charging oddity with my Duracell charger, I decided to call the Best Buy where I had purchased it in order to determine whether the charger, or my batteries, were defective.
After calling Best Buy (the Northgate Mall location in Seattle, WA), I waited on hold for about 5 minutes until a Customer Service rep answered the phone. I then asked to speak with someone in Geek Squad regarding my issue and, at this point, I was put back on hold for another 35 minutes. When it became clear to me that Geek Squad would not be answering my call, I hung up and began looking for other options.
Remembering that I live very close to a Radio Shack, I called them to see if they could help me. Not only did they answer the phone after 2 rings, the person I spoke with was very helpful and also told me that their Ray-o-vac brand of NiMH batteries was featured highly in Consumer Reports. I then drove down to their store (University Village Mall in Seattle, WA) and, while I was there, picked up 8 of their AA NiMH batteries as well as another battery charger. I am currently testing 4 of those batteries to see if they perform according to the specifications on the packaging and, when I am finished, will post a review of my test results.
