Overview: The name says it all. This company sells some VERY cheap, and potentially dangerous rechargeable batteries. Many of them did not work from the start while others corroded (see picture below) horribly. Initially they would do nothing, and even after complaining they only offered to replace with the same garbage.

In April 2002 I purchased several dozen rechargeable NiMH batteries, a charger, and a few misc batteries from this company. They even called back to see which lantern battery I'd like.

Now...I understand that I bought the cheap (GI) line of batteries. They were up to 50% less than name brands, but you can expect a similar discount on many products because there is little or no advertising budget like companies such as Energizer and Duracel have. I even expected them not to perform as well as others, but I expected them to at least work! Several batteries would not take a charge (voltmeter verified). 8 D-cells were charged up for a camping trip 6 weeks later. The lantern stopped working rather quickly, and after returning home I found the cause to be 2 of them corroding. (see picture) They were in no way subjected to any harsh conditions or environment. The AA's only lasted a fraction (20-25%) as long as my Millenium cells I use in my digital camera. In fact most of the time my camera won't even display a full battery indicator on 4 freshly charged batteries. And the charger...it won't charge more than 3 batteries (out of 4 slots) at a time, and with more than 2 in there it takes several DAYS for them to reach a full charge.

I did try to start a chargeback through my credit card, but could not due to the time that had elapsed unfortunately. Obviously I did not have time to fully test 60 batteries in 60 days, hehe.

I e-mailed and received a call from Eli. He said if I wanted to place another order he could maybe throw in a few extra free ones. But they would not offer a refund or exchange, "I mean...they are a disposable product". Huh? Excuse me?! When did RECHARGEABLE batteries become a disposable product, especially after only 4 months and no more than 2-3 uses??

Besides, I would not risk using this brand in any important or sensitive electronics that I own! Corrosion under normal use? No thank you! Image kids playing with toys using these batteries?

They are clearly stamped "Made in China". I'm not trying to over-generalize here, but I have had a previous generic brand of regular disposable batteries that came from China corrode while still in the packaging. Does anyone know if there are any minimum standards or regulations for batteries? The companies that make GI brand and "Powercell" definitely do not meet my standards or likely that of any reasonable consumer.

After this phone call I wrote an over-emotional rather nasty e-mail to the company, telling them what I though of their product and service, and that I would be creating a web page like this one and possibly notifying the FTC for safety issues. I promptly received several phone calls and messages offering to discuss. I couldn't really understand what he was offering, whether it was to SELL (?!?!) me a different brand of battery, or to replace a few or all of the defective ones. I never accepted their offer.

"Our Own Brand"
Top Quality - Guaranteed !

Uh huh...yeah. What guarantee?

Update: As of 5/8/03, they no longer appear to be selling the D cell batteries I ordered, only a much higher end 8000mAh version.

The camera flash reflected quite a bit, but you can still make out the white powder at both terminal ends where they corroded.

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