Need to return Li-on battery but how?

Ageing_Stick_Insect

I ordered a replacement Li-on battery for my Acer laptop from a website with a .co.uk name which turned out to be based in the Far East. After nearly 4 weeks the battery arrived but after connecting it I get a message in Windows saying the battery cannot be charged.

I have updated the BIOS and tried various things to resolve the problem but to no avail. I contacted the seller and one of the 3 options they gave me was to return it for a refund. I'm probably going to take this option.

Now here is the problem. The battery was delivered by Royal Mail but when I check their website to see if I can send Li-on batteries it states I can't both domestically and internationally. But how come they delivered it to me without a problem?

Looking on the customs declaration form attached to the package the contents are described as USB Cover. Hah! Clearly they have lied to get it past customs. They must do this for every battery they send out.

But how can I return it legitimately? The rules say if the battery is attached to a device it can be sent. But it wasn't attached to anything when I received it so could I just do the same when sending it back?

Not good I know but otherwise I'm nearly £50 out of pocket. What have others done in the same circumstances?

forgotmyname

Who is paying for the return? If its you then don't forget it needs tracking to show it has been delivered. If customs destroy it then you wont get a refund.

18cc

if you paid by credit card or debit card claim on them as a faulty item. also tell seller it is faulty and they must arrange secure return postage. also report them to royal mail for dangerous labelling this could bring down a plane worst case scenario

GunJack

It's really a grey area. The rules state batteries can be posted if installed in a device. A laptop battery pack is actually a device, as the individual battery cells are installed in it, along with charging & safety circuitry. Similar to a power bank, which is also a device.

However, most post office staff are not au-fait technically, so couldn't make the distinction...

Ageing_Stick_Insect

forgotmyname wrote: »

Who is paying for the return? If its you then don't forget it needs tracking to show it has been delivered. If customs destroy it then you wont get a refund.

They replied overnight saying the battery has to be returned to China. I see no reason why customs would destroy it if the customs label states the contents. The package to me wasn't opened.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

18cc wrote: »

if you paid by credit card or debit card claim on them as a faulty item. also tell seller it is faulty and they must arrange secure return postage. also report them to royal mail for dangerous labelling this could bring down a plane worst case scenario

Whether it's faulty is debatable. The laptop can draw power from the battery so it's a moot point it's faulty. I'm 'talking' to someone in China / Hong Kong who has broken English so dialogue is not straight-forward. It cost me £40. I'm sending it back marked as AC Power supply. That gets me out of the problem. I'm sure this goes on all the time as all laptop battery companies send through the system and mark the contents as something else. Otherwise they'd go out of business.


I don't understand the logic where you can send a lithium battery when connected to a device but not on its own. Odd.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

GunJack wrote: »

It's really a grey area. The rules state batteries can be posted if installed in a device. A laptop battery pack is actually a device, as the individual battery cells are installed in it, along with charging & safety circuitry. Similar to a power bank, which is also a device.

However, most post office staff are not au-fait technically, so couldn't make the distinction...

It's a nightmare. I've never had a laptop where the battery caught fire so it seems a very remote risk. I'm describing the contents as Laptop AC Power supply which has a similar weight and size.


When I took delivery of the laptop it ships with a battery installed. What logic states that's okay but sending a single battery on its own isn't? I could understand if I was shipping 50 of them but in reality shipping a single one the risk is minimal.

Undervalued

Ageing_Stick_Insect wrote: »

It's a nightmare. I've never had a laptop where the battery caught fire so it seems a very remote risk. I'm describing the contents as Laptop AC Power supply which has a similar weight and size.


When I took delivery of the laptop it ships with a battery installed. What logic states that's okay but sending a single battery on its own isn't? I could understand if I was shipping 50 of them but in reality shipping a single one the risk is minimal.

I've never had a house that caught fire but I still pay my house insurance!

It is an interesting argument that a laptop "battery" is actually a device in itself that happens to contain some Li battery cells. At some point I expect this will get tested but until it is I wouldn't like to decide one way or the other.

Some hobbies are using big powerful Lithium Polymer batteries that are just batteries with no inbuilt electronics. Amazingly they are still being routinely posted / couriered by the supplier. Some have apparently agreed to carry up to a certain capacity in an individual parcel whereas others won't accept them at all. If one needs to go back there is apparently little alternative but to get the supplier to arrange collection.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

I also pay my insurance. ;-)


I'm liaising with them to come to a compromise regarding a refund given that it will cost £5 (untracked) or £10 (tracked) to send it back. They have agreed to pay up to £10.


They have offered to send a lower powered battery for £10 and I don't need to send the current one back. But I'm dubious as to whether it would work given the problem I had with one with a higher capacity


So it seems they place very little value on these items. I've offered to accept £40 (cost of battery) as a refund and not send it back thereby saving them £10. If they suggest £30 I'll go with that.

GunJack

Ageing_Stick_Insect wrote: »

I also pay my insurance. ;-)


I'm liaising with them to come to a compromise regarding a refund given that it will cost £5 (untracked) or £10 (tracked) to send it back. They have agreed to pay up to £10.


They have offered to send a lower powered battery for £10 and I don't need to send the current one back. But I'm dubious as to whether it would work given the problem I had with one with a higher capacity


So it seems they place very little value on these items. I've offered to accept £40 (cost of battery) as a refund and not send it back thereby saving them £10. If they suggest £30 I'll go with that.

Congrats, you've discovered part of the way to deal with chinese companies - barter

In all seriousness, I buy all my vape gear from china direct, and if there is a problem (very rare, tbf) they usually want pics/video of the problem, and once reviewed they refund without argument and without the item being returned...

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Things have become worse in the last hour. My existing 5 year-old battery is now showing as 'not charging'. It clearly is nearing the end of its working life.


With no other supplier stocking the exact battery I need based on info from Acer UK my options are running out. There is one website - acerlaptopbattery.co.uk - that claims to stock it but their ratings on Trustpilot are Poor and I'm not getting replies to my emails sent during daytime UK so despite what their website says I suspect they're based overseas and probably in the Far East. I'm not going down that path again!


I need my existing laptop for a 32-bit program that only runs in a Virtual Machine so I'll keep it for that and that alone.


Looks like a new laptop is needed so I'll use my own expertise and the Which? site to source a replacement. Needless to say it's unlikely to be an Acer.