DARLIN Batteries - Buyer Beware

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
I debated about posting this, but I finally decided it had to be done.

We needed 4 new T-105 batteries for our smaller inverter, and Mr. AE saw an online ad on one of the DR newspaper sites, good prices. Centro de Baterias Darlin in Santo Domingo. He called and ordered the batteries, and they said they'd be there after 12 pm.

They showed up at 7 pm, installed the batteries, collected their payment, and left. Next morning, the inverter isn't working, so we called our guy. He comes over, starts checking the system, and asks "Where did you get these batteries??". Mr. AE tells him, and guy says 'These aren't new. They cleaned them and put new terminals on the top, but they're used.' Guy calls a buddy, another electrician, who comes over, checks and agrees with our guy - used. Ask to see the invoice, and when he does he reacts immediately - tells us Darlin did the same thing to him. He had complained, and they did replace his, but they only lasted 3 months [which is the 'full guarantee' these people give you].

They deliver at night when you really can't see what they're giving you.

Mr. AE called and confronted the company, and they immediately offered to replace the batteries - "we're expecting a new shipment any day". Despite frequent calls, days turned into weeks. Finally, the woman said "bring me the batteries and we'll replace them". Mr. AE, one of his brothers, and a police officer Mr. AE knows went to the office, the officer taking the lead in explaining that this is fraud, etc., etc., etc.

Lo & behold, she does not HAVE batteries there to exchange. [She might have, but after the police arrived I think they decided against giving us more used batteries] After heated discussion, and phone calls to the owner by her, they're told to leave the batteries and new ones will be delivered tomorrow. Police officer reminds her he will be following up.

Now we have no batteries, so our guy hooks whole house into the bigger inverter to buy us time. Next day we get a call saying that the owner is going to refund what we paid, and give us 4 use batteries to exchange when we buy elsewhere. Only problem is he only has 10,000 pesos now, and he'll give us the rest "next Tuesday". Mr. AE refused his offer, demanding to be paid in full. Ok, next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, if we didn't have the other inverter & batteries, we'd have some serious issues.

We were going to just go to a reputable store and buy the batteries, but Mr. AE's other brother said not to do that until we got the refund, just in case they decided to give us batteries at the last moment.

Midweek comes and our guy is at our house to work on our generator [when it rains, it pours] and tells us the prior evening one of his neighbors called him over when her new batteries were delivered. He went and checked them - they were used. Asked the guys delivering to see the invoice - same company. He read them the riot act, and told them to take their crap used batteries back with them.

That Saturday morning Mr. AE got a call saying that new batteries were coming that evening. No call, no show. On Monday he called them, and they said "oh, our truck broke down, they'll be there today". Monday came and went, no call, no show again. Plans made to go to SD Tuesday morning with both the police and the electrical guy. We went to bed.

Close to 11 p.m. our caretaker knocked on our window, to tell us the battery people were there. They left the batteries in the garage.

Our guy came in the morning and checked the batteries. They're new this time.

We are sure the only reason we got new batteries is because the police were involved. We also think that they assumed we'd gone out and bought new batteries already, and that we'd squawk at them not giving a refund, so they could then say "Well, we TRIED to give them new batteries" if we got the fiscal involved.

This whole process took over 6 weeks start to finish.

We've learned our lesson - buy your batteries at a reputable supplier. Stay away from this one.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
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Yes it does happen. I know of people that ran such a "battery refurbishing" service. Pure scam. Good to see you finally got resolution and hopefully new batteries.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
refurbishing batteries is normal. whenever we buy a new set we sell the old one. but "refreshed" batteries should be sold as such. there is a clientele for those ones as well. shame that this company is trying to pass old batteries for new.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
refurbishing batteries is normal. whenever we buy a new set we sell the old one. but "refreshed" batteries should be sold as such. there is a clientele for those ones as well. shame that this company is trying to pass old batteries for new.

It may be "normal" but many things that are really scams are normal here. If they actually replaced the lead plates, that would be a true refurbishing. New terminals and rinsing them out, is a scam.
 
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Drro

Bronze
Mar 22, 2006
1,407
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I bought my batteries at La Sirena along with the warranty - and so far fingers crossed, it's been several years. When I need to replace, I'm going back to La Sirena.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
It may be "normal" but many things that are really scams are normal here. If they actually replaced the lead plates, that would be a true refurbishing. New terminals and rinsing them out, is a scam.

i din't mean that. it is normal that batteries are bought, fixed and sold as used. there is a market for buyers, many folks cannot afford a brand new battery and there is some life left in old ones. but it is not normal to sell old battery as new.

here in POP we buy from a family member because he extends credit to us. we have 8 batteries so a full set costs a lot of money.
 

donP

Newbie
Dec 14, 2008
6,942
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0
Batteries off the pallet

I BUY MY INVERSOR batteries at, "La Sirena".

Same here.

We are on our 4th set of 16 batteries (Trojan T-105), installed Sept. 2010.
This time they will last longer as we went solar in Sept. 2012.
No more deep discharging since then, they now hardly ever go below 75% of their capacity.

Buying at 'La Sirena' has the advantage that you get the batteries off a pallet, hence from the same (fresh) batch.

donP
 

NV_

Bronze
Aug 4, 2003
710
6
0
Centro de Baterias Ovando in S.D. are also running the same scam. Saw their ad in the same place as the OP , bought a couple batteries (t105s) and they were used/refurbished. They came out the next day, replaced them with another 2 used batteries. Spent another week complaining to them and nothing was resolved. Learned my lesson. Stay way from these thieves....
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
Corona, now THAT is an open ended question??????
It's like saying, "How much does a new car cost"!
Lets just say it costs "Thousands Of Dollars"!
CCCCCCC
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
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I bought my batteries at my clients store, with 36 months guarantee. 12 months full replacement and then 24 months prorated use. They were at 5.000 each. We did a barter.
 
Aug 6, 2006
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I do not know if this is typical or relevant to the case, but I drive a 1985 Mercedes 300TD Diesel and it needs a LOT of battery. I have found that when I buy a new battery it costs me $135 and I have to wait a day or to for them to deliver it and pay a ridiculous $5 disposal fee, which they claim is the law. With the tax it comes to $150.85 and one or two days with no car. If I go to the used Battery store here in Miami, they sell me a reconditioned battery of the same size for a bit less than $35 and I pay nothing to dispose of any damn battery. In fact, they will pay ME $3.00 for even a dead car battery.

The new battery lasts at most 5 years. The reconditioned ones last between 4 and 5 years.

I think that what they do is dump the old acid, treat the plates with some chemical to get rid of sulfites, and put in new acid, and then test it. If it holds a charge, they sell it, if not they give it to the lead recyclers. I have been driving MB Diesels for 15 years, and used to drive two of them.

But I agree that selling a reconditioned battery for a new one is unethical. And I doubt that these clowns even know how to recondition batteries right, either.

I suspect that for a home electrical system, you would be best off with deep cycle batteries rather than car batteries.
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
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yahoomail.com
"X Man" you are being "Dominicaned"!
NOT ONLY is there NO disposal fee, used batteries are worth between 300 to 700 pesos!
Look for a different place to buy your batteries, and go YOURSELF to buy them.
Take your old batteries to "Trade In" for a few hundred pesos.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

ps, next time you drive "Two Mercedes" post the video please.
 

fuchs4d

Active member
Mar 7, 2004
347
189
43
Also beware of imitations

In 2008 someone wanted to sell me "Trojan" batteries that were a imitation of a major brand.
Appeared to be new, but label was "Trogan", label was not aligned (unusual for major brand), missing company direction, no web site etc. and, no additional warning labels found on other batteries.
Seller claimed to have bought them directly from distributer in Sto. Dgo.

I am sure they were imitations from China.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
Just like TRACE never made batteries. But someone does and puts the name TRACE on them. I suspect Dominican intervention.
 
Aug 6, 2006
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My first Mercedes was a 1990 300D 4 door that I bought in 1999 for $10K. The second is a 1985 300TD that I paid $3000 for. The older car has been a lot more durable. If you will tell me how to post a photo here, I will be happy to post one of the Mercedes.