Rechargable Energizer scam

[MK27]

I just read this on another board and thought it was worth passing on:

Energizer "D" Battery Exposed page 1

Skip straight to page 2 for the kicker. I'm thinking now that stupid bunny actually has a much smaller bunny inside it pulling cables

Anyway, something to remember the next time you buy batteries. I guess the government needs to regulate this too, since the corporate wigs once again have proven they do not have any sense of personal responsibility when given a choice.

[Elysia]

Ah yes, shady business practices. But then again, who in their right mind would buy a 2.5Ah "D" battery? I sure as would not when a "normal" AA battery sports 2.5Ah+.
And for customers, "higher" is better. They would probably buy the batteries that had the highest Ah rating. I know for sure that some companies try to fool customers by putting an extra "0" in the Ah rating.

[Mario F.]

And for customers, "higher" is better. They would probably buy the batteries that had the highest Ah rating.

The whole point the author is trying to make is exactly that most customers don't know any better. They simply don't read, or understand, those values.
I find he's quite right. I wouldn't know any better about mAh until I read that. So now I learned something new.

[Elysia]

I do understand that, but if you were looking for batteries, you would find that "mAh" is a "magical number", right? And when it comes to magical numbers, wouldn't you believe that higher is better? It 10 000 mAh is better than 1000 mAh? I would, wouldn't you?
That's my point. Customers can see lean and mean and cheaper AA batteries with += 2.5 Ah, and if they did, they would never buy the fat D cell.

[MK27]

I do understand that, but if you were looking for batteries, you would find that "mAh" is a "magical number", right? And when it comes to magical numbers, wouldn't you believe that higher is better?

Only if you are sort of dumb would you just presume something like that. What if the number represented resistance, or something similar that would be inverse to the productive output?

Another example: if you went to a car lot with numbers representing the Gallons per Mile fuel consumption...

Most consumers are smart enough to recognize that they themselves are not omniscient, and also that no one has the time to become an expert in every kind of technology, which is another good reason to regulate industries like this.

[Dino]

Part of his point, to me, seemed like he was trying to emphasize, "hey, just buy an AA instead of this crappy D".

Newsflash Mr. Battery reviewer - they are not interchangeable.

I do agree it sounds like a cheap D cell though.

[MK27]

Part of his point, to me, seemed like he was trying to emphasize, "hey, just buy an AA instead of this crappy D".

Newsflash Mr. Battery reviewer - they are not interchangeable.

No, very clearly the point was to encourage people to buy D cells made by someone else, with a proper rating.

And, also, to demonstrate that The Energizer Corp. is selling a rechargable D cell that is exactly the same as their AA cell (literally) only 3X more expensive (which kind of does imply the batteries are interchangable if you get the shape right).

[Nyda]

And, also, to demonstrate that The Energizer Corp. is selling a rechargable D cell that is exactly the same as their AA cell (literally) only 3X more expensive (which kind of does imply the batteries are interchangable if you get the shape right).

Wouldn't that be usury/profiteering/rip-off/extortionate (pick the proper term, the dictionary wasn't conclusive...)? You can go to jail for that in germany, up to 10 years in extreme cases (i.e. this one ).

[VirtualAce]

Just b/c one company was unethical does not mean that all industry needs regulated. Over-regulated industry does not prosper. Do you really trust any government enough to correctly, justly, and efficiently regulate any industry? Guess who gets to pay for all that bloat?

[abachler]

Wouldn't that be usury/profiteering/rip-off/extortionate (pick the proper term, the dictionary wasn't conclusive...)? You can go to jail for that in germany, up to 10 years in extreme cases (i.e. this one ).

As a general rule, the US doesn't incarcerate people for business crimes. Even extreme cases only receive token punishments.

Man robs banker, gets 20 years.
Banker robs 1000's of people, gets 37 months and keeps more than half the cash.

No wonder we have so much financial malfeasance in this country, it's more profitable than honest business.

[Nyda]

As a general rule, the US doesn't incarcerate people for business crimes.

But selling an AA in a D casing for x-times the price is not lawful, is it? Basically they are selling plastic rings for 10+$/piece. Not to mention the larger size+price but only equal power deception.

No wonder we have so much financial malfeasance in this country, it's more profitable than honest business.

Oh well, it's not really better here, just an opposite extreme.

[Mario F.]

Just b/c one company was unethical does not mean that all industry needs regulated. Over-regulated industry does not prosper. Do you really trust any government enough to correctly, justly, and efficiently regulate any industry?

Yup.
Especially because the industry ends up regulating itself through the natural laws of commerce with a little help from consumer rights organizations. A bad/fake product will eventually be outsold by better/truer products. It will also be subject to all forms of bad publicity.

If the company does get away with it, well then kudos to them! I mean, takes cojones and they deserve every bit of their money.

The least I see the government, the more secure I feel. A Contradiction? Think again...

[MK27]

Over-regulated industry does not prosper. Do you really trust any government enough to correctly, justly, and efficiently regulate any industry?

If by "prosper" you mean "rip people off" well I hope not.

As to the second question, at least I got the chance to vote for the gov't. I don't want to get brain cancer because my idiot landlord decided to save cash buying bargain insulation from some other bunch of careless idiots. So they need to be regulated. The idiot shareholders can all walk the same plank and whine about it IMO.

They regulate individuals, they might as well also regulate institutions. As abachler points out, if I kill someone because of negligence I will be charged as a criminal. If a corporation kills someone because of negligence, then that corporation is criminal and should suffer similar consequences. Just because one person (me) or even most people have not killed anyone does not mean that people in general should be lawfully regulated to prevent them killing each other.

[Mario F.]

I don't think anyone is defending deregulation. But you got to agree over-regulation is equally dangerous.

[MK27]

If the company does get away with it, well then kudos to them! I mean, takes cojones and they deserve every bit of their money.

Sure. By the same token, if I commit a house invasion and not get caught -- ie, evade existing laws -- then I do get to keep the money, and maybe my friends will give me kudos because it really did take cojones tying your stupid old gramma to a chair for the evening.

But if you respect that, you will respect wet poop.