Battery World of Covington

Okay, here's the deal...... if you EVER need help or advice concerning batteries, please consider this store. The Back Story:

Daughter No 1. had a Kodak EasyShare camera left sitting in a drawer that I have been looking at for @two years now and finally took out to look into. I have been wanting to take better photos than my old HP digicam can take and thought why not use a camera that's got a really good reputation.

First things first, charge the battery. The camera sits on a "dock"ing device that charges the ion battery. I thought it had charged; it sat there all day soaking up electricity. But it didn't turn on. By this time, I had purchased a 2G ScanDisk SD chip so I was half-way home and needed to get a functioning battery. Online: >$20.00 but you have to wait for shipping. I'm American, I want it now!

Well hang on.... It's not as though I am an impatient human. After all, I have had the camera in my possession for 2 years and thinking about it but not POUNCING upon it the moment I first realized it's existence... so I MUST get props for that at the very least. It's just that, after thinking about it and getting going on the project, I wanted to see some results before a week passed me by. It's technology. If I wanted to WAIT for something, I'd go back to the SLR camera. I have two of them laying about in drawers as well.

Meanwhile, back a the dock, so I go off in search of a battery. Walgreens... no luck. Oh they sell ALL SORTS of batteries and if I ever need a hearing aid, I know where to stock up on boatloads of batteries for that! WalMart. no luck. Ok now that's weird because they SELL the CAMERA itself. But not the battery. The lady suggested Battery World around the corner. It's Sunday, of course that shop is closed. So I head over to Office Depot.

Again, they sell the camera. They sell other KODAK batteries IN STOCK but not that one. The helpful fellow said let's look on our online catalogue. And there it is for $17.99. "I could order one and have it here in a few days" Yes I know but I could order it as well online from ANYWHERE and have it shipped directly to my address."Yesssss but then the taxes you pay would go to another state.

Well now that's an interesting take....He's worried about where MY taxes go. (another post!)

So I thank him but move on...... Come Monday morning I call over to Battery World to a.) see what time they open (they were! It was only 8:30am and they were open!) and b.) did they stock the KLIC-5001? Yes. How much? $49.99. WHAT??????????

I told the lad on the other end that that battery is sold at Office Online for $17.99! He said, "Yes... I know, but here's the difference. They have warehouse where they stock thousands of those batteries for who know how long til someone orders one or five and they ship them out. One guy in a warehouse full of batteries. I buy them two at a time and know exactly where they come from and how long they sit on my shelf."

Okay so I explain my problem and he suggests I bring the dock, the camera and the charging cord to check out where the failure to charge may be. I'm there in a flash and within 5 minutes, he has figured out that the charge cord was not making a strong connection to the dock, fixed that, determined that the old battery DID take a charge and to try that for the next several hours. If the battery would not hold a charge, I knew where I could come back and buy a new battery.

And I will if this battery is not a good one but it charged up, the camera works and I will now spend a few short days tramping around the sands of Rockport Texas looking at property. With a camera 'round my neck.

One more thing: As I walked up to the desk, he said, "I went on to the Office Depot online store and guess what? You can't actually order that battery on line.. Watch." So there was the battery the guy at Office Depot showed me and I exclaimed, "See! $17.99. I told you it was only $17.99!" the AddToCart button and a new window popped open to say, "This item cannot be order at this time....." But you could get a KODAK battery like his for $41.99 so he felt his price for availability was not unreasonable and I agree.