Kirkland batteries leak before their time

You should return them to Costco, they will take them back. They are known to drop suppliers if they get many returns.

I'm sure they will replace the bad batteries, but that is not the issue.

The equipment at risk is far more expensive than the battery cells. Even one ruined bit of kit overwhelms the savings on the cheap batteries.

So, it's one strike and you're out --- for life. No appeals.

Joe Gwinn

If I followed that policy I'd be running short of battery suppliers since I've had the same thing happen with duracell, enegizer and ray-o-vac batteries among others. Sometimes you can get a bad cell from any manufacturer.

WayneJ

The reputable battery brands all have replacement guarantees. I don't know about COSTCO/Kirkland, but they probably have the same. One of those brands recently paid me for a GPS unit that their batteries ate.

Not sure if they still are but the Kirkland small batteries were private labels made by Duracell. The auto batteries are Johnson Controls.

I've had lots of US made batteries die after some years, always after their "best if used by" date, but six months, with two years to go on best-by? Never had that happen.

Another poster said that Kirkland may be made by Duracell. While this may be true, I'm sure they were severely price constrained, and may have been forced to leave a step or component out to meet the required max cost.

Joe Gwinn

I interviewed with Eveready back in the Union Carbide days, went through the 9V battery plant. They also made batteries for K-Mart. The difference was that the name-brand got 6 weeks storage at elevated temperatures after assembly and testing, then they weeded out the dead and weak ones on an automated tester line. The house brands didn't pay for that, they just got run through once, right after assembly. I'm sure there were probably other cost-cutting measures, the management was big on that. Secret sauce for the name-brand, etc. The difficulty is, in the race for the bottom, how far can you go before stuff becomes crap? We are about there, I think.

I've been getting Panasonic and Fuji alkalines and have had no leakers, yet. Price was decent, too. Check the country of origin.

Stan

In this very small group of testers, my experience with Kirkland AA leaking before their time coincides with yours. They will never go on a field trip again.

Edward Hennessey

Same here. Latest was a Ray-O-Vac 2-AA 1 watt LED Flashlight. This was around a year ago. The flashlight came with two Ray-O-Vac batteries that were dated to be used by ~2018. After ~3 months they had leaked and the batteries couldn't be removed. Sent it back to Ray-O-Vac in Wisconsin with a tale of woe. They sent us a new Ray-O-Vac 2-AA 3 watt LED Flashlight to replace it. A small hassle but they made good on their warranty.

Have done the same with other products for both Energizer and Duracell but not recently. I try to only buy batteries that warrant repair/replacement of damaged item if they leak because it is an ongoing problem (shrug).

I've been using a bulk pack of Kirkland AAs and AAAs for 2 years now. I've maybe had 2 leakers, and not bad enoughto cause damage - just visible. Most of the leakers I've pulled out were name brands.

Uh... okay.

replying to , Bill wrote: I bought a flashlight from Costco. Kept it in house closet and got around to opening it about 6 months later. Duracell batteries came with it and all of them were leaking. Brand new never opened. Duracell make Kirkland batteries so unless they change how they are made it will be hard for Costco to get rid of that supplier.