Procter & Gamble review: leaking 45

I do agree with the original poster of this column.

I had a maglite and a flexible/bendable light that were affected by the leakage.

I did send my tools back for repair or replacement. Here is what Duracell did, they sent me a check for $9 for the damaged maglite, but they did not give me money for the flexible/bendable light (nor did they send it back to me).

I called them to complain, and to ask where my second light was. They did not know! I asked them, if they can't fix it, I would want it back so I could fix it myself.

I was pissed! If you don't plan to pay me for it, or repair it, at least send it back!

Stan

YO Johnny... I hate to burst your bubble but will do so. Yes they do have a number to call but, try getting reimbursed for your equipment and time. I was told they would not accept a claim unless you have the original battery packaging and receipt for the equipment. Really!?! How long do you keep the bubble pack after you empty it? Days? Months? Or do you 86 it with all the other trash. My total loss right now is well over $650. Not to mention the time it will take to empty my desk and haul it to the furniture doctor for re-finishing. And what will I do without my work desk? HMMM! I had one vendor for a piece of equipment that was repaired under warranty, even though it was obvious what caused the failure, STRONGLY suggest that I use only Energizer batteries in the future. I will take their advice since they saved me $250!

I also noticed a dramatic decline in quality over the last two years. Their AAA batteries leak after only a few months. I have ruined 2 aircondinitioner remotes and a portable radio. The batteries in question have expire dates saying March 2013.

Attached photo shows the latest case of the battery leakage I experienced. I was not sure about the Duracell's quality degradation till I read posts online including here.

Totally agree with everyone about the quality going downhill. I did send P&G a complaint but won't hold my breath about getting reimbursed for any damage, simply going to send all Duracell batteries to the recycling depot at my local dump and will purchase Eveready from now on plus maybe buy some of their stocks as it seems everyone is having this problem.

In the past year I have had 2 AA Duracells leak all over a Walkman and ruin it. 4 D Duracells leak in a Maglight flashlight, and 2 AA leak in a clock that had to be thrown out! I have a nice airconditioned house and the batteries are inside (just so you don't think they are in a garage in the desert or something) It was April of 2012 when the AA's were found leaking in the Walkman, and the expiration date on those batteries is 2014! similar dates on the other items too. The point is that their batteries should not leak like this. This is what happened in the 50's before they conquered this problem. I'm done buying Duracell. Who wants to have their equipment ruined and then try to get them to make good on replacements? I have better things to do with my time and I'm sure most other people feel the same way. Avoid Duracell and save yourself a headache!

Hojong, I did not send them my digital recorder. Remember, there's no guarantee Duracell will reimburse me for any damages. So, if they refuse to reimburse me for the digital recorder their leaky batteries destroyed AND they destroy or refuse to return the digital recorder to me I'd be left with absolutely nothing. Then what can I do?

Well, recently I went to use my trusty, much used, Mini Mag-Lite, only to find it nonfunctional. I thought that maybe the grandsons had been playing with it again, and had exhausted the batteries (Energizers). I opened it, only to find the Energizers welded in by corrosion. These are batteries that had been replaced only about a month earlier, and the flashlight had been used on, and off regularly in the house. Energizer replaced it with a $15 coupon for their products, of course. I've been using Energizers ever since a set of fresh Duracell AAs nearly destroyed my $2, 000 + Nikon professional camera several years ago, which, after jumping through many hoops on my part, Duracell begrudgingly offered to have me send the camera in to them, or I could send them the repair estimate. I sent them the estimate, and, surprisingly, I had a check for the full amount in my hand within the week. But, that incident, along with some less devastating leaks in Duracell products caused me to stop using their products altogether. Two days ago, my wife hands me her 2D Mag-Lite, and asked me to replace the bulb since she knew the batteries were still good as the flashlight had worked the day before. I decided to check the batteries with the multimeter while I was at it. Now, I'm a strong man, upper body wise as my lower body is disabled, but I struggled mightily to get the end cap off. I found a HORRIBLE mess of corrosion within. I banged the end of the flashlight on the wood bench until I got the first battery out. It was, of course, a Duracell which we had put in about 5-6 months earlier when we couldn't find some Energizer D cells for some reason or other. This flashlight gets used frequently for short bursts looking for things in dark places, so it hasn't sat idle unused. The Mag-Lite is ruined, needless to say. I went to the Duracell website, clicked the appropriate page, only to get 404 : page not found. None of their links, other than product promotional links, work. I searched the web for an hour before I happened to stumble on a random Duracell product rating page, that no longer works, and the last rating was posted as late as February 2013. Luckily there were a couple of responses from Duracell customer care listing a phone number.. I tried calling, but the number only works M-F 9a-6p. It appears that Duracell has gone cheap, and can't be bothered with email communication. The answers given on the rating page were all exactly the same for every complaint, and always blamed the consumer for the product failure. I do have to give it to Energizer, my entire dealing with them was through email, and they were apologetic, and contrite. They also paid the postage for me to send in my damaged flashlight without me even having to ask.

I have also had multiple items affected by leaking Duracell batteries. All of these instances have occurred over the last couple of years indicating, to me, that the product has been cheapened considerably. All batteries were not even close to expiration and were in controlled climate areas. Multiple items are now not working or not working well (after my cleanup). I have asked to speak to an "engineer" but one can't get to that department. Send something to them? I don't think so...no one to talk to or get explanation about the problem and "maybe you won't get it back because they may destroy it further inspecting it"? In addition, they send back to you a standard typed letter saying that "they found nothing wrong" even the battery was obviously destroyed by the leakage. It use to be my only brand for batteries. They no longer earn a look now. On to the "bunny". I hope that all of the big box stores pay attention to the complaints and go to another brand.

I have a Sony radio damaged by three leaking Duracells with a 2019 expiration date. I can't at the moment seem to locate any sort of complaints service one can contact here in France. This is not by any means the first time I have encountered leaking Duracells and in fact the local hardware supermarket where I used to purchase them no longer carries them due to the number of complaints received. Will be using Energizers in future. A shame since Duracell batteries used to be really good.

In just one year I have had two Duracell AA batteries that leaked and destroyed valuable electronic equipment. A friend of mine reported the same issue with Duracell batteries that had an end date of 2017. Procter & Gamble offer compensation but if your battery is one month over the end date then you do not get a penny. I asked them whether we consumers should maintain a spreadsheet with the expiry dates of all batteries in the household and check all devices before leaving home for a few weeks. As fas as I am concerned I shall not buy Duracell again. Have a look at Energizer, I think they guarantee that their alkaline batteries will not leak. For the technically interested ones: alkaline batteries contain potassium hydroxide (KOH) and they develop hydrogen (H2) during operation. Over time KOH destroys the battery's metal housing.

Here's the photo.

Duracell damage can be addressed through the following information.

DURACELL
— http://www.duracell.com/en-US/battery-care-disposal.jspx
DURACELL® BATTERY GUARANTEE
If you're not completely satisfied with a Duracell® product, contact us.

All of our batteries are guaranteed against defects in material and workmanship.
Should any device be damaged by these batteries due to such defects, we will
either repair or replace it if it is sent with the batteries. Send with postage prepaid to:

Duracell
Berkshire Corporate Park
Bethel, CT 06801
Attn: Consumer Dept.
Phone: [protected]

mag lights remotes, clocks ect.It seems MAR 2016 is a very bad exp date I have D cells that have a date of DEC2023 never used that are almost dead. A 30 year Duracell user I will change brands. It is a shame when a trusted brand of quality is compromised due to rising costs. I have not called Duracell yet and hope to have positive results.

Completely agree with everyone saying that Duracell batteries are horrible and leak. All the batteries in all our household remotes all leaked battery acid inside the remotes. I have other electronics with some crappy cheap batteries that came from the manufacturer that outperformed the Duracell batteries. And when I say outperform, I mean that they did what they were supposed to withOUT leaking. Proctor & Gamble should be ashamed of themselves for charging premium prices for subpar products!

I was quite alarmed at what I have been reading and was feeling a bit apprehensive about my damaged batteries and 2 products that were damaged: 1 collectable Spyderman clock and a $59 Microsoft wireless notebook mouse.

I called the suggested number and after speaking with a rep (who shall remain nameless but was the first responder, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and received treatment that was totally opposite of the mentions in this forum.

I was asked the property damaged general information, on hold to get a claim reference and finally TOLD THAT A DEBIT CARD IN THE AMOUNT OF THE DAMAGE ALONG WITH A COUPON FOR A 20 PACK OF DURACELL BATTERIES SHOULD ARRIVE IN 2-3 WEEKS. Further she asked me to hang on to the destroyed merchandise for 8-10 weeks, so that if the technical department wanted to examine the damage further that I have it to send back and that she would send a pre-paid postage label.

I could not have asked for a more comprehensive handling of my complaint...She required NO PROOF of loss, and was genuinely concerned that I was totally satisfied upon termination of our call and given the reference number should resolution not be as described. In addition I told her to ask Duracell make a post to this thread and give the 'real deal' as far as correct information.

The number I called was [protected]

many got this totally WRONG, I invite you to call with your problems and be polite.

Happy in California

I have had the exact same experiance, several devices have had leaky batteries, my clock was fading so took it off the wall and low and behold more leaky duracell batteries, these dated 2017, so appeartly Duracell is not doing anything about fixing this issue since it has been happening for years. The lost me as a customer, sending me a coupon for more batteries dont solve a thing, how about fix your products.

I Just bought a Klipsch KMC3 portable speaker. It arrived, I put eight D cell batteries in it, took it to the patio and rocked out. The batteries lasted an hour and a half then kapoot.I then put it away wondering if I should sent the unit back as the Speaker was supposed to last 20 or so hours. Then the next day find two of the batteries leaked out melting the battery cover. What the hell? Such a disappointment from a trusted brand.

I am an electronics repair technician, mainly on radio receivers and most times the popular SONY ICF-2010. About half of the repairs I have done for my customers is to clean up battery leakage caused by AA batteries. At times the only way to make the repairs is to replace the circuit boards of the receiver. This can cost between 35 to 190 dollars and depends on the availability of replacement boards or repair of the same. I have recommended to use cheaper batteries to avoid this but the lack of a good track record makes for poor advice! Since two AA batteries are used in this application, I have resorted to using 3 volt 'coin' cells in holders as a substitute. This rash of leaking batteries has been happening for about 5 or 6 years and is not isolated to Duracell!

Duracell batteries will leak when the device is turned off or inactive - guaranteed. I have three ruined phones, a ruined keyboard, and a ruined expensive clock in just the last four months to prove it. At first I thought it was just bad luck, then I started to check other things I had Duracell batteries in. At least half the batteries were leaking in less than a year. Never buy this brand again.

Had several issues with Duracell batteries leaking in the past few years, often even when the battery still has a charge! Last night, I was startled by a load CRACK sound. Thought a small rock had hit my window, but no signs of any one outside, or any marks on the window. The next day, I found an small spot of clear liquid on the table in front of window, coming from an LCD clock / theremometer. I had just put two new Duracell (exp 2023) batteries in there last month and one was leaking, even though they show almost full charge on my little cheap meter. Don't know what's happened to Duracell, but I'm done with them.

Same problem here...today I took out 11lbs of Duracells out of everything I could find, thermometers on my weather system, remotes, cameras, lots of candles, temperature guages and test equipment our business uses, flashlights, clocks we have in every room and office, keyboards, mice, etc. Then dug out my holiday decorations and bailed the Duracells out of those as well, so many were leaking! I was able to use a child's toothbrush and baking soda to salvage a few things but others are now garbage. After so much has been ruined, including the top of a very nice buffet cabinet where Lumiere candles leaked, I'm so done with Duracell.

I always keep at least 4 dozen batteries of each kind on standby. We own an HVAC company and it's disturbing how many people call us about their heat pump not working. Turns out, the AAA and AA batteries that support the thermostat have corroded and leaked, ruining it. We have to replace them. We bill about $290 for the stat, and another $120 for the service call. So nearly $500 because the batteries leaked. I've been posting to my friends and family on social medial to check the batteries often and replace them before they leak.

I am working with digital instruments for more than 30 yrs, It is my very bitter experience that DURACELL has damaged
hundreds & thousands of measuring & testing instruments for ever. Apart from extreme chemical leakage, it has damaged
the pcb in such a manner that it is beyond, any kind of repair, even in some some pcb trucks are completely vanished due to
its corrosive chemical effect. It not only today as in Januray 2017 I am observing it for last 15 years or even more. There are
other alkaline batteries worldwide, but as per my experience DURACELL, is the poorest one in terms of leakage factor.

I had a piece of test equipment that I put DURALEAK AA batteries into they leaked on the circuit board and destroyed it, I contacted Duracell customer service and was told they had to have all the batteries, the test equipment and the rest of the batteries from the package back, so they could test them and determine the cause of the leak. Since I didn't save all the leaking batteries they would only give a 50.00 gift certificate. We are a nation wide company and will no longer allow Duracell in any of our equipment, During this we found a Simpo hand held tach, two computer mouse, four flashlights and two VHF radio's ruined all with duraleak batteries less than 60 days old

Panamacox...thank you for your addition to the complaints. I've been posting to social media about the problems with the cells. Only a few people have added comments and most blow it off. I suppose they haven't ruined anything yet. It's shocking how many things I have batteries in that I've had to change. I have saved EVERY Duracell battery that failed and will be sending them backI I have collected over 11 pounds of AA batteries. I have noticed that the leaking offenders have a expiration date between [protected]. I still won't use them. Using Eveready now.

I suspect that with the advent of rechargable nickel metal hydride and lithium batteries taking over the market that alkaline batteries are considered by the manufacturers to be heading for extinction and as such are being treated as a 'cash cow' that is milked for all the profit that they can make out of them in their remaining lifetime. This involves using cheaper not leak proof casings anymore. Someone could perhaps chop an old and new battery and see what they have skimped on, less seals, thinner steel in the jackets, cheaper stainless (more iron - test with magnet?). It was not beyond the wit of man to make leakproof batteries previously. I have had many alkaline batteries leak recently, particularly Duracells and have moved to nickel metal hydride.

I just came to work and my mouse wasn't working. Sure enough, two badly leaking Duracell AA batteries dated to expire 2022. Mouse is used weekly so not an issue of non use. I think it's criminal, or should be criminal, to sell batteries known to leak for years and years without fixing the problem.

I stopped buying duracells many years ago after one leaked into my hvac thermostat and I spent a cold heatless winter morning repairing/rebuilding the corroded parts in it.

I used to purchase Duracell batteries because they didn't leak. Recently, the Duracells I've been purchasing have been leaking before I even install them in anything. I generally keep some batteries on hand for emergencies, and they are stored in an air conditioned home. When I go to use them, I find they are leaking in the package. The expiration date is 2023!

I'm finished with Duracell. What good is a battery you don't even get to use? That's not even to mention the equipment damage that results from leaky batteries. Duracell went from being the battery that didn't leak to the battery that always leaks.

Agree with the OP. At least 75% of the Duracell batteries I have ever used, going back three decades, has leaked, often destroying what they were installed in. I avoid them like the plague, but occasionally you get stuck using them. I have had good luck with EverReady products. Here in Asia we are often forced to use Panasonic, which are seven orders of magnitude worse than Duracell, if that's even possible. I have become an expert at cleaning up contacts -- baking soda and a drop or two of water on a Q-Tip. But if you don't catch it in time, the acid will leach down into the circuitry and can't be repaired. I have never used the Duracell repair/replacement service, but finally I must start. I have lost many hundreds of dollars worth of equipment due to Duracell's incompetence -- sometimes I have lost cherished, irreplaceable devices. If other manufacturers can make batts that don't leak, then so can Duracell. They simply CHOOSE not to. Maybe they save a hundredth of a penny per unit. Penny-wise and dollar-stupid. They leave a trail of enraged ex-customers around the world.

My Duracell AA batteries are leaking before they were even install or used. Brand new unused.