How Do I Get Warranty Service on my OPTIMA Battery?

OPTIMA pursues 100% perfection with every product we make and while it may be impossible to ever achieve that goal with product quality, we want to get as close to it as we can with every product we produce. We do understand that sometimes warranty service is needed and we want to help you understand how to get your product serviced if that need does arise. Fortunately, we can tell you that most batteries that come in for warranty service are just deeply-discharged and will work fine, when properly-recharged, as explained in this video.

In the instances where the battery cannot be recovered and warranty assistance is needed, we would encourage you to return your battery to your authorized OPTIMA retailer and be prepared to provide your proof of purchase. They will also attempt to charge and test the battery, to make sure it does need to be replaced and sometimes that process can take several hours, depending on the size of the battery and the measured voltage. If they determine a warranty replacement is needed, they will provide one for you.

It's a fairly-straightforward process, but sometimes instances arise where there is some confusion about how OPTIMA warranties are handled. Sometimes consumers believe (or are even told by unauthorized sellers), that they can have their OPTIMA battery serviced at any retailer that sells OPTIMA batteries. Generally speaking, retailers will only service the products they sell, which means if you buy an OPTIMA battery from a retailer like Advance Auto Parts, you'll need to take it back to them for service. That can make purchasing a battery from one of those national chains a more attractive option, as their purchase records tend to be accessible at all their locations, regardless of where the original purchase was made.

Because OPTIMA batteries have a sealed design, they can also be shipped, which means there are many online retailers who also sell our products. If you decide to purchase an OPTIMA battery from one of these retailers and it needs warranty service, you may need to return it to them for that service. We always caution consumers to make sure they know who they are buying batteries from online and to verify the legitimacy of a retailer before making a purchase. If they aren't committed enough to being in the battery business to have a commercial building with their name on it, you're better off either buying direct from us or finding a retailer who is likely to be in business for the duration of your warranty.

While many authorized retailers sell our products online, we have also heard many stories from consumers who had negative experiences with unauthorized sites like Craigslist, Offerup, eBay or Facebook Marketplace. When a consumer doesn't have any proof of purchase and can no longer locate the business (person) who sold them their battery, there's often very little we can do to assist them, especially when the production date of their battery is well beyond their warranty coverage.

While we try to be as accommodating as possible with assisting customers who need warranty service, we understand it may not be possible to meet everyone's expectations. We were recently contacted by one such individual, who requested an exception to our warranty policy (he purchased a battery on eBay and wanted warranty service at a local retailer). When we were unable to provide an exception, the individual then indicated they wrote articles for a car club's national publication, as well as several other news outlets and again asked if we couldn't have someone "take care of him?"

We've received such requests before and in other instances, the message is very blunt- take care of me and I'll say nice things about you to my audience. If you don't take care of me, I'll bash your company. While some other companies may capitulate to these demands, we have to hold our ground for the best interest of all our customers. As much as we would like to satisfy everyone, it would be very misleading and unfair to all our customers, if we made an exception for one individual, that we weren't prepared to make for everyone else. This is especially true if the individual had the ability to share the experience with a larger audience that won't receive the same exception.

If we don't make a special exception for an individual and they decide to write negative stories about their experience with us, we believe our customers are smart enough to understand the context of those comments and see them for what they really are. We would encourage you to read our full warranty terms and conditions here and if you have any further questions, you can contact our customer service department at info@optimabatteries.com