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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!vax135!ariel!hou5f!hou5g!jrt
From: jrt@hou5g.UUCP (Jaime Tormos)
Newsgroups: net.auto,net.consumers
Subject: Die Hard batteries die young (on purpose)
Message-ID: <365@hou5g.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 8-Mar-84 09:48:01 EST
Article-I.D.: hou5g.365
Posted: Thu Mar  8 09:48:01 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Mar-84 07:08:05 EST
References: <191@hou2g.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ
Lines: 37

I am another case of someone who went through 4 `Die Hard's in
5 years.  It was then that I postulated that Sears may be doing
that on purpose.  I.E. (my theory)

	> Give the battery a longer guarantee than it merits.
	> Charge more for the extra guarantee, and pro-rate it,
	  so that statistically those that do return their
	  batteries for warranty, will be covered by the additional
	  charge (no pun, ha ha).
	> You have just `hooked' millions of people into buying
	  Sears batteries.  That is, for those that do not have
	  problems with the `Die Hard'..."Gee Martha, it really 
	  works" -- (Little do they realize that it lasted only
	  because most people but new cars every three to five
	  years).  For those that DO have problems, in order to
	  get credit for the remaining pro-rated warranty, they
	  have to but ANOTHER Die Hard !! and so the cycle
	  continues, sucking victims into its vortex, never to
	  be seen again.

The same ideas work for their infamous tires....Overcharge, Overrate,
Over-warranty, and hook that sucker back in.  For a while I was hooked
on their tires, then I saw the light and switched to B.F.Goodrich.  Since
then, the average lifetime of my tires has gone from 20000 miles to over
45000 miles per tire, at comparable prices, if not less.


  One note, I have owned the SAME car for 14 years, I service it regularly,
and when I was having all of those problems with `where America shops', I
was having them do front end alignments, electrical system checks, shock
replacements and anything else they could think of to help with `my problem'.


			(** FRODO **) alias hou5g!jrt

p.s. I bought a J.C.Penney forever battery seven years ago and I have not
	had a single problem since.