Just a place to do a dumb

Battery Re-Relocate (issues)

Warning - Rant!
This is kind of a supplimental to the Battery Re-Relocate story.  As this really just involve me - this story will be in the first person.
Maybe we need a name the current battery?  Let's go with "Sly" which is a play on SLI (Starting, Lighting, Ignition).

So is was day 60 of the project and I needed to get the new battery so that the cables could be cut to length and so on.  I didn't want to use Sly as it was too small to begin with and that was the whole point of the project.  I put Sly in the truck and drove to the battery shop which Google believed would be open until 1:00pm.  I arrived at 11:00am to find the place closed.  Well %^&*.

 Local Battery Shop
 powerstride

 

On the following Monday I took SLY to work so that afterwards I could once again stop by the shop and purchase the battery I wanted.  The Optima RedTop 34 or 34R - I was only slight pickey. :)  I pulled up and carried Sly into the shop.  A very friendly technician offered to help and I asked to purchase the model 34.  I was then told, "We don't carry the 34."  (what??)   You may have noticed in the picture above that this place sells Optima Batteries.  WTF?  

The manager, who actually helped me roughly 3 months prior, calmly told me that they could order one but it would be about 3 months before I get it.  Now to be clear I am not blaming the manager.  Well maybe a little but he was just being straight forward.  I assumed (ya ya ya) that with the big banner and the wall of Optima batteries they sold the model 34.  They do have other Redtops but these have lower cranking variety...

It was at this moment I said, "Ummm No - Amazon!"  To which he said, "OK", and we were done!  I then drove Sly home, put it in the garage, and got on Amazon with a purpose.  Once again, "Well %^&*

 Found this on the Amazon page once I selected the battery. :(  
 Batt Ama nope

 

I checked other automotive batteries and it appears Amazon simply will not ship these in California.

I then got on the Optima website to look for other dealers in the area.  They list O'Reillys (my go to), Autozone, and Advanced Auto Parts.  So, in order, I did the following:

  1. O'Reillys: their website only listed 3 Optima batteries, none of which were the RedTop.  "Well %^&*
  2. Advanced Auto Parts: YES the have the Redtop listed and there is a store closer than O'Reillys. 
    1. I grabbed Sly and we were off.  As I walked up to the storefront something was a "bit off".  It was when I got to the door I saw a sign that read - "All items $1 - except Diehard Batteries".  Looking thru the glass door it was obvious they were going out of business. Well %^&* 
    2. As Sly and I were already driving around town I simply drove a bit further to another Advanced Auto Parts store and found the same thing.  It appears they are ALL closing down.  Sly and I then drove home and I carried it back into the garage. "%^& %^& %^& *
  3. Autozone:  I took the last swing thinking this is a waste of time. 
    1. They do list the model 34. Yah! 
    2. But they don't have on at the closest store which I had selected. Boo...
    3. Using the "Find Nearest Store" option there was ONE listed in a neighboring town.  I called then and YES they have ONE. 
    4. I then drove to that town and finally got the battery I wanted for the ChevyBaker!  What you did not read was me taking Sly with me.  I will be taking Sly to the closer store for a refund of the $22 "core charge" later.

Options considered if Autozone failed:

  1.  Have Amazon ship the new battery to a friend in Arizona who happens to drive to Californa once a month. 
  2.  See if I could buy the model 34 from the Optima website directly.
  3. Use my Google Fu for good instead of evil. (AKA keep looking for someone willing to sell me the %^& thing.

It should be noted that my obsession with the Redtop 34 was initially due to a co-worker who raved about them.  He is a car guy and maybe it is the peer pressure but I had to have one.  Looking up the specs I saw why -  800 Cold Cranking Amps and 1000 Cranking Amps...  This should do the trick!

Warning - Rant Continues:

Well I took Sky to the closer Autozone and guess what, the other store did not put me in the system correctly so I can not get the Core Charge refunded. Well %^&*.  Because of the distance it was just not worth returning to the store that sold me the Optima so I simply asked, "Can I leave it sitting right here and walk out?" So that's what I did.  We are keeping the reciept and registered the battery with Optima...