I have to agree with TT on this one. While it certainly isn’t dishonest or illegal to take advantage of free services offered by shops, I’d feel guilty going back and forth like this knowing I was taking advantage of them in this manner. If I planned to buy the battery at Walmart, I’d let Walmart do the testing. This also eliminates the problem that if there should be a problem each shop can claim it isn’t theirs to fix. Both can justifiably IMHO refuse to back the new battery. AZ didn’t supply the battery, and Walmart didn’t do the testing (diagnosis). I think you’re walking a fine line here honesty-wise.
Another perspective, OP wouldn’t have had to go to WalMart for a replacement battery in the first place if the other vendor offered a similar quality battery, same price, & same return policy. OP is just looking out for OP’s interests is all. What services the vendors offer gratis or for a fee is the vendor’s decision. OP can’t be held responsible for that.
[quote=“GeorgeSanJose, post:22, topic:96076, full:true”]
Another perspective, OP wouldn’t have had to go to WalMart for a replacement battery in the first place if the other vendor offered a similar quality battery, same price, & same return policy. OP is just looking out for OP’s interests is all. What services the vendors offer gratis or for a fee is the vendor’s decision. OP can’t be held responsible for that.
[/quote]AutoZone’s warranty would have allowed a return. I can’t comment on the other aspects.
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What services the vendors offer gratis or for a fee is the vendor’s decision. OP can’t be held responsible for that.
George, of course he’s not responsible. I guess that was my point 
What if it were a business offering free bakery items as an enticement to buy something and you stop by every day to eat a donut but never buy anything from them? Is that honorable? You can top that by bringing in your own stale bagel from home and asking them to heat it up for you. It only takes 5 seconds, right?
There will always be those looking for a free ride in some way, rationalizing it in the way the OP did.
What if it were a business offering free bakery items as an enticement to buy something and you stop by every day to eat a donut but never buy anything from them? Is that honorable? You can top that by bringing in your own stale bagel from home and asking them to heat it up for you. It only takes 5 seconds, right?
There will always be those looking for a free ride in some way, rationalizing it in the way the OP did.
Pretty easy to make an argument when you build a straw man, and I don’t really appreciate you making assumptions about my ethics based on this one instance of my life nor do I think this message board is really the place for that.
For the record, I was not aware that I could take my vehicle to WalMart to get a free test. I did not know that they offered that service because I have always gone to AutoZone in the past. Of course if I had known in advanced that WalMart offered this service and I was planning to buy something from them anyway I would have gone there instead. I also did not find it pertinent to the conversation in the original post, but the reason why I went across the street to WalMart in the first place was because it was $30 cheaper. If that makes me someone looking for a free ride, then fine, but I’m not pretending that AutoZone cares any more about me just because they want my money.