Have You Been Scammed with a Counterfeit Tool Battery?

It's one thing to sell aftermarket batteries that are "compatible" with the tools. It's an entirely different thing to sell fake ones as genuine.

Buying batteries online is borderline gambling.

Wow, this was a great video. Many years ago, I had a Bosch 7.2V drill. I left the battery on the charger in my garage and it caught on fire. I lost my garage and my house had damage from the fire. The firemen thought the fire started from the gas hot water heater, but the most damaged area was where the charger was. A few years later, I was in my store when I smelled something burning. I also heard a crackling noise and it smelled like melted plastic. I followed the sound and found the battery smoking while it was in the charger. I pulled it off the charger and it melted in my hand (and burned my skin). I pulled the plug from the wall and watched it to make sure the battery didn't catch fire. Needless to say, the entire Bosch kit went into the trash! If I'm not mistaken, it was a NiCad battery - the original was purchased around 1993 and the replacement in 1997. Since that happened, I don't leave my chargers plugged in with a battery. As soon as the charge light is on, I pull the battery pack off. I haven't bought an online battery yet and after watching your video, I won't. Having been though a house fire, it's not worth the small savings to put myself and family at risk. A deepest thank you for doing this video. The shorting of the battery pack was very important and informative!

It was very surprising when you were allowed to register a counterfeit battery on the company website. This is alarming!

These counterfeits look extremely professional and hard to spot without opening them up… thanks for raising awareness

You know what's the worst? Paying for the price of a genuine battery but getting the fake one! ☠️

I have 18 different Dewalt battery packs in my garage at various watt hours and I never even thought of some of them being counterfeit. Turns out 4 of them are. I will definitely not be using those anymore. Thanks for the video!

This video is already being shared in the Fire Investigation groups. Another thing to have to look for. Great information.

It's so annoying searching for batteries on Amazon. 90% of The top results are counterfeit ones.

Crazy how CLOSE the fake batteries look like the real ones.. A++ Video.

I purchased a pair of dewalt batteries thinking I was purchasing oem because they were more expensive than the knockoffs and claimed to be authentic. However, I noticed over the past few weeks they don’t seem to last even half the time as the ones that actually came with my dewalt tools. Wasn’t necessarily searching for any videos about my concerns but your video popped up in my feed as a suggestion. So, I watched it because of the relevance. Having done so, I’ve now put the batteries in a LIPO fire protection storage bag and will keep them outside in a spare gang box I have out behind my shop (not up against the shop) and I’ll only get em out when I need to do a project that requires doing so. I’ve always left them either on my power tools shelves in my shop or even in my garage. NEVER AGAIN! Todd, you very well could’ve just saved me a house or shop fire due to these subpar counterfeit batteries! For that my friend, I can’t thank you enough for what you do and for this video specifically! Keep on keeping on! We love ya Pal!👍

I just bought a couple M12 batteries from amazon that were only about $20 less normal (rather than half the price) and upon weighing the one I've received so far, it weighs 370g whereas the one I got from home depot previously is 422g. Also the red plastic is a slightly darker color, as well as the red on the sticker on the side. Thanks for this video! I had no idea these were a thing! I will return it and leave a review to warn the next people

You are now doing more than the FTC did in years about these problems!

Thanks for not blurring out the seller's name that are selling the counterfeit batteries.

The exterior and packing I could never figure out which fakes were made; the construction is incredible. Whoa, I appreciate you bringing this up.

Ok, so I have to say your efforts for this video is amazing! I found a counterfit at Home Depot, most likely a return fraud, not a HomeDepot supply chain issue... but none the less, a problem. However, I manage to weight the dewalt batteries and you could totally tell! Your video of the weight was extremely helpful! Shared the video with my local Home Depot and Lowes staff.

I got scammed by a "reputable" on-line dealer. Both the battery pack and the charger I purchased were fake and potentially lethal. I now only buy direct from the manufacturer websites. This video really reinforces how careful you need to be. Thanks!

I had two counterfeit batteries by accident, Lowe’s had an open package on clearance that was returned with no problems reported. When I got home they would not charge so I returned them, Luckily they grabbed an unopened package and swapped them for me plus the guy informed me that I got to pick a free tool! I told him I had bought these on clearance and therefore didn’t think I qualified and he winked and said well the promotion doesn’t say otherwise so I picked up a free cordless angle grinder after getting $200 worth of batteries for $75.00

Thank you for doing this video!!! I've had a counterfeit battery catch fire on me while it was in my toolbelt and I have a burn scar on my leg from it. I didn't even realize it was counterfeit at the time, I just thought it was a good deal on Amazon. We NEED to make more people aware of this! And there needs to be some kind of law about this!!! Someone needs to step in and put a stop to these or make them label them as "not genuine" so this kind of thing doesn't happen to others. It could've been alot worse, I was around saw dust that day and it could've set the whole worksite on fire! And who would you sue for something like that?!

Cant say how valuable all of your videos are. Thanks so much for all you do and how thorough you are!