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Are GENUINE LG Batteries available ANYWHERE? Aftermarket batteries will NOT work

Carol2

Newbie
Does anyone know where you can purchase a genuine LG battery? Here's my story. I purchased an LG Optimus F60, also called the MS395 (why it has two names, I do not know) mobile phone about two weeks ago. One of the reasons I selected this phone was because it has a replaceable battery. But not so quick...

I purchased an aftermarket battery on eBay. When I received it and put it in the phone, I got the error message "Invalid Battery. Shutting Down." It was sold as a genuine LG battery, but I do not believe it. I researched the error on the internet and found that the error message is common on LG devices with use of aftermarket batteries (and also batteries that have gotten wet). I have tried numerous methods of getting the aftermarket battery to work as suggested on various sites and forum, but without any success. I am in the process of returning the battery to the eBay seller.

So next, I tried to purchase an original, genuine LG battery. Unbelievably, they are not available anywhere! (Do not believe sellers on eBay and Amazon that they are selling genuine LG parts. Simply not true. A true genuine LG battery does not seem to be available anywhere.)

First, I tried my carrier, MetroPCS. I called a corporate store: they do not sell batteries. (What?!) I also tried the MetroPCS website. No batteries.

Next, I tried LG's website, LG.com. They sell hundreds of mobile phones but only sell two (2) mobile phone batteries. Again, what?! Unbelievable. Check it out for yourself: http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phone-batteries.

Next, I tried calling LG's Customer Service telephone number: 800-243-0000. No joy.

Next, I tried calling LG's Repair Parts and Service telephone number: 800-847-7597. They do not sell this battery.

Next, I emailed LG's Customer Service through their website email interface. The responding Customer Service Representative obviously did not actually read my email and sent me a canned response to call LG's Customer Service number. (Not surprisingly, it was from an email address to which one cannot reply.)

Next, I used LG's online chat. Same response: the representative suggested that I call Customer Service and after I said I had already done that, suggested calling Repair & Parts. When I said I had already done that, they asked me to hold a few minutes while they researched the problem further. After waiting 20-30 minutes, I asked if they were still researching to which I received a reply "The agent has ended the session. Please start a new session if you still have questions"! So the agent bolted without telling me. Nice. :(

I have reached dead-end after dead-end and have not been able to buy an LG battery anywhere. So if you think that an LG phone is a good choice because the battery can be swapped out, make sure you can actually get a swappable battery. In my phone, an aftermarket battery will not work and a genuine, LG battery cannot be purchased!

Am I wrong? Do you know where I can buy one? Sure would appreciate any help.

Thanks!
Carol
 
The correct battery model is BL-41A1H and not many markets are carrying them.

I found one from Amazon UK. It's exactly same model but capacity is different somehow.. Mine says 2020mAh but the Amazon picture says 2100mah. Front side design is also little different...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genuine-LG-D390N-2100-Battery/dp/B00RPIRT0Y

Anyway £19.95 is almost $30.00, including shipping i dont think its worth to get it.



This sounds stupid but I think the best solution to save money & time is getting a new phone -_-;;

https://www.metropcs.com/phones/details/lg-leon-lte/610214640437.html
 
If you want to go little deeper & test around.

I believe battery ID check is built into the stock kernel. If you root your phone and install CM12, you may pass battery check since it's using 3rd party CM kernel instead of the stock. Check Root section for how to root & how to install CM12 ROM.
 
Hi Bard,

Thank you for your reply. Yes, that is the correct model number. I researched the purchase of a genuine replacement battery using that model number, too. Same result: none. The aftermarket battery that I purchased was labeled and sold as a new, original genuine OEM LG Model BL-41A1H battery. It is a very good fake and, as you say, is labeled as 2100 mAh versus the original stock battery with 2020 mAh.

This is a new phone - only had it a couple of weeks - and it appears that I would have the same problem with any other LG phone, including the Leon. Has anyone been able to find a functioning replacement battery for the Leon - either original or aftermarket? If you follow the link above, you will see that, even with the hundreds of LG phones on the market, LG has only made two, TWO, 2(!!) LG batteries available on their website. Only two! I think, as time goes on and people start looking for replacement batteries for the newer LG phones, more and more will get the "Invalid Battery" error and the forum will be filled with posts about this problem. I can't believe people aren't going ballistic about this already. I'm shocked that I seem to be the only one (so far). How can it be that neither LG nor MetroPCS sells an authentic replacement battery? Seriously, how can that be?

I do not want to root my phone because I got lucky enough to get this phone grandfathered in with a very inexpensive plan and I don't want to risk messing that up. I do not think I could get that deal again and I don't want to risk losing it by inadvertently ruining this phone. I'll deal with having to carry around a charger cord with me everywhere I go, if I have to. But I don't like it.

I would love to hear from anyone with this phone that has an aftermarket battery that works in an Optimus F60. That would solve my problem.

Thanks again for your time and thoughts. Greatly appreciated!
Carol
 
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Hi Bard,

I do not want to root my phone because I got lucky enough to get this phone grandfathered in with a very inexpensive plan and I don't want to risk messing that up. I do not think I could get that deal again and I don't want to risk losing it by inadvertently ruining this phone. I'll deal with having to carry around a charger cord with me everywhere I go, if I have to. But I don't like it.

Thanks again for your time and thoughts. Greatly appreciated!
Carol

What type of plan do you have? I had the LG Motion that was on the $55 unlimited plan which was $50 thanks to the family plan deal. I was told that once I switch to the new GSM network I would lose that plan but I quickly changed plans once they offered the $50 unlimited plan a little while ago and thanks to the family plan I pay only $45 for unlimited! I was told that as long as I buy another 4G LTE phone I will keep the same plan.

Anyway, that sucks about not finding a battery for this great phone. How about getting a portable charger? At least you wouldn't have to be tethered to the outlet all the time to charge your phone.
 
Hi Matthew,
That was a great suggestion and I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I will buy an external battery portable power supply charger thingee! Thanks for the reply!

Hi Jplsteel, not sure what you mean by "no probs yet". Do you have an aftermarket battery that you are using in a newer model LG phone?

Carol
 
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