Hey Raptor. I would PM Optima Jim. I don't think you should necessarily get penalized because you got deployed to Hawaii after buying your battery. I don't think it always matters anyway, but in your case there are certain "extanuating" circumstances that they might take into account.
Worth a shot anyway. Even if you don't like Optima any more, you still paid a bundle for it, and should get some use out of it.
As I've said before, all of my personal and professional (as a seller of Optimas) experience has been nothing but positive. I recently recharged my Blue-Top from dead-nuts to full power with only my trusty Sears semi-smart charger left on for a week. I started the first day of charging using some speaker wire in between the charger and the positive terminal, then went direct for the rest of the week.
That same battery had sat (on the proverbial concrete floor no less) for 3 years before I even used it the first time and it started the car without even an initial recharge. Yes, I know it's not supposed to do hat, but it did. And so did my second one just recently, and 2 Yellow Tops that I put in a friend's re-wired Bronco. They've since sat in his Bronco for over a year without a single start, and fired right up with no re-charge.
The body shop that let the one go dead for a month with the lights on had figured it was a total loss, but I got it charged back up and it's been fine since.
It does (very) slowly go down on a meter, just like any battery does (including non-Optimas), but not fast enough to cause trouble. I just put it back in after sitting on the floor again for a month, and it's perfectly capable of starting the car.
Still.
Our warranty percentage was very low too, but then that was a few years ago too, so I accept the possibility of change. However, all four of mine (3 Blue, 1 Red) are within the time frame of when everybody's problems started. So I don't know what to say. I'm just a punk that's feeling lucky I guess.
Just a long way of suggesting you contact Optima and see if there are any KO's (Kaneohe Options) .
Paul