It's easy to have an effective bogey man when people believe what you tell them and you cannot verify anything.
We're from the government and we're here to help. lol
Take photos of the damage and call Duracell and Energizer. They will at a minimum give you tons of free batteries and often will give you a prepaid Visa card for the value of the item if it's damaged. I do this at least twice a year. Haven't bought a battery in 4-5 years now.