Ahh, see, I didn't check, the AA did - he wasn't proper AA, he was just a guy from a local garage who the AA contract out (cuz we live in the middle of nowhere) he possibly coulld of not checked it right.
All i know is that one lead from his multimeter was on the battery.
I'm thinking the simplest thing to do here, would be for me to get a multimeter and have another look..
but all of your help is greatly appreciated, and any more thought would be too... thanx..