We recondition industrial batteries in-house. We sell to dealers and end users.

Many dealers purchase from various battery companies (dealers/resellers/repair shops), so one cannot put a GOOD/BAD label on a forklift dealer. If you know specifically where the battery was reconditioned then one can be a better judge of actual expected quality.

My Advice:
Ask for references and read the warranty fine print.
Age the battery and secure an load test on the actual battery being sold. If a battery has not been load tested, it is NOT reconditioned. Voltage readings when the battery is installed and when the truck is in use, can show if some batteries are in extremely poor condition, but it is no where near sufficient for determining capacity/longevity.
When reviewing the cell voltages look for relative consistency in numbers and more importantly a 4th hour voltage reading of 1.70 or greater.
There are obviously many other factors that weigh in, but adhere to the above and you will limit your risk.

On the battery renew: The above comment on "Snake Oil" made me chuckle, but I thought it was... fitting. Though I cannot say exactly what is in this magic potion, I can say after a rigorous Q&A session, with the local guy, we were left less than convinced.

As for the use of reconditioned batteries?
80% capacity guarantees a solid 4 hour run time. Yes a reconditioned battery has a shorter life span than new and the engine analogy is... cheeky, but not entirely incorrect. The lower acquisition cost of a recon battery makes it attractive to the extremely light duty users; users who cannot justify purchasing a new battery just so it can sit and sulfate. As long as the supplying dealer is representing the batteries correctly, they are a good niche.

As for the phrase "the root of the end users lack of understanding of proper battery care and very few assign a single person the responsibility for this" BINGO