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Today my car wouldn't crank... it just "click, click, clicked" when turning the key over.  I got a jump from AAA, then drove to a local goodyear.  They said the alternator was bad, which had killed the battery.  Since it is still under warranty, and the alternator was covered, I had it towed to my local dealership (where I bought it new).  I received a call about an hour ago from the service dept. stating that the battery was bad, and they would have to replace that before they can check the alternator??? What's up with that, when the first place didn't do that?  Is this correct?  Also they are charging 50 something dollars with the battery to "check the charging system".  When I asked what this was, I was told it was to check the battery, alternator and something else.  When I asked why I was being charged for things that hadn't been done... they said they couldn't check anything else, until they replaced the battery.  Does this sound correct, legitimate?  Sorry to say I'm not mechanically inclined at all ... Thanks for any help...  

The battery should be fully charged in order to perform a proper test without removing the alternator and bench testing it. It depends on how bad the battery is. You should charge it for an hour and retest the battery. If its just too weak to start the vehicle put otherwise can support the headlights and roll up the windows you can usually get the vehicle started to check the alternator and see if its charging 14 volts. Its not often that both battery and alternator fail at the same time. If the alternator is bad then the battery loses its charge and can usually be recharged. If the battery is bad the car will run off the alternator once started unless it has shorted plates and is overloading the alternator. So the proper way to test is charge the battery and load test, pass or replace. Start the vehicle and check alternator for charging 14 volts, pass or check 12volt to regulator, pass and replace alternator or fail and fix wire.