Samsung Digimax Bum Deal U-CA3

Samsung Digimax

I just received a Samsung Digimax U-CA3 digital camera. I put in the lithium battery that came with it (expiration date 2013), turned it on briefly- it seemed to be in working order. Turned off the camera (lens retracted, lights off), left it overnight. The next day I turned it on to format the memory card as per the manual. The camera froze as soon as the lens extended upon turning it on- totally dead. Pressing the power button only caused a brief flash on the indicator light by the viewfinder. After repeated, futile tries and a few minutes pause, it finally went on briefly (and this stupid cartoon of a dancing girl played for a couple of seconds) then said “low battery” in the LCD and shut off.
I figured either the camera was defective, or somehow a brand new battery sealed in a plastic bag was almost dead out of the factory. So I called the customer service number on the manual cover. After explaining in detail what happened, I was told that the battery was exhausted just from being in a shut-off camera overnight. Needless to say, I found this baffling. The explanation given was that it is a “high drain device,” even when off. (Lithium batteries store a lot of energy. How it could be drained overnight with the camera OFF is a mystery to me, which the Samsung representative couldn’t explain beyong saying it’s a “high-drain device.”) Samsung’s proffered solution to my problem- 1) NEVER leave batteries in the camera, just put them in when you want to take a picture (!!) and 2) buy a recharger and rechargeable battery from them- for $99.
I pointed out that the manual didn’t say never to leave the battery in the camera (such a camera is preposterous anyway). They said the manual should be revised.
Actually, they need to emblazon the box with LARGE LETTERS saying WARNING! BATTERIES CANNOT BE LEFT IN THIS PRODUCT BETWEEN PICTURES!!
Of course, who would buy it then?