It sounds like you have an A pack with R stickers. You probably just got a good story unfortunately. I don't believe the R cells would have been compatible with the A packs configuration. I may be wrong.
Thanks for the responses! To be fair to the dealer, I think he was getting the soon to come at that time "R" bikes confused with my EX since it had a R sticker. At least I can use the battery out of our 17 MX as a back up if ever needed!