Well I have tended to leave the Eneloops in the NiCAD charger, thinking that it was a NiMH charger and that it had a cut out circuit in it. For days or weeks on end.

Clearly they are dead now and I would imagine I will find that they can look as if they are charging to full (or is it just a surface charge?) but in reality they will lose all their charge quickly now even if left out of the remote. And cant be reconditioned

No, they didn't come with any charger, which with no charge instructions was a bit of a mistake on the part of Costco?

Incidentally, what does battery recondition mean? Does it mean feeding a short burst of 120v reverse polarity to bust up crystals or is that a myth?