I had spoken to the customer service at SI because I was thinking of getting the Volt max batteries however he told me that all the batteries perform the same it is just a matter of how long they will last
Yep. A different battery wont change much other than how often you have to charge the batteries. Trying different hardware is an expensive crap shoot. It's not likely going to make a juice that doesn't work to curb your cig cravings suddenly do so.
Since you already have decent hardware (The Volt is what I currently use even though I have several higher end mods like the Provari) the best use of your money is in finding a juice that satisfies your urge to smoke. It's out there somewhere. Once you find that, then you can think about fine tuning the experience with hardware if you want to. But until you find a juice that works for you, new hardware is most likely going to be a waste of time and money.
Buy a bunch of blank carts, and order every sample bottle/pack of juice you can get your hands on. And be sure to grab things you don't think you'll like. You'll find your favorite juice among the things you wouldn't expect to like.
Since my goal was to quit smoking tobacco, I tried every tobacco flavor I could find since that's what I was trying to replace. None of them really worked for me and I was still smoking a half a pack a day. Some of them tasted ok (or even better than ok), but they just didn't satisfy my urge to smoke. So I started buying sample packs of everything I would possibly not hate. For example, I didn't think I'd like fruit flavors as anything other than a novelty, but right now I'm gorging myself on Vaporite's Strawberry Lime Delight. It obviously tastes nothing like a cig, but it gives me the same "feeling" in my throat and chest I get from smoking a cig and has enough nic content that it works. It's gotten me down to only 2 or 3 cigs a day.
I'm still tearing through samples right now. Once they're gone I'll be buying a low nic version of my faves for frequent vaping to curb my oral fixation thing with smoking and a higher nic version to get over the nic fits that still require me to smoke. I shouldn't have much problem kicking the cigs entirely with that strategy. But I wouldn't have known that when I started. It takes some trial and error to find what works for you, but it's definitely worth it! It's a hell of a lot better than gums, patches or Chantrix.
Find a flavor you like that feels somewhat satisfying. Then try it in different nic strengths and (if possible) different pg/vg ratios (I prefer mixes between 30-40%VG) until you find your sweet spot. Then you can start looking for mods to address anything specific you don't like or want to improve upon.
I was also thinking about getting the manual but after reading a lot of reviews I was under the impression that with Volt the autos are actually better.
They're both good. Autos main benefit is that they "feel" more like smoking and it's hard to burn out a cartomizer with an auto. But some people, especially those trying to kick full flavor cigs, like bigger hits than you can get in the 5-7 second cut off time the autos have. And hitting the button stops feeling weird pretty quickly. You might want to try a manual with a lower nic content juice (to keep from getting too much nic and the shakiness, headaches and even nausea that can cause) and take bigger or more frequent hits and see if that feels better.
If you're getting a range of different resistance cartos - some LR and some SR, you might want to approximate those with a pair of attys so if a juice doesn't quite work (tastes 'burnt' at 1.7, lacks flavor at 2.5, etc.) on one you can try it on the other. If you're ordering your kit from Sweet-Vapes they have Bauway (I believe is spelled right) attys that are serviceable and at a decent price (I've had a couple of them). I just ordered a couple of Cisco attys from Avid Vaper 
