A Happier Situation

After my little rant about big business a few days ago, I wanted to tell a problem tale with a happier ending. We recently started selling Steve Spangler's Geyser Tubes - they are scientific, amazing, and probably the most fun you can have with a bottle of diet coke and a pack of Mentos - as you will note if you watch this video. We ordered them two ways - with a "regular" top and the slightly fancier set
with three assorted caps to give assorted effects. I attended a party where a number of them were shot off a rooftop in Cambridge . . . and it was spectacular, but no one could see any difference between the fancy caps and the plain. Worried, I called the company. I didn't want to be charging extra for something that wasn't working. I would call, someone would be"looking into it," I would call again, same story. Finally, this morning I spoke with Renee. She said the reason it had taken them so long to get back to us was because they were testing them again. She said they couldn't see any difference at first and thought 'My God, she's right!"Then they realized that the observer's eye is drawn to the top of the geyser - and that the difference is only visible at the bottom - for the first three feet or so. If you look at the bottom, you do see the difference.She said that because of our call, they realize they need to change the packaging to alert purchasers to this. So . . . our phone call is going to lead to a package redesign. Not bad. And it's very nice to deal with people who take their product and their responsibility to retailers and consumers so seriously.