customers in space

Yesterday I helped a customer with a return without a receipt.  I had originally sold him the product months ago and remembered and it was not really a big deal.

The reason for the return was that when his wife was using it, she tipped the product 270 degrees in opposite direction of proper usage and some of the liquid contained in the product came out.  It surprised her and caused her discomfort.

When I processed the return, I labeled it as "defective" because it seemed the most logical at the moment.  I'd never heard of this happening before, but I also thought it was a little weird that his wife was using the product that way.

After the customer left, I did a little testing with the product and similar items from another brand.  I found that all of them will pour out liquid if turned backwards to that extreme degree.  I called the customer and let him know as he was going to purchase the product again and expect different results.  He decided to buy back his return, but suggested that it was a major design flaw and that I should contact the companies and let them know about their dangerous product.

Now, for the most part, I found this customer pleasant and easy to work with, which is why I am sad that I can't say "WHY THE FRICK DOES YOUR WIFE NEED TO TURN THIS PRODUCT UPSIDE DOWN WHEN IT IS FULL OF HOT LIQUID?"  And if you used something once in a weird way and it had unpleasant effects, why wouldn't you learn from that and NOT DO THAT, especially when that is not necessary for the function of the product?  Why do you need to turn it upside down?  Is your wife an astronaut?

And, though I'm sure companies love consumer feedback, I don't want to be the one to email them and tell them about how when you weirdly used their product, stuff spilled out.  I mean, I'll do it if I have to,  but it's embarrassing.

Afterwards, my co-worker who observed the whole transaction, asked, unprompted, "why wouldn't you just use it normally?".  Yes.