Sunday, February 21, 2010

Another Bad Product Redesign

Since the beginning of time, Rubbermaid has made a soft rubber drainboard (the thing you put under the dish drainer to keep water from puddling on the counter). Mine had developed a crack, so I headed off to the shops to acquire a new one. I also wanted to switch from white to black, as the white one stains easily and I thought that black would be easier to care for. But like my old Cascade dishwashing soap, they've been replaced by a new plastic product that doesn't work nearly so well. I searched three stores looking for the Rubbermaid Classic, but it was nowhere. So I got online to see if I could order it from Rubbermaid directly.

Where I discovered that (a) the old one is no longer available anywhere and (b) everyone else hates the new one as much as I do. It apparently doesn't grip the counter, so we are to be forced to purchase a rubber mat to place under it. The pitch is wrong, so water pools on it and doesn't drain into the sink. And some people who wanted the lip on the short end (my lip is on the long end) were pissed that Rubbermaid now only makes the drainboard with the lip on the long end.

Is this to be the decade of the rise of the crappy product or what?

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