« How the other third lives | Main | 1979 Schwinn Spitfire "paperboy" »
January 2, 2008
Houdini secrets exposed!
A while ago we purchased a fancy wine bottle corkscrew that they sell at Brookstone. The one where one hand holds a clamp around the top of the bottle and the other hand lowers a lever and raises it all in one smooth motion, and voila, the cork is removed with little effort. Well, the one from Brookstone broke, and since we don't have a Brookstone handy in the not-so-budding metropolis of Harrisonburg, VA, I decided to just replace it rather than go though the headache of trying to return it.
On the Monday before Christmas, it occurred to me that I should probably get some stocking stuffers for Courtney. So I took the kids to Target and and amidst the kitchen gadgets I saw what seemed to be a reasonable approximation of the Brookstone corkscrew so I bought it. I also bought her a really cool digital meat thermometer that is awesome, but I digress.
Anyway, on Christmas day, I went to use it -- isn't that great when you get to use someone else's present -- and proceeded to remove the Houdini from it's container. As soon as I picked it up, I was struck with how light it was. The one from Brookstone had obvious heft; this one felt like it was made of cheap plastic. I then picked up the box, and it was still rather heavy. Curious, I ripped off the cardboard backing on the box and found a rock screwed into the back of the plastic. What's up with that!?
It appears to me that this rock serves no purpose other than to exaggerate the weight of the corkscrew and thus inflate your perception of it's quality. It seems to me that this constitutes consumer fraud, and I'm tempted to do something about it, what do you think? Granted, the hefty Brookstone corkscrew without the sleight of hand did break, so in that case weight did not turn out to be an accurate gauge of quality. Regardless, I thought this was pretty curious.
Posted by mark at January 2, 2008 4:41 PM Subscribe (FeedBurner)
Comments
I think the rock is part of the "tool". Once the Houdini breaks, you are supposed to use the rock to break the top off the bottle before you drink - "Mmmmm..... those aren't ice cubes in your wine. They are shards of glass!"
Posted by: Michael at January 3, 2008 4:00 PM
that feels fraudulent to me! is it marketed as "heavy duty" or "heavy gauge"?
Posted by: Nate at January 3, 2008 10:07 PM
That's pretty funny. Our Brookstone wine opener broke, too, though - so I'm curious to see how the lesser one stands the test of time.
Posted by: Jenny at January 5, 2008 3:37 PM
that is super lame. i think you should make a stink. i mean, why do "they" think shoppers are stupid? where was the thing made? probably in a sweatshop. shopper are stupid. start a revolt!
oh and everyone who bought one of those from brookstone tells the same sad tail of it breaking and/or not even working. the one we have hasn't broken yet...maybe it was made in America or better yet Canada!
Posted by: rebekah at January 6, 2008 4:52 PM