Wednesday, December 17, 2008

three FAIL!s in one product!

.. continuing along the theme of windshields ...

The inside of Kosh's car is a tad grungy (I won't ask how many times it's actually been properly cleaned since he bought it back in '97!), and during wintertime the windshield tends to get a little fogged up with condensation. I don't like it, it interferes with my view of the road.

So quite a while ago, I saw this product at a local Target, and got Kosh to buy it.

The first FAIL! occurred when trying to open the Moisture Lock Snap Pack: the little ring you're supposed to pull to get to the wipes? It came off. Just the ring. No way to get to the wipes.

So back we went to Target, and got a replacement.

A few months later, (we are nothing if not procrastinators), it's cold, the windshield is threatening to get foggy, so we finally open the pack and wipe down the insides of the windshield and front windows. The wipes were very wet, so we could cover a huge surface area with it... but it turned the glass all foggy.

Umm,,, take a look at the photo - see the ANTI-FOG claim?

We ended up having to get a whole bunch of paper napkins (we were at a gas station at the time) and just wiping off all the foggy crap from the windows.

You know, we figured maybe it was because the glass was mega-dirty, that's why the product didn't work as claimed. So a few months later, when it was nice and summery, one day we worked on the car with Windex and loads of paper towels, cleaning grime off of the windows.

Then a few months ago (do you see a pattern here?), we tried again with the anti-fog wipes. FAIL! Seriously! As soon as you're done wiping the glass, it goes all foggy. I ended up sacrificing my sweatshirt sleeve "unwiping" everything so we could see out the windshield again!

.. and since it had been so long since the purchase, Target wouldn't give a refund, especially since it was a product quality issue. So Kosh called up the rain-X Customer Service number to complain. They essentially took down basic information and said a representative will call back in a day or two to get the whole story.

A week passes. Kosh calls again, wanting to know what is up, when is someone going to call so we can vent about our dissatisfaction, and perhaps get a refund (certainly don't want a replacement!). The Customer Service representative who answers the call this time around refuses to take down any information, insisting that someone will call soon, maybe they are a little backed up.

Yeah.

A MONTH later, and still no call from them. So Kosh calls again, this time talking to someone who seemed to have his act together. Agreeing that the ball had probably been dropped somehow, our information was once again provided, and Kosh was assured that someone would call back within two days.

That would have been December 10th.

Hey, it's December 17th, and guess what? NO CALL!! FAIL!

I suppose it's safe to say that not only does this rain-X product fail, but the Customer Service fails too! So in case you were considering purchasing this product, I advise you DON'T!!

And what about fellow motorists out there - what do you use or do to your windshield to make sure it doesn't fog up in wintertime? Pray tell, a curious mind wants to know!



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9 comments:

  1. Rain-x is terrible. I won't buy their products anymore. Last year I spent a little over $30 for winter windshield wiper blades for my car. It turned out one of the blades had a clip piece missing, so as the wiper arm goes across the windshield, the blade starts traveling out of the wiper arm. The blade travels up, thus making the blade not properly clear the lower portion of the window. I emailed customer service and got confirmation they received my message and no one ever contacted me. Why do they offer email as an option if they don't reply to them. For that matter, why do they offer a customer service phone number if they don't respond?

    I'm not buying their product anymore. Both your problem and mine are safety issues.

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  2. What do I use to keep my windshield defogged? Prayer. That's about the only thing that consistently works. I figure, the Gods drive too and they're probably just as pissed off by fogged windshields as we are. So they'll take pity on us mere mortals, right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never heard of anything that works. I just put the defrosters on (cold air if you've just gotten in the vehicle; it's the increase in temperature from body heat that causes the condensation). Eddie Bauer makes a sponge that you can keep in the car to wipe off the windshield but it doesn't do anything the defrosters can't.

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  4. The defroster stuff didn't work for us either. I read the packaging and your suppose to put it on while the weather is warm. Not that it means they are going to work if you do, but technically you (and I!) used them wrong. At least that was what the pack I had said. We never bought them again either!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lynne,

    I have left you a message at:

    http://dfoolonthehill.com/?p=1202

    God Bles you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Another company on the way to bankruptcy I guess. Lousy product coupled with poor customer service the perfect combination to fail.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Lynne,

    I wish you Yuletide Joy and A Blessed New Year together with your family.

    Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Their windshield spray to help keep your window clear of rain works great though! I mean, I've never used any other products, and now I'm glad I haven't...but I can say I use to use the windshield stuff ALL the time and loved it...seeing that I live in the Seattle area it comes in handy ;-)

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  9. I used the spray anti-fogger and it worked for me. Maybe they have a different formula with their wipes which made it not work great. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I also used their spray product for the windshield and it works quite well. I can tell the difference especially when it is raining heavily.

    ReplyDelete

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about two months later...

 ... hi again. This return to blogging is really not working out, is it? Actually, I am writing, three pages of mind vomit and affirmations ...