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A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it. By Mark Hurst. |
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Previous: Password reset on Sprint PCS site | Main | Next: Amazon's thank-you list
November 28, 2005 12:03 AM
Broken: Nexxtech travel mug with thermal control
Stacy Ashton writes:
The concept behind the thermal control is excellent - who likes cold coffee?
The main problem, though, is the design of the sipping hole. It's set further back from the lip of the mug than in regular coffee travel mugs, which is particularly problematic when the liquid is kept hot. Instead of just being able to pour the coffee in your mouth, the coffee, BY DESIGN, burns your top lip. Every time.
This makes it pretty much unusable.
It would have been nice to have the picture show the hole in question. As is we have only the description of the problem
"Uh, turn down the temperature so it does not burn your lip. Maybe it's just me."
It's just you. The whole point of coffee is that it's the right temp. (which, unfortunately, is also hot enough to burn your lip) - or have you not been following?
Looking quickly at the display it looked like it might be saying 600 degrees which might be a little too warm. Looking closer, I can see the decimal point, and one would get used to the display pretty readily. But it's kinda broken to have three digits on this temperature display. It's unlikely that one would care if the temp is less than a degree off. Extra digits are just more cost and sensory clutter.
It actually says 160.0*. I do not think it is cool enough to drink. So the point of coffee is to be too hot to drink? Hmm maybe that is why McDonalds had that lawsuit!
I thought it said 1,600 degrees at first glance. This is a crappy picture which does not show the broken part.
yeah- these cups are a broken problem altogether. Usually the insulation does a fine job of keeping the liquid hot, but the mechanisms that close the lid and seals the lid to the cup are always screwed in my experience. Either they dont pour properly, or the drip when you sip from the previous use, or the seal doesnt work and coffee pours out. This is definately a broken problem, however this cup doesnt seem any more broken than any other reusable insulated cups. They all suck.
Why would you want to keep your beverage so hot for so long? 160'F from start to finish? And have a power cord attached to your drinking container as well? I have a travel mug from the dollar store that keeps my coffee hot for quite a long time without this extra 'technology'.
Why would you want to keep your beverage so hot for so long? 160'F from start to finish? And have a power cord attached to your drinking container as well? I have a travel mug from the dollar store that keeps my coffee hot for quite a long time without this extra 'technology'.
I find it funny that some of our favorite little things come from the dollar store. When I went camping instead of buying disposable I went to the dollar store. Paid the same price for reusable stuff that doesn't stain as I would have for plastic picnicware.
What's broken about thermal cups is the fact that unless you snap on that annoying thing on the bottom no decent cup fits in a cupholder. How am I gonna hold my cup, talk on my cell, fix my lipstick, change my radio (with a remote no less), flip the guy off next to me and drive? (I'm just kidding... I do not do all of that crap... I don't wear make-up!)
"It actually says 160. I do not think it is cool enough to drink."
Actually, 160 is pretty standard for coffee I think. If you go to a cafe, your latte, mocha, etc will be about 140. Tea and coffee will be hotter than that.
If the owner of this cup could drink the same coffee comfortably with the lid off and cannot with the lid on, then it's broken. I'm not sure if this posting settles if that's true or not.
Just as a reference point: McDonald's got sued over 180 degree coffee.
It's also possible that people have different tolerance for drinking temperatures. I would guess the regular coffee drinker can drink much hotter liquids than I can.
I agree with Smartypants. I regularly take coffee on the bus to school, and sometimes have to set it in my bookbag so I can get at my bus fare and such, and the travel mugs almost invariably spill from even the slightest tip. I learned the hard way to not keep electronic equipment in my bookbag. I need to buy a thermos with the rubber-sealed screw on cap. The last one I had worked really well for coffee.
Taken from a consumer safety website:
“Most adults will suffer third-degree burns if exposed to 150 degree water for two seconds. Burns will also occur with a six-second exposure to 140 degree water or with a thirty second exposure to 130 degree water.”
Even the average idiot with a water heater can read the 120 degree scalding warnings on the tank.
Ya don't need 160 degree coffee. Period. It's burning your lip because it's too hot, not because of the hole. And no, the tongue is not more sensitive than the lip. The lips are more sensitive to protect people from their own stupidity. Your body is smarter than you are… listen to it.
Ya don't need 160 degree coffee. Period. It's burning your lip because it's too hot, not because of the hole. And no, the tongue is not more sensitive than the lip. The lips are more sensitive to protect people from their own stupidity. Your body is smarter than you are… listen to it.
Hear, hear! Oh, wait. I'm, like, 12 days too late. Oh, well.
You know, I think the design of the hole was so you can pour a little "puddle" in front of the hole. So, when you are drinking, it feels as if you are just drinking from an open cup.
So yeah, it would obviously not work well if you try to engorge your mouth over half the cup.
Is it true, that burns can also occur with a six-second exposure to 140 degree water or with a thirty second exposure to 130 degree water
Comments on this entry are closed
Previous: Password reset on Sprint PCS site | Main | Next: Amazon's thank-you list
Well, if it was going to burn your top lip, wouldn't it burn your tongue too? The tongue burns more easily than the lip in my experience, and so if it was going to burn the lip on that mug, it would burn the tongue on a normal one. But that doesn't mean I like the design, I'm just being the devil's advocate. I would think that by having the lip farther from the edge makes it easier for the coffee to go around the edges of your mouth, whichi is equally annoying.
First!
Posted by: SpicyMeatball at November 28, 2005 01:25 AM