QA Fail: Poland Spring Bottle Return
Machines fail to dispense ticket for a year
In New England, if you drinking bottled water, chances are your drinking Poland Spring. We use the 5-gallon hard plastic bottles at home. These are a great way to drink delicious Poland Spring water and not harm the environment.
While we do have Poland Spring deliver bottles to our house, every once in a while, I have to get a new bottle because we drink more water than planned.
Our local Stop and Shop has Poland Springs water, and if you bring an empty container, you get a discount on the water. Simply put the old empty container in a bin and take the ticket to buy a new bottle.
QA Fail
The problem with this process is that the return bin doesn't always dispense a ticket. After putting the bottle in the bin, I have to go to the Stop & Shop Service Desk and ask for a ticket.
The service desk is usually busy - people buying lottery tickets or they are busy handling returns and complaints.
Stop & Shop doesn't check to see if I actually return a bottle, they just take my word. I wouldn't lie, but anyone can say they returned a bottle to save about $5 on a container.
The machine has been broken at several Stop & Shop stores for at least a year. It's not a particular problem with the nearby store.
Practical Solution
These machines are maintained by Poland Spring, they should fix them up to encourage people to return the bottles.
Stop & Shop should put up a sign in the Bottle Return area and have people return them to the front desk.
One Side Note
When people are buying bottles there's nothing to encourage them to return the bottle back. There's no sign at the point of purchase or on the bottles themselves.