Just an update here, my 'conversation' with Dramm customer service. This is there response to my email...

Thank you for contacting the Dramm customer service department. First, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any inconveniences the defective product may have caused you. Dramm offers a lifetime warranty on our retail products against material defects and workmanship with average usage in a noncommercial setting. In addition to the Touch 'N Flow wand, we also sell a new product; the One Touch wand, please click on the below link for a video demonstration. You may inform me which wand you prefer. Thank you for being a valued Dramm customer, wishing you a wonderful day! http://www.rainwand.com/one-to...

I'm pleasantly surprised!

Interesting. Did you submit your photos along with your original communication? Hmmm?? Here is the reply you received, followed by the reply that Dramm sent to me. It is word-for- word except that I was asked to submit photos and you were not. Do you supposed the Dramm company made this change in just a few short days? Perhaps they are learning.

"Thank you for contacting the Dramm customer service department. First, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any inconveniences the defective product may have caused you. Dramm offers a lifetime warranty on our retail products against material defects and workmanship with average usage in a noncommercial setting. In addition to the Touch 'N Flow wand, we also sell a new product; the One Touch wand, please click on the below link for a video demonstration. You may inform me which wand you prefer. Thank you for being a valued Dramm customer, wishing you a wonderful day! http://www.rainwand.com/one-to...

"Thank you for contacting the Dramm customer service department. First, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any inconveniences the defective product may have caused you. Dramm offers a lifetime warranty on our retail products against material defects and workmanship with average usage in a noncommercial setting. Can you please submit a close up picture of the wand label and a picture of the entire wand? In addition to the Touch 'N Flow wand, we also sell a new product; the One Touch wand, please click on the below link for a video demonstration. You may inform me which wand you prefer. The One Touch wand does not contain a Kaleidoscope Head, but I can certainly enter the order with one on. Thank you for being a valued Dramm customer, wishing you a wonderful day! http://www.rainwand.com/one-to...

Hi greene, yes I did submit a photo, just one, because that's all it would allow. I took a picture of a Dramm nozzle, which I've had several years, and love, and the defective wand. Since they only allow one picture to upload, I just laid them side by side, and though the label is still on my wand they didn't request a closeup of the label. The label was just barely visible in the pic. BTW...The nozzle that I've had for years is the One Touch...Love it!

And since I responded to their email this morning, I got another response acknowledging receipt, and it would be processed in 3-5 days.

I am happy that there is at least one happy ending here.

The One-Touch won't work for me as my right thumb is less than perfect - I might end up watering my feet if I owned that type.

Well, I hope it's a happy ending...We'll see, if and when it arrives!
Don't know if you checked out that video, but it does "glide" quite nicely, and my other fingers work on it as well! Nope, don't need to be watering feet!

edit........9/9/14
The new wand arrived today! If it holds up as well as the nozzle has, then I'm going to be quite happy!

I saw this in a Random Idea and thought it was relevant to this thread. It sounds like this adjustable hose nozzle would last for a while!

Juli, I hope you don't mind my copying it!

Juli (@daylily) said:
"John Rice, of Thoroughbred Daylilies in Paris, KY, told me about his favorite hose nozzle at least 10 years ago. I bought one and it is still going strong, unlike most of the nozzles from the big box stores. It's a Bon-Air Ultimate Hose Nozzle. It looks a bit like the end of a fire hose, and puts out an adjustable spray that you can use for lots of purposes! One of those classic tools for the garden."


http://garden.org/ideas/view/d...

http://www.bon-aireindustries....

Well, you know about my recent experience with Dramm.
Still haven't heard anything from the company; don't expect to.
But I was at a yard sale and purchased a 'new to me' third-hand Dramm watering wand. So far it doesn't leak.

Maybe, if it's old enough, it WILL be durable.

"They don't make 'em like that any more!"

I read a book about engineering failures. It's true that we DON'T manufacture things sturdily any more. Part of that is cheapness, greed, and consumerism, but part is the fault of the engineers.

Now we have computers and software fast enough to do stress analysis (finite element analysis or FEA) on everything from bridges and skyscrapers down to toothbrushes and watering wands. When they use well-characterized raw materials like plastic and fiberglass, they can calculate the bare minimum amount of material that is strong enough to last through the warranty period. Making it any stronger (managers believe) would lose them money because you won't buy a new one until the old one breaks.

So now they make barely strong enough, and are proud of the 0.5% they save on raw material costs, even if it breaks 12 times sooner than it would have otherwise.

In the past, they couldn't calculate that point, so they used rules of thumb and "give it a little extra" because they still had some sense of quality and thought that consumers would learn they were cheap jerks if it fell apart too soon. To be sure it would last 6 months, they built it "well" ... and it lasted 6 years.

In the case of the watering wand, though, I think it's more likely to be poor quality control rather than precision-engineered short lifetime. Especially if Dramm is now outsourcing their manufacturing, they probably pick their manufacturer on "lowest price" and his willingness to "promise quality". After a few hundred thousand fall apart, and only a few hundred people ask for replacements, maybe they stay with the cheapest manufacturer because they still make money.

Too bad they lost their good name.

No problem Rick! I still have that nozzle.

[quote="Celene"]I found a well-reviewed watering can on Amazon for $85. Seriously? Eighty. Five. Dollars. for a glorified bucket. I'm still shaking my head.


I bought a Haws galvanized steel watering can 23 years ago and it is still going strong...no leaks after all these years and I have even left it out over the winter a couple of times with frozen water in it. It is perfectly balanced and because the head screws off you can pour if you like. The spout is higher than the fill hole so no water pours out of the wrong place.
I paid over $50 for it way back then but it has been well worth every penny. Amazon has them but I can't seem to post a link...search for:
Bosmere V143Z Haws Traditional Peter Rabbit Design Metal Watering Can, 2.3-Gallon/8.8-Liter, Galvanized

Now all I have to do is find a watering wand that doesn't leak!

So glad you mentioned watering wands, I have had several and they all leaked. So, I decided to go to the dollar store and see what they had. Actually ended up at Big Lots. Looked though the stuff they had and found nothing like I wanted, then up on the top shelf where nobody would normally see them in a box with other junk thrown in it, I spotted what I was looking for. A simple watering wand with a simple head, no adjustments, just little holes drilled in it. It does have a nice large cutoff valve lever. I picked up two and got a 20 percent discount at the register for a coast of $5.00 each. I used one the other day and I like it better than any of the other watering wands I have, just what I was looking for. It delivers the water very much like a nice watering can.