The last thing anybody wants when buying something new is to find out that their purchase has been tampered with, especially something expensive like a new water bottle . In the case of popular Owala water bottles , a recent TikTok trend has emboldened customers to mix and match bottle lids before purchasing. And while part of the Owala brand's appeal is its bright and fun color combos, this in-store customization is leading to real problems.
At first glance, the idea of swapping bottle lids to create your perfect color combination seems harmless enough. Owala’s FreeSip—named after its signature spout, wide mouth and built-in straw—is the model that gets tampered with the most. The FreeSip is sold in a variety of sizes with an even wider range of color combinations, which explains in part why some shoppers have decided to get a little creative before checking out.
Owala's cool colorways, including Citrus Crush, Neo Sage, Coastal Mist and others, are inspiring shoppers—and hurting other customers and retailers. It didn’t take long for lid-swapping to develop into a full-on call to action to please stop the color combo chaos.
Related: The Clever Water Bottle-Cleaning Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner
Why is Owala Lid-Swapping an Issue?
First and foremost, the main problem here is that these products have not been purchased and are not yet the property of those swapping the lids. The trend is causing many retailers to label bottles as damaged, or even worse, throw the mismatched ones away. And the irony of it all? Owala sells replacement lids online for $6.99, so it's pretty inexpensive to create your own color combo without ruining another bottle.
The TikTok trend has been pretty effective in causing a bit of chaos of its own for both retailers and shoppers alike. Business Insider spoke with one Target employee who claimed their store has found nearly 4-5 mismatched bottles a week, and even experienced a spike in the problem during back-to-school shopping. These “Frankenstein” bottles have been taking up so much space on the shelves that it’s become nearly impossible to figure out which lid combinations are the originals.
Related: The Super Cool Stanley Tumbler Accessory You Need ASAP
Can the Lid-Swapping Issue Be Fixed?
According to the source at Target, the momentary solution has been to “damage out two bottles per one swapped bottle to account for the fact that it was a Frankenstein creation from two existing colors.”
In retail terms, that means employees are being told to throw away the mismatched bottles rather than address the problem. In the Owala subreddit , fans expressed wanting to see the bottles put behind some sort of glass partition or wrapped in plastic in order to prevent the lid-swapping shenanigans. However, so far, Owala has yet to take any steps in that direction.
“We encourage customers to please refrain from lid-swapping or altering bottles in any way prior to purchase,” Owala wrote to Spoon University in an email. “Doing so disrupts the unique color combinations we work diligently to create, can prevent fellow Owala fans from finding the products they wish to purchase, and can cause an unnecessary drain on time and resources.”
While a worthy solution is still being devised, retailers really have no choice but to keep selling the mismatched products. It might lead to more damages, inventory discrepancies and unwanted returns, but hopefully people will heed the call soon and stop the swapping.
Up Next:
Related: The #1 Sign You Aren’t Drinking Enough Water—and How To Tell if You're *Overhydrated*
Local News
