Boost or letdown?

Behold: The last SteamBoost.

Almost the only companies that ever admit that they're discontinuing something are car companies, and that's only when an entire product line is going away, because stockholders need to know that. When Oldsmobile was shelved by GM in 2004, it was national news. When a cereal flavor or cable TV show or book series gets the ax, no one ever admits it. There's an omertà on failure in business these days.

Legend has it that Procter & Gamble, owners of the Swiffer line of cleaning products, had a brilliant idea once upon a time: join forces with Bissell, the floor cleaning specialists, to create an inexpensive steam mop that would boost the cleaning power of the Swiffer damp mop pads with steam. It would require the use of disposable pads, like all Swiffer products, so people would keep paying to use the product, but you could eat off their floors. Everybody wins!

That was the bright, sunlit heyday of 2013.

We bought one. We liked it a lot. It was lightweight and easy to use, unlike the previous steam mop I bought. It cleaned much better than a plain mop, and the floors got dry much faster. Then we got Dog #1, followed two and a half years later by Dog #2, and the SteamBoost was proving its value constantly.

Well, it finally gave up the ghost. The water trigger broke, leaving no way to shoot that lovely hot water into the pad. It could not be fixed. No matter -- we'll get another one.

And that's when I found out that, while no one will tell you the truth, the fact is that this product is discontinued.

I first noticed that none of the local stores carried the SteamBoost pads. Okay, I'll get a couple of boxes from Amazon. But then, when the machine broke, I found out that neither Amazon nor Walmart had any new SteamBoost mops, except for those sold for high markup by third-party vendors.

"Hey, kid! Psst! You wanna buy a SteamBoost?" 

Yeah, first one's cheap but then it'll cost ya.

I suspect the bright lads at Procter & Gamble (whose genius I have mocked previously) were scared that the SteamBoost was taking customers from their own inferior WetJet, which they push like it's the cure for cancer. I bought a WetJet years ago and... it's just okay. I found it no better than a standard sponge mop, and more expensive to operate.

I think P&G tried to put the screws to Bissell, demanding a better deal, and Bissell walked away. I'm just guessing. But Procter & Gamble does seem to be run by big dumb stupid heads these days, so I think it's a good guess.

Nevertheless, the SteamBoost still appears on the Swiffer site, and you might get one from other lower-volume online retailers for list price at this writing.

I got mine from Staples. I bought it in November for $49.85. Guess what it's selling for now?

Whether this is P&G extortion or, as I believe, price gouging from third-party suppliers who bought up remaining stock, it's insane.

Why can't companies just say "X didn't perform well, so we're not making X anymore" or "It was a good product but we didn't like the deal"? We know companies and divisions have failures. Hell, P&G seems to be on a mission to destroy Gillette. So what? Admit it, sell the stock to the discounter stores, and move on.