[Editor’s note]: A few Consumerist readers have written in to enlighten us as to the correct way to utilize this mug’s plug, and it changes everything.

Not wanting anyone to steal your coffee mug makes sense. In shared housing or an office kitchen, someone’s always taking your mug just before you wanted to use it. This mug is not the solution to that problem. It causes its own messy and confusing set of problems.

In theory, how it should work is this: there is a mug, and a little hole at the bottom. The hole has a plug. When you aren’t using the mug, you take the plug out, rendering the mug useless.

The problem with this is that at least one customer got a plug that doesn’t fit and the mug won’t hold any beverage.

The quality of this item is disgraceful. The hole where the plug goes is misshapen, and the plug itself is misshapen as well. It does not seal. Sometimes it won’t even stay in.

Of course, there’s an alternate way to use the plug device: as a booby trap. Attach a chain to the plug, and fasten the other end to your desk. If someone tries to walk away with your mug in spite of the chain….SPLASH! They’ll be covered with coffee!

Maybe this idea needs some work. If someone stole your drink, it would happen while the cups are unattended, so who’s going to be left cleaning up that mess on your desk and the floor? You. Also it doesn’t work if, like the reviewer above, the whole plug thing doesn’t fit.

No One Will Take Your Cup! Plug Coffee Mug / Cup, Novelty Office Gift [Amazon] (via The Worst Things For Sale)

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