Most assuredly, the old system was abused.
Says who? Can I see the financial data proving this please? Sounds like a corporate excuse used to justify a very anti-customer, "magic" ruining move.
For over a decade I've seen these mugs flying off the shelves and the vast majority of those seen are pristine.
They were making a fortune off these already or else they would have canceled it forever ago.
There is some pencil pushing propeller head somewhere in management bucking for a promotion so he/she dreamed up this anti-consumer, anti-magical experience idea so he/she can point to some increased number on a ledger and argue for a promotion.
People brought back mugs that you couldn't see anything on the outside of the mug because it was so old. People would fill up empty bottle or jugs with soda and not pay for any of it. The chipped mug was the best way to stop the abuse.
If this "abuse" was widespread, they would have gotten rid of the concept 5-10 years ago.
Truth is, they were already making a fortune off this as is, and people were happy.
Some jerk conjured up this terrible, anti-consumer idea for his own personal corporate gain, and we're the ones suffering because of it.
The delay in refilling is about two minutes.
Why should legitimate, paying customers get a crappier product than we've already had for a decade? Why should things get WORSE and MORE EXPENSIVE over time rather than become a better value?
As customers, we should demand better value over time, as we continue to show our loyalty by spending tens of thousands of dollars on Disney.
Our loyalty and our mountains of money shouldn't be "rewarded" with worsening product quality.
