FROM: Jim Rodovich
TO: heydudes@megabrands.com
DATE: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:26:50 -0500 (CDT)
SUBJECT: SRX WASHABLE DRY ERASE MARKERS

HEY DUDES,

I purchased a pack of your dry erase markers. Have you ever tried using them to write on a dry erase board? If you have, it should come as no surprise to learn that THEY DO NOT COME OFF OF A DRY ERASE BOARD. This fact DID come as a surprise to me, because I have used many other products marketed as "dry erase markers" that can be erased from my whiteboard just fine.

Here is a picture of the word "TUESDAY" (attached), which was written on my dry erase board for approximately 24 hours before I attempted to erase it. As you can see, it's still visible.

It is this precise location where I've written "MONDAY", "SATURDAY", and other such words every day for the last year, using dry erase markers made by EXPO, QUARTET, and BOONE. But there are no traces on the board of those other words, because unlike the "TUESDAY" written with one of the BOARD DUDES markers, the words written with the other dry erase markers, you know, ACTUALLY COULD BE ERASED.

I've tried erasing this word multiple times; I've tried rubbing the board with a damp cloth; I've tried the "scribble trick," in which one colors over the affected area, waits a minute, and then erases it -- all to no avail. It appears that my dry erase board now has a PERMANENT STAIN from having used a BOARD DUDES so-called dry erase marker for ONE DAY.

(In contrast, I've found that the markers from EXPO and QUARTET erase easily, even markings that have been on the board for several months. The BOONE marker is not quite so good, but even that one has never left anything that the "scribble trick" couldn't erase.)

I performed a brief test on another area of my whiteboard and found that a dry erase board eraser is insufficient to erase the BOARD DUDES dry erase markers from the dry erase board after JUST FIVE MINUTES. This is astonishing, so I'll repeat it: After letting your ink set on my dry erase board for FIVE MINUTES, I had to resort to the scribble trick to get it clean again. (Needless to say, I used an EXPO marker -- NOT YOURS -- to perform the scribble trick.)

I'm lousy at chemistry, so I can't attest to whether or not it's a difficult problem to make a chemical that can be erased from a dry erase board. But I can attest that it's a problem that's been solved by EXPO, QUARTET, and (to a lesser extent) BOONE. Perhaps you could give them a ring and ask how they did it.

While you're at it, why not ask them for a crash course on QA.

Thanks,
Jim