That's the truth. They do that on purpose and then you have to buy a new one. I unscrew and pour out.

easiest way for me is to pour the extra into a small container.

I hear ya, Iris. Its a lot of waste, not like its one or two pumps. The hand lotion I use is the worst offender. I either pour the remainder into the new dispenser or into the container I use for travel.

I agree. And the ones I hate are the ones with opaque outer packaging so you can’t tell when it is almost empty, then wham, you are out of eye cream or whatever.

My only experience is with liquid soap and even the counter built in ones we have get clogged

Huhm, we must've refilled our brand name liquid soap dispensers for six or eight years now. They just keep working.

I keep refilling my soap and shampoo pumps. The lotion, once the straw doesn't reach, I cut off the straw and slap the bottle on it's side, and use it like a regular bottle, tipping the bottle for storage as it diminishes. By that time, I keep it in my sock drawer and just tap out enough for my feet when I get dressed. For makeup, I have a Spat Daddy (or maybe it's a Spat Baby), it was on Shark Tank some years ago: it's a teeny spatula for getting the last bits out of a bottle of anything, even a tube if you trim the top off.

I'm half tempted to slice the toothpaste tube open and scrape the sides, but I draw the line there lol!

We switched to Simple Human push pumps for all sink locations.

The built in counter dispenser (Kohler) located in kitchen was inconvenient to refill and maintain. That hole now accommodates the air switch.

The purpose of the built in dispenser (with under counter reservoir) is to reduce the counter top clutter and they do that job very well. We have two, they work fine but seem to need to be cleaned periodically. That takes a second, just a rinse in water. Perhaps the clogging is caused by the hand soap we use? And maybe the newer plungers have a wider tube?

Filling is easy, just pull out the plunger and pour in the soap from the top. My wife can do it effortlessly, I use a funnel.

I believe the OP's post was about cosmetic containers as opposed soap dispensers.

Yes. I have noticed that. I buy shampoo and conditioner by the liter. When it gets low I transfer the contents to a smaller bottle. I use this gadget to accomplish it.

for the kitchen built in dispenser I used the never empty gizmo that attaches the hose to a long hose that goes into the big economy size bottle down in the cabinet. Works perfectly. There is a diy instruction on you tube too.

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Mt-Soap-Dispenser-Kit/dp/B002FJ9LBS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

For the soap, I just put a tiny bit of water in, so I can just pour it out easily when I am washing my hands. The body lotion is currently still laying sideways on the counter. It’s kind of creamy, so trying to shake it out left me with a big blob on the counter. I am interested to hear about the permanent kind of dispensers (renovation coming up soon), but I really don’t understand why the manufacturer can’t put a long enough tube in there. I had one bottle of spray cleaner announcing very big on the bottle that it is a new design that works until the last drop. They all should!