Help, our wireless microphone doesn't work!

I was trying to talk on the phone today and one of our guys was laughing, almost uncontrollably, to the point that I had a hard time hearing the person to whom I was speaking.  Apparently, he could barely contain himself, so he called someone else over and they chuckled some more. 

And I was still in the phone trying to pay attention to the caller.  Have you ever talked with a distracted caller?  Let's just say that it's not ideal. 

By the time I finished the call, I wanted to know what was going on, so I asked what was so funny, and he said, "Come here, you have to see this." 

He handed me a Shure handheld wireless microphone transmitter with the battery cup unscrewed (just the battery stuck on the terminals of the transmitter) and said that the client had asked us to repair it.  I shrugged my shoulders, as if to say, "I don't get it." 

"Pull the battery off the terminals and look at it."  I looked again. 

The microphone transmitter was working only intermittently, despite the fresh battery.  Can you guess why? 

We sent the mic back; no charge.