Cheap & Nasty Birthday Presents - what's the worst you've seen?

MarilynMonroe_2

go_cat wrote: »

It wasn't a present for me but I used to work a long ago for a well known chemist and a lady came in to refund the present her mother in law had bought her as she was allergic to it which was a box of oil of ulay as it was called then. It didn't scan so I had to track it back on the computer and it was 24p and had been for the last 3 years it was that old. The lady was furious as it was the ONLY present her MIL had given her :eek:

I felt awful for her

My husbands aunt sent me a boots gift card. I bought her a thank you card saying how kind etc!
Took it to Boots and it had 23p on! She had obviously used it and couldnt get anything for the 23p left on it! It cost me about £2 to send her the thank you card!
people dont do these things out of kindness, its mean and hurtful.

geoffky

zaksmum wrote: »

Ok...prepare to be grossed out now...! My old Nan used to sell secondhand clothes in Paddy's Market in Liverpool in the 60s.

She once found a pack of Hamlet cigars in the pocket of a pair of men's trousers too stiff with old wee to sell on. She cut her losses and wrapped them up to give my dad for his Christmas present.

They reeked of old wee when he lit one up and she had to confess.

My mum didn't speak to her for ages after.

Paddys market..That is a flash from the past...My mum still goes to great homer street.

Another of my amazing presents (i have no shame)

A box of bananas... Honestly ..Oh dear i am shameless..I worked on a banana boat at the time..

iwilldoitthistime

for my 18th birthday I got a mouse on a pole, wearing a long skirt. I still think to this day it was a toilet roll holder/cover thing for the bathroom (similar to the crinoline lady my nana had in her bathroom)!

Bearing in mind I lived at home until I was 22......

Richard53

MarilynMonroe wrote: »

When my daughter was small some relative of my husbands used to send down clothes parcels.

While at Uni, I shared a house with a guy who married a girl from Texas (they had met while he was abroad). Her parents were frantic that she was living in the UK, a country they obviously thought was like Soviet Russia. They used to send her food parcels. Not little treats to remind her of home, but things like tins of beans and packets of pasta.

Air freight from Texas.

:D:D

littlerat

Some clothes that were about a UK 12/14 - I'm clearly considerably bigger, not like a 16. Apparently this woman buys just tons of stuff in sales, then sends it to people completely at random, leading to some really bizarre presents. Have to admit that marred my christmas though, I'd have preferred to get nothing.

And when I was a pre-teen, a set of a tiny vase and saucer for it, either just decorative or for like 1-3 flowers. Good make, and for the right person a great present, but... a bit odd for a girl my age really.



Our family buy a mix of useful/wanted from a list, little things (choccies/sweets etc) and sometimes just random but suited gifts based on our tastes. One year I got my brother a "dead parrot" keyring that speaks as a bit of fun. Kind of regret it, the batteries haven't died yet and it drives me up the wall Always well thought out, if a bit daft

I hate gift buying though, I'm awful at thinking what the hell to get. I suck at it, I hope none of my gifts have ever been someone's worst but I have my doubts they'll be a person's best shamefully.

DS4215

When I was about 18 I was given a battery powered razor, which might have been ok if it didn't have two blades *and* didn't vibrate. I daren't use it for fear of accidental decapitation!

Apparently the worst present I have ever bought was my wife's favorite perform, but in a gift pack (EDT + bodywash in a nice box). In her words It was cheap, tacky and nasty and she absolutely refused to use it. The box was thrown out and DD got the contents. If any of the women on here can explain this to me I would love to know what I did wrong!

Saturnalia

DS4215 wrote: »

Apparently the worst present I have ever bought was my wife's favorite perform, but in a gift pack (EDT + bodywash in a nice box). In her words It was cheap, tacky and nasty and she absolutely refused to use it. The box was thrown out and DD got the contents. If any of the women on here can explain this to me I would love to know what I did wrong!

I'm a woman and I'm stumped too, I'd love to be given my favourite perfume as a present.

zaksmum

geoffky wrote: »

Paddys market..That is a flash from the past...My mum still goes to great homer street.

Another of my amazing presents (i have no shame)

A box of bananas... Honestly ..Oh dear i am shameless..I worked on a banana boat at the time..

My Nan lived there all her life. And one of her daughters, who never married, was a bit eccentric. She would chat to the stallholders and ask for any food they were chucking away at the end of the market day...and bring it to me. I had steak & kidney pies with green mould on, breast of lamb with the wool still attached, rancid sausages...she'd ring me after presenting this stuff to me, "What was the pie/breast of lamb/sausages like?"

And I'd have to enthuse at great length on how delicious it all was while my kids were sticking their fingers down their throats making barfing noises:). Just hope she never heard them.

O/H used to say, "Why don't you just tell her it's crap and you don't want it?" but I never had the heart. It was like a hobby for her.

lady1964

Saturnalia wrote: »

I'm a woman and I'm stumped too, I'd love to be given my favourite perfume as a present.

Perhaps it was the fact it was EDT and not perfume that was bought? I would be unlikely to wear EDT, although I'd wear Eau de Parfum if the perfume was way too expensive.

Erinnire

lady1964 wrote: »

Perhaps it was the fact it was EDT and not perfume that was bought? I would be unlikely to wear EDT, although I'd wear Eau de Parfum if the perfume was way too expensive.

What's the difference? (Genuinely! I just thought EDT was what perfume was?)