Have you ever received a present so shity saying thank you made you cringe?

[BlueMoonAndRedNose]

I turn 50 at the beg of Sept. A friend asked to meet me for coffee yesterday and gave me a gift, she asked me not to open it there and then, but she didn't mean to wait for my birthday either.
This friend of mine turned 50 2 years ago and I gave her a stunning Becksondergaard scarf which she has worn a lot, I see her in photos wearing it all the time.
Got home, opened the present, it is a plain little milk jug. No tag on it, no label, looks unused but old, has a small chip on the handle.
I am not usually materialistic but I think that this is a thoughtless present and nothing, or a £5. bottle of wine would have been more appropriate.

My BIL and his wife gave my 3 year old DS some leftover pieces of wallpaper for Christmas (to write and draw on the back).

Not me but my son gets loads of plastic crap for his birthday. I just don’t get it. Bulk buy a nice book/box of arty stuff for the rough number of children you expect to buy gifts for that year and prewrap it and then just give every child the same nice gift. It’s so easy, why would you go out and spend your time and money picking out a crappy plastic racing track with a million pieces?

My Ex’s mum once got me a pair of “hold you in pants” in a size 16 (I’m 12) for Christmas. She loathed me and I her, it was so embarrassing opening them on Christmas Day in front of their entire family. I left them on the coffee table.

She got size 24 hold me in pants for her a Birthday 2 months later 😉

@moesfluffytoes we were all totally obsessed with airplane goody bags at that age, that was the star present surely!

My sister is awful at gifts. She has bought me all sorts of rubbish over the years including horrible PVC hooker shoes that were the wrong size and a gin and tonic candle set... I dont even like Gin! 😒

I was once given a pack of 50 white paper serviettes by my aunt for Christmas and my dads partner gave me a box of chocolates last Christmas that had gone out of date the previous October

@madcatladyforever that's shocking,how bloody awful you must have felt. I cant say I have a bad relationship with my DM but as 'the poor relation' I generally receive pretty hideous jewelry, blouses too small, old lady scarves or gaudy, REALLY tacky Christmas decorative things. My sis, who has a lovely life and plenty income, receives tasteful, well thought out, expensive gifts for herself and family. My DD thinks its hilarious and we try to see the funny side but it does sting a bit.

Lily i get that too, it's so weird. My sister has so, so much more money than me so my mum buys her much more expensive presents.

My friend's eldest brother is notoriously tight and bad at presents. One Christmas he gave her a video (!) of Princess Diana's funeral which was clearly from a charity shop, and she didn't even have a vcr by then. Nothing for either of the kids, but he pushed the boat out with (new) toys and treats for the dog.

My mother once gave us (me and my ex husband) a box of Liquorice Allsorts. Which turned out to be two years out of date. My husband ate one before looking at the date, and said you could have fired it out of a gun, it was so hard.
When l mentioned it to her, she said "well give them to the dogs then!"
Clearly she had no idea how much vet bills cost....

Oh another one...XP of 7 years,who was on a v handsome salary, gave me a beautifully wrapped shoe box for my 45th birthday. As we used to attend rather swanky parties with his job an' all, and his ex had had a penchant for Jimmy Choos, I expected something rather special. Inside were a pair of bright red converse trainers!! I am not, nor ever, have been, a trainer-wearing type. I have size 8 feet so I looked like a bloody clown!! Teenage kids could not breathe for laughing. Gift went straight back to the shop obviously!

@CanoeDoYouThinkYouAre
Do you have children, who like crafting? How about making a cardboard dolls house and making the shuttlecock into a lampshade? You could hang it from the ceiling.

Some great Christmas shuttlecock ideas here! It has already been incorporated into a lamp but not in a dolls house!

My brother once managed to get it into a balloon and I've never worked out how he did it. He of course won't tell me.

What about turning the shuttlecock into the fairy for the top of the tree and seeing how long it is until someone notices! @canoe

I love the shuttlecock thing canoe!
When I left my first teaching job I was given quite a few gifts by the students, which was very sweet of them, but one girl gave me a wooden bird with a very intense almost evil stare. It has become a family joke (along shuttlecock lines) for it to turn up in all sorts of unlikely places when least expected

I got my friend's baby a 6ft inflatable giraffe for her 1st birthday, a joke present as my friend loves giraffes, I did however get her baby a normal toy and a coat that her mum liked when we were shopping. My friend is aware I got it for the comedy factor.

Safe to say said giraffe has not been blown up as of yet

A friend bought me a pot that you can save £1k in two pound coins. It was hideously ugly, very expensive and I was moving abroad the following month. So random.

DH's family are awful at gifts, I can never decide if they are just rubbish at giving gifts or hate me!
Highlights include a box of family circle biscuits, an out of date box of chocolates from lidls, tea towels, toe socks (the ones like gloves but for your feet), a chipped glass paper weight and a pizza wheel.
DMIL buys us a family gift of a box of xmas crackers ( we have 4 DC) she not hard up and I find it a bit upsetting she doesn't buy her DGC individual xmas presents.

I must be a mug because I still continue to put a lot of thought and effort into giving them presents that match their interests/hobbies or something luxurious , every xmas I think right why did I bother?1?

Ds1 now aged 21, was about 2 and had the biggest screaming throw himself on the floor, holding his breath tantrum because we wouldn't let him wash the kitten in the washing machine. This went on for almost an hour.

Oops sorry all wrong thread!

I was given a really hideous ceramic umbrella stand before, it had cracks in the glazing so obviously came from a 'seconds' or reject shop.

Exmil always buys me odd presents - costume jewellery that seems second hand, strange colours and the chain coating usually rubs off on my neck leaving brown/orange patches, so basically unbearable. I dont know if it's old stuff of hers or she buys it in charity shops.

My aunty who isn't short of cash always bought me awful wrong size clothes for my birthday...every year up until being 16 I'd dread opening it,as it always put me in a bad mood....
And always with a half price tag on😲

I think most shit gifts are down to women of a certain age keeping a cupboard full of things to regift.

Whereas with me, the item will be down the charity shop within a couple of weeks.

A box of biscuits from very good friends of mine that I've known 20-odd years. Who I have always bought good Xmas presents for at Xmas not only for them but their two children, who I also get birthday presents for. They are not badly off financially by any means either.

MIL can be quite good at presents sometimes but is rather hit and miss. I had my birthday while we were on holiday with them overseas, obviously this was known about before we went. I got a pair of weird knickers from a Spanish supermarket that were too small. Really, she could have said "I'll give you your gift when you get home!" There was no need to rush out and buy something rubbish.