What was the most disappointing present you've ever received? Lighthearted!

[Lsquiggles]

My boyfriend made a big song and dance about having bought me an amazing present one year, I was so excited until I opened it and it was a spice rack

Tell me your worst!

Oh, I have another. A free gift that a person got when they bought a bottle of perfume. Another watch.

From secret Santa at work one year, a face wash, the following year a chocolate orange. I hate them. Plus, the limit was £10.

One Christmas, my husband gave me a pot (not even a particularly good one). Next year, he got a foot stool from me. No - he didn’t ask for one but I thought it would be useful. Like the pot.

Several parcels of used (but washed!) pants, complete with sagging elastic
A very well used electric frying pan
A little ceramic fawn (nice), but it was something I'd given the gifter as a child and they'd regifted it to me, but with no reference to that.
Some jewellery I'd also given, regifted again

^ All these treasures from the same person.

• one more, a receipt for a printer from 2000. It was inside a big brightly coloured envelope addressed in my mothers handwriting and arrived on my birthday, so until I opened it, thought it must be a card.

My ex boyfriends parents were what I would call practical gift givers. We had been together years so they knew me very well and I think they liked me, we certainly got on well anyway. I made such efforts with gifts for them.

One year for Christmas they got me a car cleaning kit.

The next year a can crusher. Apparently this was because I had commented once that year I had cut myself whilst trying to squash a tin for the recycling.

This was at least 15 years ago and I've been happily married for 10 years but my friends still take the piss about the can crusher

Slippers that weren't my size, jewellery that I was allergic to, second hand items , fingerless gloves that only covered your hands?! Promises of gifts that were never even given! , what about this..... Birthday card stating that I should put my feet up. I.e. No housework. This made me so mad because dp now ex! Didn't do housework or much of anything! Oh a large glass budda head! It was awful! It was frigging massive!

When I was a teenager my parents gave me an unsigned cheque and mum (dad had no control over any money) would sign when they had the money. The intention was there but it never did get signed so I got nothing

DM gives me random toiletry sets from TK Maxx. I've had eczema since I was a baby.

PILs asked DH if I'd like a garden clock for my 40th. "Not really her thing" says DH. The clock is in the shed somewhere.

This is very embarrassing and lowers the tone. Years ago I used to see someone who told me that he had brought me a present. I got quite excited as he didn't really go in for showering me with flowers and jewels etc. He walked out of the room, only to return naked wearing nothing but a toxic green coloured strapon !

I was absolutely desperate to burst out laughing but managed to maintain a straight face. Things fizzled out after that. And I didn't ask to take it home with me - imagine if it had fallen out of my handbag on the tube!

I was going to post about some horrid candles that collapsed all over the dining room carpet when I was trying to do a sophisticated lunch. It took hours to scape up the wax. That was worse. At least the green unmentionable left me almost unable to stand up straight laughing as I walked home.

When I bought my first house my grandmother’s dear friend of about 70 years came to visit and bought me a beautifully wrapped present. It was a spoon rest. Which in itself was fine as I do a lot of cooking... but it had already been used. And not washed!

She sadly died suddenly a year later. I’ve since moved house and the spoon rest has been lost, and I have to say I’m pretty gutted.

MIL bought me a top. It was brown, and the shape of a sack. It had a belt. Very strange.

My parents gifted me a microwave one Christmas. This was after months of my mum asking me if I wanted a microwave and me saying no, I did not.

The year after she gave me a short black coat. She gave my sister a tv and a printer.

A David Cassidy poster. I loathed him! My aunt exchanged it for a Marc Bolan poster in the end. Mum was cross that I had said I don't like David Cassidy but I had read in an advice column it is best to be truth full if asked!

This didn’t happen to me but for Secret Santa one year, one colleague got two books- the Joe Wicks diet and exercise books. She is short and fat. She cried for the rest of the evening.

No one did ‘fess up as to who bought them!

my ex gave some astonishingly bad presents.

His best was when he can into a lot of money. I was looking after his 10 year old son. Told us he had a fabulous surprise for us that’s why he went out for the morning. Built it up over months.

He was supposed to be gone for a couple of hours, came back after 12. I felt bad for his son as he only saw his dad EOW.

He arrived home eventually... did a whole build up ‘this will surprise you, close your eyes, are you ready? ya da!!’

He bought himself a 50k rolex....nothing for his son.

I brought us out for pizza, I paid

A secret Santa that was a lazy present.

A small bottle of white wine with a decorated wine glass.

I’ve never drank wine and a casual conversation with me would have revealed that. The next year I pulled my own name out and kept quiet. I bought myself a lovely new water bottle!

I’ve stopped gift giving with the majority of people. I know it seems miserable but I seem to spend hundreds to buy myself a load of landfill and tat I don’t like to want. I love the Martin Lewis video on it!

A big frying pan from dh (now ex) because the cooked breakfasts i made him on a weekend were spoilt because the old pan had lost its non stick surface

@CockCarousel does your mum have dementia?

After having 6 dgs we told mil she was at last getting a dgd!!
Not that she didn't appreciate all the boys but it was a fact she wanted a dgd...
I was out of hospital the same day and ils were there as they had watched the dc while dh came and got me.
My gift she said was in the car and sent me to get it.
A blue Co op carrier bag...
And inside was a..

Tefal frying pan.
Now I am not grabby or ungrateful..
I guess when dh told me he had also got me something useful I should have known.
It was a huge bag of potatoes.
Xmas was a delight in our house people.

My mum had a bit of a weird moment when I turned 30. She's normally amazing at presents and cards so I have no idea what happened, she's gone back to normal since so it was a temporary blip!

I received a card that looked like it had been made by a not particularly artistic or even enthusiastic 12 year old (handmade by someone other than mum, no idea who) and a horrible tacky "flirty thirty" wine glass when I don't drink wine, or any other drink that I could drink from it... Very odd.

These threads are great! For my birthday one year (just after I’d had DD2) I’d hinted rather heavily about a few things I wanted; a kindle and a new phone cover. Woke up to a pile of presents and was so excited. Present after present of pound land items including a Disney princess colouring set (I was 30), black fish net tights and a pack of black kirby grips (I’m blonde). He also got me tickets to see his favourite comedian.
He’s done much better since - I never let him forget it!

First year dh and I were married. For Christmas, his family gave DH gifts and I got my usual token gift (totally fine with this!). But then, went to MY family and everyone got us 'joint' presents, such as posh olive oil and ornaments that we had no space for. I was so disappointed! I was so looking forward to my usual stash of books and chocolate! The next Christmas was the same but I didn't even get my token gift from ILs because we'd had ds1 and I'd be "too busy opening the baby's present" to have one of my own. So basically, as soon as I got married, Christmas presents became a thing of the past for me!

A pair of flip flops bog from my brothers wife, for my 21st, straight in the wardrobe never worn.

Zaphodsotherhead - does your mum have dementia?

No, just a deep, deep hatred for me from childhood

A book of 12 2nd class stamps from FIL and his partner one Christmas. DD was born a few weeks later so I used the stamps on thank you notes.
Christmas 2018, my mum asked if there was anything we wanted. We needed some practical stuff for home so I made a couple of suggestions. DP and I both got jumpers; his wasn't really his thing and mine definitely wasn't mine and it was too big. Same year DP got me a scarf with cats on, I love cats and I wear scarves but it was bright blue. I hate blue so wouldn't wear it. We had an afternoon in queues in John Lewis returning things. This year I mentioned I needed a new make up bag. He was with me when I looked at some I liked but got me something completely different and too big.