Tell me about a time you accidentally overpaid for something because you were too embarrassed to back out

[FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop]

For me it was when I was a Uni student, visiting family in France and went into a little French boutique that had reasonably priced trinkets - €10-€20. I picked up a purse simply because I needed a new one, assuming it was €20 as it was on a table with other €20 stuff. €135 I couldn't speak French very well and was too embarrassed to put it back so forked out. That was my food money for the month. I survived for the next 3 weeks on pot noodles and plain jacket potatoes

My mum needed two dining chairs and saw some advertised in the local paper. My sister and I drove miles to pay for and get them . It was from a very strange couple who seemed to be in a massive hurry and shut the door on us the minute we stepped out of the house. We carried the chairs to the car and when we picked them up to put them in the boot, the chair seats flapped up to reveal a commode. We laughed so hard we couldn't stop and there was no way we could go back to the house. We cried with laughter all the way home. Any time we'd stop laughing we'd catch sight of the commodes and start all over again. Mum was furious with us and the fact that we couldn't stop laughing didn't help. The chairs/commodes were taken to the dump the next day.

A couple of years ago we got the exchange rate wrong in Costa Rica. Bought some hot chocolate and chocolate covered fruit.
My DP did say he thought we were spending about £50ish. I thought it was less and went ahead. They looked at us oddly at the checkout and I just thought they were judging us for being greedy, paid up and left.

Got to where we were staying that night and decided to re-do the exchange rate on my phone to check and it was well over £100 . My DP thought it was hilarious luckily, but I felt so guilty for wasting joint money like that as we hadn't been together long. When we got back to the main hotel a few days later we noticed it was 4 for 3 on everything we'd bought, so we'd paid even more than the expensive hotel prices in the end.

The worst part is that 99% of the purchases are still in the cupboard and are VERY out of date. Every time I see them I cringe at how much money we wasted. Keep thinking one day I'll force myself to eat them.

We once took my parents out for dinner and me and OH were splitting the bill. OH whispered something to me about adding a £20 tip on when paying but I didn’t quite hear him and suddenly the card reader was thrust into my hands so I duly added on a £20 tip to my half of the bill. Turns out OH had already paid the £20 tip so we ended up giving a £40 tip for a mediocre meal at a time when we were really trying to watch the pennies. (We couldn’t really afford the meal in the first place to be honest!) It would have felt embarrassing to speak up about my mistake in a busy restaurant and in front of my parents who already think we’re a pair of losers anyway.

Went into a local deli as was seeking fresh bread. Really delighted to see one last loaf and took it. It was £5! For a small rectangular loaf that was heavy like a brick (and tasted like one). Couldn't say no as it was a little independent deli and I'd made such a big deal about being delighted to find fresh bread...First world problems....

We ordered fillet steak to feed 3 people for Easter to make a beef wellington but asked for it to be left whole rather than 3 invidual steaks (obviously!) Expecting to pay about £25. Went to collect it and the butcher said it was £65!! 😳 My husband had ordered it and the butcher tried to argue that he had asked for a whole fillet and he wouldn't be able to sell it all so we had to take it. Absolutely ripped us off and it was really poor quality!

Oh god, I can spell individual! Not sure what happened there...

@dementedma

£9 for a G&T in London.

Loads of London folk will now come on and say that’s good value, but I was shocked

One of my work Christmas do's where I used to live in Scotland took place in Gretna and I paid £9 for a G&T at this venue which was essentially a big tent with fairy lights

£9! In GRETNA!!

A club called ‘Whisky Mist’ in London. Way too drunk to be out, I ordered sambuca for my fellow party friends…3 for £17??? I asked…£17???

It was actually £70, £70 for 3 sambuca. Good job I didn’t spend the entire night throwing up isn’t it?

@thinkingaboutitall

10 years ago I was 14 and whenever I would walk through a beauty hall, counter staff would ask to give me a makeover. I think they thought I was older and more wealthy than I actually was

Benefit staff were the worst, and 14 year old me felt pressured to buy all the makeup they tried out on me (even though it was like £100!)

Oh this was me in the early 80's late 70's. I was 14 and we'd gone to our nearest city to spend our Christmas money. I had £5 which was alot of money then.

I was looking at the make-up in Boots and saw a lovely sparkly eye pencil from some up market brand. I asked the assistant how much it was. It was clear wanted to say, although didn't, 'Too much for you'. What she did say was '£5' and clearly thinking I couldn't afford stuck her nose in the air and started turning away. Desperate to put the snotty woman in her place and just said, 'I'll take it'. The look of shock on her face was momentarily worth it.

However my triumph was truly temporary as I'd spent all of my Christmas money on an item I couldn't even use as I wasn't allowed to wear make-up until I was 16!!!

I went to the counter in Selfridges food hall, got a little bit of a Chinese noodle type of dish in a tub, braced myself to pay about £6 for it, £28, I cried when I got back to the car!

When I'd driven my 2 excited dc to Legoland and met my half brother and step mother there. If it had been down to me I would have turned on my heels and left rather than pay their entrance prices. As it was I paid for us all .

School reunion, abroad. Loads of friends happened to be able to make it. We were all staying in quite a fancy hotel. On the first evening I suggested we have a drink in a local lakeside bar rather, all very lovely, very few lights but very atmospheric and crucially local rather than hotel prices

When it came to pay, my share of the bill was about £15, so I proffered £20 and said the local phrase for 'keep the change'. The lovely waitress was adamant it was too much but I said in local language 'it's fine'. General movement to gather up costs, go to loo etc and a cold feeling crept over me.

When I'd changed our money I'd got say one £50 and a few £20s. Eeekkkk I'd handed over £50 and insisted they keep the change. When they had 'argued' I wad too busy showing off I could still speak the language like a local to actually check what note I had given them.

Ooooof.

The rest of the weekends events were all included and paid in advance. I didn't spend any other money all weekend, in spite of being 'back' and every day seeing things I'd missed and would love to have.

@Ohshittt

We ordered fillet steak to feed 3 people for Easter to make a beef wellington but asked for it to be left whole rather than 3 invidual steaks (obviously!) Expecting to pay about £25. Went to collect it and the butcher said it was £65!! 😳 My husband had ordered it and the butcher tried to argue that he had asked for a whole fillet and he wouldn't be able to sell it all so we had to take it. Absolutely ripped us off and it was really poor quality!

Exactly the same happened to me - also for a Wellington. £78 for my whole fillet. We were utterly skint at the time but had saved up to make a special meal for PiL. Hadn't saved up that much though. I actually cried when DH came home with the beef and told me how much it had cost and that the butcher refused to let him leave without it.

So many other examples too. Mainly abroad. Lefkara village in Cyprus is well known for traditional lace. We visited a workshop as we thought it would be interesting and were taken into a room which was locked behind us. We were shown lots of lace products, then got a sob story from a woman about how the craft is dying out and she needed to feed her family. Then we were asked which items we were going to buy. We tried everything to get out of it - claimed to have left our credit card back at the hotel and the guy insisted on personally driving DH back to get it (over 2 hours drive each way) while I stayed with his wife. Eventually we paid £75 cash for one fucking doily just to get out of there.

Ordered gelato in Florence which was advertised at 2 euros per cone. They stuck a small, stale piece of waffle on the top of the ice cream and charged 12 euros because the garnish was 10 euros. Thinking we had learned our lesson, we tried a different gelato shop a few days later. The woman already had her hand in the waffle bowl as we ordered and told us we could not choose not to have the garnish as she had already touched it. Started screaming at us that she would call the police so we paid up and left.

One more from this country. Many years ago, DH (then DP)'s brother invited us for dinner with his friends to celebrate his birthday. His brother has always been really flash and his mates were the same. I was a student and was on the bones of my arse. They chose a very expensive restaurant and I declined but they pressured me to go along. BiL said I only had to pay for my own meal. I drove so that I wouldn't be tempted to join in with the expensive wine. I drank tap water all night, didn't have a starter or dessert and, for main course chose the veggie option which was a stuffed aubergine at £15 (the next cheapest option was over £30). I received a slice of grilled aubergine with a carrot on top and pesto drizzle. Everyone mocked my sad little meal all evening. They kept ordering extra sides, champagne, more wine, whiskies etc then of course they decided to split the bill equally. I had to pay £120 for my £15 bit of veg and tap water. I tried to protest but was shouted down for being stingy and nean. I had to run outside to make a panicked call to my dad to ask him to transfer money to me to cover it.

Mushrooms. I was new in the UK and only worked in grams and kilograms. I needed to get some mushrooms and so stopped at a small veg shop where they weighed everything for you. The owner just caught be off guard and asked how many pounds I wanted. I thought he meant money so I said 5 please. He gave me this squiff look and starting scooping them into a bag. I just stood there whilst the brown paper bag got fuller and fuller. I left with way too many mushrooms. I only needed a handful 😂

When I was pregnant I had a craving for a particular brand of ice cream. Because I was going through so much of it- and I suppose was being a greedy cow… I asked to buy one of the “bigger tubs” thinking it was the polystyrene tubs with the lid on at £10 that you can freeze at home…. They said they’d have to go in the back for it, which I thought was odd at the time but didn’t really twig. They then returned from the back with a huge catering sized tub (the size they have in the glass units that they usually scoop from) and charged me £40! I paid it, but it was quite an expensive misunderstanding when you consider it’s only ice cream- the kicker came when I got it home, and the week after the taste of it triggered my morning sickness so I never even got a chance to even attempt to put a dent in it. By the time I could bring myself to try it again it was freezer burned and had to go in the bin.

I took a taxi ride in a ski resort. I asked the driver how much the fare to the next village (St Moritz) was. He said 'fmph' or whatever the Austrian word for five was. Nope. It was fifty Euros.

A very expensive journey in an otherwise empty mini bus taxi.

It wiped out all my cash. I walked over to the cash point as, after paying, I had no money. I was saying to myself, 'don't cry, don't cry.' Note to self: do not take a taxi in a ski resort.

I got the bus back to the ski village I was staying at at the end of the day.

Oh and my husband being charged £15 per kilo for 3 kilos of excess baggage on a Ryanair flight, yes that's £45. He was going skiing with friends and needed his warm clothes. He/I will never fly with Ryanair ever again.

Paid far, far too much for a bag of teas in a market in Istanbul. I was entranced by the colourful display and the shop keeper portioned the ones I pointed to into bag. The price was then quoted at over 150 Euros.

I balked but this huge Turkish guy became quite threatening when I refused to pay. Sadly for him I was not about to let him get the better of me. In the end we were shouting at each other threatening police (both of us). His co worker said something I am sure along the lines of get rid of her and the price suddenly dropped.

It was still too high but at that point I just wanted out of there and I paid. He shouted never come back. I most certainly would not be back.

My husband was mortified.

Self-service sweet shop on Blackpool pier.
£17 small bag of chocolate nugget.

Today. A slice of loofah and some biodegradable cloths for the kitchen. £14

Nougat

Oh god I can think of 2 straight off which still make me blush.

Years ago a man selling fish from a mobile van knocked at the door. I put in an order which came to something ridiculous like £200! I don’t know how I didn’t realise the amount and I made backing out noises, but he was actually quite aggressive, I was home alone and we lived semi-rurally so not many people about. I think we ate fish for about five years a .

And then more recently, took youngest ds to buy a replacement school rucksack. He chose what looked to me like a perfectly ordinary black bag. I nearly dropped when it was £75. But ds, being the youngest of 4, rarely gets anything new, and he was so shocked himself, that I caved. I will expect him to be using it until he’s 70 though!

I promised my kids they could have a new pet and went up to the pet shop to pay for it. I'd seen a sign saying a few were reserved £70 and stupidly assumed this was the price.... No, this was the 20% deposit.... Which I didn't find out until my bank card was in the assistant's hand and I felt far too stupid to back out at that point...

A largely talk show in a Stockholm nightclub, a day or two before the wedding of friends (she Swedish, he a Brit) but he’d organised it. We knew most of it would be in Swedish, so wouldn’t be able to understand anything, but because he’d already booked it, and was then asking for £70+ each (well over 20 years ago!) when we’d already shelled out for flights and hotel - we meekly paid up and sat through it, instead of saying no thanks.

Dh had to lend the money to another pair of Brit guests, who hadn’t brought much cash and also didn’t like to refuse.

The groom was very well off but always notoriously tight fisted, and got even worse as he got older. The number of times the tight old bugger had ‘forgotten his wallet’ when the 4 of us were eating out, turned into a very wry joke between me and dh.

Not as bad as some of these , but last week in Treaddur Bay - £20 for 4 pints of shady !

We’d all trudged in, were seated & de-masked - we felt like we couldn’t just walk out now we’d touched everything.

AND it was very lemonadey

@RobotandPenguin Omg. What awful people :(