Things you wish you'd never bought

[goose1964]

I'll start with skinny co pornstar martini mix. Tasted incredibly sweet and synthetic. It stated use 1 part vodka to 3 parts mix. I tried that too sweet added more vodka so 50/50 just about drinkable. I drank another one with the reverse ratios, almost OK but I was so drunk I fell over and knocked the TV over.

The other downside was that it stank so much so that my empty glass had made the whole room stink.

@murakamilove did you buy the solar panels for environmental reasons or to make money from?
Ignoring the FIT ( feed in taarif) solar panels can actually run a lot of white goods in your house for free during the spring summer and some of autumn.
On a really good day I can run my washing machine, oven, and dishwasher at the same time for free on solar. The excess energy heats the water tank. Our house is carbon neutral in the day time.

Ignoring the FIT again, how often do you buy something or spend money on something wondering if it’s going to generate you any returns? Like upgrading your car, a new kitchen, going on holiday, house renovation etc. Never.
But for some reason people wait for a return on their solar panel purchase because they see it as an investment. You are investing the in a greener environment.

It is one the really good things you can do to help decrease your carbon emissions for your house, you should see it as an investment for the future to protect us from climate change.

You have done an amazing thing. Don’t beat yourself about it.

Louboutin shoes - so uncomfortable. My primark or river island shoes are more comfy and look better.

[quote TwoLeftSocksWithHoles]@ancientgran
I think they have installed your pump in the wrong place. It should have gone just on the supply to the bath/shower.[/quote]
I don't know, it is in the airing cupboard right next to the bathroom. The only tap not triggered by it is the kitchen cold tap which is mains fed. Do you think the plumber could swap the pipes around so it is only going to the bath/shower? I keep switching it off and DH isn't impressed that we spent hundreds on it and hundreds getting it fitted and when I turn it off the water pressure is worse than it was in the first place so I either have noisy pump or a trickle of water.

Love my Shark and my Lumea, definitely worth the initial faff!

Wasted so much on amazing shoes that have only been worn a couple of times, keep meaning to put them on Vinted, but I might need them

Me too . I just hate it . It blocks each time and I need to use the scissors to cut my son’s long hair and my hair tangled into the brush ! Ahhhhh

Dyson cordless hoover. It's about as powerful as slug carrying heavy bricks. A carpet sweeper does a better job!

There should be a swap shop thread to get these items to new homes

@Stanlie

There should be a swap shop thread to get these items to new homes

I don't think I'd feel like a good person swapping my shit vacuum cleaner for one that worked though. Seems deceitful 😆

Food processor - bought a new one to replace our old one (which I had never used but DH had and that's why it needed replacing) - hasn't been used once in a year.
A Beldray(?) handheld vacuum cleaner - worked once then died.
A Lakeland plate rack - doesn't fit in the cupboard properly and isn't strong enough to hold one plate without bending!
There are loads of other things over the years (Soda Stream!) - however I have a Morphy Richards bread maker which I use at least 4 times a week and I haven't had a bad loaf out of it yet.

Dogs

A Smeg kettle and toaster! Cost £240 which was crazy. My own fault for being influenced by cleaning instagrammers during lockdown. The kettle switch stopped working properly. It was replaced FOc. Same thing happened with second one. I gave the third replacement to my son and partner for their new kitchen.

@JudgeRindersMinder

Marriage licence 😂

🤣🤣

Electronic pelvic floor thing. Never used it. Then one of those very expensive love honey womaniser things. Stopped working so I chucked it. It was loud and didn’t, ahem hit the spot 😳

A Range Rover

Really ? I swear by these !

Magnetic false eyelashes. Just awful
I can't even imagine how these work! (No idea why the asterisks aren't making the typeface bold.)

@Toomuchtodoo

Now I really want a fondue set. Yes I need this. I'm sure we'll use it loads.

Here we go again

@Toomuchtodoo I just decided earlier today - before reading this thread - that I need one! I’m not put off, I know we’ll use it loads over the winter...eh even if we only use it once a year it’s WORTH IT...

eBay here I come!!

A Range Rover
That's a big mistake to make!

@GingerBreadTeddy

Dualit toaster and kettle. Lasted less time than the cheap supermarket ones I had previously

Yes totally agree, roaster broke after a month and I'd thrown away the receipt.

Hair straighteners - so many I have lost count.

Also my crock pot. I donated it last year. I used it for raising yeast dough in, but now I have a little portable radiator that does the job nicely.

Bosch dishwasher. Cleaned it and called it a pretty boy weekly. Deep cleaned it fortnightly. Ran citric acid through during said deep clean each time to try and manage the limescale as we are a hard water area. Really really really tried to look after it after spending double the amount that I had on the last one that worked for years and years - even when rust started to eat the bottom of the door from my family opening it without pausing the cycle each time.

It lasted from Feb 2020 to Christmas Eve 2020 before it just refused to work as it wouldn't drain. It'd start and then after a few mins it'd flash 'check water' etc. Christmas, Lockdown and being shielders meant we didn't call for an engineer until early Jan. Engineer kept rescheduling until Feb as they were so busy. Feb = out of guarantee. After 6 months of arguing they agreed to half a refund to get rid of us when we went to the CEO. Should never have taken that long - or gone down this road!

From our own research (error code, youtube, forums etc) it was only a tiny fix (essentially a little flapper bit stuck by limescale most likely which tells the machine that it's flooding cos it won't close) but I will never ever buy anything Bosch again!

Since replaced it with a bargain from a friend who had only had theirs 3 months and was moving into a house with an integrated dishwasher and didn't need it anymore.

Hmm I raise you my Miele dishwasher - after a year (just out of guarantee) the control panel went and had to be replaced to the tune of £500.

Historically:

Yogurt maker - was a faff and yogurt didn't taste very nice.

Food processor - gave myself a large, deep cut while cleaning the blade. Never used it again.

Juicer - DH bought one decades ago. Took stacks of oranges to make a few spoonfuls of tasteless orange juice. Was also a pig to clean.

Deep fat fryer. Smelly, greasy and flooded the counter.

Russell Hobbs bread maker. We used packet bread mixes from Lidl. Same setting every time. Sometimes came out well, sometimes it was an inedible brick.

Soda stream - decades ago. The DCs quite enjoyed using it but we discovered we could buy acceptable Cola and fake Irn Bru much cheaper.

Steam mop - used once. Bucket and cloth less bother.

AEG cordless vacuum. Battery life reduced rapidly and it conked out at just over a year. Bought a Vax corded which suck up kilos of dust the AEG had missed.

Bad - Pantene dry shampoo foam - weirdly awful. Did the opposite of what it was supposed to.
Good - Eufy 😍

@ripplestitchblank

Unpopular opinion: My Shark vacuum cleaner.

It can't handle anything more than tiny bits. I miss my Henry.

Same.

I love it and when the first died I replaced it with another.

They really are a fantastic hoover and suck the earth up from under your house! (well mine does, sorry ripple... sounds like yours didn't :( )

BUT

So easy to develop an issue! The first one just wouldn't suck up anymore as the hose inside broke 2.5 years in. This second one is only 18 months old and it still sucks and works if on hard floor mode but will not work anymore (the brush won't go round) if on carpet mode. Luckily we have hard floors and it hopefully is still getting things up from the rugs (they appear clean!) but given the price of Shark's I'm in two minds if I'd purchase a third when they break and jam so often.