Things that are not fit for purpose

[TortugaRumCakeQueen]

I am finding this increasingly of late, and it's driving me nuts. Is there no product testing any more?

I ordered Tippex with my weekly shop, and they sent me an alternative that looks like a pen. You're meant to squeeze the pen for the tippex to come out. Husbands grip is strong and it works for him. No matter how hard I squeeze, I'm unable to get any liquid to come out. So who is that made for? Just men?

Packets of ham/bacon, where it says "Peel here". Nope, the plastic just rips randomly, so you have to cut the whole thing off.

Milk cartons when you pour, the milk goes everywhere because the spout doesn't work.

Writing on things that is the same colour as the item, so you can't read it. See also, best before dates on eggs - can't read as it's always smeared.

Shredders that get paper jams within minutes.

Public loos - often the bolt doesn't align with the "bolt holder" (?) so you can't lock the door.

Train loos - no water in the taps.

Dog harnesses that dogs can back out of.

Aargh..........

They could also do with some kind of colour coding system so that you end up with a level shelf after moving it - it's surprisingly difficult to make sure you get it in, say, the third slot on the left and also the third slot on the right. Not ideal when the oven is hot; or, even if not, they're even more stubborn to remove again when they're in skewiff!

Now that is genius.

Hello, Dragons...

Google maps on my phone, I use it for sat nav. Sometimes the blue line indicating the lane/road I'm meant to be taking is exactly the same colour as all the other roads/lanes, so I end up missing my turning as it's not clear AT ALL!

On @Snugglepumpkin's theme, PIP.
DC2 has a genetic condition which has serious life-changing effects. They were denied PIP on the first application (after being forced to transition from DLA). After asking for mandatory reconsideration, they were (rightly) awarded the higher rate for both elements.
I'm now a member of a support forum due to having a condition which is life-changing. The number of people who have reported being denied PIP is frightening.
The whole system of benefits for people who are disabled by a condition / disease is designed to make it hard to apply. Only those who have a good level of resilience persist long enough to get an award - and that's if they can prove the outrageous lies put in reports by assessors.

Ex husband's who think they are Disney dads

Paper straws!

Universal Credit - alternate between reducing my award to £0 because I earn too much, then the following month harrassing me repeatedly to attend interviews to help me increase my chances of finding work.

I work 37.5 hours a week, my pay is the same every month, I have to argue with them till I'm blue in the face that I can't attend their fucking interviews because I am in fact at work.

Dyson vacuum cleaners. Utterly useless in my experience

-Flimsy freezer drawers that break easily.

• Bin liners that are too thin so you have to use two.

• Summer t-shirts and shirts made of cotton so flimsy that they are see-through, so you have to wear a camisole or vest underneath which defeats the point of wearing a cool cotton shirt in the first place.

• hair conditioner bottles which don't allow you to extract the last inch of product

• muffin or jam tart tins that rust

• ditto metal cookie cutters

• tin openers, even quite expensive ones, that blunt or bend after a couple of uses

• fitted sheets that are so thin they are too light to fold easily

Tippex.pens are not about the squeeze.

There's a ball release. Hold it fully upright, push down so the ball no longer blocks and tippex is released

Am I the only one who thought that matter-of-fact stationery-based explanation sounded a bit.... adults-only?!

Google maps on my phone, I use it for sat nav.

We tried that on holiday, when there were endless roundabouts and lots of nondescript, similar-looking roads although I kept trying to load up 'Google Drive', thinking that was the sat nav one and it was useless.

The robot lady kept completely quiet until you were nearly at the roundabout/turning - no reassuring reminder with a now-lower distance to go - and only then told you what exit you needed once you were committed to a lane and entering the roundabout. Pointless - we needed notice of where we were going, not a brief history of where we'd just been.

Bin liners that are too thin so you have to use two.

I always hated this - and it's not like it's something you can easily compare from all the available options without buying and trying them all. Claims of strength/durability/quality mean nothing and are all unverifiable (and usually very exaggerated). I looked online (years ago, now) in frustration for a solution and found a website called Polybags and got some of their medium ones (they do everything up to gigantic furniture-storage ones and rubble bags you could fill with concrete) and have never looked back. You have to buy at least a box of 200 at a time (they come folded) and they are quite a bit dearer (or possibly not, as you never need to double-bag or tear them accidentally), but I think I'd weep now if we had to go back to standard supermarket ones on a roll.

I don't work for them or have any connection in any way - just a very happy returning customer (although not that often, as 200 last ages!)

The plastic straws ban is crazy. We should just accept that takeaway straws are no longer a thing and something we now have to learn to live without - unless you carry metal or silicon ones in your handbag/car (have to keep them clean beforehand and then wash them regularly, mind - not the most practical thing to do).

Yes, we need to get a handle on the single-use plastics habit, but it just seems so arbitrary to outright ban one thing and then continue to allow another very similar one totally unrestricted. Supermarkets still routinely sell bunches of bananas wrapped in plastic bags, for goodness' sake.

I sometimes used to enjoy getting an impulse Slushie from our local Spar on a hot day (don't judge me), but I don't bother now, as I know the shop isn't allowed to provide me with a (realistically affordable) means of actually drinking it. I want the drink to be slushy and soft, not the end of the straw. I don't want to carry it around with me for two hours until it's all completely melted and just like any old drink that you can sip. The cup is still plastic, of course, though....

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

The plastic straws ban is crazy. We should just accept that takeaway straws are no longer a thing and something we now have to learn to live without - unless you carry metal or silicon ones in your handbag/car (have to keep them clean beforehand and then wash them regularly, mind - not the most practical thing to do).

Yes, we need to get a handle on the single-use plastics habit, but it just seems so arbitrary to outright ban one thing and then continue to allow another very similar one totally unrestricted. Supermarkets still routinely sell bunches of bananas wrapped in plastic bags, for goodness' sake.

I sometimes used to enjoy getting an impulse Slushie from our local Spar on a hot day (don't judge me), but I don't bother now, as I know the shop isn't allowed to provide me with a (realistically affordable) means of actually drinking it. I want the drink to be slushy and soft, not the end of the straw. I don't want to carry it around with me for two hours until it's all completely melted and just like any old drink that you can sip. The cup is still plastic, of course, though....

Plant based material straws are what we need. They use them on cruise ships and, to all intents & purposes, appear to be plastic (so much so passengers complain that they’re still being given plastic straws until you show them the box!) - and they don’t disintegrate the minute you put them in whatever liquid you intend to drink with them!!

Those dryer, soap dispenser, tap combos that are hidden underneath a mirror plinth in public lavs.

Put hand under soap bit and soap appears in a different location and ends up all over back of sink. Try again and dryer comes on. Use a two hand technique to get soap out and then tap only works in 0.3 second bursts. Do Oliver impression for 2 minutes begging tap to function. Go to use dryer and more soap appears. Try water again. Dryer comes on. Give up and dry soapy hands on toilet roll. Put toilet roll in handbag as washing area has no bins due to being eco friendly.

Shopping centre/railway station therefore employs person to constantly mop up soap from basin area and collect used bits of toilet paper.

@TortugaRumCakeQueen

Cook at home poppadoms. If you leave them under the grill for more than 2 minutes they catch fire. If you're pissed and forget about them for 15 minutes, you will find that all of your cooker knobs have melted off. Yes, that was me, circa 1995.

😆😆 sorry but I did chuckle

Plant based material straws are what we need. They use them on cruise ships and, to all intents & purposes, appear to be plastic (so much so passengers complain that they’re still being given plastic straws until you show them the box!) - and they don’t disintegrate the minute you put them in whatever liquid you intend to drink with them!!

They sound the perfect solution. The problem is, though, as you say, the common perception that they are still plastic. I remember the Co-op having plant-based carrier bags a few years ago, which would supposedly biodegrade in the general rubbish in 18 months sometimes started before you got your shopping out to the car park - but these were basically politically treated alongside the standard plastic ones and disappeared at the same time.

@Cherrysoup

Jars of gherkins. Much loved by me and no doubt by older, less strong people. Can I open the lid without giving myself a hernia? No, I fucking can’t. Even my DH, big strong bloke, has problems. Using those grippy things doesn’t help. I have resorted to making a hole in the lid with a screwdriver. I know you don’t want them leaking, but it’s not Fort Knox!

If you tap the edge of the lid with a knife handle it breaks the vacuum and comes off easily. I also eat from the gherkin jar daily.

@iklboo

Oven shelves. Metal expands with heat so pulling the feckers in & out requires either Herculean strength or a load of whacks, spilling any liquid all over the fecking shop!

Surely in 2022 The Boffins can come up with another reasonably priced replacement?

Er, that's why you put things on an oven tray.

The shelves are meant to not be moved once the oven is on.

@sashh - there's stuff that says 'place directly onto shelf' and NOT to use an oven tray - pizzas etc. I'm a short arse with little arms & DH has a bloody habit of shoving things right near the back.

The NHS.

Women's skirts and trousers. The pockets. I don't carry one dainty handkerchief at most, I need space for a phone, a purse, a decent sized tissue, lip salve. If I'm travelling I need to put my passport in my pocket and maybe a boarding pass. And I don't want anything to fall out or be accessible to pickpockets.

If men need usable pockets why would anyone think that women want to be dragging a bag about and scrabbling about in it?

@Furrbabymama87

Fray Bentos pies. None of my tin openers can open them. And corned beef tins. In fact all tins should have ring pulls in this day and age.

Corned beef tins should come with a warning label-I've still got a scar on my thumb where I cut it in 1977!

@GeneLovesJezebel

I ordered tin foil from Tesco, you know - the stuff that you use to roast/bake. I had two rolls of what I thought was a cheap replacement , no problem, I accepted it. When I came to use it I found that it’s ‘wrapping foil’ so can only be used to wrap cold food, can’t be used in the oven. What’s the point in that ? Two rolls of the stuff that I can only use to wrap cheese and sandwiches 😡

Hang on, there’s a difference?!!

Dont buy cling film,it cant be recycled.

The CMS. ExH hasn't paid for ages and they just tell me I'm not getting anything instead of doing anything about it.

Google maps for footpaths, it leads u through streams/inlets where there are no crossings

@sueelleker same! 1993