A thread for everyone who’s made an expensive mistake recently

[Forgottenmyphone]

Just mucked up with our holiday booking, and it’s cost us a few hundred. I’m so annoyed with myself as we were literally scraping the top end of our budget without this mistake.

please share your recent expensive mistakes to help make me feel better! Or at least help me get things in perspective!

I went to the cashpoint to get £300. Afterward, I took my card out of the machine, carefully tucked it away in my purse, and left. Then I realised that I somehow hadn't taken the money! This was a more understandable mistake than you might imagine: when I later returned to the machine to take more out, I discovered that it returns your card quickly and then pauses for a long time before it dispenses the money.

Anyway, I rushed back to the machine in case the cash was still sticking out of it. No luck. I concluded someone else must have thought it was their lucky day and taken it. When I checked my transactions it did show that I'd withdrawn £300 at that machine. I didn't bother contacting my bank. What could they do?

I felt sick but consoled myself by remembering that if this had happened to me 35 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to pay the rent. Now I can bear the loss.

There was a happy ending: nearly a month later, my bank unexpectedly credited me with £300. I can only guess that when the cash hadn't been taken after a few minutes, the machine sucked it back in again. It's strange that it took so long for the system to reconcile it and the charge to be reversed. What a relief though.

I rocked up at the airport, a three hour drive away with my late husband's passport instead of mine.
It was a 4 day, pure luxury holiday after a horrible few months - still makes me wake up in a cold sweat 🤣

Booked and paid for some train tickets but had them sent to an old email by mistake that I can’t access any longer. So couldn’t access the tickets or request a refund. Bought them again using trainline app instead 🤦‍♀️

A few days ago I went online to buy single train ticket to London. Somehow it all became very muddled when it came to paying and going through the verification with the bank. Then tried paying by PayPal. Somehow at the end of the process I'd bought a ticket for the wrong day!!!😲 And paid twice for the ticket on the correct day!!!😭😭😭
Today I bought a ticket to go back home and managed to buy one for only £10 (less than half the usual price) so I'm feeling slightly better. It's a slower journey with 2 changes but I'm in no rush so that's ok.

Not me, my parents

Loaned relative house deposit with formal agreement that she would repay when selling plus interest

she sold and repaid 20%
they had to take her to court for the rest
judgement in their favour but she now has no money or assets (2 house sales later…)

so £39k actual money loss, £55k paper loss (actual plus interest) and no idea what the opportunity loss was as they would have invested it elsewhere

I bought a pair of designer boots I've been coveting for decades from eBay. They didn't fit me. I was convinced I just had to try and stretch them. I cursed my horrible bunion addled feet. I even bought this shoe stretching contraption! Obviously it did not make any difference.

Then a few months later I got the boots out to show a friend, and there was a label on the sole saying it was two sizes too small! I hadn't noticed in time to send them back as being not as advertised.

Absolutely gutted! My first (and probably last!) designer purchase. And they're really small so gonna be impossible to sell.
PM me if you want size 3 VW pirate boots. 😂🥴

Ignored a warning light on my car’s dashboard for months, because I simply didn’t have the time or energy to deal with it.

Ended up with my car breaking down and needing a new radiator. £350 down.

So long as its below 27 degrees I really wouldn't worry . But please check with your provider

Me

Filled up tank with premium not normal fuel - not a lot of £ wasted but annoying!

Had tyre replaced, it was flat the next day and mechanic wouldn’t sort it, said we had to drive the vehicle to him to have it inflated. £120 gone.

More bus lane tickets than I can count because my sat nav loves a bus lane.

Didn’t properly record state of car, was left with RAC for a month and it came back destroyed. Cost to replace like for like £20k.

I booked a weekend away that included an event I was attending. It was only after I'd paid for it using the cheaper "pay now, non-refundable" option, that I realised I'd booked the wrong dates and the event was the weekend after. £325 that mistake cost me.....I go for the "pay on arrival and cancel up to 2 days prior" option now.

It's a while ago now, I didn't remember for a couple of weeks and it was too late.

You have reminded me though of my car insurance, where they gave me the renewal quote which I accepted. I had a small non-claim on my record and they waited until after the grace period before writing me to tell me they were putting it up £100 because this non-claim had suddenly resolved.

I was livid and cancelled even though it cost me money and I am now with someone else.

I got similarly scammed, they said my neighbour had found them on CheckATrade and while working on their roof, noticed some work on our roof needed doing, then of course they kept finding other things.
1k later….. 🫩

Could you not re-sell it on eBay?

They can be out of the fridge for 28 days apparently

Not investing in stocks and shares 10 - 15 years ago. Though I see that as an issue caused by a lack of public information on the subject, not my mistake.

Have you looked on the Lick website yet? You buy a sample for £2 and it’s a sticker that you can place on different walls to get a better idea of how the colour will look in different lighting and angles.

Really?
I didn't know that
Thank you-ill have a look now

Never e er buy from any Instagram ads ,
thought it was okay as I came out of Instagram and googled the company. It looked fantastic linen clothes Company based in the Netherlands all very lovely and a super sale of course all a scam from China. The close turned up they’re made from nylon there nothing like that advertising spent 150 quid the stuff needs to go in the bin. .
The company was called Susan and Micheal. Never been scammed online before. I just can’t believe I fell for it was late at night. I was desperate for some new clothes. You know how it goes…..

I was leaving the house to go to my MOT, found a little dog in the road, dithered, ushered little dog into the car as Kwikfit is opposite my vets. Ended up missing MOT (££). Could not rebook til following week which meant I had one day that I wasn't covered. Drove down a farm track and over a bunch of nails. Recovery wasn't available in my insurance due to lack of MOT (£££). Friend who was a dog walker sent me a picture of the same dog randomly who is a customer of hers. I replied, that dog owes me £300. Lesson learnt!

Ive got some furniture stored which I havent unboxed (too big to get out the box to check and stored awkwardly in the house) while we finish the work needed before getting them out, Im dreading opening the boxes and theres sodmthing wrong (too late to return) or I dont like them

Stair carpet looked lovely in the sample absolutely awful in situ, really busy and clashing
£1300 lived with it for a few years
Import duty on some boots I ordered that didn’t fit and I had to pay to return about a £100 wasted

Mobile tyre replacement. I'm sure I paid well over the odds but I'm not googling to confirm.
The day before our summer holiday, DD had a long-awaited hospital appt. in a city 40mins drive away. We came out, late too b/c she overslept, and discovered the tyre was utterly flat - on the rim. Our amazing neighbour dropped everything and drove us to the hospital appt. and I started working my phone to deal with the tyre. It was replaced that same afternoon but I'm sure I paid way more than was necessary. I was just desperate to have it sorted b/c the next morning we were leaving ca 6am for the airport.

@honeylulu I also had teeth knocked out as a teenager. I was laughing and wearing fancy dress and shouted wait for me to my friend, I was 16. I tripped over my long dress and was holding a basket of flowers and fruit so couldn’t save myself.

I had a free bridge on the NHS when I was 18, then it needed replacing when I was 31 and I was experimented on by the students at the dental dept of the University I worked in. They did a fine job, lots of checking and discussions and teaching over me plus the lecturer who also did some work. That is now failing but it has been in for nearly 30 years. I can either have a denture or implants but the implants need bone grafts and as it’s a six unit bridge it would be 25k to 30k.

I messed up the date when we were meeting friends so had to book an extra nights accommodation but that seems low key compared to lots of these incidences, was an extra £100 and two nice nights.

Yes! this is one of the drop shippers I mentioned upthread. Another "tell" is a Netherlands address. But honestly, any new shop, just ask AI "is this a drop shipper" and if so avoid.

How bloody annoying, I’d be so fed up with myself