To ask for things that you believe have declined in quality

[JMSA]

I'll kick it off with Fairy Liquid!
Has anyone else noticed this? I have a dishwasher but often wash certain things, eg my big frying pan, by hand. You'd certainly need a mighty big squeeze these days, for a proper foamy lather.
Anything else? If nobody mentions Cadbury's chocolate, I will eat the Oodie I'm currently wearing

I agree about electrical goods, small & large. Small stuff (e.g. hairdriers) started to be made non-repairable maybe 30 years ago, but it's the decline in big electrical items that surprises me: fridges, washing machines, ovens. They need replacing far too quickly, & we've had the oven repaired multiple times & been told that the new version of ours isn't as good as the one we've got. And these aren't cheap brands.

The washing machine we bought new in the 1980s lasted us 25+ years until it fell apart the night before the new kitchen was installed, bless it, & we'd always been told to keep it as the new ones weren't as good. With the COL & pressure on pensioners, how do people manage when they have to replace basic, vital but high cost items over & over again? Back in the day, older peole used to buy something like this & say, "That'll see me out," but you can't think that way any more.

M&S clothing. Cheap and badly made. Especially knickers.

I love the Sharwoods bottle sweet & and sour stir fry sauce, the one without the added veggies none of my local supermarkets/independent stores have had any for ages now.
Finally tracked it down out of town and stocked up...should have saved my money, its flavourless and watery.

I’d go as far as saying the whole dinning out experience hasn’t recovered since Covid, food, service, value for money. We don't eat out very often now as it’s just not been fun, previously we’d have gone out 5 or 6 times a month.

I thought it was just me! What did you switch to? I'm always so disappointed when I've put something in to soak 😞

Cadbury's Fingers. We were talking about this yesterday, so much palm oil in food now.

At least now you won't have to eat your Oodie, all that plastic wouldn't have been good for you. 😉Which is my other bugbear, so much plastic in material. Polyester, acrylic, nylon and all the other petrochemical based fibres which produce poorer quality fabric. Mixing them in with natural fibres now too which is just making things even worse and more difficult to recycle.

Agreed! I ended up with Asda knickers and find them to be just as good and they last longer!

Yes I googled there are loads of options now

Politeness
no one smiles in a shop, staff or customer
no one says thank you when you let them pass in a shop
no one says thank you when you open doors or hold them anymore

add to that driving, rarely do people drive with consideration for others anymore, just a little patience.

The first thing that popped in my head was chocolate

Exactly. I am ALWAYS polite when I approach customer service or interact with store staff. Always. Yet it isn't always reciprocated. It usually is, to be fair, maybe because I try to be very smiley and polite, but there are those moments when I wonder if the person 'helping' me realises it's their paid job to do so?

Premium "high st" clothing brands (no idea about full designer as I don't buy) quality is no better than primark these days and sizing is all over the place. That said, I'm paying no more in monsoon now than I did 10 years ago which probably tells part of the story plus the sales are good

LMFAO. Ain't that the truth.

Your cameras don't cover every single angle, nor will they pick out shadows or notice someone moving between cars.

Look before you hit a kid for God's sake.

Try a different branch. Sounds mad but they vary so much and I don’t understand how

This. I go through vacuum cleaners and washing machines like you wouldn't believe.

Kettles and toasters too. We finally splurged on a Dualit toaster last year and hope we’ll never have to replace it! Our kettle’s no longer switches off automatically but we are still using it.

Chocolate has been steadily shrinking, getting smaller and flatter, and less in a pack, for a good few years.

I had the worst fig rolls of my life yesterday. About 2mm of fig.

Morrisons sausages have been shrinking when I cook them this past 2 weeks. I need 3 where I would have used 2 in a sandwich.

Cheddar cheese. I used to eat this stuff on toast. A few years ago it changed to some weird plastic like substance.

I had some Thai Green Curry from a well known Thai Restaurant, there was sod all chicken in it and what was in it was awful and gristly. It was basically sauce.

I love proper Thai food and people rave about this restaurant but I was so disappointed. It really wasn't worth the money.

Clothes. Massive bobbles after you’ve worn it twice

Totally agree with this. “Emotional labour” my eye! I too worked in retail when I was younger so I am always polite and friendly, say excuse me, please and thank you. But so much of the time this is met with an “I don’t give a shit” attitude, like providing the service they are actually been paid to, is beneath them.
I know some customers can be so awful and rude (and I call them out on it too) but it has got to the point where, if someone is actually helpful and friendly, it has become a memorable experience.

Yep, same here too. I've given up with Fairy Liquid as they seemed to keep watering it down yet prices kept going up. I use Bower Collective now.

Next. It used to be a pleasant shopping experience nowadays you might just as well be in primark.

also @ThePerkyDuck

Woolovers do pure wool jumpers
https://www.woolovers.com/

Also, isn't it better to NOT get right up close to someone & then stop because the car beeps? Frightening for the pedestrian, even though you don't hit them? (If it picks them up at all.)

My bugbear with driving is that on the country roads round here, increasing numbers of oncoming cars are driven too far over towards the centre of the road, forcing me into the edge of the road or the hedge. Why is this? There've always been a few drivers who don't want their precious car in the mud at the side of the road or being scratched by the hedge (ironic when they're 4x4s), but it seems to be about 50% now. It's tiresome, infuriating & dangerous.