Page 14 | Expensive items bought that disappointed/didn’t live up to the hype?

Theroadnottravelled · 2025-07-12T20:59:55+00:00

Mine is a cordless Dyson vacuum. Cost loads, has a poor battery, doesn’t pick up well, so overrated. Gets rave reviews - why?? My next one will be a Henry ;-) My other is overpriced, average pub/cafe grub when out as a family. Such a waste of time, money and effort. Sorry, I’m usually more upbeat…

familyissues12345 · 15/07/2025 07:19

Ring doorbell - seems to pick and choose who it wants to see?! We bought it specifically because we have a dog walker and we’re never 100% sure what time she comes (so we know what time to get home by) and for some reason it rarely picks her up even though we know she’s been as we see photos of our dog with her. I’m starting to wonder if she’s a ghost…

vax one blade wireless hoover - bloody hate it. Charge is pitiful and I’d do a better job picking up the dirt with my fingers

Sandflea9900 · 15/07/2025 07:42

Miele appliances. Bearings went in our washing machine after 4 years, would cost more to fix than to buy a replacement machine. Dishwasher basket lowering/raising mechanism broke after 2 years and is currently held together with a cable tie.

Miele might have been good once but their products have been cost reduced and they are trading on former glories and reputation. Wouldn’t buy their stuff again.

pearlchoker · 15/07/2025 07:45

I bought a pink 'Henrietta' hoover, and ended up with an infestation of carpet moths in my new wool carpets. I then purchased a Shark and the amount of fluff, dust etc that came off my floors was horrific, and proved that Henrietta had never been up to the job! This wasn't just me, a close friend had a similar experience.
Then there is the Dyson all singing, all dancing air wrap at 500 quid ISH. Don't bother if you have long, thick frizzy/curly/unruly hair. Just put the cash down the drain instead 🙄

Phoebesparrow · 15/07/2025 08:47

An emma mattress
We saved up so hard to buy it and then it started to sink on both sides after less than 2 years of use
I ended up with sciatica that was so bad,I ended up in hospital
Got hold of emma and they didn't want to know-they kept moving the goalposts on what they wanted as proof (it went on for well over 4 months of requests) and didn't seem surprised that I'd ended up in hospital
Never again-i hope they go bust

Laurmolonlabe · 15/07/2025 08:52

This controversial, but an air fryer. True I bought quite a small one that was heavily discounted. Ok for heating things up, but not much cheaper to use than my gas oven for cooking things from scratch, and a far smaller capacity, also not as good a result as the oven often.

Beemagirl · 15/07/2025 09:20

Loving this thread. So many things I thought were good and might have bought are now well and truly off my wish list. 👍

ToffeePennie · 15/07/2025 09:57

MeringueOutang · 12/07/2025 23:08

Irregular Choice shoes. I bought a gorgeous special edition pair for my wedding for quite a lot of money and I had to send them back because I couldn't walk in them, the heels were higher than the length from my heels to the balls of my feet and I couldn't put both parts of my feet on the floor at the same time. Now I do have long toes (shortening the part of my foot that had the issue) but still.

I adore my ICs and Rubys and Joe Browns. You deffo have to have the “right” sort of feet for them, but I spend all day in mine when I can and I adore them!

SisSuffragette · 15/07/2025 10:10

Philips lumea lazer hair removal. Such a faff, battery life is rubbish (one and a bit lower legs) takes forever

Original poster

Theroadnottravelled · 15/07/2025 10:35

I’m loving all these. Fascinated by the Dyson comments following mine. Most hate them and their products (my people) but quite a bit of love too. It’s such a marmite brand.

OP posts:

RookieGrandma · 15/07/2025 11:25

I have a Roborock. I haven’t used the wash function but the vac is fabulous. Just have to check all the floors for phone leads and any thing you don’t want it to pick up!! Love the symmetry of the lines it leaves on all the carpets, parallel with the walls - heaven. (I have ocd). Ooh and it does a clean job.

The Dyson hair dryer kit was my worst ever buy. Absolute rip off for the poor job it did on my mid length hair, when it told me it would do a fabulous one. I sent it back, they refunded.

GasPanic · 15/07/2025 11:30

I suppose it depends how you define "not living up to the hype".

My experience of Audi cars is they look great and are nicely finished. I love driving them.

But horribly unreliable and very expensive to repair. Stuff fails on them that you would in no way expect to fail if it was a quality component.

This probably goes for pretty much all German cars these days.

Thedevilhasfinallycaughtupwithhim · 15/07/2025 11:30

StrangledVowels · 12/07/2025 22:34

Shark cordless vaccuum cleaner. They have a great reputation but I didn’t like it at all, it was constantly blocked, broke down. Awful. Got a Dyson to replace it and have had no issues with it.

I concur.
My shark vacuum is the worst I’ve ever owned and that includes a £30 Asda one!

Limth · 15/07/2025 11:32

Dyson heater and cooling fan tower. Was £600.

As a heater, it's alright.

As a fan, it's awful. No better than a normal bladed fan you get in B&M for £20.
And it's noisy as fuck so impossible to sleep with it on overnight.

Absolute waster of ££££

GasPanic · 15/07/2025 11:33

TheChosenTwo · 12/07/2025 23:18

Air fryer - technically dh wasted his money on if. Piece of crap, never understood why he bought it - he’s a fantastic cook and we are a family of 5 - despite buying a large one there was no way a dinner for all of us was being cooked in there without also using the oven. By the end of the day he’d asked around if anyone wanted it and it was gone by the end of the week. Piece of trash!

also a big fan of my Dyson cordless - did love the Henry but he’s a bugger for getting up and down the stairs and because we are on 3 floors I needed to unplug and re plug about 4 times. Too bulky and heavy for my liking.

Dyson airwrap for me though was a total waste of cash. Ended up giving in to my sister who also hates it 😂

I mean technically the air fryer wasn't a piece of crap.

You bought something that was unsuitable for your needs.

That is your problem, not the air fryers.

GasPanic · 15/07/2025 11:36

Laurmolonlabe · 15/07/2025 08:52

This controversial, but an air fryer. True I bought quite a small one that was heavily discounted. Ok for heating things up, but not much cheaper to use than my gas oven for cooking things from scratch, and a far smaller capacity, also not as good a result as the oven often.

Air fryers are great if you are not cooking that much stuff.

In economic terms though they stack up far better against an electric oven than a gas one because electric is about 4x the price of gas.

GasPanic · 15/07/2025 11:41

tarheelbaby · 13/07/2025 11:13

I agree about the tray. Where are you supposed to put the things like big cooking spoons that don't fit in its slots? The little plastic ridges are scratchy and hurt my fingers. The table knives are frequently not clean, despite leaving spaces between them, so many of them need to be handwashed again!

The only thing that helps that the cutlery is dry and can be put straight into the drawer and the cutlery into sections for easier unloading: e.g. all the knives in the front right corner of the tray.

Show quote history

You can lay them down in the section next to the slots.

Or put them in the tray beneath with the other stuff if it is something huge like a ladle.

Mystery solved. I'm onto Dyatlov pass next.

Shmoigel · 15/07/2025 11:43

Dyson airwrap! I had one of the first ones and it was awful, damaged my hair and was giving a burnt smell every time I used it! Took it back to Currys and swapped it for my daughters christmas gifts as they could not do a card refund.

Hangingonthere · 15/07/2025 11:43

Splcam, I subscribe to Which? and read an article years ago on face creams and the like, and their opinion was get the absolute cheapest that your skin likes. They pointed out that the claims made by cosmetic companies are at best tenuous and many are gobbledygook and not physically possible.

Since then I have never been taken in by the hype and my skin hasn't suffered from using cheap creams (apart from normal aging!).

WordsFailMeYetAgain · 15/07/2025 11:57

StrangledVowels · 12/07/2025 22:34

Shark cordless vaccuum cleaner. They have a great reputation but I didn’t like it at all, it was constantly blocked, broke down. Awful. Got a Dyson to replace it and have had no issues with it.

I love my Shark Cordless vacuum cleaner - mine is the stick version. Can whip over the whole house on one charge. I have a corded Shark which I loathe as it's sooooo heavy!

catmum44 · 15/07/2025 12:20

I've had a Eufy for 18 months been brilliant. We have all hardwood floors that easily look dusty. When it started 'playing up' replaced the battery - good as new - batteries last about a year with daily use. It had started doing short cleans and getting lost!

CastleofMey · 15/07/2025 13:20

Galt toys - they were a benchmark for quality kids’ toys back in the day. I recently bought a couple of their boxed science sets for my grandchildren - Galt are definitely trading on past glories now.

Iloveanicegarden · 15/07/2025 13:21

JoanThursday · 12/07/2025 22:38

I have a Dyson. Dh picked it up in a black Friday sale - must have been over £500 with all the various add ons. I hate it. It's fine for a quick swish around the hard floors but show it the rug in the living room and it throws its hands up in horror,.refusing to do anything.

I've gone back to a 25 yo Henry. New hose and filter and it's good to go.

We had one of the early Dysons and it was quite good, but the second one!!!!!!!!!!!!!You have to pick up the threads and shove it under the front, and even then it says..' not today, maybe tomorrow' and spits the item out. It's absolutely useless.

The second item is a specialist item. DH is heavily into high end audio and we purchased a very attractive subwoofer. It only lasted just over a year, and due to its construction couldn't be taken apart to access the innards. Best item left at the tip that day

godmum56 · 15/07/2025 13:34

Rhaenys · 15/07/2025 02:24

MacBook Pro. I loved it but it broke and was deemed not worth repairing by both the Apple Store and an independent company after less than 2 years. It was so expensive to have for such a short length of time!

I buy the applecare with mine. have only had to use it for accidental damage

godmum56 · 15/07/2025 13:38

GasPanic · 15/07/2025 11:30

I suppose it depends how you define "not living up to the hype".

My experience of Audi cars is they look great and are nicely finished. I love driving them.

But horribly unreliable and very expensive to repair. Stuff fails on them that you would in no way expect to fail if it was a quality component.

This probably goes for pretty much all German cars these days.

i had a Jeep Cherokee and loved it to bits but at the time I had it it had to be serviced every six bloody months by a main dealer because Jeep wouldn't allow anyone else to have their computer diagnostic stuff.....but I loved that car.

xsquared · 15/07/2025 13:56

Ortiz tuna. I bought a tin out of curiosity after seeing a thread about it here. Some posters raved about it and reviews on Sainsbury's were glowing.

It's okay for tuna steak in a tin, but I can get similar results from John West tuna in sunflower oil for a quarter of the price. It certainly isn't 4 times better.