DP got me the wrong present.

[PresentBlunder]

I really wanted the brand new Dyson air wrap for my birthday, it’s almost £600 - I know, ridiculous.

I’ve been squirrelling money away for a couple of months. DP asked me what I’d like for my birthday and I said the air wrap, but it’s a lot of money, so perhaps a contribution towards it. He said he’d buy it for me as it’s a big birthday and he’s getting his bonus from work soon.

My DP is very good at shopping around, getting a discount, we often buy second hand from Facebook and eBay. However, I explained to him that because it’s brand new out (1 month), he likely won’t find it as a bargain anywhere and he’s best off buying it direct from Dyson with our daughters student discount. He agreed and I sent the link.

Come today, I’ve opened my present from him and it’s the Dyson air wrap from quite a few years ago. A much older model without the latest tech or attachments. He was ridiculously pleased with himself and told me he’d got it for much cheaper than the advertised price.

Would you just be honest with him? I don’t want to crush him, he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, but it’s not what I wanted and I’d rather return it and put the money towards the one I actually wanted. I also don’t want to see ungrateful as it was a lovely gesture.

Or I could just return it and buy the one I want and he’ll likely never know?

I have no idea if he did offer, he may have been so sure he’d get a deal (ignoring what the OP said) and mentally thought it would be about £300 or whatever.

Crossed post.

Sounds just like the kind of thing my DH would do too.... (and it would end up being my fault, i wasn't precise enough or some such.)

He was trying to do the right thing. Would he actually notice if you secretly returned it and just got the one you wanted? My DH wouldn't notice the difference

Well done @PresentBlunder. Don't put up with the sulking. He decided to take a punt on something he couldn't return. That's his problem. You told him exactly what you wanted and he ignored it. Not your problem to sort out his deliberate error.

It’s second hand.

I asked him why he didn’t just buy it from the link and he said because he always manages to get deals on things and he didn’t realise there would be such a difference between models. He saw air wrap and assumed what he’d bought was correct.

He didn’t listen to you and/or didn’t believe you. I’d be massively annoyed with him.

Out of interest, I have really long and heavy hair. If I got one would it be really quick and easy for me to make it look nice and styled in the mornings? I've never used one and been umming and ahhing about getting one

I’d be having a discussion about that though, because you told him this was a new model, there are different models of it and this one won’t be sold for cheap second hand as it’s new.

He has completely ignore that, so claiming he thought they were all the same is just not true. It would come down to a discussion about listening, and putting other’s needs ahead of his belief that he knows better.

So he thought he knew better. Thats so fucking dismissive. I’d tell him to snap out of his sulking, if anyone should be pissed, it should be you. Tell him to grow up and learn to listen to you in future.

That’s what I’m hoping. My current hair drying and straightening routine takes 40 minutes!!

Agreed!! Such an arrogant streak there. I’d be very irritated by his attitude and sulking.

Oh no, what an idiot.

God knows what he'll be able to re-sell it for.

I’ve just been on Facebook and they are selling for £50 - £150 less than £300. They must have seen him coming!!

He knows it wasn't correct.

The fact that he said he didn't know there would be such a difference between the models proves that he knew he was buying you a model that wasn't the one you asked for.

He's attempted to cheapskate you and you're well within your rights to be angry with him. If he didn't want to spend more than £300 on your birthday gift he should have just given you £300 towards the model you actually wanted.

I hope this story isn't going to end with you buying the model you want and him not getting you a birthday present.

Also - "always managing to get deals on things" is not the same as buying something secondhand! That's not a deal, that's something old, which you can't return if it doesn't work. That's why it's cheap. A deal is 20% off the new item on Black Friday.

I would tell him that.

Yep, and he’s so pleased with himself thinking he got a bargain!!!

He’s sulking in the sitting room and I’m upstairs at the moment

That’s a bullshit response from him OP. You specifically said you wanted the latest model that’s been out one month. He didn’t even bother the check the link you sent him to see the model you wanted before going ahead and buying a second hand one. Had he done that he’d have seen the one he bought was not the same as the one you wanted. Do NOT let him guilt you into feeling bad that he didn’t give a shit enough to get you what you specifically said you wanted.

Let him sulk. You couldn’t have been clearer; he just thought he knew better 🙄

Tell him it's not a bargain, it's £300 down the toilet for something that is old, not what you wanted, might not even work, and probably can't be resold for what he paid for it.

But if he's such a wheeler dealer, I'm sure he'll find someone else willing to buy it for £300, eh?

Happy Birthday OP. You did the right thing telling him. Maybe a lesson for him for future that sometimes can’t cut corners. He meant well but sure you know that but jeez you couldn’t of been clearer and he was the one to offer. Hope he snaps out of sulk soon as would’ve been a shame if you had to (a) sell and then replace to spare his upset or (b) made do with a version you don’t want. Appreciate he’s upset but your heart must’ve sank when you opened it. Let him do the resale again to learn his lesson.

You want to spend £600 on what amounts to curling tongs plus hair straightener?!
That said, if you wanted a specific one and you know your DH is a bargain hunter then you should have said nothing about this and suggested something else for your 40? And saved up.
That also said, you could tell him. Send it back and ask him to contribute to the one you wanted. Though he may be both hurt and disappointed since the correct response to any present is 'lovely, thanks' (though I did angrily tell my ex-DH that I did not want a book by Desmond Morris for Christmas but the book I had asked for, 'Wives and Daughters' by E. Gaitskell - he had said he thought it was 'not suitable', i.e. he thought it was a feminist tract, hence ex!).
If he is unobservant (which sounds possible) then quietly send it back and get the one you want. This should save embarrassment all round - and I be he won't notice.
Also, looking on line I can see several Dyson tongs/straightener combos (they are all Dyson air wraps) new for a lot less than £600 and they have lots of attachments.

I have fantasies of making my hair look perfect in 5 minutes that no product has ever realized!