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What is the Worst Present You Ever Received?

(130 Posts)
Indigo8 Sun 29-Sept-24 18:30:35

I know this is a recurrent theme on Gransnet but I find it very interesting and amusing. Please indulge me.

My MIL gave me a really cheap salt and pepper set once for my birthday, the sort you used to find in greasy spoon cafes. She had been to stay and was cross because no matter how hard she shook the the salt or the pepper grinder nothing came out of the top.

kazzie19 Mon 30-Sept-24 12:03:17

One Christmas my MIL gave me a nightie. It was one of those bri nylon, several layers affair in various hideous shades of lilac and purple. It was just before we got married and when i slept over (in the guest bed!) there were always nylon sheets on the bed. OMG the static almost killed me! My hair stood on end, everything crackled and i was wary of passing anything metal in case i self-combusted. I'm still convinced she did it on purpose grin

Metra Mon 30-Sept-24 12:08:32

For my 21st anniversary aunt gave me a nylon net shopping bag.

jocork Mon 30-Sept-24 12:15:02

After my first answer I remembered this! A secret santa - presumably intended as a joke, or maybe someone though I really wanted/needed a man! They were wrong. It's inflatable and less than 2 feet tall!

Zetters Mon 30-Sept-24 12:21:11

A tea towel......explaining the rules of cricket!

Usedtobeblonde Mon 30-Sept-24 12:24:31

Not the worst but the most upsetting.
When well off friends celebrated their silver anniversary, two other couples and us clubbed together to buy them an exquisite and expensive crystal bowl.
We knew they liked good quality.
When it was ours we received two very cheap brandy glasses.
What made it worse was that they had moved away and they came up to us to celebrate their anniversary.
I cooked a three course dinner for all eight of us at considerable effort and expense.

Gransarethebest Mon 30-Sept-24 12:24:33

When I was in my twenties, my mum used to nag me that I should wear a petticoat, I told her plenty of times that I had no intention of wearing one, so guess what? One Christmas I got a pile of petticoats! Control freak or what?

Tizliz Mon 30-Sept-24 12:26:13

Granmarderby10

Have some of these husbands got a deathwish!

Mine avoids this by just not buying anything 🤣🤣

Woodywalker Mon 30-Sept-24 12:27:28

A packet of something called truffle flavoured spaghetti for Valentines Day, which my husband had grabbed in haste thinking was a box of chocolates. This from the man who once said making his wife a cup of tea would ‘ set a dangerous precedent ‘ …several friends have tried to explain that the sets of pans, the air fryer and a practical washable doormat are setting an even more dangerous precedent !

Diplomat Mon 30-Sept-24 12:30:29

My MiL once proudly presented me with a microwave for Christmas 'so that I can warm up his dinners when he comes in late.' !!!!! I never had anything in common with the woman.

sazz1 Mon 30-Sept-24 12:33:48

I've had several over the years.
A small bottle of cheap handcream from my then boyfriend for my 17th birthday
A huge black cotton baggy kaftan from another boyfriend
The worst was from my DDs ex a tiny jar of instant coffee for Xmas. Not even a brand I used.

downtoearth Mon 30-Sept-24 12:45:15

As a child I always had bath cubes and bath crystals from people who knew we didnt have a bath or a bathroom and an outside toilet.

IamMaz Mon 30-Sept-24 12:46:41

My late mother-in-law got me an absolutely hideous, shapeless jumper from Benetton many years ago. I NEVER wore it.

chicken Mon 30-Sept-24 12:58:23

For Christmas, Mr C.presented me with a pair of industrial thickness rubber gloves and two scart leads ( I don't even know what they are for). I wept. He was told never to buy me anything for Christmas again but to give me money instead. For our golden wedding anniversary he gave me a bunch of wilted yellow daisies from Lidl, price tag still on-----$1.99 (that's a pound, not a dollar.Tablet has no pound symbol). He's still Mr C., just hanging on to the title by a whisker.

PenE Mon 30-Sept-24 13:09:21

For my 21st birthday BIL gave me a slinky! No idea what reasoning went into it but I think that there were not many gift items at the shop he visited to get a last minute present. Some years later gift from relative was a hair brush set- unfortunately it had been used and was full of hair- if you are going to regift check the present before is all I could think!

sankev Mon 30-Sept-24 13:21:59

I definitely empathise with jusnoneed! OH asked what I wanted for Christmas and I asked him to surprise me. Expecting jewellery or perfume I was amazed to receive a much larger box than expected. Excitedly opened it to find a pair of Wellies! Apparently I had mentioned I needed some new ones for walking the dog! He did get the correct size though so not all was lost

HomeAgain123 Mon 30-Sept-24 13:36:32

Last Xmas I had to open my present from son in front of his in laws … it was a garden calendar with seeds for each month . His FIL asked was I a keen gardener as he was ….. I laughed and replied no only have lawn never grown anything in my life thinking gift was a joke … table went silent … it wasn’t . 🙈🙈🙈🙈 still sitting in a bag to regift but ……

Davisuz Mon 30-Sept-24 13:41:21

A really tacky free bubble bath gift - two years running! From my child's widowed grandfather who was extremely well off. I was divorced and kept up visits or he'd never have seen said grandchild. I knew it had been wrapped up but his daughter who couldn't stand me, not the poor old chap so it just made me smile!

nanna8 Mon 30-Sept-24 13:50:57

For my 70 th someone gave me a bright pink parasol with Japanese dollys round the edge. I have never used it, needless to say.

Zuzu Mon 30-Sept-24 13:53:41

Do you remember peignoir sets? I was 19 in 1974 for my first marriage. It was the custom then to have several showers before the marriage...kitchen, linen, lingerie, etc... I grew up in a large church where my parents were quite active and knew everyone, so while a rather simple wedding, lots of people were part of the festivities. At the lingerie shower, I received a "shorty" peignoir set of red chiffon. Ruffles at the neckline and hem, ruffles on the bikini panty. All see-through. But it was in an expensive ladies' boutique box. When I went to exchange, turns out it came from the dollar store near by.

Georgesgran Mon 30-Sept-24 13:59:41

I’ve always used CK
Obsession perfume and a chap I was in a relationship with said he was obsessed with me. How sweet you might think?
However, he got the elbow when he presented me with a bottle of Poison (Dior?).

Shallow? Moi?

ordinarygirl Mon 30-Sept-24 14:00:13

we were moving house and had to rent somewhere until we found a permanent home = over 200 miles away. Knowing that we had no fixed rental ( we had to move around for 4 weeks till our 6 month let became available), I was given a huge garden item . It had to be nursed on my knee for the long car journey to our first rental - where the item was left for the owner alongside another plant. If people wanted to buy a leaving gift then why not a voucher ? that was many years ago but the stupid present still gets me annoyed now

Etoile2701 Mon 30-Sept-24 14:28:11

Someone once gave me a type of jug for going for a wee in the car if one was caught short. I never used it.

Ohmygoodness54 Mon 30-Sept-24 14:30:33

My MIL once bought me a rather expensive hotel type trouser press. I never wore trousers or even jeans at the time. She proudly announced that she thought it would be useful to me as she knew how much I struggled to press her dear sons trousers! 40 years later we still have it and DH still uses it 😂, so in a way I suppose it was a good gift, just directed to the wrong person.

Mt61 Mon 30-Sept-24 14:39:56

Tin of quality street, with the “humpy backed ones (purple wrapper, my fav, missing.. tin then badly resealed 😩🤣

Fae1 Mon 30-Sept-24 14:41:11

Something that looked like a wallet but wasn't. Still don't know what it was for. My son and I decided as a joke to give it to his then girlfriend at Christmas. The look on her face was priceless until we gave her the proper present I'd bought her. Luckily she had a great sense of humour. Don't know what she did with it 😄