"Caveat Emptor."
The famous English proverb is a Latin phrase warning customers they are solely responsible for the quality or suitability of the goods before committing to a purchase.
Curious to hear about customer regrets online, Redditor jezbez asked:
"What terrible product sells by the millions?"
Many items for sale seem to focus more on advertising than ensuring product integrity.
Growth Enhancement
"Penis enlargement pills."
"The pills keep getting larger but my penis is still the same size - am I doing something wrong?"
– Devonai
Late Advertisement
"Anything you see on the 1 AM advertising shows that take 1 hour to show you a single product."
"They are also sold on like Walmart shelves in the 'as seen on TV' section."
Getting More Ink
"Printer ink cartridges."
"I hate the printers that refuse to print a black and white page just because it's out of yellow ink."
More Ink Nightmares
"F'king hell, I hate printers, from their 'ceases to continue working after minimal use' thing to the 'ink whose price suggests it is drawn from the glands of rare sacred animals on another planet' crap. I'm sure there are lots of good, decent people who work in the printer industry, but I'm sure there were lots of good, decent people working on board the Death Star too."
The effectiveness of some household wares and health & beauty products were questioned.
Toxic Flea Repellent
"Hartz brand pet flea treatments/medication. It's dangerous and has been the cause of death for many pets. IIRC it's a nerve agent that's supposed to make the pet's blood toxic to fleas."
"I used some on my cat once and she started freaking out, then had trouble walking normally (her legs were twitching and kicking, clearly out of her control), and tears of brown thick liquid started streaming down her face. I picked her up and frantically gave her a bath hoping to wash any of the remaining chemicals off the back of her neck before any more of that poison seeped into her skin."
Dietary Supplement Corporation
"Herbalife."
"I know literally no one that buys it. I'm convinced they're a drug front or are faking their financials."
Weight Loss
"Diet shakes/pills/teas etc."
"My boyfriend was trying to lose weight desperately for a job."
"He made a list of everything he wanted. He wanted a girdle (to suck in his belly), eggs, and 4 different diet pills. The cost of just 1 box was well over 50 bucks. And he wanted 4."
"I told him the diet pills will never work, and they might make him sick. Bought 1 box anyway. He lost a couple pounds. Water weight. In order to lose more, he starved himself and ate 3 eggs, once per day, or nothing at all."
"He would have a smoothie a few times a week, which has several hundred calories."
People Share Their Best 'Whoa, It Worked' Moments | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Clogging The Pipeline
"Detoxification miracle products."
"Get all the toxins out of your body!"
"You have already have a pancreas and liver."
"and kidney(s)"
"Glad to see so many people actually are educated about their digestive systems. One of my favorite areas of study right now are the gut microbiome and it's ever-increasing known impact on our overall health. So far it really seems like one of the most important factors (if not the most) is the quality of care you give your ol' poop machine. So yeah, don't consume garbage branded as detox products that f' upyour colon."
– Xalidos
Microbeads
"Stuff with microbeads."
"Seriously, how was this ever legal in the first place and why is it still legal?"
"Edit, apparently mictobeads were mostly banned in the US (where majority of redditors are from) in 2018 (enacted 2015) but I missed that. However, this is not a strict ban as they are still allowed in "non-rinse off" products such as make-up or pillow stuffing and you can order large quantities of them on Amazon. So while this is a step in the right direction, it is certainly not good enough. Furthermore, they should be banned worldwide like CFCs were as their environmental impact is equally as bad."
"Totally Unnecessary"
"Douche - like Summers Eve."
"That stuff is totally unnecessary if you're hygienic."
– 623326
Entertainment services have found ways to exploit customers by enticing them with features that promise elevated experiences but ultimately fall short of expectations.
Virtual Upgrades
"WILDLY Overpriced micro transactions in video games, it's genuinely absurd. 25 dollars for a little outfit for your character in a first person shooter where you do not see your little outfit is a perfect example."
Someone Else Is Keeping Score
"NBA 2K franchise. just keeps getting progressively worse, more ads, more incentives to spend money, gameplay barely changes."
– dyla4034
Cable
"Cable TV (from major providers)"
"They made money f'king people over and then when streaming services changed the game they decided to continue finding new ways to f'k you over. God help you if you live in a rural area."
Big Brother Is Watching You, Tracking You & Taking Notes On You
"My data."
"I saw you were thinking about toast today. Here's 10 ads on toast."
"I saw you watched a video review for a vacuum cleaner. Here's 30 more even though you've already purchased one."
Virtual Cash
"Shark cards, gold bars, or any other micro-transaction which gives you virtual money in a world you'll be playing alot *anyway*, so you'd be getting that money anyway."
The gimmick of the surprise toy is my pick for the worst use of money on terrible products.
It's confounding to me how people flock to acquire these surprise packages, unwrap them, and never play with the toys inside. The excitement is in the reveal, and that is it.
This reminds me of the "blind purchase" concept of the popular "Gashapon" vending machines all over Japan.
Enthusiastic collectors spend a lot of money in the hopes of getting "the one" toy to complete the series in the desired set.
The addiction to Gashapon is like a slot machine for young adults. And the mania for it is over a piece of plastic resembling their favorite manga or anime character that eventually collects dust somewhere up on a shelf.
But hey, it's their money to do with as they please.
Redditor Spinksy48 wanted to understand the fun of letting your opponent lose by just doing nothing, so they asked:
"What is your 'never interrupt an enemy while they are making a mistake' moment?"
If the story starts to get really crazy, just wait for a break.
Then ask a question from the beginning.
I guarantee you know more of the lie than they do.
Just keep talking, friend.
Gotcha
Dashcam Hello GIF by TranscendGiphy"I let the lady who changed lanes into me run her mouth about how I rear-ended her before pulling the cop aside to show him my DashCam footage."
ThrowingChicken
A Cherry Wave
"I was accused by a neighbor of reversing out of my drive and hitting his car. He gave me the date and time I had allegedly done it and pointed to a (small) scrape on my car that supposedly matched perfectly the location of the dent on his. This was 7 weeks after the alleged event, by the way."
"I said it wasn't me but told him to contact his insurance and we'd see what they said. A few weeks later I get a letter from my insurance asking what had happened, to which I responded with the date I had bought my car (and updated my insurance) - two weeks after the supposed bump."
"He never spoke to me again but I used to give him a cheery wave every time I saw him glowering at his window."
Gazcobain
Speak Once
"In a meeting with my project manager who has not been in the office or worked a proper full day for MONTHS, she has increasingly been annoyed by people bypassing her to get things done by telling me and her other direct reports what to do."
"I was about to answer a question for stakeholders, and she told me to let her speak one sentence and will let me have my bit. I did as I was told, and she told the stakeholder a completely wrong thing about the system we were handling and made a complete fool out of herself. She got sacked this month."
choiaera
We Hated Each Other
"Guy stole a presentation from me, this is 25 years ago. We hated each other. When he started presenting I realized I had made a huge error, didn’t say anything. Let him get through it. Asked him about the error, but he couldn’t answer. This was in front of COO. Got fired, not for just that, he was an overall douche. This was before everyone was on PCs, and had one printer in one room."
Bmilvis
Whoops
Office Space GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"When a coworker who I hated got fired a few weeks after I decided to stop fixing his mistakes even if it impacted a client."
Hrekires
It's always thrilling to see the bad colleagues go!
Bye. Bye. Bye.
I will see you on the 15th
Idiot Reaction GIFGiphy"Not my story, but several years ago my older brother was fighting for custody of his son with his ex-wife. As the first custody hearing date approached, they were exchanging [un]pleasantries over text and my brother ended up saying something along the lines of, 'I'm not continuing this conversation. I will see you on the 15th.' The ex-wife told him, 'The hearing is on the 25th dumba**.'"
"So of course instead of correcting her, my brother just allowed her to keep thinking it was the wrong date, and she missed the first hearing entirely. It became the first of many mistakes she made in the court system that eventually led to my brother and the woman who is now his second wife winning full custody of his son."
Damn_Furries
Follow the Prints
"I'm working on a job site and the architect is there one day. I've been given some light fixtures for the sconces in a leasing office lobby. The fixtures are meant to be hung from a ceiling, they can't be installed on a wall. I attempt to convey this to the architect, but he brushes me off and just tells me to follow the prints."
"I turn to the apprentice and say, well you heard the man, put them up. A bit later, we hear the crashing of glass. The architect asks what was that? I said your light fixture. As I picked up a broom and dustpan to go clean up."
Ohhhhhhthehumanity
No Debt
"As I was being fired from a job, the district manager requested we record the conversation. He thought I was gonna be very upset, so I obliged. Then when he started to tell me why I was being fired he started with, 'You are gonna be graduating college soon, and we want to make sure we get ahead of you leaving us.'"
"I very calmly asked him to send me the recording right after he said that. Then later that day I called a lawyer. I now have no student loan debt."
JRTHEAMAZING
The Screams
"I reminded my ex-wife the divorce court was the next day and was invited to Get F**ked. So I went by myself, she failed to appear and pissed off the Judge so he asked what would be my desired outcome for assets and Custody of the kids. He wrote down whatever I wanted and I could hear her screams when she read the Orders from 3500km away."
comfortablynumb15
Silence
"There's a thing in law enforcement/legalese called a spontaneous utterance. Many many people will bury their own cases with these while bi*ching and moaning at their arresting officer on the way to jail."
raccoonsonbicycles
That last one is good knowledge to have in the back pocket.
