What will you positively never ever buy again?

[displacedtexan]

I swear, as the DU Lounge is my witness, that I will positively never ever buy
liquid laundry soap and liquid fabric softener in those gigantic plastic
bottles with the "handy hold- the- plastic- cup- under- the- spout- and- push- the- button"
feature.

They leak blue sticky crap all over, and the plastic cups only stick
back on for the first 10 or so uses. Yuck!

[taterguy]

1. condoms

Thanks to getting snipped

[Goblinmonger]

45. You and me both, my brother.

You and me both.

[helderheid]

46. same here - I am now sans uterus so not only that but tampons too!

[LaraMN]

81. Ditto!

Best copay spent, EVER!

[AllegroRondo]

2. McDonald's Big 'N Tasty burger

which is neither big, nor tasty.

[last_texas_dem]

22. I think that was McDonald's attempt at a "Jumbo Jack"

At least that was what it reminded me of, although why McDonald's had any reason to "respond" to a Jack-in-the-Box product I'm not sure!

I wish McD's still had the "Arch Deluxe", though. I know everybody laughs at it now, because of the massive failed marketing campaign behind it, but that thing tasted *good* IMHO.

[Taverner]

25. I loved the Arch Deluxe!

And the accompanying chicken sandwiches on their "high end" menu

[anarch]

32. I love it when people bring up this product, for this reason:

Remove the first "T" from the name, like so:


"McDonalds' Big Nasty burger"

:D

[Strong Atheist]

3. Ford, even though my cousin works for them. In fact, he has given

me inside information that just adds to my intense dislike of the company...

[formerrepuke]

27. I'm in the new car market- if possible, could you pass on some of

that inside info? Thanks.

[Strong Atheist]

33. It is not that kind of info. He just confirmed that Ford builds their

cars deliberately to break down soon after warranty; because they are catering to the DEALERS, and not the customers. He said this in so many words. Pisses the hell out of me, though I already knew it from my own experiences with Fords in the past. I WILL NEVER BUY A FORD AGAIN IN MY LIFE.

Great strategy; cater to the dealers, not the customers (users/buyers). Lost a customer, there...

[Brazenly Liberal]

55. We *only* buy Fords

Well, my spousal unit only buys Fords.

I don't buy anything these days because I'm still driving the same car I bought 13 years ago - which is a Ford. She has more than 300,000 miles on her and still starts first time every time whether it's 110 in the shade or 40 below. She gets 34-39 mpg and her name is "Annie." I love that car and fully plan to take her up to a half million miles.

[Strong Atheist]

56. Goody for you. Ford = Found on road dead OR Fix or Repair Daily.

I had a 73 Mach 1, and wanted to work on it. Turns out, it had a nut that for NO REASON whatsoever had a bizarre head that you need to buy A SPECIAL tool for to take off, or take to the shop to get fixed. Pissed me off that they were out to screw over the few of us willing to work on our own cars, to get more money for the dealership.

Later on, had another Ford I had to take as charity (poor at the time). It was so well designed :sarcasm: that it was the ONLY car I have EVER had that had a motor running the fan instead of the fan being attached to the engine. So when the motor broke, I could not drive the fucking car, because the radiator would overheat. So I tried to fix that myself, and guess what? The motor casing had NO FUCKING openings; NONE. I eventually broke it open and found that a 50 cent part needed replacing, but of course at that point I had to replace the whole motor.

And don't get me started on the service; I once brought my Mach 1 in for a problem five times in a row because they kept saying they fixed it and they didn't. It was only when I got pissed and spoke to a manager and threatened to sue in small claims court that they fixed it properly.

Ford the car and Ford the company are PIECES OF SHIT.

Oh, BTW, welcome to D.U.

[DainBramaged]

68. Most cars have "electric fans" nowadays for good reason

1) No strain on the water pump

2) Can cool the radiator down after you turn the car off so the radiator doesn't "percolate"

3) Saves a couple of horsepower that used to be used to drive the fan.

http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/bolts/bolts.html

http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/Type-Chart.aspx

Bolt heads. All serve different purposes, especially when a specific torque spec may be necessary and the average consumer doesn't have a inch pound torque wrench to tighten them with.

Sometimes it isn't the machine but the operator.

[Strong Atheist]

100. Fine, try to defend that piece of shit, Ford.

I notice you were unable to explain why the god damed motor was COMPLETELY sealed. Nor were you able to explain away the SHITTY service, nor the fact that my cousin TOLD ME that they design cars to break so the dealers can get more money. As for the god dammed nut, it wasn't a hex, or a flathead or ANYTHING NORMAL, got it? It had weird grooves that you had to buy a special god damned tool to take off. No reason except to make the dealer money. FUCK Ford and the tow truck they were dragged in on, I tell everyone not to buy them...

[DainBramaged]

103. If you think bitching at me because you are angry

at Ford (and how long ago did you buy that Mach 1? Long time to hold a grudge don't ya think?) makes everything better, you're wrong. Go complaint to Ford and their parts suppliers. Remember this. Everyone you probably tell not to buy a Ford product, probably isn't going to buy one anyway.:eyes:

Oh, and sealed motors; keeps dirt and water out of them so they will function a bit longer than a housefan. Put a house fan outside this summer and see how long it works.:evilgrin:

[Lochloosa]

111. Toyota or Honda....

And that advice came from my mechanic.

[khashka]

102. Worst car in America

I'll never buy another one.

FORD - Found On Road Dead
FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily

Too true.


Khash.

[JackBeck]

4. Anything from Verizon.

[SIU_Blue]

28. seconded.

What a worthless company.

[JackBeck]

31. I need to vent for a moment.

I'll make it quick.

We signed up for VoiceWing (VOIP) to save $30 on our monthly bill, and after a month of service, someone at Verizon DSL canceled out DSL service for no apparent reason, but they still were billing us. So we had no dial tone, or internet connection. It took me over a month to get both services back and running after spending that entire month on the phone, each day, over 4 hours each day trying to get an answer from them. They were rude. Condescending. I was hung up on many times even though I never lost my cool. I was transferred multiple times to the dark depths of Nowhere Land.

We canceled our service a few weeks ago, owing them no money in the end, but having a $300 cell phone bill for going over our minutes, which we never have done since we have gotten cell phones, due to having to be on the phone with them.

We just received a letter from a collection agency saying that we owe Verizon money! Personally, I think it's retribution, but who knows.

I'm not even getting into the details here of how horrible of an experience I had with Verizon.

[SIU_Blue]

36. Whoa!!! Had a very similar experience

We signed up for verizon DSL, and automatic bill payment. Verizon, for no particular reason, decided we had not signed up for auto pay, and owed about $300 in bills. Before they mentioned this, they cut our service. After 4353456 hours on the phone with 3/5ths of the UN, nothing was resolved. It took 2 months to get our service back. And then, to add insult to injury, we get a bill in the mail. Verizon wants us to pay the early termination fee for cutting off our service without telling us.

Meanwhile, the service itself has been slow and unreliable.

I will never, ever do business with this company again.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[JackBeck]

39. I hear ya'.

The ultimate insult came when they wanted us to pay a re-activation fee for the service that they originally cut off! They've promised us three months of free service but I'll believe it when I see it.

[IA_Seth]

50. As a Verizon employee...

I apologize.

I hate to see someone's unfortunate experience influence their feelings towards an entire company. I know things like that happen, but we aren't all bad.

Did you try to get this escalated? I can assure you your experience was due to a lackwit working a phone queue...if it were to be escalated they would most likely have resolved everything to your satisfaction.

[Ravenseye]

52. I hate Verizon

...but I don't hate you. Thems the breaks for working for a company with some unscrupulous business practices. The good gets lumped in with the bad.

[Maddy McCall]

75. Ya know, this is what pisses me off about customer service.

And, Seth, please don't take this personally, because this rant isn't aimed directly at you.

Why SHOULD the customer be the one to "try to get this escalated?" When we spend 2 hours on the phone talking to customer service reps, shouldn't that be enough to tell the customer service reps that THEY should escalate it?

Shouldn't customer service's primary objective be to SERVICE the customer? When a lower-level customer service rep sees that he isn't able to solve a customer's problems, shouldn't HE be the one to escalate the case, or at least send it to an upper level customer service rep that has the authority to solve the problem?

I won't even begin to bore you with the problems I had with Alltel--a company with reps so stupid that they sold me cell service in an area in which the map showed coverage but in which I had NO coverace--but I will tell you that that one problem was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Being unable to resolve previous problems that I've had with cell carriers, computer retailers, and other "big" industries is precisely the reason that I will never use a company like Verizon or Cingular. I use a local/regional cell service now (Cellular South), and I buy my computer related stuff locally.

[GirlinContempt]

110. Usually, the person you've got on the phones primary objective is

to keep their job. Don't like the fact that YOU have to escalate something? Often, that's not something a 'tier 1' can do without it being requested. I don't know about Verizon, but I've worked for a couple of American companies, and thats the way it was. You could lose your job for routinely escalating issues without it being specifically requested. Don't like THAT? Say so when you have your call escalated.

Ya know, this is what pisses me off about customer service. So many people act like you were born to sell them minutes for their cell phone, or take their credit card number to pay off their internet bill.

[JackBeck]

99. My situation was escalated many times.

The supervisor I dealt with at Verizon VoiceWing was amazing and I wrote a letter of thanks because of her professionalism.
The major problem was with Verizon DSL. They kept telling me that they had to "dry loop" my line. On three separate occasions, during this process, for whatever reason, my new DSL phone number was randomly given away to another customer. And then the process was started all over again.
But this isn't the first time we've had a problem with Verizon. In fact, while we were in the process of considering whether or not to sign-up for VoiceWing, we actually anticipated something messed up would occur. We were right, and because of the dimwits who work at Verizon DSL, we canceled almost all of our Verizon services.

[Ravenseye]

51. thirded

The same thing happened to me twice, and after it happened a second time, I canceled service and will never go back.

I moved into a new apartment and the phones didn't work. I called up verizon on my cell to get them to turn the phone on and they said that it was turned off, and that they had to send a tech out to turn it on and that it woudl cost a hundred bucks or so. I basically argued with them, but at the time we needed the phone and didn't think about it...The next time we moved a year later the same thing happened. This time we KNEW The people there before had a working phone, we met them when we looked at the place. Verizon again claimed they needed to send a tech out for 100 bucks...I told them that it was bullshit and they lost my business forever, etc, etc...I ended up getting a Comcast Digital Phone....

THEN VERIZON BILLED ME FOR THE FIRST MONTH OF SERVICE ANYWAY! It took another month sorting that out.

Screw Verizon.

[purr]

5. a Dell computer

[mvd]

20. Same here

I switched to Sony VAIO after the last election.

[Benfea]

92. Meh. Sony uses too many proprietary technologies for my tastes.

Build your own! It's the only way to go!

[Bzzzz]

105. We had nothing but trouble...

with our Vaio.

[mainegreen]

6. OJ from concentrate.

Disgusting stuff. Horrible orange syrup of doom.

[Benfea]

9. Juice snob!

:D

[1gobluedem]

7. Any of those meals-in-a-box

Like the ones that come from Campbell and Banquet. Awful, simply awful. I'll never be fooled by a cover photo again.

[Benfea]

8. Cheapo power supply unit.

When I built my last computer, I bought a computer case that came with a PSU. Like an idiot, I actually tried to use the freebie PSU and my efforts were rewarded with a fried RAM stick. >.<

[redqueen]

10. Dominos pizza

[JackBeck]

11. I second that.

A sent an email to my friends yesterday making this announcement and encouraging them to do the same.

[redqueen]

12. Right on! I tell everyone at every opportunity...

unless they're fundies.

I live in a small country town... WHOLE lotta fundies. :(

[JackBeck]

13. I had banned Domino's from my house a few years back

until I was watching my Mets play ball and the inning was sponsored by Domino's.

My husband turned to me and said: "So are you not gonna watch this inning?"

I caved and said OK to Domino's, but with the most recent news, LIFETIME BAN!

[meegbear]

23. They've also been funding Operation Rescue since the mid 80s

[JackBeck]

26. Which is the reason for my original ban on Domino's

[meegbear]

35. Good man!

I like the cut of your jib.

[DainBramaged]

73. Never again, let other fund his "Popeville" or whatever

[azmouse]

14. Deodorant

Well, just Ban deodorant. I used it once and it made me stink worse than if I hadn't used deodorant at all.

[Beetwasher]

15. Gasoline Powered Underwear

They chafe.

[mainegreen]

18. I imagine they get a bit hot as well.

Not a good place to scald!

[arwalden]

37. Oh Man... You Should Get The New Hybrids. Much Better!!!

[Mizmoon]

16. Trip insurance

I read the fine print. If your trip gets messed up they really only pay you a fraction of what you laid out, so why bother?

[WeRQ4U]

17. Actual CD's

I don't remember the last hard copy CD I purchased.

[Metta]

19. Anything made in China. Exxon gas. Anything at Wal-Mart.

for starters.

[Richardo]

34. That limits you pretty much to just hand-carved objects...

That's a big big net.

[Metta]

43. Yeah, I've let many items go by.

But, hey, that's the price I'm willing to pay to not give my money to tyrants. It's bad enough I have to pay taxes under Republicans.

[Richard Steele]

21. A 30-story, one-bedroom apartment.

(had to go back a few years for that one)
http://www.vikarsrant.net/Jokes/WhatIBelieve.htm

[last_texas_dem]

24. One-ply toilet paper

I think the reasons why are better left unspoken!

[Bzzzz]

106. Unless you have a 500 gallon...

septic tank. When you live in the country with a 500 gallon tank, you use biodegradable TP. Scot tissue is the best, unless you purchase RV TP and it's too expensive.

[northzax]

29. a Russian Mail Order Bride

those pictures are total lies.

[Initech]

30. Exxon / Mobil gas - and I have an Exxon / Mobil credit card!

That's sticking it to the man!

I seriously have used my Exxon / Mobil gas card maybe twice in the last 6 months.

[XemaSab]

40. They're the great Satan!

:(

[displacedtexan]

54. We have that little CITGO keyring thing.

You just wave it at the checkout machine, and it automatically
charges your account.

Some places, we don't even have to get out of the car.

[XemaSab]

38. Exxon gas

I'd rather be stranded by the side of the road in Trona than buy Exxon gas.

I hate them.

[michreject]

41. No more PC's

Been using Mac's for 5 years now. I'll never go back.

Hey Bill Gates.:puke:

[BlueIris]

79. See, it's Macs I'm done with, now.

After my still-working ones totally die, I will switch. Been a Mac users since birth, too. The iMac and beyond are some of the worst, most inefficient machines I've ever used. But to each her own.

[michreject]

91. What happened?

Is it one of the new Mac's with the new Intel chip in it?

[Benfea]

93. Meh. I'm platform agnostic

I stick with PCs at home because there are more games available on it and they're cheaper to build (come to think of it, you can't build your own Macs).

I used to provide tech support for Macs, so I probably know more about them than most. Prepare yourself for this: if you think Microsoft can be draconian within the "Wintel" community, just wait 'til you see Apple operate!

[billyskank]

42. No need to guess what MrsGrumpy will never buy again

:D

[ScreamingMeemie]

77. Starts with an "M" and ends with a "G"

:hug:

[LaurenG]

95. I was wondering when you were going to add this

I almost added it for you earlier yesterday.:hug: You poor woman.

[Ron Mexico]

44. Anything - ANYTHING, regardless of price - advertised as

"only $(insert price here) after mail-in rebate."

[Rabrrrrrr]

47. Off-brand liquors; factory cheese; ball point pens; shitty stationery

disposable cups, plates, silverware, or straws; paper napkins; non-disposable plastic table-ware, except a set for picnics;

Anything from WalMart.

Processed/boxed/canned foods that have preservatives or other shit chemicals in them.

Cheap underwear, socks, and t-shirts. Actually, cheap clothing of any kind.

Cheap knives and cookware.

[RevCheesehead]

48. Anything from Best Buy.

Their service sucks.
Their warranties suck.
Their service (repair) sucks.
Wait time for help, or to check out, sucks.

[laheina]

89. They are on my list.

Last time I went into Best Buy, the girl that "helped" me to purchase my new computer kept telling me that I didn't know what I was talking about--even though I used to fix computers for a living. It was her way of trying to up-sell me. Then she wanted me to fill out this really long form about my network, security, and detailed business information. Finally, she went too far! I had been overly polite until she tried to get me to join the Chamber of Commerce! That's when I told her what I thought about that BB's political shtick and that of the Chamber.

The irony of having Best Buy sales people recruit for right wing political groups.

[mwooldri]

49. Cash.

As in foreign currency. I have no need now when I am travelling back home to buy pounds from the bank before I travel. The ATM makes the withdrawl of cash at my destination easy enough and it's far cheaper. If I pick the right ATM, then I get charged less.

Mark.

[Ravenseye]

53. Alienware Computers

Horrible company. I thought I'd treat myself to a great gaming rig and I'll never forgive myself.

First of all it took forever to arrive for numerous stupid reasons. First they claimed my speakers hadn't arrived so it was holding up the whole shipment. I told them to ship the computer and ship the speakers later. Then a few days later the speakers arrived...i called up and asked about the computer...a month later (3 months in total from when I ordered it) it arrived. Half the component parts weren't correctly installed, there were loose parts in the box that the computer came in, and one component was completely missing. Also for the installed software they didn't ship the corresponding CD's for that software, nor did they send the serial numbers in any form, so I couldn't actually start Outlook and use my email for two weeks until they sent me a new Disk and serial number.

Worst computer i ever had too....I've had to essentially completely rebuild it, as well as reformat the drive and start it from scratch.

On top of that the customer service was some of the worst I've ever experienced.

Stay away from Alienware.

[Book Lover]

60. Aw man!

I had such hopes - their ads are cool! Thanks for the warning. Looks like I'll be frequenting Makeblog for case tips...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

72. Ouch, we just bought a high end rig from them.. oh well, we'll see!

[NV Whino]

57. Any VW car

My former Rabbit is the one that wrote the lemon law.

[Digit]

74. Whoa, my diesel went through headgaskets galore!

I wrote to VW and they laughed in my face, pretty much.

I would not even take one for half the price!

[LiberalEsto]

58. Anything from Wal-Mart

Evil, Inc.

[LeftyMom]

59. Graco strollers

The stupid peice of crap was so worn out, squeaky, lose and rickety after a year's worth of use that I was scared to put my kid in it for fear it would collapse. I threw it away and I *never* throw anything out that has use left in it.

[Book Lover]

61. Gee, I have to say I've had a very different experience

We've been using our Graco stroller for three years - we still pack up littlebooklover when we walk down to the shopping center (about 1 mile each way) because of the great carryall underneath the seat.

[LeftyMom]

63. We had no car, so we used it a lot, and LK was very large

about 30 lbs at one year. I don't know that our experience was standard but we had other minor issues like th parent tray snapping off and the snaps breaking on the basket that led me to believe it just wasn't well made.

Our jogging stroller and the Baby Trend euro-style umbrella stroller we got to replace the Graco held up nicely.

[pinniped]

62. Anything made by TpOSHIBA.

.

[Capn Sunshine]

64. A bottle of Southern Comfort

Bought a bottle once, in 1970. Only time I've ever had a blackout drunk and woke up in the back of my VW van naked in a pile of vomit, which I wasn't sure was mine.

SOco and lime, my ASS. You guys will never sell that vile shit to another generation.

Will they?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

65. Spam

[twenty2strings]

66. A swiffer...

Works good if your floor's already clean. Actually my wife bought it,but I do all the cleaning!Worthless.:eyes:

[Catfight]

67. An extended warranty on anything. nt

[xmas74]

69. Oxyclean.

I bought it once-any combo of vinegar or peroxide and baking soda works just as well(if not better) and is much cheaper.

Take that bit of advice from someone who used to be a housekeeper in a motel.

[driver8]

76. OMG...we've got a big tub of this crap at home. We bought it

at Costco about three years ago and we have used it once.

[xmas74]

78. Baking soda and vinegar.

If you need to take the stain out of something white use lemon juice.

Works better than Oxyclean every single time.

[swag]

70. Clackers.

[2bfree]

71. Alcohol

Unless needed for cooking, I am on the wagon! :)

[momophile]

80. Kraft Mac and Cheese with the creamy cheese

I love the original with the powder mix, but the pre-creamed stuff is soo nasty! I even wrote them a letter telling them and they sent me coupons for the original.

[NMMNG]

82. Meat

And handy tip for those giant detergent bottles with the spout? Store it with the spout facing up, and only tilt the spout down when you actually want to dispense the detergent. No more annoying leaks. :thumbsup:

[displacedtexan]

94. Now you tell me!!!

Actually, thanks for the tip!

I'm determined to use the crap until the jug gets low enough to transfer to a pitcher.

[Broken_Hero]

83. A Ford Windstar...never, ever again...n/t

[shanti]

84. you wanna list??

*american vehicles
*g.e. appliances
*t-mobile cellphone service

among others...

planned obsolescence is a FACT in the u.s. of a. check out the popularity of dollar stores.

[Ouabache]

85. Not an item - but my personal boycott is TIGER DIRECT

I am never buying anything from Tiger Direct again. They screwed me out of a rebate on an item. I would suggest no one ever buy anything from them either.

[displacedtexan]

96. I spent 20 minutes on hold with them yesterday.

I had one question: Does your next day delivery include Saturday?

When "Russell" finally answered, the entire human-to-human
conversation (the answer to my question was no) took 10 seconds.

[Lorien]

86. Anything from Wal-mart, Kleenex (the old growth forest killers) and beef

for these reasons: http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/beyond.html

[slybacon9]

87. One of those big name plug in Air Freshener dealies

HOLY CRAP they smell so bad. Had mine in for 5 minutes... Smelled like a urinal cake on acid!

My girlfriend taught me after that you gotta go to the sheik ones like at Bath and Body Works ...

I guess they have better smells... classier stuff. I dunno.

[shanti]

104. listen to your gf

she's right:) bath and body works has some yummy ones - i'm hooked on those suckers (have 2 cats!!) and they're in every room of my small house.

[slybacon9]

88. Music from iTunes.

good luck sharing that shit with anyone. Over it.

[jakefrep]

90. Black and White TV's nt

[displacedtexan]

97. Thanks, everyone, for making this my most popular DU post ever!

I love the lounge!

[enigami]

98. marriage license

[otohara]

101. Many Things -

Coke, Pepsi products, Dominoes, throw away products that are non-recycleable, liquid laundry & softener bottles (for different reasons, ie: uses oil to produce gigantic bottles) McDonalds, Wendy's, deodorants, areosol spray can stuff,

[lpbk2713]

107. I will never again buy another fuggen Western Digital product.

It's been about five years now and I have kept my promise to myself. They shafted me on a rebate deal. I bought a hard drive that included a mfgr rebate offer. I sent in all the required paperwork. A couple of weeks later I received a post card from them telling me that I didn't send in the paperwork before the deadline of their rebate offer which was not true. Now here's the kicker .... the postmark on the postcard they sent me was dated a couple of weeks before the expiration of the offer. So they can keep their fuggen hard drives AFAIC. I've told this story several times since then and I hope it has cost them the money they cheated me out of plus a whole lot more in lost sales. Thieving bastards.

[City Lights]

108. A GM car.

I've had too many problem with too many past purchases.

[gizmo1979]

109. Cable like warner cable.AOL,SBC

Let's see Pella windows,anything from Taco bell.

[Tikki]

112. I think I may be....

allergic to like coconut based products or something like that
because there are tons of shampoos, like Sassoon, that I can't use.

I ,also, can't eat MSG type stuff....headache from hell.


Tikki