Cheap TatOneEyedMonster remindes us about the crap you can buy in pound shops: "Batteries that lasted about an hour and then died. A screwdriver with a loose handle so I couldn't turn the damn screw, and a tape measure which wasn't at all accurate."
Similarly, my neighbour bought a lawnmower from Argos that was so cheap the wheels didn't go round, it sort of skidded over the grass whilst gently back-combing it.
What's the cheapest, most useless crap you've bought?
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chthonic, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 7:26)
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what's the time mr wolf?God only knows...
My mother is quite keen on saving money (sensible), and so can track down a bargain with her eyes closed. However, she isn't so great at assessing the actual money-saving nature of the bargain, and so we have had some amusing purchases brought into the house over the years.
The best of these was the christmas when she decided that all four of her children would get a quality watch as part of their present. For under £10 each...
But where to buy these magical timepieces? Where other than from her asian colleague who we shall call S. S. is lovely, but only interested in making money. Her husband runs a 'business' which sells crap that makes Argos look like Harrods. In Possil (a lovely area in North Glasgow - think Hades with a worse drug problem). S. said to my mother 'I can get you watches! Worry not!'. So mum worried not, and duly received and wrapped these little beauties up for us to be awestruck by on Christmas day.
And we were awestruck alright.
In order of child age:
My wee brother opened his fancy watch, with so many buttons and dials on it, you'd think it controlled Nasa. 'Wow!' cried my bro, 'thanks mum and dad, this is...!' as the hands fell off and rattled about on the watch face. Bin.
My much younger sister put her watch on, and the strap fell off. Bin.
My other younger sister got her watch out of its box, and all looked well. She put it on. It stayed on. She thrust her arm forward to show us all the glory of her watch. And the 'glass' cover of the watch popped out. Followed by the hands of the watch. Bin.
And then it was my turn. At 16 years old, I was possibly the least fashionable teenager that ever walked the earth. Interested only in farmwork, I never dressed up in anything that couldn't be worn to deliver a lamb or clear out a barn. So mum had got me a fashion watch. It was all silver and pink, and not very me at all. However, I thought I'd done well compared to the other three - mine didn't break immediately, and when i put it on, it stayed on. However, it was actually worse. The hands were so tiny that even the use of a magnifying glass couln't show me the time. We even got out a microscope from dad's lab - up to 100X magnification, and we could just make out hands on the watch. truly they were made from bacterial spores or viral coat proteins. and the strap turned my wrist green. I didn't bin it though - I'm a hoarder, so it's still in a box at home. 10 years later, the bloody thing still works, and has outlived several proper watches I've owned.
Sorry for length, but I have no idea how long it's taken to read, as my watch is shit.
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ascorbate, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 12:20,
4 replies)
Pedant alert!The hands fell off your brother's digital watch?
That is cheap!
(My bad)
(, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 13:21, closed)
Possil?I work in Possil. Lovely place.
(, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 16:20, closed)
Possilis a fuckin shite-hole
(, Wed 9 Jan 2008, 21:53, closed)
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