The most disappointing Christmas gifts, from a bag of onions to loo roll
Now that Christmas has come and gone, we’ve got the chance to enjoy the gifts we’ve received - but some gifts may be more, er, unpleasant than others.
Research by consumer champion Which? found that one in four Britons are on the receiving end of an unwanted or unsuitable gift during the festive season.
The survey of 2,000 people asked respondents about the worst present they had ever received, and were given some rather shocking answers, including a bag of onions, loo roll, a fly zapper and a broken toy.
Others received gifts that were unsuitable or downright offensive, such as the respondent who received chocolate from their father despite being lactose intolerant, or a woman who received anti-wrinkle cream from her husband.
One respondent, who is vegan, said they received a dead chicken from a friend who is a butcher.
The research, conducted in January 2023, revealed that more than a quarter (27%) of those who unwrapped an unwanted present admitted they had either given it away or were planning to.
One in seven sold or planned to sell the gift on an online marketplace, while 8% had either returned it or were planning to.
A further 5% threw the unsatisfactory present away, and 3% even gave it back to the person who gifted it - which must have been quite an awkward situation.
It comes after separate research by auditing firm KPMG asked 3,000 Britons what they planned to do if they received a present they didn’t like. The most popular response was to give the gift to charity, with respondents from the north of England the most likely to do so.
The data painted a different picture in the south west of England, where 21% of respondents said they would sell their unwanted gifts on secondhand websites as soon as they could.
Meanwhile, 17% of respondents said they would store the gifts away to figure out what to do with them at a later date, while 14% planned to regift them to other people next year.
Harry Kind, a consumer expert at Which?, said: "Whether it’s a fly zapper or a broken toy, our research shows us a quarter of us have been left wondering what to do with a disappointing Christmas gift.
Watch: "My vape exploded and set fire to my daughter's Christmas presents."
"It’s always worth getting a gift receipt so your loved one has the option to return their gift if needed.”
But the research by Which? found that majority (78%) of respondents who received an unwanted present said they did not receive a gift receipt, which meant they couldn’t exchange the item for something more to their taste.
"Often, only the buyer can request a refund or exchange," Kind adds. "But if the item was marked as a gift when ordered, the retailer’s returns policy may enable a recipient to return or exchange it."
Which? also advises that most retailers extend their return policy during the festive period. So if you received a gift you don’t want, don’t be discouraged - you may be able to exchange it for another item or voucher if you have a gift receipt.
If there’s no gift receipt, don’t fret. You could consider donating the gift to charity in hopes someone else will find it more useful, or sell it on a secondhand marketplace such as eBay or Vinted.
Read more about Christmas presents:
People Are Sharing The Worst Christmas Gifts They Ever Received, And Honestly, Coal In A Stocking Would Have Been Better Then Some These (BuzzFeed, 7-min read)
What to do when you receive a ‘bad’ gift this Christmas, and how to react (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
This is the exact date you must return unwanted Christmas presents by (The Bolton News, 2-min read)
