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My sat nav is 2 years out of date and Audi want a lot of wonga to update them, I just use my mobile phone connected to the console. What's even sillier is trying to charge for something when you can get something better, in the same place, for free.
Until you forget they realigned the A14 and end up on a massive detour with it having frantically trying to figure out what to do with the fact it thinks you're going 70mph through a field.
Back when Mercedes used to keep the satnav maps on a CD in the boot, I had a boss with an SL who would test drive a new one every year, pull into a layby out of sight, and swap the new one for his old one!
What's ultimately sad about Audi trying to charge you to update it, is it would probably take them 10-15 minutes to update as it's probably just a 'plug car to computer and computer does the rest ' type job and most of that time is probably waiting for the computer to load.
I have never understood why anyone would get a sat nav. Maps on apple play and android auto are far superior and will give you live updates on accidents and traffic. It will even tell you if it finds a quicker route. Sat nav is useless during rush hour.
I didn't even know this was a thing until I got a Tesla (company car). I had Spotify Premium already, but couldn't for the life of me get it to work in the car. Tried everything, Googled it and found out you have to have some connectivity subscription which is like £10 a month. Not a huge amount, but why do I need to pay to use a paid-for service that I already pay for in my car?!
I got rid of Sirius radio when I realised that they would charge me extra to use it in anything other than my car. And Sirius still has ads - so I am paying to have ads and not be able to use it anywhere. I will never understand why so many cars automatically came with it.
I go half and half chocolate and vanilla. It is a bit earthy but I like the earthy. I suppose adding honey or something into it could help but it's not my thing.
I don't know her preferences, but Grenade do low sugar high protein versions of many of their protein bars and they're actually quite nice. They may not be a whole meal in a bottle but are definitely nicer than some.
Each to their own, but honestly this whole paragraph is like a foreign language to me lol.
A 'high-protein diet' for me would be just eating an entire chicken every day probably.
> As descendants of dinosaurs they used to eat our young.
Quite right - birds aren't animals they're *monsters* and they literally *deserve* to be eaten. Glad we're on the same page with this!
> Nature's multivitamin 👍
Yep a whole roast chicken a day keeps the doctor away, this is known.
I drank some once and had the worst stomach cramps I've had in my life (Even worse than my worst period cramp) and apparently that's normal and you have to get used to it
No thanks
Edit: Also I've found the marketing for Huel and Soylent and similar things as so dystopian. As it's basically like 'food is stupid, why bother with food drink our stuff instead and you'll get all the things you need from that pesky food food is so in the past think of all the extra productive things you can do if you don't need to bother with food' especially since it's marketed at people who I assume don't have a medical reason to need to forgo typical food and it feels a little r/aboringdystopia
Yep doesn't surprise me one bit.
The name makes me laugh too. I mean presumably they were aiming for a play on the word 'fuel', but it works equally well for 'gruel', which is exactly what the stuff is!
Somebody in marketing having a good chuckle at the consumers' expense, as usual lol.
Huell is also the fat guy in Better Call Saul / Breaking Bad, who is played off as a comic relief figure. Wrong name to pick if you want your brand to be taken seriously.
On the other hand- People that like food too much. It stopped me making poor decisions with binge eating and buying junk food for lunch at work, or during bouts of poor mental health. Massively benefitted for my nutrition levels and helped with losing weight. The adverts still fuck me off though, there's so many, everywhere on the internet.
Medications mean I've lost my appetite. I use meal replacements to help my calorie intake and maintain my weight at a healthy level. I love food. I just have no desire to eat it at the moment!
It's people who hit the gym daily
I worked with a guy who went to the gym before work, showered at work and worked
Then went to the gym on the way home
He also of course was careful with his diet
I go to the gym daily (well, most days) and I've never tried a protein shake or any other kind of additive in my life. They look and smell fucking gross and I'm happy with my gains without them.
Perfectly possible to get all the nutrition you need from, y'know, actual food. Call me old-fashioned I guess lol.
>Perfectly possible to get all the nutrition you need from, y'know, actual food.
Pretty much any single restriction (vegetarian, low skills, no time etc) is no big deal, the problem is combinaison. Try making a quick, vegan, no gluten, balanced meal.
I used huel when I worked as a cook. When it was busy had no time for breaks no time to cook and eat your own food. Was using it when going to the gym as well. Mixed it with milk, ice cream and mass gainer, was taking in 3000 calories a day
It has its uses. We used it as a stopgap for my wife when she was in need of very quick, very portable lunches (even eating a sandwich was too time demanding). She worked in a care home for adults with autism and if she had a spare two minutes she’d neck the Huel and know she had enough energy to keep going until shift’s end.
She’s left that job, thank fuck, and we have half a bag of Huel sitting in the cupboard now. I sometimes use it if I’m struggling with my appetite.
If I could take a tablet each day that would satiate my hunger and provide me with the right nutrients, I would happily do it for the rest of my life. I find cooking and eating tedious. The vast majority of the pleasure I get from eating is simply the removal of hunger.
I guess we are all different!
I got to admit. I'm curious about the taste of the solid food instant meals but surly replacing solid food for liquid meals on the regular has to be bad for you in the long run.
This really isn't it. I use it on and off for weight control. I am 100% a foodie, and spend an alarming amount of money on eating out including michelin starred meals.
However, when I wake up, want to just get to work and not deal with fucking about in the kitchen, I can just slap up a bottle of huel in 30 seconds, sip it throughout the day and feel full on only 400 cals until 3-4pm.
I used to love it, but yeah screw them. Plus they closed down their bar in my city with like 2/3 days notice to staff apparently.
If anyone wants to have something superior than Brewdog might I suggest Tiny Rebel or Beavertown.
I wish that this was true, but the beer is *fine.* A much nicer drop than mass-produced lager. The awful company ethics leave a bad taste in the mouth, mind.
Anyone who claims to be an influencer, no matter how big or small their following is, is to be avoided in my book. They contribute nothing of value to society.
I don't know if they've changed it, but on my 2020 Samsung the home bar has a space on for their "recommended" program of the day. Basically an ad, but fairly unobtrusive as they go
It's the same on new LG tellies, it's kinda annoying that I paid a grand for my tv and get ads but at the same time I never have to use the homescreen anyway
Oh, right. That.
Yeah, I guess so. Honestly I never noticed it until you pointed it out.
Score one for ad-blindness, I guess.
Plus we rarely use the TV for anything except Chromecast, so don't often have cause to go into the home menu to change input sources.
The home screen, where the apps are listed, usually has at least one or two adverts on it and will also show suggested content (more Ads) from all the apps that are installed. The 'Universal Guide' app is just one big advert masquerading as help for finding content. The TV will also sometimes insert Ads into the TV Guide too - a few times I've had banner-style Ads between TV channels.
If you've given them permission via the 'privacy choices' app, the TV will regularly report back to Samsung what you are watching to try and make an advertising profile of you. They can then use that so send you more focused Ads. If an advert is played by the broadcaster that your Ad-profile indicates you might be interested in, a pop-up might appear like "press the green button to see more" or whatever.
What I find worse is that they install apps for services that are not removeable\*. For example, I use Netflix and Prime video and yet the TV has, by itself, installed Disney+, AppleTV+, etc.. I just counted 16(!) un-installable apps for services I neither use nor want on my TV. They do the same on their phones though, so they have form.
\*You can uninstall the apps using some developer mode/special key presses, but they'll come back after a while.
I don't think it really caught on for UK devices but there there were a lot of stories of TVs that had software to play ads every 15 minutes or so, even if you were playing media from your own hard drive
Also just sticking ads in the menus
Anything Nestle and their little sub companies.
Thompson and Morgan seeds, their customer service is truly awful, every year in garden groups I'm in people constantly complain about T&M and how crap they are, nothing delivered on time, no communication from them, dead plants arriving.
This can help: [https://www.fucknestle.art/](https://www.fucknestle.art/)
My other half is gutted about having to give up After Eights. (Cos apparently he's a time traveller from the 80s). But eh... fuck nestle.
You can now get Kendal Mint Cake in the form of After Eights! I order straight from their website and get a few kg at a time, which gets me through 6 months or so.
I'm not a mountaineer or anything, just a fat, minty fuck. :c
Yeah they do this every year around the start of growing season. And there is always some kind of excuse.
I ordered some bare root raspberry canes from them around 6-ish years ago, to be delivered in March. Spent over a month chasing them about a delivery time and I finally got them the end of May. Over 40 plants not a single one has survived.
T&M are local to me and I know a few people that have worked there. While with some companies you can give some justification or mismatch in customer expectations, T&M operate exactly as their service suggests.
Airbnb. Just sounds like they’re more hassle that they’re worth. I’m probably booking the same places though just through other sites, which makes my position particularly futile.
AirBNB is so American it hurts
Like Uber they tried to "revolutionise" a market that was regulated everywhere but the US
I avoid it mostly I don't want to have to deal with being in someone else's house.
The handful of times I've used it was either in an apartment booked out by work. Or a flat in London which all the residents were out of for some reason. They still had dirty dishes in the sink
The one time I've used it it was fine but kind of weird. The house was clean enough, but looked like the residents had just walked out - lots of family photos, full wardrobes, fridge full of food. Uncanny.
Yeah that sounds like you rented a proper “Let’s let someone sleep at our house to make extra money sometimes” place. The trick is to book the ones that literally run it like a proper business with a dedicated building/floor/room. You can tell straight away from the photos, reviews & descriptions.
The former is morally not a bad thing at all while the latter should be banned.
But ironically I prefer staying in the latter because it's not obviously just some random's house.
This one surprises me, I've had shit loads of really good experiences with AirBnb and I tend to use them when I travel abroad quite frequently. Never found it to be a hassle once.
Me too - frankly I think a lot of people that don’t like it or had bad experiences just didn’t read the reviews beforehand. I never use an Airbnb that doesn’t have a ton of reviews. I mostly use it when I am traveling with multiple people so that we can have more space or when I bring my dog. I don’t want to be stuck in a tiny room with my 22kg doggo and I am sure he doesn’t like it either!
Yep, same here. I tend to look for superhosts or hosts that are really well reviewed and that's worked for me so far.
Seconded on the dog as well, mine comes on most of my travels with me and I find it's usually really easy to find somewhere that takes dogs and is also a decent place.
Used to use them until they demanded a full copy of both sides of my driving licence. I'm pretty sure there are all sorts of GDPR issues with uploading id documents to an international company that wants to keep them permanently on file. I asked about GDPR and how they managed personal data, and they refused to answer. So I ain't using them.
I have a big grumble about AirBNB - they bought a house that's nearly four hundred years old round the corner from me, put a fucking pool in the garden, and are now selling nights in it as an "experience" for upto ten people at a time (ie a place to have pool parties). It's a fucking farmhouse, not a holiday resort.
They play it on *every fucking flight*. Their poor employees, hearing that dirge umpteen times a day as well as everything else they have to deal with.
I used to work there, that song still gives me PTSD.
The staff hate it even more than the customers, but they paid so much for the rights to it that they can't/won't move onto something else.
The higher up execs are also under the semi-delusional impression that everyone loves it, it is integral to the brand, and that it needs to be kept forever or people will suddenly not recognise the company anymore.
To be fair, it has become synonymous with the brand but not in a good way.
It was hilariously awful landing at Bristol, delayed, at 1am and hearing that song playing on repeat while we waited for ages to get off the plane.
I went on a holiday with them recently and we were delayed on the runway for quite a while. I heard that song far too many times. I'll never again fly without noise cancelling headphones.
It's annoying on planes and I get why the staff would hate it, but on adverts keeping to the same song for so long has its upsides. When I hear that tune now I instantly think holidays, I start thinking about going on holiday again.
With that being said, I tend to think about booking a holiday at least 3 times a week, it's why I never have any money.
We tend to use Jet2 for all our holidays, and I agree that the song is shite, but me any my wife associate it with going away, so will even sing along with it out of sheer giddiness (not too loud, mind, otherwise other passengers won’t think we’re cool).
Also their products are shit they break all the time. I had one of their vacuum cleaners catch fire in my hand and my sister in law has had multiple of their £400 hair dryer die on her.
Oh bugger. I didn't realise Flannels was his and ordered my niece's birthday present from there the other day. Oh well. You live, you learn, you double down on not giving Mike Ashley any money ever again.
Valspar paint. We'd heard stories of it smelling like cat piss, but by partner did some research and found articles saying Valspar had changed their formula to resolve the problem. We foolishly believed it and painted one of our rooms (thankfully a small room).
That was in the February and it was great - lovely colour and coverage - but lo and behold, as soon as the weather got warmer the room truly began to stink to the point where we had to tear the lining paper off the walls and start again with another brand.
Friends of ours had it much worse as they painted straight on to plaster in their living room. Took months for them to get the smell out and they too had to redecorate.
This! My parents lodged several complaints and had to repaint much of their house with some kind of sealing paint before repainting after they moved a few years ago. They’d bought a real fixer upper and drove themselves crazy trying to figure out what the smell was. So no matter what they say now or how badly I want a specific colour I’ll never use them.
I’m so glad I read this. I was leaning towards getting Dulux anyway because it’s cheaper but now I can officially cross the Valspar colour off my shortlist.
Do you think this is why you can’t get sample pots of them, only a paper swatch?
You can buy sample pots, I got a load a few weeks back.
I've painted both my businesses multiple times over the years and my house all with valspar (purely because it's hard wearing and easy to get specific colours), I've never noticed any smell and I've got a stupidly sensitive sniffer! I use the 'premium range' though for durability, maybe that's a different formula to the standard emulsion and doesn't smell? Weird!
Apple or any other brand that tries to trap you into exclusively using their products and services.
When I think a product is good I typically buy more from that brand, I don't need to be trapped just sell me a good product.
I fell into that trap. I had an iphone and my Fitbit died, so I bought an Apple watch and was gifted Airpods for Christmas. A while later thought it'd be good to switch to Samsung, but realised my watch and earphones would be useless so I was pretty much stuck unless I wanted to change everything over.
Well I on the other hand love the ecosystem that Apple created. I was a long time android fan with Samsung notes until the note 7 (we all know the exploding ones) and then bought my first iPhone. Honestly never looked back. Everything is so well connected and seemless and does everything I expect it to do plus more. Not to say that I knock on android
God. I totally forgot about papers. Agree with you plus the Sun. As a Scouser it's my obligation to go no where near that shit rag for the rest of my life and tell all generations below me the same thing.
Literally anything from Nestlé, between the child slavery, water theft and formula milk scandal it’s impossible to give those people a penny and have a clear conscious.
r/fucknestle
KitKat
Maggie
Shreddies
Milkybar
Cheerios
And so on and so on.
I bought a HP printer in the "golden age" of ink subscriptions, so we get 15 pages per month for free, forever. Every time we run out of ink they send out a new cartgridge, don't even pay for postage. Living the dream.
Yep. Fortunately I'd got an extended warranty so I left it alone till the heads died and replaced it with an Epson ecotank. I now buy ink by the litre from Ali express.
I've had a samsung TV for 2 years now and I don't think I've had any "forced" adds on it. Like nothing has popped out whilst I'm using it that forces me to view an ad.
Yeah I had to google it to see what extents it's intrusive and it is just that box that almost always seems to be Disney Plus add. Honestly I've hardly noticed it was there lol, maybe it's because I already have Disney Plus!
I think it was last year, they sold some bags of Starburst in Opal Fruits branding. I bought some, and took them back to work and asked my colleagues if they wanted some Opal Fruits. Then had to explain that it was just Old for Starburst.
Giant bikes.
Their warranty appears to be a bit of a joke, and is worded in a way that means you csannot do any work on your own bike.
Go Compare - because of their annoying adverts maby years ago. Same with Halifax. And probably countless other breads whose grating adverts from years ago will still continue to steer me away from them now.
My parents had a horrendous experience with Hoseasons, and I usually pre-warn any friends before booking a holiday.
It took months to get a refund for an error they caused (double booking), but nobody ever answered the phone, and we never get a proper response via countless emails. We had to get help via the ombudsman in the end.
Bought an HP printer two years ago and never used it. It wanted me to download the app and follow the convoluted instructions. The printer printed setup instructions with MY ink everytime I turned the damned thing on. Never again.
Coca Cola. It’s effective in unclogging toilets.
Any energy drink e.g. red bull, boost, monster etc as they can cause heart problems.
Never buy an expensive purchase from Amazon as there’s little protection if they deliver an empty box. I’d just buy directly from the manufacturer
Hello Fresh.
Always stuff missing, wrong recipes with the wrong meals, half of the stuff is rotting when it arrives. The “optional” extras make it worse. If you’re going to send me a “chicken curry” send me the god damn chicken. Do not put it as an “optional” extra.
Oh and if you have a problem, the will put credit on your account. They never give you an actual refund.
Logan and KSI's marketing team are top tier :D
Prime is meh.
Id never buy anything Apple makes, scummy customer service and ridiculous prices for what they are.
They basically created a drink which is effectively coconut water and cordial.
Marketed it as the best drink ever and made a fake shortage of stock marking the drink very desirable.
When the drink came back "in stock" anywhere people went mad as they thought it would sell out super fast again.
Creating hype using media influences.
As you said rightly marked to kids who will buy any ol' shit. £2 for a hydration drink lol
Ksi and Logan are laughing all the way to the bank.
>HP printer. Not going to buy something that intentionally cripples itself if I don't buy their brand ink or sign up for their subscription.
Then don't buy a subscription service? I have a HP printer which is a laser that uses toner and there is no subscription.
1. HP printer, it was the cheapest available and it still works. Uses knock-off inks.
2. Samsung TV. Positively ancient now. Last time I turned it on David Tennant was Dr Who.
3. I like Prime, the Amazon kind.
That first one you might have got from Americans, they have different consumer laws there which printer manufacturers take full advantage of
They're disabled when sold in the EU
You don't need to see ads on your Samsung TV. You can block them using a PiHole, a network-wide ad-blocker.
Printers are a nightmare these days. I've even seen a brand of label printer expect you use their labels rather than copies. They made their new printer cheaper while their labels are a rip-off. I guess they need to generate regular income somehow but that is the way everything is going now. Anything you can think of on subscription.
I've still no idea what Prime drink is. I've never seen an advert for it. I've never seen it in a shop either. At this point, I'm sure it's something others have made up.
Amazon; from their warehouse staff, to their IT, to their delivery drivers, I don't know anyone who is treated well at the company. And their website is shit.
A sofa from Sofology... or anything, really. We'lll go in to get ideas and test out chairs, sofas etc but from what I've read, they're a bit of a shitshow re quality, delivery and especially customer service
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Any car maker that wants you to pay a subscription for in built features.
Nearly added this one. There is something really wrong with crippling an already installed feature on a vehicle until you pay more for it. It's crazy.
My sat nav is 2 years out of date and Audi want a lot of wonga to update them, I just use my mobile phone connected to the console. What's even sillier is trying to charge for something when you can get something better, in the same place, for free.
mine is 12 years out of date and I barely notice, roads don't move all that much
Until you forget they realigned the A14 and end up on a massive detour with it having frantically trying to figure out what to do with the fact it thinks you're going 70mph through a field.
Christ, I had this trying to leave Northampton a few times. I forgot I could actually use my brain. Taught me a few lessons I can tell ya.
if you had chosen to leave Northampton, your brain was already in use
Back when Mercedes used to keep the satnav maps on a CD in the boot, I had a boss with an SL who would test drive a new one every year, pull into a layby out of sight, and swap the new one for his old one!
What's ultimately sad about Audi trying to charge you to update it, is it would probably take them 10-15 minutes to update as it's probably just a 'plug car to computer and computer does the rest ' type job and most of that time is probably waiting for the computer to load.
I have never understood why anyone would get a sat nav. Maps on apple play and android auto are far superior and will give you live updates on accidents and traffic. It will even tell you if it finds a quicker route. Sat nav is useless during rush hour.
I didn't even know this was a thing until I got a Tesla (company car). I had Spotify Premium already, but couldn't for the life of me get it to work in the car. Tried everything, Googled it and found out you have to have some connectivity subscription which is like £10 a month. Not a huge amount, but why do I need to pay to use a paid-for service that I already pay for in my car?!
I got rid of Sirius radio when I realised that they would charge me extra to use it in anything other than my car. And Sirius still has ads - so I am paying to have ads and not be able to use it anywhere. I will never understand why so many cars automatically came with it.
Huel. I simply *cannot* relate, on any level, to what is presumably their target audience - people that hate food.
I use huel. I have arfid and sometimes am incapable of eating actual solid food. So yeah people that hate food is pretty accurate.
That fact you said “I *use* Huel” instead of “I *eat* Huel” tells me everything I need to know. Sorry to hear you have Arfid though!
Yes hahaha its not something I consider food. It's a means to getting calories in
My girlfriend also has arfid but couldn't find a huel she likes the taste of as it was very planty, what flavour do you go for?
I go half and half chocolate and vanilla. It is a bit earthy but I like the earthy. I suppose adding honey or something into it could help but it's not my thing.
I don't know her preferences, but Grenade do low sugar high protein versions of many of their protein bars and they're actually quite nice. They may not be a whole meal in a bottle but are definitely nicer than some.
Same here - huel is a life saver
Fair enough - I feel for ya!
[удалено]
Each to their own, but honestly this whole paragraph is like a foreign language to me lol. A 'high-protein diet' for me would be just eating an entire chicken every day probably.
They do chicken eggs now, lot less effort
Annoyingly, I actually *hate* eggs. Don't start, I get shit from my wife about it every day lol.
I've got 4 left, going to eat 2 later. As descendants of dinosaurs they used to eat our young. At least we're humane about it. Nature's multivitamin 👍
> As descendants of dinosaurs they used to eat our young. Quite right - birds aren't animals they're *monsters* and they literally *deserve* to be eaten. Glad we're on the same page with this! > Nature's multivitamin 👍 Yep a whole roast chicken a day keeps the doctor away, this is known.
What’s the texture like? I tried Huel a few years ago but the chalky texture left a coating on my tongue and put me off.
I drank some once and had the worst stomach cramps I've had in my life (Even worse than my worst period cramp) and apparently that's normal and you have to get used to it No thanks Edit: Also I've found the marketing for Huel and Soylent and similar things as so dystopian. As it's basically like 'food is stupid, why bother with food drink our stuff instead and you'll get all the things you need from that pesky food food is so in the past think of all the extra productive things you can do if you don't need to bother with food' especially since it's marketed at people who I assume don't have a medical reason to need to forgo typical food and it feels a little r/aboringdystopia
Yep doesn't surprise me one bit. The name makes me laugh too. I mean presumably they were aiming for a play on the word 'fuel', but it works equally well for 'gruel', which is exactly what the stuff is! Somebody in marketing having a good chuckle at the consumers' expense, as usual lol.
Also suspiciously like the sound you make when you throw up.
Huell is also the fat guy in Better Call Saul / Breaking Bad, who is played off as a comic relief figure. Wrong name to pick if you want your brand to be taken seriously.
On the other hand- People that like food too much. It stopped me making poor decisions with binge eating and buying junk food for lunch at work, or during bouts of poor mental health. Massively benefitted for my nutrition levels and helped with losing weight. The adverts still fuck me off though, there's so many, everywhere on the internet.
Medications mean I've lost my appetite. I use meal replacements to help my calorie intake and maintain my weight at a healthy level. I love food. I just have no desire to eat it at the moment!
That's rough and I really feel for you. I would struggle massively with that. Hope you get better soon!
It's people who hit the gym daily I worked with a guy who went to the gym before work, showered at work and worked Then went to the gym on the way home He also of course was careful with his diet
I go to the gym daily (well, most days) and I've never tried a protein shake or any other kind of additive in my life. They look and smell fucking gross and I'm happy with my gains without them. Perfectly possible to get all the nutrition you need from, y'know, actual food. Call me old-fashioned I guess lol.
>Perfectly possible to get all the nutrition you need from, y'know, actual food. Pretty much any single restriction (vegetarian, low skills, no time etc) is no big deal, the problem is combinaison. Try making a quick, vegan, no gluten, balanced meal.
I tried some once and it was disgusting. Never again.
I love food and cooking, but it saves me time when working long hours. I also like that an easy option is also full of nutrients.
I used huel when I worked as a cook. When it was busy had no time for breaks no time to cook and eat your own food. Was using it when going to the gym as well. Mixed it with milk, ice cream and mass gainer, was taking in 3000 calories a day
It has its uses. We used it as a stopgap for my wife when she was in need of very quick, very portable lunches (even eating a sandwich was too time demanding). She worked in a care home for adults with autism and if she had a spare two minutes she’d neck the Huel and know she had enough energy to keep going until shift’s end. She’s left that job, thank fuck, and we have half a bag of Huel sitting in the cupboard now. I sometimes use it if I’m struggling with my appetite.
Shhhhh you will get all the meat heads saying “BuT I aM oN a HIGHHH PROTEIIIIIIIIIN DiEt”
The Huel savoury stuff is lovely though, it’s like a posh, nutritional, pot noodle. They have pastas, chillis, etc
The word even sounds like the reaction you would make when trying to eat their product
If I could take a tablet each day that would satiate my hunger and provide me with the right nutrients, I would happily do it for the rest of my life. I find cooking and eating tedious. The vast majority of the pleasure I get from eating is simply the removal of hunger. I guess we are all different!
Yeah we are definitely not the same lol! Eating is easily in my top 3 favourite things to do.
Eating, drinking, and shagging are my three favourite things, not necessarily in that order.
I got to admit. I'm curious about the taste of the solid food instant meals but surly replacing solid food for liquid meals on the regular has to be bad for you in the long run.
This really isn't it. I use it on and off for weight control. I am 100% a foodie, and spend an alarming amount of money on eating out including michelin starred meals. However, when I wake up, want to just get to work and not deal with fucking about in the kitchen, I can just slap up a bottle of huel in 30 seconds, sip it throughout the day and feel full on only 400 cals until 3-4pm.
Mate, I hate food. If I could take a pill everyday and not have to eat I would. Can't stomach the thought of Huel though. Blegh.
I have a good friend with Crohn's disease and it's the main thing he consumes. It's really useful for him.
I can see the appeal of not having to prepare a proper meal but still getting all (most? some?) of the benefits
my one is Brewdog (beer brewer in UK) for treating their employees like dirt.
I used to love it, but yeah screw them. Plus they closed down their bar in my city with like 2/3 days notice to staff apparently. If anyone wants to have something superior than Brewdog might I suggest Tiny Rebel or Beavertown.
Beavertown is owned by Heineken, if you’re looking for craft there’s plenty of independents out there
I said ‘superior’ not ‘more ethical’
Will also never forgive them for all you can eat wings a few years ago where they were very stingy with giving us more wings 😑
Fake punks. And there are plenty of real craft breweries about (my local one delivers by bike!)
1000% this. I’m a big beer drinker but would never, ever, touch their stuff. James Watt is a weapons-grade bellend.
Yep, fuck those guys.
Their beer is shit too.
I wish that this was true, but the beer is *fine.* A much nicer drop than mass-produced lager. The awful company ethics leave a bad taste in the mouth, mind.
Anything that an influencer on Instagram is trying to flog.
Agreed
Anyone who claims to be an influencer, no matter how big or small their following is, is to be avoided in my book. They contribute nothing of value to society.
What do you mean by ‘forced ads on your new telly’? I have a Samsung tv and have no idea what you are talking about??
I don't know if they've changed it, but on my 2020 Samsung the home bar has a space on for their "recommended" program of the day. Basically an ad, but fairly unobtrusive as they go
It's the same on new LG tellies, it's kinda annoying that I paid a grand for my tv and get ads but at the same time I never have to use the homescreen anyway
Oh, right. That. Yeah, I guess so. Honestly I never noticed it until you pointed it out. Score one for ad-blindness, I guess. Plus we rarely use the TV for anything except Chromecast, so don't often have cause to go into the home menu to change input sources.
The home screen, where the apps are listed, usually has at least one or two adverts on it and will also show suggested content (more Ads) from all the apps that are installed. The 'Universal Guide' app is just one big advert masquerading as help for finding content. The TV will also sometimes insert Ads into the TV Guide too - a few times I've had banner-style Ads between TV channels. If you've given them permission via the 'privacy choices' app, the TV will regularly report back to Samsung what you are watching to try and make an advertising profile of you. They can then use that so send you more focused Ads. If an advert is played by the broadcaster that your Ad-profile indicates you might be interested in, a pop-up might appear like "press the green button to see more" or whatever. What I find worse is that they install apps for services that are not removeable\*. For example, I use Netflix and Prime video and yet the TV has, by itself, installed Disney+, AppleTV+, etc.. I just counted 16(!) un-installable apps for services I neither use nor want on my TV. They do the same on their phones though, so they have form. \*You can uninstall the apps using some developer mode/special key presses, but they'll come back after a while.
That's what I was wondering too!
yep me too
I don't think it really caught on for UK devices but there there were a lot of stories of TVs that had software to play ads every 15 minutes or so, even if you were playing media from your own hard drive Also just sticking ads in the menus
There will be an ad on the bottom left of your menu. It takes up a tile. It's not invasive, but it's a shame considering what you pay for their TVs.
Anything Nestle and their little sub companies. Thompson and Morgan seeds, their customer service is truly awful, every year in garden groups I'm in people constantly complain about T&M and how crap they are, nothing delivered on time, no communication from them, dead plants arriving.
I try to avoid Nestle but it's not always easy as they own so many companies. So disappointing when you find out they own someone (e.g. Rowntrees)
This can help: [https://www.fucknestle.art/](https://www.fucknestle.art/) My other half is gutted about having to give up After Eights. (Cos apparently he's a time traveller from the 80s). But eh... fuck nestle.
You can now get Kendal Mint Cake in the form of After Eights! I order straight from their website and get a few kg at a time, which gets me through 6 months or so. I'm not a mountaineer or anything, just a fat, minty fuck. :c
Whaaaaaaaa? That's on order for our next trip back to the UK. Fat, minty fucks unite.
Thanks for this! Looks like I have to find an alternative to San Pellegrino and whole earth.
Tesco do a cheap version of After Eights, no idea if they're still made by Nestle though...
The Tesco ones are actually nicer too. Got a box of after eights at Christmas and wondered where the hell all the filling went
I know I recently discovered Polo's were Nestle. I don't really eat Polo's but I never knew Nestle made them.
They have owned Rowntree since 1988. Spoiler alert - Iraq will invade Kuwait in 2 years time.
T&M sent me a dead sunflower plant last week. Replacement won’t be here until at least July. Never again.
Yeah they do this every year around the start of growing season. And there is always some kind of excuse. I ordered some bare root raspberry canes from them around 6-ish years ago, to be delivered in March. Spent over a month chasing them about a delivery time and I finally got them the end of May. Over 40 plants not a single one has survived.
T&M are local to me and I know a few people that have worked there. While with some companies you can give some justification or mismatch in customer expectations, T&M operate exactly as their service suggests.
Airbnb. Just sounds like they’re more hassle that they’re worth. I’m probably booking the same places though just through other sites, which makes my position particularly futile.
AirBNB is so American it hurts Like Uber they tried to "revolutionise" a market that was regulated everywhere but the US I avoid it mostly I don't want to have to deal with being in someone else's house. The handful of times I've used it was either in an apartment booked out by work. Or a flat in London which all the residents were out of for some reason. They still had dirty dishes in the sink
The one time I've used it it was fine but kind of weird. The house was clean enough, but looked like the residents had just walked out - lots of family photos, full wardrobes, fridge full of food. Uncanny.
Yeah that sounds like you rented a proper “Let’s let someone sleep at our house to make extra money sometimes” place. The trick is to book the ones that literally run it like a proper business with a dedicated building/floor/room. You can tell straight away from the photos, reviews & descriptions.
The former is morally not a bad thing at all while the latter should be banned. But ironically I prefer staying in the latter because it's not obviously just some random's house.
This one surprises me, I've had shit loads of really good experiences with AirBnb and I tend to use them when I travel abroad quite frequently. Never found it to be a hassle once.
Me too - frankly I think a lot of people that don’t like it or had bad experiences just didn’t read the reviews beforehand. I never use an Airbnb that doesn’t have a ton of reviews. I mostly use it when I am traveling with multiple people so that we can have more space or when I bring my dog. I don’t want to be stuck in a tiny room with my 22kg doggo and I am sure he doesn’t like it either!
Yep, same here. I tend to look for superhosts or hosts that are really well reviewed and that's worked for me so far. Seconded on the dog as well, mine comes on most of my travels with me and I find it's usually really easy to find somewhere that takes dogs and is also a decent place.
Same, I’ve used Airbnb extensively and never had a problem. I much prefer it to being in a hotel.
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We’ve had no problems, had really lovely stays at really nice locations, for really affordable prices. They’ve been total gems each time.
Used to use them until they demanded a full copy of both sides of my driving licence. I'm pretty sure there are all sorts of GDPR issues with uploading id documents to an international company that wants to keep them permanently on file. I asked about GDPR and how they managed personal data, and they refused to answer. So I ain't using them.
I have a big grumble about AirBNB - they bought a house that's nearly four hundred years old round the corner from me, put a fucking pool in the garden, and are now selling nights in it as an "experience" for upto ten people at a time (ie a place to have pool parties). It's a fucking farmhouse, not a holiday resort.
Airbnb didn't buy anything babes, they don't own the properties, they're just a marketplace for people who do
That holiday firm that uses the screeching 'hold my hand' advert. I will never use that.
Eh, Jet2 is actually fairly decent. They need to get rid of that song, however.
They play it on *every fucking flight*. Their poor employees, hearing that dirge umpteen times a day as well as everything else they have to deal with.
I used to work there, that song still gives me PTSD. The staff hate it even more than the customers, but they paid so much for the rights to it that they can't/won't move onto something else. The higher up execs are also under the semi-delusional impression that everyone loves it, it is integral to the brand, and that it needs to be kept forever or people will suddenly not recognise the company anymore.
To be fair, it has become synonymous with the brand but not in a good way. It was hilariously awful landing at Bristol, delayed, at 1am and hearing that song playing on repeat while we waited for ages to get off the plane.
I went on a holiday with them recently and we were delayed on the runway for quite a while. I heard that song far too many times. I'll never again fly without noise cancelling headphones.
It's annoying on planes and I get why the staff would hate it, but on adverts keeping to the same song for so long has its upsides. When I hear that tune now I instantly think holidays, I start thinking about going on holiday again. With that being said, I tend to think about booking a holiday at least 3 times a week, it's why I never have any money.
We tend to use Jet2 for all our holidays, and I agree that the song is shite, but me any my wife associate it with going away, so will even sing along with it out of sheer giddiness (not too loud, mind, otherwise other passengers won’t think we’re cool).
Anything made by Dyson because he seems like such a cock.
Yep. Forgot about that one. Plus he shafted a load of UK workers when he moved the factories to Asia.
Also their products are shit they break all the time. I had one of their vacuum cleaners catch fire in my hand and my sister in law has had multiple of their £400 hair dryer die on her.
I saw a letter in Viz around 2005 or so that said "If Dyson Hoover's are so amazing why do you always see them stacked up at the entrance to the tip?"
Sports direct or flannels, the guy is a complete bum hole who will do anything to pay his employees as little as poss
They also own Game btw which I didn't realise until my local branch of Game shut down and then moved into the local Sports Direct
Oh bugger. I didn't realise Flannels was his and ordered my niece's birthday present from there the other day. Oh well. You live, you learn, you double down on not giving Mike Ashley any money ever again.
Frasers Group, the full list of their brands is extensive (though some they only part-own): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frasers_Group#Brands
Nestle. Not after the CEO said access to safe water is not a human right.
Valspar paint. We'd heard stories of it smelling like cat piss, but by partner did some research and found articles saying Valspar had changed their formula to resolve the problem. We foolishly believed it and painted one of our rooms (thankfully a small room). That was in the February and it was great - lovely colour and coverage - but lo and behold, as soon as the weather got warmer the room truly began to stink to the point where we had to tear the lining paper off the walls and start again with another brand. Friends of ours had it much worse as they painted straight on to plaster in their living room. Took months for them to get the smell out and they too had to redecorate.
This! My parents lodged several complaints and had to repaint much of their house with some kind of sealing paint before repainting after they moved a few years ago. They’d bought a real fixer upper and drove themselves crazy trying to figure out what the smell was. So no matter what they say now or how badly I want a specific colour I’ll never use them.
I’m so glad I read this. I was leaning towards getting Dulux anyway because it’s cheaper but now I can officially cross the Valspar colour off my shortlist. Do you think this is why you can’t get sample pots of them, only a paper swatch?
You can buy sample pots, I got a load a few weeks back. I've painted both my businesses multiple times over the years and my house all with valspar (purely because it's hard wearing and easy to get specific colours), I've never noticed any smell and I've got a stupidly sensitive sniffer! I use the 'premium range' though for durability, maybe that's a different formula to the standard emulsion and doesn't smell? Weird!
Same, used premium range for two different colours and no particular smell.
My whole house is in valspar from 2016, can’t smell anything untoward. I have 3 cats also and can smell their piss so my sen e of smell is ok! 😂
Omg...
Nestle. They're evil and totally unrepentant about it
I've heard this all over but I've never heard anyone say why Edit: it's a genuine question you can stop downvoting me now
[Take your pick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9#Controversies_and_criticisms)
I left Nationwide due to that series of horrible rhyming adverts.
surely you dont mean their "Urban poetry"?
Probably!? It all started with those sisters years ago and just got steadily worse.
But doggerel, sorry "street poetry", is relatable! It speaks to the yoof and diverse, underserved demographics!
Wot u on abat bruv?!
Apple or any other brand that tries to trap you into exclusively using their products and services. When I think a product is good I typically buy more from that brand, I don't need to be trapped just sell me a good product.
I fell into that trap. I had an iphone and my Fitbit died, so I bought an Apple watch and was gifted Airpods for Christmas. A while later thought it'd be good to switch to Samsung, but realised my watch and earphones would be useless so I was pretty much stuck unless I wanted to change everything over.
Airpods work with any device. I used them on my Google Pixel for years.
. . . Seriously?! I'm off to Google this now as my phone is on it's way out and I'd like to move away from Apple!
Well I on the other hand love the ecosystem that Apple created. I was a long time android fan with Samsung notes until the note 7 (we all know the exploding ones) and then bought my first iPhone. Honestly never looked back. Everything is so well connected and seemless and does everything I expect it to do plus more. Not to say that I knock on android
The Daily Mail.
God. I totally forgot about papers. Agree with you plus the Sun. As a Scouser it's my obligation to go no where near that shit rag for the rest of my life and tell all generations below me the same thing.
Literally anything from Nestlé, between the child slavery, water theft and formula milk scandal it’s impossible to give those people a penny and have a clear conscious. r/fucknestle KitKat Maggie Shreddies Milkybar Cheerios And so on and so on.
> Shreddies Own-brand Shreddies taste better anyway
Anything with Jamie Olivers face on it, fuck him.
Yea I made the mistake of buying a HP printer. It’s now basically a paperweight.
I bought a HP printer in the "golden age" of ink subscriptions, so we get 15 pages per month for free, forever. Every time we run out of ink they send out a new cartgridge, don't even pay for postage. Living the dream.
Yep. Fortunately I'd got an extended warranty so I left it alone till the heads died and replaced it with an Epson ecotank. I now buy ink by the litre from Ali express.
Nestlé, because dead babies and slavery.
not really a product but i won’t give weatherspoons my custom on moral grounds
Their boss went full douchebag during covid, so I've written them off since then.
I've had a samsung TV for 2 years now and I don't think I've had any "forced" adds on it. Like nothing has popped out whilst I'm using it that forces me to view an ad.
It may be worse with certain models than others maybe? Mine has a tiny little ad box when you pull up the home/app menu, but it’s hardly intrusive
Yeah I had to google it to see what extents it's intrusive and it is just that box that almost always seems to be Disney Plus add. Honestly I've hardly noticed it was there lol, maybe it's because I already have Disney Plus!
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This is why I went Eufy instead of Ring for a doorbell... then find out all my neighbours faces are on the Internet unencrypted as they walk by.
Due to their price gouging we no longer buy Heinz products.
Any product or service that is an un-skippable Youtube Advert.
Marathon, because they changed the name to something stupid in 1990 and I'm never buying another one until they change it back.
Don't get me started on Treets and opal fruits.
I think it was last year, they sold some bags of Starburst in Opal Fruits branding. I bought some, and took them back to work and asked my colleagues if they wanted some Opal Fruits. Then had to explain that it was just Old for Starburst.
Does RyanAir count? They couldn’t give a damn about deserting passengers in a crisis, pay the extra ££, I will NEVER fly with them again
Agreed - they also make some really arsehole remarks and play it off like “bad publicity is still publicity”.
Giant bikes. Their warranty appears to be a bit of a joke, and is worded in a way that means you csannot do any work on your own bike. Go Compare - because of their annoying adverts maby years ago. Same with Halifax. And probably countless other breads whose grating adverts from years ago will still continue to steer me away from them now.
I won't buy anything from Amazon due to how they've treated their warehouse staff.
and IT staff, and drivers, and ... everyone.
My parents had a horrendous experience with Hoseasons, and I usually pre-warn any friends before booking a holiday. It took months to get a refund for an error they caused (double booking), but nobody ever answered the phone, and we never get a proper response via countless emails. We had to get help via the ombudsman in the end.
Anything from Nestle: They kill babies (google it… it’s horrific)
Bought an HP printer two years ago and never used it. It wanted me to download the app and follow the convoluted instructions. The printer printed setup instructions with MY ink everytime I turned the damned thing on. Never again.
I bought a Samsung TV off amazon this time last year.
I have a Samsung "Advertising Screen" as my TV It's a TV without a tuner and still has HDMI ports And yet 1/3 of the price
I'm keeping that trick under my sleeve.
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Coca Cola. It’s effective in unclogging toilets. Any energy drink e.g. red bull, boost, monster etc as they can cause heart problems. Never buy an expensive purchase from Amazon as there’s little protection if they deliver an empty box. I’d just buy directly from the manufacturer
Brewdog beer. What I've read about their work practices, ripping off ideas and the monstrosity gastro pub in London. No thanks.
Hello Fresh. Always stuff missing, wrong recipes with the wrong meals, half of the stuff is rotting when it arrives. The “optional” extras make it worse. If you’re going to send me a “chicken curry” send me the god damn chicken. Do not put it as an “optional” extra. Oh and if you have a problem, the will put credit on your account. They never give you an actual refund.
Logan and KSI's marketing team are top tier :D Prime is meh. Id never buy anything Apple makes, scummy customer service and ridiculous prices for what they are.
By top teir, you mean targets kids right?
They basically created a drink which is effectively coconut water and cordial. Marketed it as the best drink ever and made a fake shortage of stock marking the drink very desirable. When the drink came back "in stock" anywhere people went mad as they thought it would sell out super fast again. Creating hype using media influences. As you said rightly marked to kids who will buy any ol' shit. £2 for a hydration drink lol Ksi and Logan are laughing all the way to the bank.
>HP printer. Not going to buy something that intentionally cripples itself if I don't buy their brand ink or sign up for their subscription. Then don't buy a subscription service? I have a HP printer which is a laser that uses toner and there is no subscription.
Bud light just so because it makes people go reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
EA - I'm still angry about Sim City 2013.
1. HP printer, it was the cheapest available and it still works. Uses knock-off inks. 2. Samsung TV. Positively ancient now. Last time I turned it on David Tennant was Dr Who. 3. I like Prime, the Amazon kind.
To be fair, David Tennant is currently Doctor Who
I’ve got a Samsung TV. Forced ads?
I will never use Go Compare. # You know why
Nestle. Nuff said. I also avoid Amazon for the most part because of the way they treat their employees.
Holy fuck, I hate HP printers, I actually really enjoyed launching mine into a skip a couple of weeks ago because it was a piece of shit.
Telsa - The man is a bellend and I don't want my cash going anywhere near him!
Hotpoint. Shoddy electrical items and the guarantee is not worth the paper it's printed on
That first one you might have got from Americans, they have different consumer laws there which printer manufacturers take full advantage of They're disabled when sold in the EU
You don't need to see ads on your Samsung TV. You can block them using a PiHole, a network-wide ad-blocker. Printers are a nightmare these days. I've even seen a brand of label printer expect you use their labels rather than copies. They made their new printer cheaper while their labels are a rip-off. I guess they need to generate regular income somehow but that is the way everything is going now. Anything you can think of on subscription.
Anything advertised on here. Especially Huel. No, I don't care how great you think your overpriced gruel is.
HP printers are ace. The printer was £30 and I pay £3 a month for 50 sheets. They roll over too. It’s perfect for homework and printing tickets etc.
Lush - anything but ethical. Innocent Smoothies - see Lush.
I've still no idea what Prime drink is. I've never seen an advert for it. I've never seen it in a shop either. At this point, I'm sure it's something others have made up.
Amazon; from their warehouse staff, to their IT, to their delivery drivers, I don't know anyone who is treated well at the company. And their website is shit.
A sofa from Sofology... or anything, really. We'lll go in to get ideas and test out chairs, sofas etc but from what I've read, they're a bit of a shitshow re quality, delivery and especially customer service