18 Terrible Gifts People Actually Received

Kasia Mikolajczak
Woman holding wrapped present
Unsplash | Kira auf der Heide

Who here is a good gift giver? I'd like to think that I am. Before any occasion, I take my time picking a thoughtful present for the lucky recipient. It can take me months, weeks, or just days. but I always want the gift to be perfect.

Sadly, not everyone seems to go to these lengths. A recent Reddit thread asked people, "What's the worst gift you've ever received?" and the answers are truly interesting. I've listed a few of them below.

This Grinch Idea

Crying kid
Unsplash | Lucas Metz

"One year for Christmas my dad gave me a notebook and pencils and told me Santa wants me to study more. I was 5."

Oh, no! Why would a parent do this to a 5-year old? That's pretty mean, no? I mean, it's Christmas time and all. That's just not that cool. Even if the kid is bad at school, that's no way to encourage him. Am I right?

This Christmas Birthday

Christmas tree all lit up in a room corner
Pexels | Pexels

"My birthday is close to Christmas and I've always disliked that fact, so my family gave me a Christmas tree for my birthday."

Okay, that's a pretty crappy idea. I don't think you can really count this as a birthday gift. Can you? I hope his family does better next year, haha.

This Absent-Minded Idea

Walmart gift cards
Walmart | Walmart.ca

"Rather mundane, but my aunt once sent me a birthday gift from another country that was a Walmart gift card for like $10. It was also mostly empty and had a balance of like 53 cents."

Oh wow, and they say it's the thought that counts.

The Gift That Keeps The Girlfriend Happy

Annoyed kid
Giphy

"My girlfriend asked me if I wanted to see Mamma Mia. I said no. A few months later I got Mamma Mia tickets for my birthday."

Haha, I've given my fiancé concert tickets, but it was always the band he wanted to see, so I can't sympathize with this girlfriend here.

This Narcissistic Move

Person holding their photo
Unsplash | Emmanuel Bior

"My cousin gave me a picture of herself for Christmas."

Wow, that person's cousin must really love herself, huh? I mean, what an odd idea for a gift. There must be something more to this. Otherwise, I don't get the sentiment. What do you think? Was this a joke?

This Odd Gift

Magic: The Gathering Cards
Amazon | Amazon

"One year my (now ex) boyfriend bought me a deck of Magic: The Gathering Cards. I had absolutely no interest in them prior to receiving them, and then he refused to teach me how to play the game. He took them with him when we broke up."

There goes that.

This Funny Gift

Man's face being scrubbed by a toilet brush
Giphy | DrSquatch

"Not me, but my Aunt got my sister a novelty toilet brush for her birthday."

Um, so I'm taking this was a gag-gift, huh? Well, if I got this for my birthday, I would definitely pass it on to the next person whose birthday is coming up. Let's make it a tradition, ha, ha.

This Disappointment

hand holding X-box controller
Unsplash | Diego Marín

"One Christmas I really wanted an Xbox just like every other kid. As I was opening presents I uncover an Xbox controller and my heart started pounding. I was so excited to find the Xbox, so I tore through all of my presents to find no game system. My mom comes over to me later as I'm holding the controller. She says, "Now you don't have to borrow Scott's controller anymore when you stay the night at your friends."

Aww, she tried.

This Happy Gift

Happy Meal graphic
Giphy | McDonalds Italia

"A happy meal Barbie. For my 20th birthday. From my boyfriend. It wasn't intended to be ironic."

Wow. That's one generous boyfriend, huh? I would have been like, where's the meal that goes with that? I mean, if you're going to go that low, at least bring this woman some food too, no?

This Thoughtful Uncle

loose change
Unsplash | PiggyBank

"One Christmas when I was a kid, he gave me a detailed book about guns and a check for $8.56. The next Christmas it was a horse calendar and a check for $17.02. Eventually, we figured out that apparently he set out a $30 budget for my gift and would give the exact remainder as a check. He's weird."

Ha, ha.

This MIL Gift

red night gown
Amazon | Amazon

"My mother-in-law pulled out a box in which there was a fire engine red nightgown and said in front of the family, 'This is what you'll wear when you conceive a son.' Yep."

I probably would have been as red as this gown if I got that in front of everyone.

This Bizarre Gift Idea

man who's confussed
Giphy | Aminé

"I once received a car stereo. I don't drive, nor do I own a car. The person that gave the gift, however, did. I was told 'As you won't have a use for it, perhaps I should take it off your hands?'"

Wow, just wow! That's all I can say about that.

This Brotherly Love

playing video game
Unsplash | Glenn Carstens-Peters

"My brother bought me Kao the Kangaroo for the Dreamcast for my birthday, and I played it all morning until I had to go to school. When I got home I went to play it, but my brother had sold his Dreamcast to a friend that same day along with the game, and promised to get me another present to make up for it — he didn't."

Aww, that must've sucked!

This Two-In-One

three oranges
Unsplash | Marcos Ramírez

"My mom gave me eight Oranges, in total of six bigbBoxes with tons of paper and stuff to fill up. Four for Christmas and four for my birthday on 26th December. I wasn't even mad or something. Just stunned. I still can't comprehend this gift."

What's up with that?

This Thoughtful Friend

birthday cake
Unsplash | Nick Stephenson

"Moldy cake, I guess my friend just couldn't be bothered to buy some cake and decided to give me the one that was in the back of his fridge."

All I can say is, yuck! Who the heck does that?

This Christmas Fail

opening gifts at Christmas
Giphy | CBC

"On Christmas morning we were gathered around the tree at my aunt's house. Everyone was taking turns opening gifts and when it was my turn my Grandmom turned to me and told me that now that I was 18 (my birthday was the week before) I wouldn't be getting any gifts from her side of the family ever again. Yes, I had bought her a Christmas gift. No, she didn't understand why Christmas morning around the tree wasn't the ideal place to drop that bomb on me."

That's so sad!

This Disturbing Christmas Gift

man shaking his head in disbelief
Giphy | ScooterMagruder

"A dead cat. It was found mummified in the rafters of the barn, mounted on a plaque, and given to me with a lot of fanfare at Christmas when I was 15."

OMG, what? Who would give anybody a dead cat? And who in their right mind thought this was an appropriate gift for a 15-year-old? That's one odd family. Am I right?

This Gift From A Boss

two men at a restaurant table
Pexels | Pexels

"My old boss took me out to lunch on my birthday. At a place he picked. He then made me pay for myself."

Okay, so clearly, he didn't take this person out for lunch at all. First of all, he should have given him a choice of a restaurant and then paid for it all. What a cheap jerk, huh?

Boy, oh boy!

black and white clip of woman saying "isn't that awful?"
Giphy | Paramount+

Aren't you glad that you've never received gifts like that, haha? Or perhaps you have? If you have gotten a terrible gift in the past, I'd love to hear about it. Let us know in the comments below. Let's compare notes. I bet there's plenty of where that came from, huh?

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