Big Brand names whose products are way overrated

Any small appliance made by Russell Hobbs or Morphy Richards. Skip fodder.

Strumms

NSAman wrote: »

Samsung

laptop
Worst product I have ever bought. Useless in fact and no support

Washing machine and seperate drier
Absolutely useless broke down after a few months and then the problems started when trying to get it fixed. Scrapped it completely

Fridge
Same as above

replaced the whole of Samsung with Miele washer and seperate drier
replaced the Computer with HP
replaced the fridge with a SubZero.

I’ve always got on with Samsung, the only ****e pice of kit was the S3 phone which was about 800% less useful then the s2. The s2 was brilliant for its time and all subsequent phones were top notch..I’ve a j6 now, no complaints and the camera is stunning. Got a new Samsung microwave today, I’ll let you know how it goes, :pac:

chosen1

Cienciano wrote: »

Never mind the Dyson vacuum cleaners, it's the poxy hand dryers. The U shaped ones, you dip you hands in and out and can see all the skanky shít at the bottom where thousands of drips from half cleaned hands have collected dried, leave a layer of slime.

Fair enough the bottom of them are manky but I find they're the only ones that are capable of actually drying your hands.

The traditional ones just puff semi warm air at your hands and you end up just drying the rest off on your jeans

NIMAN

Candie wrote: »

Any small appliance made by Russell Hobbs or Morphy Richards. Skip fodder.

I'm not totally sure but I think a lot of these once famous brand names are no more, and are simply used by the likes of Argos and Currys to make you think you are getting something that might be good quality.

Probably all made in same factory with different badges, like a lot of the Vestel supplied tv brands.

cj maxx

chosen1 wrote: »

Fair enough the bottom of them are manky but I find they're the only ones that are capable of actually drying your hands.

The traditional ones just puff semi warm air at your hands and you end up just drying the rest off on your jeans

I have to completely disagree.
Their hand dryers are crap . You have to spend ages moving your hands up and down , trying to avoid hitting the side of the 2" opening. I hate them.
The only good hand driers are the ones that feel like you've just put your hands behind a F16 on take off.

Snails pace

Mad_maxx wrote: »

You're dead wrong about the landcruiser

The 08 up to recent models had issues with injectors and the O rings in them going. The older machines are bullet proof. the new ones not so much

ShatterAlan

storker wrote: »

We've holidayed in Italy a few times and never saw Dolmio on the supermarket shelves over there either. What we did see was Barilla sauces which we tried while there and found fine. They sell them in Tesco so we use them as an emergency standby, but making your own tomato sauce is so easy that most of the time the jar stays in the cupboard.

We never buy Dolmio. When's-a your pasta day me arse.

Jarred pasta sauce is sh1t. If you want to make a bolognese just used a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes and add onions, garlic and herbs/pepper to the pot and let bubble away. The jarred stuff is full of sugar. Maybe there's some sugar in the canned tomatoes but you can definitely taste the sweetness from the jarred sauces.

DJIMI TRARORE

Gillette Mach3 blades would've been top of the list 5/6 years ago, but the last 2 cartridges have been quality

ShatterAlan

martyos121 wrote: »

Never really got the appeal of McDonalds at all. Most of it is crazy expensive for what you actually get, and there are far superior options out there even in smaller towns at a much lower price.

I just don’t understand the obsession some have with it, seems like a genuine addiction for many.

McDonalds is crap too. I think a Burger King Whopper is ok.....but like you mentioned a chipper burger is better. You can actually eat a Big Mac without chewing or maybe chewing just once or twice. I think it's designed that way to make people morbidly obese.


To the thread I will add STARBUCKS. It is appalling. I'm not a huge coffee-head maybe drink it a couple of times a month but most pubs have a bog standard coffee machine with good beans and that to me can be a lovely coffee with a ham/cheese toastie.


Anheuser-Busch is another big name that produces crappy beer. I don't want to get on an America bashing rant but having lived there for several years so many of their big name products are just garbage. People on here are complaining about cars like Audi and BMW or Toyota Landcruisers. I have one word for you...Chevrolet. Utter junk.



WonderBread. This is the most popular bread in America for some inexplicable reason and it is dire. Brennan's blows it away.



Dominoes Pizza is muck. The two best pizzas I've had in Ireland are Doughboy's in Galway and Romano's on Capel Street. So good that you have that awful sense of bereavement when you've finished it.



Was never a fan of any Nike product. Far preferred Adidas or Puma.

Mervyn Skidmore

PukkaStukka wrote: »

This I agree with 1000%. Modern cars are over complex and over engineered. Seriously thinking about buying a good 80' or 90' car and drive it as a classic now.

I think people have rose tinted glasses here. You rarely see broken down cars any more, and think how many extra cars are on the roads now.

Hotblack Desiato

joebloggs32 wrote: »

It's got to be Durex Condoms for me.

Like you can only use the dam thing once and then you have to toss them away!

You can toss away for free, well, maybe the cost of a tissue or two :pac:

gormdubhgorm

ShatterAlan wrote: »

Anheuser-Busch is another big name that produces crappy beer.

I agree 100%.
I can't believe I did not think of Budweiser straight away. I think they survive purely on aggressive marketing and product placement in films/tv series.
It tastes like diluted dishwater with gas added.

ShatterAlan

colm_mcm wrote: »

It’s probably the best of what’s in this country anyway.

You're not wrong there sadly. The burrito is a great invention but the ones you get in Ireland in places like boojum or saburrito pale in comparison to one you'll get from a taco shack in California...and the ones in Mexico from street vendors...divine.

ShatterAlan

Larbre34 wrote: »

I'm not sure folk are answering the question.

Brands that are overrated? That doesn't mean brands that are unreliable. Older Italian sportcars would make you want to torch them they fail so often, but on those summer days they perform, with Matt Munro on the Stereo and on a great mountain road, you'll think it was worth 10 times the price.

Take the JD Power car reliability survey. Its published every year and is highly regarded. In 2019 its bottom 5 brands, in descending order were Mercedes Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover, Audi, Fiat and dead last, BMW.

Meanwhile, in ascending order, its 5 top brands were Suzuki, Nissan, Hyundai, Skoda and at No 1, Peugeot.

Now, while those top rated brands are doing a very good job of providing reliable, enjoyable cars, with good dealer support and satisfactory servicing costs, the report doesn't mean that BMW are making cars that are falling apart, rusting away, breaking down daily, cost thousands to repair the smallest thing and have the most ignorant unhelpful dealers - its the perception of what daily utility someone expects to get from a €30,000 car versus the expectation a person has of a say, €70,000 car...

I'd like to see a few threads....

What Brands you have bought that have given you brilliant service, that you would buy again without hesitation and recommend to others.

What Brands you have bought that have been in terms of quality, reliability, durability, longevity, manufacturer support etc, a disappointment and not one you would buy again or recommend to anyone.

What generic or unbranded/own brands have you been impressed by and would recommend to others as a substitute for better known or long standing brand name products.

In fairness it's all well and good talking about customer support when it comes to items like a car or a fridge. But that doesn't really apply to things like jeans or trainers or fast food.

ShatterAlan

pgj2015 wrote: »

Yeezys, very expensive and look like something a peasant would have been wearing 200 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkrkGm1vK0

They do indeed look stupid. Like something you wear with a Hazmat suit in some lab.

JohnnyFlash

ShatterAlan wrote: »

You're not wrong there sadly. The burrito is a great invention but the ones you get in Ireland in places like boojum or saburrito pale in comparison to one you'll get from a taco shack in California...and the ones in Mexico from street vendors...divine.

There was a tiny little place in Temple Bar called El Grito that did properly good Mexican food. They moved to Mountjoy Square, and I heard it's still very decent. Even Mexicans raved about it.

storker

ShatterAlan wrote: »

Jarred pasta sauce is sh1t. If you want to make a bolognese just used a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes and add onions, garlic and herbs/pepper to the pot and let bubble away. The jarred stuff is full of sugar. Maybe there's some sugar in the canned tomatoes but you can definitely taste the sweetness from the jarred sauces.

I know how to make bolognese sauce, thanks anyway. My point was the the Barelli stuff isn't as bad as Dolmio, and will do at a pinch if you're really stuck.



.

storker

ShatterAlan wrote: »

So good that you have that awful sense of bereavement when you've finished it.

Now that's how to sell a pizza.



.

anewme

storker wrote: »

I know how to make bolognese sauce, thanks anyway. My point was the the Barelli stuff isn't as bad as Dolmio, and will do at a pinch if you're really stuck.



.

I find the scala jars with the cherry tomatoes very passable too.

SmartinMartin

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not that special considering VW brands plus other German cars made up 35% of sales last year.

Wha? That was about bmw.

Hotblack Desiato

Tuco88 wrote: »

An 80s or early 90s e-class benz diesel is actually a tank.

The old fashioned late 80s/early 90s Merc diesels will probably outlive their owners. The ones you see as taxis in the Canaries with interstellar mileage but they still drive well and the interior is still in good order. You can run them on biodiesel too and they just keep going.

But there's not much profit in making a car that never needs to be replaced...

Hotblack Desiato

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I once owned an Alfa Romeo Alfetta. It broke my heart it was so unreliable, but it is easily my favourite car that I've ever owned.

Could've been worse, you could have owned an Alfasud (or its sister car, Lancia Beta, also made from shítty Soviet steel) and watched it transform into a pile of iron oxide before your very eyes. With the 'Sud, the doors fell off, with the Beta, the engine fell out!

Non solum non ambulabit

Non solum non ambulabit wrote: »

Tommy Hilfiger

Why?

kowloonkev

Tommy Hilfiger is the one clothes shop that I just can't bring myself to enter. Is it a rich man's Pennies or a poor man's Hugo Boss.

whisky_galore

ShatterAlan wrote: »

WonderBread. This is the most popular bread in America for some inexplicable reason and it is dire. Brennan's blows it away.

It must be inedible if bland Brennans is better.

retalivity

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

There was a tiny little place in Temple Bar called El Grito that did properly good Mexican food. They moved to Mountjoy Square, and I heard it's still very decent. Even Mexicans raved about it.

Cafe Azteca on Lord Edward St is an authentic mexican...the only place in Ireland i found you can get tamales

Ken.

Pizza's. M&S deluxe pizza €10.99, Dunnes/tesco brand €1.99. All made in the same factory with the same ingredients and production process.

XLR 8

fryup wrote: »

yep, my local mechanic says the makes he repairs most are german ..in particular BMW

But the same mechanic probably never repairs many Alfas or Lancias. That doesn't mean they are more reliable. He repairs more BMWs because they're popular and sold in the thousands and are still repairable.

coolshannagh28

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I once owned an Alfa Romeo Alfetta. It broke my heart it was so unreliable, but it is easily my favourite car that I've ever owned.

I could say the same about a gtv6 I owned; I still smile when I think of the noise it made.

The J Stands for Jay

whisky_galore wrote: »

It must be inedible if bland Brennans is better.

Wonder bread tastes of sugar and diabetes, it feels like playdough that has had some sort of solvent mixed into it that's causing it to slightly break down.

monkeysnapper

Mine is dogs .....

They dont live long enough.... and the total devastation when one passes away...

We lost one a few years ago and the emotional trauma in house with children is just terrible.

Our other dog is now 14 and we have to gear ourselves up for another round of this as he shows signs of old age....

My mother tho had a sheepdog ( collie) and he lived to 28 and he looked every day of that 28 years old ...poor feller.

XLR 8

Larbre34 wrote: »

What Brands you have bought that have given you brilliant service, that you would buy again without hesitation and recommend to others.

What Brands you have bought that have been in terms of quality, reliability, durability, longevity, manufacturer support etc, a disappointment and not one you would buy again or recommend to anyone.

What generic or unbranded/own brands have you been impressed by and would recommend to others as a substitute for better known or long standing brand name products.

Has a Fiat Sedici 4X4 for a few years, the best car I ever owned. Put a lot of cars to shame it really was a gem. No longer being produced as it was a joint thing with Suzuki.

Samsung Tv's I've found can be tempremental but then I found the customer service made up for it. There's a lot to be said for registering your purchase online when you get it. The details are normally in the see through bag we all f@#k out. You can then deal direct with them instead of humping the tv back to where you bought it. On two occasions they sent the tech to my place and repaired them in situ.

Halfords own brand range is great value for money. I've bought top of the range stuff and was more impressed with the Halfords gear. Don't get me wrong I'm a home tinkerer and they probably wouldn't be much use to a pro. But impressive at the price.

the beer revolu

monkeysnapper wrote: »

My mother tho had a sheepdog ( collie) and he lived to 28 and he looked every day of that 28 years old ...poor feller.

Is he in The Guinness Book of Records?
He should be.
No. 2 or 3 in the list of oldest dogs ever.

s1ippy

monkeysnapper wrote: »

Mine is dogs .....

They dont live long enough.... and the total devastation when one passes away...

We lost one a few years ago and the emotional trauma in house with children is just terrible.

Our other dog is now 14 and we have to gear ourselves up for another round of this as he shows signs of old age....

My mother tho had a sheepdog ( collie) and he lived to 28 and he looked every day of that 28 years old ...poor feller.

It's not the borks they'll never do, it's all the borks they did. Would you trade all the time you had with them so the pain of your loss is lessened? I've lost only one floofer luckily. It was devastating but it really equipped me to deal with other heartache in life and I love to look back on the time spent with them.

In terms of brands, a lot of software you need to buy has a freeware equivalent which is just as good if not a bit better if you're not doing anything too complicated. Audacity is grand instead of Protools for the basic music and sound editing . Windows movie maker or Openshot will do for video.

heldel00

anewme wrote: »

I find the scala jars with the cherry tomatoes very passable too.

We love Lloyd Grossman's tomato and chilli for a handy dinner here.
My mother-in-law uses dolmio and I find myself gagging (the very odd time she'd make us a dinner)

Vita nova

HB and Dale Farm ice creams. My uncle who lived on the Continent would always say when he came home that their ice cream had never seen a cow. Obviously they're made from milk but they contain a lot of other ingredients that you won't find in ice cream from quality producers and they taste very artificial to me.

Irish cheese was a bit like that in the 70s but now it's a top quality product.

monkeysnapper

the beer revolu wrote: »

Is he in The Guinness Book of Records?
He should be.
No. 2 or 3 in the list of oldest dogs ever.

I always questioned her on his age ...surely he cant be 28 but a few years later I was talking to a old lady about framing a picture of her dog and it was also a collie and she said her dog was in late 20s .... so maybe

Maybe other people on here can confirm the oldest dog they heard of.... maybe its just collies ....

My friend at work has boxers ..... now that's one breed that lacks years ...I think you are lucky to get 10 years ..... sucks!!!!

the beer revolu

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I always questioned her on his age ...surely he cant be 28 but a few years later I was talking to a old lady about framing a picture of her dog and it was also a collie and she said her dog was in late 20s .... so maybe

Maybe other people on here can confirm the oldest dog they heard of.... maybe its just collies ....

My friend at work has boxers ..... now that's one breed that lacks years ...I think you are lucky to get 10 years ..... sucks!!!!

A 20 year old dog would make it into the top 20 oldest dogs recorded.
I'd take those ages with a huge pinch of salt.
I'm surprised that my dad didn't have a 31 year old dog - he wasn't great with facts!

howyanow

Capt. Autumn wrote: »

Can I kick off with Dyson?

A huge launch and massive marketing drive for Dyson products but I've always been underwhelmed by how they actually perform. Maybe the fuss generated is something to do with it being the first UK designed product to make a big splash in many the year but, for me, they are the Apple of products from a marketing perspective but an Acer in terms of performance.

When I finally kicked my under-performing Dyson to the kerb and replaced in with a big ugly Meile, I nearly cried in gratitude when I heard the motor rumble to life and watched as my carpet was sucked to within an inch of it's life.

So, what brands do you think are overrated?

I find the vacuum cleaner so loud

howyanow

Pringles for me.
Just not a great tasting product im my opinion but they are everywhere!!

Mad_maxx

Still waters wrote: »

As another poster pointed out, its not about reliability its about how overrated a product is, I've had 2 landcruisers 04 and 08 in the past and for the work I'm doing they are lacking, maybe the newer ones are better but i can only compare the older models, nothing wrong with their reliability, also the lower towing capacity isnt helping either, now for 90 percent of the farmers that need a jeep they're more than good enough for what they need them for

So what do you like - rate, jeep wise?

olestoepoke

Kindles are terrible. We have a draw full of broken ones that just clapped up for little or no reason. I know they are cheap enough but a waste on money imo.

Still waters

Mad_maxx wrote: »

So what do you like - rate, jeep wise?

Ive had landcruiser, discovery and 2 pajeros also, out of the 5 4x4s the one that pulls and works best is the pajero imo, once the clutch and flywheel are done in them they're low maintenance reliable and pull like a train

Turquoise Hexagon Sun

Apple: Overpriced for very underpowered tech. Substandard batteries in their products.
Beats: As mentioned before, most of their money goes on marketing.

Any large beer brands: Heineken, Budweiser, Carlsberg. These guys are spending more money on marketing than they are quality of the product. Sure Budweiser is brewed with rice, the cheaper way to brew beer. They all have low alcohol content because they don't want to pay more tax or be in the higher tax bracket based only alcohol volume. Probably because more alcohol in their already bland drink would make it taste more like piss and how could the drinks companies charge a premium and pay higher tax on alcohol? They couldn't. So the they keep the alcohol low, so they can keep their profits higher.

Mean while, I'm buying craft beers at 8.0% and 7.5% with actual flavour, character. Made by people with a passion for making something nice. Not some faceless corporation trying to maximize profit before customer satisfaction. Craftbeers sell based on flavour and quality (some are **** but mostly they are good) and the likes of Heineken/Budweiser sell on massive marketing.

Mad_maxx

Still waters wrote: »

Ive had landcruiser, discovery and 2 pajeros also, out of the 5 4x4s the one that pulls and works best is the pajero imo, once the clutch and flywheel are done in them they're low maintenance reliable and pull like a train

Pajero are OK if an engine with a sound as course as a Soviet army tank is your bag

Dreadful looking things to boot

Still waters

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Pajero are OK if an engine with a sound as course as a Soviet army tank is your bag

Dreadful looking things to boot

So it is about image, tbh i have the same conversation with the toyota fan boys regularly, they stick with landcruiser because theyre reliable, they do the job of a farmer all day every day, they pull a couple of ton twice a month and you can throw a few bags of meal into the back, I've experienced both and stick 3.5 ton on the hitch and they die a death, 1 low box and too highly geared for heavy duty stuff

EmmetSpiceland

Turquoise Hexagon Sun wrote: »

Any large beer brands: Heineken, Budweiser, Carlsberg. These guys are spending more money on marketing than they are quality of the product. Sure Budweiser is brewed with rice, the cheaper way to brew beer. They all have low alcohol content because they don't want to pay more tax or be in the higher tax bracket based only alcohol volume. Probably because more alcohol in their already bland drink would make it taste more like piss and how could the drinks companies charge a premium and pay higher tax on alcohol? They couldn't. So the they keep the alcohol low, so they can keep their profits higher.

Mean while, I'm buying craft beers at 8.0% and 7.5% with actual flavour, character. Made by people with a passion for making something nice. Not some faceless corporation trying to maximize profit before customer satisfaction. Craftbeers sell based on flavour and quality (some are **** but mostly they are good) and the likes of Heineken/Budweiser sell on massive marketing.

antimatterx

I've been between Apple and Android devices, and despite the price, Apples wins all the way.

antimatterx

s1ippy wrote: »

It's not the borks they'll never do, it's all the borks they did. Would you trade all the time you had with them so the pain of your loss is lessened? I've lost only one floofer luckily. It was devastating but it really equipped me to deal with other heartache in life and I love to look back on the time spent with them.

In terms of brands, a lot of software you need to buy has a freeware equivalent which is just as good if not a bit better if you're not doing anything too complicated. Audacity is grand instead of Protools for the basic music and sound editing . Windows movie maker or Openshot will do for video.

I lost my Collie suddenly this year, he was 10. I wouldn't trade the 8 years we had with him, but my god it was tough when he died. It still is, but the week he died was awful.

JohnnyFlash

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »