Have you ever bought a product that just wasn't... right?

[Ryujin]

My dealings with a Chinese manufacturer of archery equipment have me wondering if anyone else has ever purchased something that seemed to be made by someone who had seen, but never used said product? My example is a bunch of beautifully made carbon arrows, from a Chinese manufacturer. Everything is tight and clean, and they're beautifully made. Then you look more closely. There's no "cock feather" or other way to tell quickly what the arrow's orientation should be, when nocked. Then there's the fact that fully half of them have the slot in the nock parallel to what would be the cock feather, not perpendicular.

Has anyone else bought something that looked like it was made after someone with more than a little skill had a quick look at the item, before trying to make one themselves?

 

[payn]

Im sure I have, just nothing comes to mind. This does remind me of an episode of A.P. Bio where a guy orders a vintage air pop popcorn maker and it arrives as a tiny miniature for a doll house.

 

[Ryujin]

Im sure I have, just nothing comes to mind. This does remind me of an episode of A.P. Bio where a guy orders a vintage air pop popcorn maker and it arrives as a tiny miniature for a doll house.

Or the eBay iPhone scam in which the seller posts a picture of an iPhone, for $500.00, then sends the buyer a picture of an iPhone after receiving payment.

 

[Mezuka]

In the old days there were news paper adds about a book that would tell you how to make money quickly. When the book arrived it was slim with only blank pages...

 

[Richards]

Q: Have you ever bought a product that just wasn't...right?

A: Yes. A Left Twix.

Johnathan

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’ve gotten a few things over the years that definitely didn’t live up to expectations. The attribute that most of them have in common is being a kitchen gizmo that caught my Mom’s eye. Most of those turned out to be cheaply made, or were solutions for problems I didn’t have.

She also wanted to try the Turtle- a silicone brace to go under your mask, giving you a more comfortable fit. We bought a pack. Aaaaand…they actually made the masks fit worse. On me, they were slightly too small to fit over my nose and chin, so they would just slide, unanchored.

 

[aco175]

I have a few D&D books with bad spines/ bindings.

 

[GreyLord]

I bought some milk the other day. It tasted off. I think they left it out on the grocery store floor for too long as they were putting groceries in the freezer/refrigeration or something.

 

[Ryujin]

Here's the real kicker. After much back & forth with the arrow manufacturer, I decided that I was just going to strip and refletch the arrows myself. The cost of the fletching jig, flights, stripping knife, and glue was more than the original cost for the arrows. Everything arrived yesterday and I got to work.

... only to find out that the fletching jig, from a proudly Michigan based archery company (made in China), incorrectly fletched the arrows in the same way that they had originally been. I had to disassemble it, rotate the locking plate 180 degrees, and then reassemble it in order to make it align correctly. Having two things that are exactly the opposite of what you think they should be can certainly make you doubt yourself.

 

[Alzrius]

Well, there's that vintage kewpie doll I got from an estate sale a little while back. It doesn't seem...right.

I mean, I'm certain I left the thing on the coffee table last night, but when I came downstairs this morning, it was on my couch. And while I'm pretty sure its eyes were originally looking left, now they're gazing slightly to the right, which is doubly creepy, since from its current position that means its looking directly at me...