I see it every day. It's the cultured marble countertop in our main level half-bath. We wanted something different so chose a dramatic shiny black with tiny white speckles. The problem is, it makes the white ceiling look gray. One of these days I want to paint the ceiling a deep dark matte blue ... if you can't lick'em, join'em.

ETA: but the WORST by far was the Samsung "high efficiency" top load washing machine. I bought it based on a friend's recommendation. The worst single appliance I have EVER in my life operated. Thankfully that model was recalled and I got almost all my money back. Long may it rot in a landfill.

Not a purchase, but it was a gift from the electric company -- and I could not hate it more.

I had a perfectly fine 1998 whirlpool fridge that was big and boxy and I loved that thing. It held everything I could ever think to put in it. It kept the frozen foods frozen, the refrigerate section did it's job too. Not too cold, not too warm. Was pretty easy to take apart and clean which is not short order considering my fridge must live kitty-corner in a corner stuffed sort of behind a pantry and stove (old houses are weird). People will ask "where's the fridge?" I'll say, it's over there in the hidden corner lol.

Anyhow, for months, I kept getting these calls from the "electric company" saying they wanted to give me a free energy make-over and to call them back to sign up. I thought it was one of my 30 daily scam calls so I always let it go voice mail and deleted later.

They finally got me on the phone one day and they insisted they were legit and *I* needed to help *them* because no one believes they are the real deal and they have all this funding they will lose if they don't spend the funds as intended.

I told them thanks, but really, I've insulated my house to the fullest, I have double pane windows now, weatherstripping, I've done all the work already, but thanks anyways. Ugh. They insisted they come out and do an assessment as they knew they could find something I've missed. Ok fine. Come out, but you won't find anything.

They found my fridge. My beloved 1998 whirlpool jumbo box. They said it was an energy hog and they would GIVE me a new fridge and my electric bill would go down by many $$. I declined, saying I love my fridge as odd as that is. Well, somehow I go bullied into their free refrigerator and omg, it has been the worst non-purchase of my life.

I HATE this refrigerator so much, I say so at least 20 times a week. It is loud. Hisses, pops, groans and moans all day and all night. It wakes us up many times a night. It's smaller than my beloved jumbo box fridge and in spite of the fact that I have rearranged the shelves every way possible, it was obviously designed by a person who has never once used a refrigerator. I can not fit anything in there without having to unload 60% of the contents to get a soda can in there. As if all that is not bad enough, the freezer must not work right because everything put in the freezer has instant freezer burn and in the fridge section, it freezes half of the foods and the other half go bad because they are at 55F degrees. I resorted to sticking an instant thermo into things that kept going spoiled right after I put them in there and darn if that fridge can't figure out how to do it's one job. It's all tall and thin with an unadjustable door that has a huge slam. So everything I keep on top of it, with every open and close, inches slightly closer to back, then eventually, boom, crash, splat behind the fridge. I hate this refrigerator more than a person should hate anything, and yet, here I am. And my electric bill increased with this tall and skinny loser.

If $$ fell out of the sky I would go buy another one to end my misery, but apparently no one likes their new refrigerators so why go to the trouble? lol, not lol.

I was one of those who when I redid our kitchen (actually whole house but this is only the kitchen) ten years ago, got sucked into the neutral palette trend of the day. I look at it everyday and it is so boring. I should have known better because my previous kitchen had all sorts of colour in it, the counter , the floor and the backsplash and I loved it. I so wish I had at least chosen a different counter.

Can you re-do the backsplash maybe, blfenton? Add some color? We did our kitchen last year and I have the opposite problem. We did traditional white cabinets but picked out a beautiful white, cream, gray and glittery silver quartz with turquoise swirls in it. I worry we will regret it but for now we love it! We were going to do a cream color but found this one as sort of a joke at first and just loved it.

Our worst major purchase was our bay front lot in Galveston. We had plans to build and retire there. Then the economy dropped, we ended up with Kali. We will never get even close to what we paid for it. Have to pay community dues and maintenance fees. I was the one that pushed for it. I feel horrible.

Well it wasn't really a significant purchase, but about a year ago I had to replace my dishwasher. I knew we were not going to be in the house a whole lot longer, so I wasn't going to spend a whole lot of money. The thing works okay, the dishes get clean. But I absolutely hate the interior. None of my dishes fit in any of the spaces. All of the lower rack slots are the same size so there's nowhere to put an odd sized object. My cereal bowls won't fit anywhere in either rack without flopping over. The door doesn't stay open by itself unless you pull out the bottom rack to weigh it down.

I guess it could be worse, the dishes get clean, but I certainly won't miss that thing!

I too regret our mattress purchase. We finally flipped the whole thing over and it is less saggy sleeping on the firm bottom side. DH thinks it's a bit too firm if not as saggy. So there will be additions as we have feather mattresses to add as needed.

Mattresses rank right up there, for sure! We had great Verlo mattresses twice, then they were *awful*. Equally awful were third and fourth mattresses that were non-Verlo's. Only *good* one is at the condo, and not a brand sold in Chicago!

I messed up buying insurance on my GE Monogram side X side fridge that is now 19 years old and hasn't had a service call since it was under manufacturer's warranty. Good-bye $12/month. (Please don't multiply for me. I don't want to know.)

Fridge for me too. Our old freezer on top model died; it lasted 23 years and it worked perfectly right up til the end. The new fridge is a side by side, which I always said I would never get, but at the time it was impossible to find one with the freezer on top. It was either side by side or freezer on the bottom and I knew I didn't want that. Sooooo, we did the side by side. Not only does it not have nearly enough room in either the fridge or freezer, but the ice maker takes up about a third of the freezer.

The ice builds up at the front of the ice maker to the point that ice eventually overflows and falls all over the inside of the freezer. When one opens the door, the ice falls out on the floor. Cubes also get caught in the ice dispenser chute and when they melt just enough, they slide out the chute on to the floor. I'm constantly wiping up little puddles of water. The ice maker is also very noisy. We never heard the old one, but with this new one, I often thought someone was at the door until I got used to the noise.

Overall, the fridge works ok - it keeps the food cold/frozen, but that's about the nicest thing I can say about it. I knew better, but kind of had no choice at the time. Never again. I'll live out of an ice chest before I have another side by side.

I've had two used cars that were a real waste.

One of my friends discovered a place here in Oklahoma City, where they make mattresses using mostly cotton, and very firm ones. I slept on hers, in her guest room, and knew how comfortable it is for me.

Thus, when I was ready, after my divorce I called there, and ordered: A super single mattress.

Why super single? I have no idea why that came out of my mouth. Super single is a waterbed size, and I can't find sheets, nor could I find a base for the mattress.

I meant to say, extra long twin. Again, no reason... I am not tall, just 5' 4 1/2".

Now, I have to make my own sheets, which I can, out of king sized sheets, as they are long enough.

Total screw up.

to top it off, my bed base is now two long TV cabinets, back to back... with a sheet of plywood on top.

At least, it works. ;)

Moni

I researched mattresses and bought a chiropractic approved without giving thought to its height. The store had to come back the next day and swap the box spring for a bunky board, we could barely get into our 4-poster that night. I'm really not exaggerating, that mattress top was almost chest height. NO sheets fit it well- California King come closest and its a queen bed. It's been a pain to dress and make that bed for years. Good news, it's comfortable and we sleep well.

Second purchase flop was my 'liquid silver' (the color) energy efficient Maytags I bought new when we moved. I left my older pair in the former house, thinking I was setting it up nicely for attracting a young family starting out - then a middle aged downsizing couple bought the house. I don't ever use the 'normal' cycle - there is no water in it. To do whites in hot on the white setting, I add water. With a pitcher. What would I do without my deep laundry sink right next to the washer. It was such a noisy washer, I had the service man come when not too many months old. He found nothing fastened or screwed down tight anyplace in that machine, everything was loose. Tub supports, belts, motor fittings, all appeared hastily assembled. I'd had a couple of other minor repairs on both washer and dryer before they were even 5 years old.

I don't hate them, but I wish I had done my usual exhaustive research before buying my front-loading washer and dryer. Instead, I made a quick pass at the scratch and dent center and picked out the best I could find there. They were probably a repossessed pair as I found a baby sock inside the washer seal. I dislike the way the washer works and the time it takes to do each load and the dryer twists everything together so you have to stop in the middle of the cycle and separate items so they dry properly.

I've been babying my 30-year-old side-by-side refrigerator even though I hate side-by-sides because I fear replacing it as I hear all of the horror stories regarding new refrigerators.

Another refrigerator purchase here. I have a rental house with a high end refrigerator from a lackluster brand (PO's choice, Liebherr) The management company called and told us the unit broke and suggested replacing it rather than fixing it. We were not expecting the expense and chose to replace like for like instead of upgrading to a SZ. I am pretty sure that was a penny-wise and pound-foolish decision. I regretted it sorely the next day, which was too late to make the change. I hope this refrigerator lasts a few years.

I have been thinking about this and have to say Maytag appliances as well My Ex insisted we pay the extra for Maytag over the set I was looking at and from day one there were problems. The wiring harness in the dryer was pinched in the housing so it quit and the technician wanted to put tape on splices rather than replacing the whole thing, Uh no. and when the motor went out on the washer after only 1 1/2 years the wires had no spade connectors on the ends of the wires-just bare bits wrapped around the connections like some rube had done it. Sloppy, slovenly, trashy work and we had paid extra money for these pieces of junk. So they still work after twenty years but I don't challenge the machinery with only one husband but I do wonder about the rest of the innards. Are they wired safely?

For me, it's the couch. Our old one looked too "grandmotherly" and sat a bit low, but was comfortable. Good for napping and even an occasional overnight. The new was a spur of the moment purchase. It's too narrow for a comfortable lie-down and a tad too hard. It wasn't especially cheap either. At least it's a pretty color and the cats nap on it just fine.

When we moved into our current home 2 years ago we purchased new furniture for the master bedroom, family room and kitchen and I love it all.

But I let DH convince me that we should keep our camel back sofa and 2 wings chairs that were in the our previous living room and seldom used. We did re-upholster them but honestly we could have purchased new for just about the same money. And I always thought those wing chairs were uncomfortable then and they still are. But the good news is that no one uses them now either.............

When we remodeled our kitchen, I insisted on a 36 inch 6 burner stove because I liked the look. I don't need 6 burners even though I enjoy cooking. And I don't need an oven that big. It's a waste.

Dedtired ... 'husband', good one :-)

When we renovated our bathroom I insisted we buy a huge deep soaker tub. Well, it takes a whole hot water tank to fill it to a height that you can actually cover your nether regions, you need super arm strength to boast yourself to a standing position to get out and have to hang on to the edge to step in or out of it without risking a fall. Yeah, it looks pretty cool and the idea of lounging back in a deep bubble bath may sound like heaven but I wish I had stuck with my Standard sized tub.

My Samsung range. I went to a few store and looked online studying features and reviews. It’s very nice. I’ve had it for exactly 3 years. Apparently the circuit board is going. It keeps blinking random stuff. I googled it and people said theirs have lasted about a year after that happening. I guess I’ll wait. DH might look into trying to fix it himself. I’m not going to sink a lot of money into a repair. It should last longer than 3 years. It ticks me off-I’ve babied that appliance and never used the self clean because the high heat isn’t good for the electronic components. The 20 minute steam clean works pretty well.

Sea Sea -I removed a shelf from my Samsung fridge. Much easier to organize it now I can put taller things on the shelves

I'm sorry for these unfortunate purchases, but some of them are making me laugh out loud. Moni's bed, adding water to the washer with a pitcher, "But the good news is that no one uses them now either.............".

Just cracking me up. I need more sleep.

When I married my husband, he came with a top loading washer that you had no control over - it had to "sense" everything. I hated it. Earlier this year the sensor died (yay) and we were forced to buy a new washer. We actually ended up buying a used, reconditioned, regular old fashioned set the options how you want them machine. Absolutely love it!

And not a major purchase but a small appliance snafu - I had a regular hand mixer. We were helping out a young lady with nothing get established in an apartment by herself when I came across a brand new hand mixer with a stand at a garage sale. So I gave her my old mixer and kept this one (without trying it out first). It was horrible! The slowest speed on it was still super fast. I ended up throwing it away and I bought another one from a store. It is similar in that the slow speed isn't slow enough. Ugh.

stackable front load washer and dryer. Hated them. Noisy, cannot "soak" anything and did not last over 5 years. Was so glad the washer broke.

Our 4 year old Samsung stove as well! I hate it (and that’s being nice) The oven doesn’t heat properly or cook evenly and the stainless steel scratches so easily it’s like having to cook on eggshells. We had service out several times and they all claimed it works the way it should, even though there is a 30 degree difference between the temp i want vs the temp I get when I set it. I love my Samsung fridge, but will never ever ever buy Samsung anything again.

Oh how I would LOVE to have my old hand mixer back - GE - it was so well made. The only reason why I had to scrap it was because one of the whisks became warped and I couldn't find another one, the motor on that thing was still perfect. The one I have now - a Kitchenaid - is pure crap, so whimpy. So most of the time I either use a hand whisk or drag out the monster old stand mixer - also Kitchenaid but an old one that is still awesome, but it's so heavy. Before I got the Kitchenaid stand mixer I had a GE stand mixer with two glass bowls that was also a very good piece of equipment. That was way back when things were well made.

Two things: the Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher, for one. HATE the racks, just like aok described. Just looking at them, they seemed to be useful -- HAH. I usually don't buy the insurance, but this time I fortunately did, because the circuit board went out (the repair technician said it was a common problem with the brand), it developed a crack in a side wall that leaked, and it stopped cleaning well - all fixed with the insurance.

And my sofa. I can't tolerate slumping into a chair or sofa anymore, my old neck injury will give me trouble. Although this sofa is well made and has very comfortable cushions, it is too deep for me to sit comfortably without leaning back (I am 5'5", so not unusually short). Somehow I didn't notice this when I tried it out in the store. Using throw pillows helps somewhat, but I just can't spend any length of time there.

Some 'Positives'.

I've been happy with side X side fridges with water/ice in the door since they were first developed . My current, and vastly over-insured, Monogram has a 13" wide freezer side. (Yes, pizza-box-wide.)

I also like my bottom-of-the-line Frigidaire front load washer. These are *meant* to use very little water and very little detergent. Mine does, and it cleans just fine -- no need to 'add water'. It can also 'soak', and I can add an item during the wash cycle. It's 12 years old. My gas dryer is 19 years old, It's going strong,after replacing the exhaust line that mice chewed into one winter while we were away for two months. (How nice that must have been for them, free rent, central heating included.)

Our furniture. We thought it'd be great, looks-wise. It's not. The sofa is ok, not great, but the 3 chairs (one recliner and 2 not) are far larger than they seemed in the store (of course) and just don't work for us. They're comfortable but "fugly".

Samsung fridge. I will NEVER but a Samsung kitchen appliance again.

After reading this I'm living in fear my Jennair side by side will die soon. My mother and I each had GE refrigerators back in the day and they lasted 35-40 years. Only problem was hers was gold and mine avocado. We did a total kitchen renovation 19 years ago and fingers crossed, only had to replace the dishwasher. I have an old top loader GE washer and when I see the new front loaders with digital displays, I realize mine is probably way over 20 years with the center agitator which takes up a lot of room. But it WORKS well. They make appliances cheaper and flimsier every year.

"with the center agitator which takes up a lot of room"

So much room to dump a basket of clothes in, without a center agitator! -- ha, don't be fooled like I was. Be very careful about your research before buying any new washer.

I've got two:

1. Used Volvo wagon that I've always wanted but didn't need. Unfortunately it has more miles, 65K, that i'm not that comfortable with. Good news is that I love the size and the way it drives.

2. Washer/dryer - Nothing is actually wrong with them but the washer does not have the agitator.

Have you noticed that most of the bad purchases people are listing are for new, top-of-the-line stuff? Is some of this due to our age were we don't adjust too well to changes?

Funny thing is when I look around my house, the items that bring me the most joy are the items I brought at consignment stores. No second guessing.

FinallyHome, you should get many many more miles from the Volvo, assuming it was cared for before you go it!

The worst purchase ever was the used Saturn SC2 back in 2015. Our other 2002 Saturn was totaled when some jerk ran a red light, my husband wanted to replace his "baby". So we searched all over and found a replacement to the old car, same color and all. Unfortunately, the car had not been babied as my husband's "baby" had been. Total junk and we spent so much money on repairs before we had had enough with it.

I'm not real happy with my fridge. It works OK but it holds absolutely nothing despite being a very large sq. footage. It is a top freezer, I've had many in the past, others smaller that held more than this one. I have no idea why, but it takes almost nothing to fill the thing up...drives me crazy!

My worst ever was a car purchase too. I desperately needed a new car, and I was tired and worn down from all the sales people and car shopping, so I settled on the "best deal", as opposed to what would have been the better car for me.

I passionately hated that car for 4 years. There wasn't anything wrong with it so I held onto it and used it for four long years. However I was so happy when I sold it and bought what I really wanted.

Lesson learned. :)

Reading this has made me feel very lucky about appliance and car purchases :)

My biggest regret is the travertine tub surround. Worse by far is that I knew it was a mistake before it was even done. The old surround had to come out due to a plumbing issue and DH insisted that we had to have stone tile to replace it. I didn't want the maintenance of stone (knowing it would fall to me under any event), especially that of travertine/marble. He promised to squeegie it down every night after he took a shower- which he did for about 3 days. It has mold and mildew issues that are never ending. The stone itself is not too bad, but the grout and caulking are awful and after years I never did find a product that could remove it well- a grout brush kind of works, but is more effort than it's worth. I eventually resorted to spraying it with a light bleach mixture, which works somewhat, but slowly etches the stone. Where it looks dry/etched, I rub it with mineral oil. Not one thing I love about it- the look is not even worth half the effort IMO.

ETA: Oh, and you can't use things like CLR on the chrome fixtures very easily, so those look perpetually awful too.

I too am cracking up at some of these responses, and also commiserating with many of you about refrigerators. My nearly 12-year regret is also my refrigerator. I have a love-hate relationship with the darn thing. It looks nice, has performed pretty well, when I realized the other day we have had it almost 12 years. I hate the ice maker and the way water literally spews out of the dispenser. When our old KA quit after only 8 years, I looked around for a stainless, counter-depth with ice/water dispenser. The only thing available at the time was this JennAir unless I wanted to wait 2-3 weeks. I should have waited, but my impatient self didn’t.

Now the thermistor is acting up, we think, so we need to have that repaired. DH is going to try one more thing, and then call a repair guy. Or, oh joy, look for a new refrigerator. Not looking forward to that!

My House - we finally sold our house and we needed it to sell before we could buy and we weren't buying locally.. We had been looking and there were a lot of houses we liked but when it came time to buy not so many. I wanted a 4 bdrm ranch with laundry room (or space for it) on the main floor, a gas fireplace and DH wanted a large lot (which I didn't think we needed) and a couple of other things. Well, we ended up with a 3 bdrm. two story with full basement and laundry room in the basement and no where to move it up and a wood burning insert in the fireplace which DH doesn't want to pull out but we don't use very often. . To say I dislike the house is an understatement but he loves it and I think we're stuck here for the duration.

Never buy a shiny finish black refrigerator. All the other appliances were black so I choose black to match, and the shiny finish is horrible, always all fingerprinted up.

stainless steel always looks smeary too though. Maybe they can finally make it look better someday.

Cheesey35, that stinks. I'm afraid I've been in that situation many times. Fortunately, a few things that I insisted on (and didn't get) I am now thankful I didn't get my way.

Ya know....they have fingerprint less stainless steel appliances?

Less, not nonexistent?

rob.....It's called smudge proof. :0) I own several. In my rentals.

I have it and they still suck?

My husband

Also got a kick out of the responses!

I don't HATE our Frigidaire fridge, but I do HATE the ice makers. It has two, one in the bottom freezer & one in the door. They never both work at the same time. The bottom one has completely quit, and the top one has a mind of it's own. It will work for awhile, quit, and then when we have a power outage, it will work again for awhile. I've tried to recreate a power outage by flipping the breaker. Doesn't work. Has to actually be power out and back on I guess. Makes absolutely no sense.

Best purchase/gift ever is our little under the counter ice maker. The thing has ONE job, and it does it like a champ!!! Three ice makers in our house and that one supplies 95% of the ice.

Hey, drewsmaga - just curious - exactly what store did you go to and how much did you pay, anyways?? LOL!!!

I have to say, the decisions I (we?) made when re-doing the kitchen several years ago have held up, but only because I spent countless hours on GW Kitchen Table. It's the only site I knew of that didn't allow advertising, other than those they produce themselves and which are obvious. When it came to a fridge, I realized there's no easy answer and just took a chance on one that seemed to hold up for others well enough. So far, so good, after having an initial problem with freezing at the end of the tube that goes to the filter (I think.). It's too bad that these days you have to do so much researched--I certainly don't recall my parents doing that.