Brits' top 20 worst-ever Christmas presents - including toilet roll and WD-40

03 December 2023 , 12:17

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Brits receive an average of two unwanted gifts every Christmas (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It's the thought that counts – or so we're told - but that advice is easier to heed when the present is yet another pair of patterned socks, or a garish Christmas jumper hand-knitted by your doting grandmother.

But when the offending object is a dead plant, expired voucher, or self-help book, it may be more difficult to feign appreciation. Of 2,000 adults surveyed as part of a study commissioned by catalogue retailer Argos, nearly three quarters (73%) said they had been given an awful gift in the past.

And despite dropping hints left, right and centre – an average of 13 in the run-up to Christmas Day, to be precise – one in 20 admit they have never received anything they truly loved. Because Brits are receiving an average of two unwanted presents every Christmas.

18% of those surveyed had received WD-40 as a present (Geoff Moore/REX/Shutterstock)

But by far the most disappointing present is an expired voucher, according to the 28% of respondents who have been unlucky enough to receive one. Dead plants (28%) and out-of-date chocolates (25%), loo roll (21%) and boxes of weed-killer (21%) featured in a list of the top 20 worst gifts.

Also named were ill-fitting clothes (20%), a mop and bucket (19%), and a year-long subscription to a dating site (18%).

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One in five (21%) had opened gifts only to realise they had wrapped it up for the giver the year before and 20% said they'd been given what looked like a freebie from work.

The top 20 worst Christmas gifts Brits have received

1. An expired voucher (28%)
2. A dead plant (28%)
3. Out of date chocolates (25%)
4. Toilet roll (22%)
5. Something I gave them the year before (21%)
6. A wig (21%)
7. Weed killer (21%)
8. Something they clearly got free from work (20%)
9. Ill-fitting clothes (20%)
10. A mop and bucket (19%)
11. Hair removal cream (19%)
12. A 12-month dating subscription (18%)
13. Vacuum cleaner bags (18%)
14. A packet of risotto rice (18%)
15. A can of WD40 (18%)
16. A regifted bath set (17%)
17. Shoe polish (17%)
18. Cleaning products (16%)
19. The same present they gave you last year (16%)
20. A gift card for a shop you never go in (16%)

Mizy Judah Clifton