People Are Sharing The Worst Christmas Gifts They Ever Received, And Honestly, Coal In A Stocking Would Have Been Better Then Some These

There is truly no better feeling than when you're opening Christmas presents and discover that you got exactly what you wanted or something unexpected that you immediately loved. However, sometimes the opposite happens and you end up opening a gift that you really hate and it immediately puts you in a not-so-good mood.

kids opening presents
Lew Robertson / Getty Images

And recently, I stumbled upon a Reddit thread from a couple of years ago that dealt with the latter. In it, a Redditor who has since deleted their profile asked, "What’s the worst Christmas present you have received?"

person who looks upset after opening a present
Black Lollipop / Getty Images

Well, the thread went viral with over 16K people chiming in to share the most awful Christmas gifts they've ever gotten. Here are some of the top and best comments:

1."My husband's stepmother gave me, a 36-year-old at the time, a kindergarten-size backpack and when I opened it she said, 'I actually bought that for ——- (a child) a few years ago and she hated it so I threw it in a closet and I saw it and thought you’d like it. None of us did, we all think it’s ugly.'"

"That same year they gave my three kids $15 worth of gifts (with the clearance stickers on them) while her biological granddaughter opened a $300 unicorn. Which they made sure we knew cost $300, and then they pointed out to everyone our clearance stickers and what great deals they were (they weren’t), and then they made my kids leave the room so the granddaughter could take pics alone with her unicorn. It was the last Christmas we visited them. LOL."

—[deleted]

2."Grandma got me a dollar store electric toothbrush. Y'all know that thing didn't even turn on."

El_Hijueputa

3."Titanic DVD, pirated copy and it didn't have a case — just had Titanic written in marker pen. Also, the DVD was SCRATCHED AND DIDN'T EVEN PLAY!"

—[deleted]

  Delpixart / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Delpixart / Getty Images/iStockphoto

4."When I was 12, I bought myself a Kindle. Me and my sister spent an entire summer working for our grandpa and stepdad to save up for them, each of us spending about $200. My mom got all three of my brothers a Kindle for Christmas and I got some clothes from Old Navy. I was livid and when I talked to my mom about it she told me that my sister and I had been excluding our brothers from hanging out while we played video games and it was unfair. She never apologized or saw anything wrong with what she did, and I honestly still haven't forgiven her almost a decade later."

BlueButterflies139

5."A dishtowel...I was 8 years old."

GhostlyQbe

6."When the Tamagotchi craze was in full swing my siblings and I asked for one. My sisters both got one and I got a jacket because mine was torn up and small. When I asked my dad why I didn't get one and if Santa thought I did something bad that year. He told me I was too old for Santa and needed to learn life isn't fair. I was 8. My sisters were 7 and 5. From that point forward I only ever received clothing."

dariusz2k

person saying, life's not fair
World of Wonder/ VH1

7."Eons ago I worked for a company owned by the richest man in Minnesota. One year, all of us peons (and there were a couple thousand of us) got a copy of his book; it was all about how he became the richest man in Minnesota. Cheap bastard."

Eroe777

8."Last year my mom bought me a can opener. Wrapped it and gave it to me when everyone was gathered around exchanging gifts too so they'd all see and get to share in her laughter. Unfortunately she was the only one who found it funny, everyone else just thought it was f'd up."

AnneFrank_nstein

9."The year I gave my ex husband a TAG Heuer watch he gave me a $19.99 Walmart blender. We already had three blenders."

tealgrayone

  Icafreitas / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Icafreitas / Getty Images/iStockphoto

10."When I was 10 years old my grandparents gave me an unwrapped suitcase for Christmas. In the interests of convenience, they used that suitcase for the wrapped presents for my sisters."

ragedandobtused

11."Since my dad isn’t on Reddit I will share his story for him. When he was young he was hell bent on becoming a drummer. He would make full drum kits out of my grandmothers pots and pans and whatever he could find. Very detailed set ups. After months and months of building drum sets and drumming on anything he could find he woke up Christmas morning…to an acoustic guitar and guitar lessons."

"He told me he took a few lessons and would always end up flipping the guitar over in the class with the other students and just play it like bongos."

Swarhammer

12."A Starbucks gift card with a $0 balance and a gallon-size Ziploc bag of coffee straws. The straws are at least useful, the gift card was just mean. I’m glad I had enough money when I tried to use it though. Lol"

Thinefieldisempty

  Jfmdesign / Getty Images
Jfmdesign / Getty Images

13."A set of miniature butter knives with ceramic fruit and vegetables as the handles. From an aunt who said that I was 'so hard to shop for.' I was 7."

vodkaenthusiast89

14."A comic book that was laying around the house for several months and which I read twice in that time period. I didn’t know it was supposed to be my surprise present."

Cheap_Stay2750

15."A pack of cigs and a roll of trash bags. I don’t smoke."

Cusefa

pack of cigarettes
Pamwalker68 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

16."My dad — his first Christmas divorced and living alone — did the first ever shopping for us clearly, lmao. My mom did all the shopping before. He got me a nose hair trimmer...I was 12. And definitely did not understand why I got that gift."

ThisSorrowfulLife

17."A Lamborghini calender. My brother got a guitar and amp. My two sisters got a bike each. F**k I hate Lamborghinis now."

Stickmag

18."When I was 8 or 9, my grandma gave me a Christmas ornament. It was a little stuffed cherub with pink cheeks and yarn hair. I cried because I had saved up my allowance to buy it for her the year before."

DogtownPD

19."My brother’s ex gave me a Boyfriend Pillow and a Stepper Step machine one Christmas. Bit of a slap in the face with that combo."

la_petite_sorciere

amazon.com

20."My deadbeat dad bought me, a 9-year-old girl, motel shampoo and an adult men's shirt he got for free. Wish I was joking."

—[deleted]

21."Cheap cologne (I don't wear cologne) that I suspect was shoplifted."

Automatic_Mulberry

22."When I was 13, I asked for Dungeons & Dragons books. I even wrote out directions to the four local stores that sold them. My aunt and uncle were known to deviate and try to give whimsical gifts, and hated pre-planned gifts. I got a He-Man pop-up book."

TheRealGoobtron

  Courtesy Everett Collection
Courtesy Everett Collection

23."Every year my aunt gives our family 'Thrift Santa' gifts — like a bunch of gifts from thrift stores. The thing is, nothing relates to anything. The worst I’ve gotten are a Kama Sutra book when I was 13/14 (awkward), and a New York Yankees baby onesie. I don’t have kids, I don’t watch baseball."

Yippee614

24."One year I got what was actually a super cool present. My parents had worked for months putting together this awesome art kit. It was a big toolbox filled with good scissors, glue, paint, colored pencils, glitter, and every other thing a crafty little kid could want."

"The problem was, every time they would go upstairs to add to it, they had a running joke where they would say, 'We're going upstairs to feed your present' or 'We need to take your present for a walk, tee hee tee.' So of course on Christmas morning instead of being a little kid who was stoked to get a huge box of art supplies, I was a little kid who was devastated that I didn't get a puppy."

25.And lastly, "Instead of received I’ll switch to gave. I bought my whole family tickets to see James Brown live. Literally within minutes of them opening their presents it was announced on the news Christmas morning that James Brown died."

AMC_Tendies42069

james brown singing on stage
Bob Riha Jr / Getty Images

You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.