Born shoes. I used to buy them because they had good arch support and quality, and I’m sad that I can no longer do so. Plastic soles (uh, ouch?), cheap materials. The last pair of sandals I bought from them have some kind of terry-cloth foot insole. On an open-toe sandal.
Didn’t really realize it when I bought them. Very quickly got disgustingly filthy and torn. Like, within weeks.
Still about $100 a pair, though.
Eddie Bauer. Used to be consistent quality that lasted a long time and a fit that was consistent, too. Which is great when you wear petite. Now they’re just cheap crap like everybody else.
Springsteen’s station cracks me up…his own “Radio Nowhere” starts out with:
I was tryin’ to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone
Bouncing off a satellite
Crushin’ the last lone American night
Is he admitting that he’s part of the problem???
I grew up near Mount Olive, NC, and have some familiarity with the pickle company of the same name. If you don’t mind my asking, can you remember when you started noticing such a drastic decline in quality?
My ex-brand: Victoria’s Secret. They used to have a nice selection of bras (with matching panties!) for larger girls. All of a sudden, they decided that all of their bras should have “demi cups” to produce cleavage with plunging necklines, and that all of their panties should be hiphugger-cut or lower. (In case you’re not familiar with big boob issues, anything less than a full cup will result in a “quad-boob” effect as the sweater puppies overflow.)
I’ve given up eating peanut butter for the same reason. It’s not the peanut butter itself which is problematic for me but the many, many pieces of toast I could get through. My colleagues think I’m joking when I say I could eat half a loaf of bread, toasted with peanut butter.
I’ve since switched my affection to almond butter which is great because I can eat it without the accompanying toast.
Bass loafers. I wore them for years and years, since I was in high school way back in the 70s. About five years ago I bought a new pair, and they just weren’t the same. And another after that, just as bad. They only seem to last through one re-soling, whereas in the past they’d go pretty much forever.
I switched over to Sebago loafers, and so far I’m much happier. I’ve got a pair that’s on its third re-soling/heeling, and they still look great.
It was the features that they removed from mail that really annoyed me (many of which were slowly put back). The mail product itself is reliable enough I haven’t considered moving on; the rest of the website (movie listings, news, etc) are what I was referring to as barely usable do to poorly coded features.
I actually do, too.
Now that nothing works, I wonder how much more Microsoft could screw it up.
I’m definitely on-board with the Breyer’s hate. It was my favorite as a kid for its powdery/icy mouthfeel and aggressive natural vanilla flavor.
I recently discovered a brand at my local grocery store that seems to be intentionally aping old-school Breyer’s. It’s not as fleck-y, but tastes and feels very similar.
Kohl’s, specifically their women’s wear excepting the Daisy Fuentes line. Bought a sweater about three years ago: liked it so much I bought 2 more a few months later. One fell apart on the second washing; the second one didn’t even make it that far. Same label in all three. I’d never had trouble with Kohl’s clothing before then, but the last few items I bought didn’t last at all.
I don’t know what I will substitute. The Sears version of Lands’ End is 20X better than Kohl’s stuff. Sadly, they’ve succumbed to the trendy route, but a few things are styles I’d wear.
Pizza Hut - time after time I got bad pizzas. The final straw was a delivery. It smelled rancid. I spit out a big mouthful and threw the whole box in the trash. A shame because Pizza Hut was my favorite place in school.
KFC - raw undercooked chicken way too many times. I’ve tried several locations. Its hit or miss.
Levi’s jeans. Never thought I’d stray, but they’ve been getting thinner and more inconsistently-cut for years. The last pair I bought had holes in three different places within four weeks - not tears, but just plain worn through. What the hell? I’m not buying a new pair of jeans every month! I went and grabbed a $15 pair of Wrangler jeans at Target just as a temporary measure, and hey, six months later they’re still going strong. It’s a shame, I never, ever though I’d give up on Levi’s, but no more for me.
Agree with Breyers, and am just about done with Teva, too.
I’ve had at least 13 of their GPS receivers, plus software and accessories. But when I spent $100 on a map upgrade their server malfunctioned and would not deliver it. For 2 weeks they acknowledged they couldn’t supply the product but wouldn’t refund my money.
Finally I showed my bank all their emails to me, and the bank agreed they had fraudulently charged my debit card. The bank pulled the money back by whatever superpower lets them do that (and made me get a new VISA number, triggering a bunch of other hassles).
Any company that chooses to treat a customer that way should have no customers!
Er, read again what I wrote - I’m talking about the product I bought and used regularly in the US with no problems, then bought again, while in the US, on a visit this past year. Some time in the two years since I’ve been away from the US, the US version changed its formula. I find the new & improved US version to be awful for my hair type.
Relax, I was making a joke. The commercials pronounce it “Pan-Teen” in the US, and “Pan-Ten” in the UK, even when the product is identical.
Back to the OP… I can’t think of any brands that I used to love that I now hate, but I can think of a few that fell out of the “Favored Brands” status into unremarkable brands.
HP and Lexmark are a couple of brands of printers that were favored, until I had some of their inkjet printers, and was hit by having to replace the cartridge/print head modules every time I didn’t print something and a nozzle clogged. I went to Epson and then to Konica-Minolta and haven’t looked back.
Most brands that I no longer use are more a result of having more $$$ than when I was younger and being able to afford better stuff. For example, I tend toward getting KitchenAid and Cuisinart small appliances nowadays, while 15 years ago when I was out of college, I got some Hamilton Beach and GE stuff.
Shave shower and shampoo. This stuff is very similar to the “pure soap” that you pay big bucks for at craft fairs. It costs about a dollar for a nearly one pound (400g) bar, lathers up great, and has no added chemical ingredients, except nowadays usually a little bit of aroma.
My ex-, who was a hairdresser, discovered it when I took her to Mexico, and she bought a dozen bars to wash her clients’ hair with.
In addition to Breyer’s ice cream, they used to have great yogurt. Then 10-15 years ago they drastically changed the formula and it became incredibly homogenous and plasticky. Apparently it is no longer sold.
I’ve noticed the thinning of jeans across the board with just about every brand. Jeans I own from 8 years ago still have plenty of life left in them whereas jeans I bought 6 months ago are on their last legs because the material is now so thin that you can basically rub it away with your thumb likeKen’s hair.
I almost never eat at my local Godfather’s Pizza any more, despite loving their pizza since 1980. I suspect it’s a local problem, not a company problem, though. I prefer the “Original” crust - the chewy, yeasty one with the upturned lip around the edge. But for the past few years, every time I order “Original crust”, I get the newer “Golden crust”. The problem seems to be that, several years back, the “Golden” crust became the default crust if you didn’t specify which crust you wanted, and it sucks. (The explanation I heard, somewhere, is that the recipe for “Original” crust belonged to the founder’s wife, and when they divorced he had to pay her royalties for every pizza sold with that crust. So the company quickly whipped up an alternative and made it the default. Don’t know if it’s true.) Anyway, when I order, I always have to grab a menu and point to a photo of a pizza with the “Original” crust, and say, “I want this crust right here.” And they say, “Thick crust!” No, you pimply-faced moron, it’s called “Original crust”. Look up your company web site, where they still call it, “Original crust”. It’s just too much of a pain in the neck to order there any more. And I don’t dare phone in an order. I wonder if this is a problem at other Godfather’s franchises? I’ve been meaning to complain to the company itself, but haven’t gotten around to it.
NCSoft, the video game publisher, because of what they did to City of Heroes. I don’t care how appealing Guild Wars 2 sounds, NCSoft isn’t getting another dime from me.
Image Comics, because in September 2011, when other publishers did memorials to those that died 10 years earlier, they published a comic on how the government destroyed the towers as part of a grand conspiracy.
I might have considered an iPhone when the contract on my current Android device expires, until I heard that the charging port and headphone jack are the same. That’s an absolute deal breaker for someone who listens to music and podcasts as much as I do.
Not that I’m entirely happy with Google/Android either, though.
There’s a McDonald’s near where I used to live that had a whole coffee lounge section, with inviting armchairs, electrical outlets, and very decent coffee.