ok... so what has been the worst product you have bought here in Portugal ?

or the worst service you have had (not including government depts or they would win almost every category)

firstly............. fireproof firelighters made of asbestos from Continente, absolute rubbish.

secondly........ waterproof teatowels from the chinese shop ......it does not matter how many times you wash them, they put goretex to shame.

thirdly...........I bought a generator, Pramac it was, top of the range, best part of a grand, it burst into flames after about 4 months, which could have been very very serious, we needed it for elec until EDP connected us (EDP are also a contender alongside gov depts) anyway, LMerlin took it back and said we will be in touch, which left us without a genny, so I had to buy another one to use in the meantime...another 750euro (not Pramac) .........9 MONTHS it took them to repair it........Pramac are only in Italy, I could have fetched the parts myself quicker.......and walked it there and back.

fourthly.....Rocadora, it wasnt expensive as I explained to the guy in the local hardware shop that it was for personal use, maybe 200ms sq............125euro..... used it 4 times so far, broke down 4 times .some sort of 'hungarian goulash brand'.....he keeps fixing it though.

Sadly, we are living in a "disposable" world now. Most of the stuff is made in China and has no longevity at all.
On strimmers, I bought a Ryobi and it lasted one season. The Ryobi engineer who fixed it two or three times before the warranty
ran out suggested that I be gentle with it ! How can you be gentle with a two stroke strimmer ! Ryobi used to be quite a good brand but not any more. As I recall they used to be made in Japan but now - Made in China.
So I moved on - upmarket - and invested in a Stihl strimmer. Worked ok for two seasons, just enough to go out of warranty and it,s been in and out of the shop ever since. On closer inspection it,s Made in China.
Had a Bosch mulcher, again Made in China and lasted a couple of seasons before packing in. I have a couple of Hyundai power products from South Korea, 4 stroke petrol and so far they are going well and I would buy their products again based on experience so far.
As far as Chinese stuff goes, whatever it is, buy the cheapest you can find if you must, but be prepared to bin it very quickly !

I had an argument with Meo over the weekend. Sister in law in critical care bed in CUF and managed to block her mobile. Not the usual log-on code but needing Unblock code.

Went to Meo to ask them for a code and was told they aren't allowed to assist with technical problems! Not wanting to reset to manufacturers settings myself, which would wipe everything, took it to (I think) an Indian guy, who says he can get it working for €10 overnight.

Wondering if Meo guy was being lazy and just couldn't be bothered or, telling the truth.

I bought a cheap Chinese strimmer too; I've been using it for 15 years now, it just won't quit.
I only had to replace the fuel tubes, and the little ball bearings in the tube center (twice). And the bump head (three times).

Worst; well, MEO of course. The firm we love to hate.
Deliveries; they were a real problem for years, but seem to be better now, at least for me.

Supermarkets that run out of the items I want; I have to drive a long way to get to them so that's irritating and expensive.

Road signs; often, PT road signs seem to indicate a turn when they really mean the next turn, or straight ahead.
Road names; how is it possible that a busy 5 meter wide paved road has no name or number? That's just ridiculous. oh, sorry; that would be government I guess.

I did not realise how universally despised MEO was, I do have history with them, like when we moved last time and the girl in the shop in Oliviera do hospital conveniently forgot to inform me that the new contract included MEO CARE' didnt ask for it, never used it, and no idea what it was......since removed from said contract.

then in town here (Amarante MEO) the young lady who I know can speak English to a degree refuses to engage with me and pulls a face at my pronunciation of everything portuguese like I have just got off of the ferry and cannot speak a word of the ligua, I did settle that score though, after that she was fine.

NOS however have been superb.........that may not be the average experience of ppl, but for us they have been good here.

Power tools I stick with Makita tbh.......bit pricey here but the Amazon price normally gets the locals to re-negociate to somewhere near acceptable in order to buy locally.

Makes me wonder about all these ppl rushing to buy 'untested' chinese electric cars............. not likely pal....... that is back to the days of BL and Triumph ie; the management philosophy of 'let the buyer do the road testing' and do the problem solving........ a bit like italian cars all 'style over substance' look good, but dont work very well.

the absolute worst in my opinion hsa to be Leroy Merlin, the list is absolutely endless............ bath - no legs (took 6 weeks to arrive) ......shower tray shaped like a banana....... kitchen doors missing (took 5 weeks to arrive) ..... steel kitchen sing huge dent in the middle.........30mts of tiles for bathroom from the wrong range/style/brand, after I had loaded them into the house and the wife says 'they the wrong tiles'........not enough kitchen door handles and 5 hinges too many........bowed solid wood worktop x3 lengths out of 4....... 600mm vanity basin with a 500mm basin.........kitchen doors sent to another customer/we had their doors.........and that is the ones I can remember off of the top of my head

oh............... and TEKA stuff give it a wide bearth do yourself a favour pay a bit more for AEG well worth it

I can't say I have a grumble with MEO. Good price for a decent service for the past five years. One (there are a few) of my main gripes is as a result of the people totally ignoring the rules at Lagos municipal pool. There are signs everywhere that state swim caps, flip flops and proper swim suits are mandatory yet there are always people with more hair than me that turn up and swim without a cap. I raised it with one of the swim coaches one day and he said, "oh it's OK if they don't have much hair or they shave their heads." So why have a rule that is ignored even by the staff? I politely pointed out that swim caps are not only to stop hair from polluting the pool but also help to prevent scalp issues that some might have from spreading to others. Might as well have talked to the wall. In the same fantastic complex we also have a very well equipped gym. On almost all of the machines there is a sticker that says something like Welcome to our phone free environment. It's not at all unusual to hear phones ringing or to see people yakking on their phone whilst using a machine that requires sitting. And there they stay for ages on end preventing anyone else from using that piece of equipment. Once again, I spoke to one of the coaches as I pointed to a woman having a very loud conversation and suggested that this was breaking the rules. No, he said. People need to use their phone to be able to train so they need to have them switched on. So why have stickers that say it's a phone free environment? My phone stays in my locker when I train, and when I play golf it's on airplane mode as I don't want to be interrupted while I'm playing. I keep it in my pocket to count my steps.

On a completely separate issue, I always think of Lagos as a safe place to live, but last week a guy in the wife's running group was mugged and badly beaten in the Old Town. They took his phone and wallet and I think other things. This guy is as harmless as a fly, so to see the state he's in is heart totally breaking. Apparently he pulled out is phone to check an incoming message and when the robbers spotted the phone they dived in and mugged him. I thought this sort of thing only happened in London. This happened after midnight.

Meo... the trouble was always their high pressure sales department. I actually permanently disconnected my landline due to their incessant calls.

The tech side was good until a few years ago, when they shut the service off in our area. They said they were replacing the copper wire service with fiber, but they never did (for us).
Now we're on satellite for TV, which is like stepping 20 years backwards. 4G for internet works ok most of the time.

They came to instal fiber, then said no, can't do it because there are no available connections in the box.
The box currently has 2 users (in other words, they lied to me).

I also heard how hated MEO were but only after I signed up, but I have to admit that I have been delighted with them.
Shortly after everything was installed, our new router packed up, I reported this first thing on a Saturday morning and within two hours a MEO engineer turned up with a new one, from everything I had read, I thought we would wait months!
Five years on and one house move with no problems, we are still delighted with our internet, TV and sim card package. We also have MEO energy.

As for not fit for purpose, just about every delivery company!

GLS - the worst courier in the world!

Seconded.

Rosemary

I used to say the same, but then they really improved (for me anyway) and for the last few years their deliveries have been very good.

Sorry, I know this thread is for whinging...

non-stick no oil required frying pan from Continente ............. non-stick everywhere apart from where it sticks :-(

as for GLS never heard of them until the last few weeks, superb they have been TBH .....rings me asks where I am, even drops it off where I am if i am not at home, I cannot really complain at that can I ........ as for DHL rather than delivering to our address, or the nearest drop-off point they seem to choose the furthest possible drop-off point from our house and leave it there............... DPD another story altogether, this guy will walk up a 1-in-5 to deliver a 20kilo box because he cannot get his van up here..............so employee of the month is our local DPD guy.........hats off to the DPD guy

DPD get my vote today. Delivered to my home in the countryside today. two days earlier than Amazon estimated.

Out of 5 GLS deliveries, we have received 0. No call, just returned to the supplier.