What have you stopped buying because the quality got so bad?

[u/1Xeverythingx1]

[u/Madeup-Alias6869]

Fast food. Higher prices, smaller portions, mediocre service, and poor quality. No thank you.

[u/ajax81 → u/Madeup-Alias6869]

Most of it tastes weird now, too.  The mba’s been busy swapping natural out for synthetics. 

[u/MtnBkr101 → u/ajax81]

I had McDonalds a few weeks ago for the first time in a few years. Their prices had gone up so much that it just didn't make sense to eat there anymore when so many local spots make a great burger for not much more money.

I grew up on, and used to love Mc D's quarter pounders and double cheeseburgers. I worked late 2-3 weeks ago and grabbed some burgers there while working. I took one bite of one of the burgers and it was the most disgusting thing I ever tasted. To say it isn't the same would be an understament. Jesus christ was it bad. I ended up eating the fries, which were actually good, and throwing the rest out. Never again. How in the heck do people eat there now?!?

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/MtnBkr101]

I used to love the quarter pounder. I had one a few months ago and it was so dry and sad. Who remembers when the buns were actual bread and toasted?

[u/Rusah → u/MtnBkr101]

I hadn't been to a MickeyD's in years either, tried it a few months ago and I was shocked at how salty and wet the burger was - like they were injecting it with some kind of grease filler like the fictional Mondo Burger.

[u/ForeverNugu → u/MtnBkr101]

I used to eat fast food fairly often for lunch at work, including McDs. I always thought their burgers were meh, but loved their fries. Something definitely has happened in recent years cuz even my low-standards having, fast food loving ass cannot stomach McDonalds nowadays. Even though they were never anything to write home about, the burgers were fine for the money. They are so bad now - dry, salty, and just weird tasting. I have literally developed an aversion to them. Sometimes I'll be driving by and think about grabbing some fries but then remember their burgers and feel slightly sick. I can still eat at other chains so it's not like my standards have risen. They've changed something.

[u/peon2 → u/Madeup-Alias6869]

Culvers is still great, and Rallys(Checkers) is still good value with their 2 sandwich, fries, drink for $7.50 deal. But yeah all the more mainstream ones are insane.

The worst of the bunch is Taco Bell. The price of a 5 layer burrito today used to get you a feast lol

[u/suckyousideways → u/peon2]

Taco Bell has gone so far downhill. 25 years ago I lived in a city that has numerous Taco Bells and some nights it was the perfect nightcap. (Not saying it's great food, but you could get a ton of food for like $15 and it all hit the spot at 2am.) 25 years in a new city without one, we finally got one this year and I was pretty damned excited. Sadly, it sucks now.

[u/MandudesRevenge → u/suckyousideways]

Dude Taco Bell all tastes exactly the same now. It doesn’t matter which item I get, it tastes exactly the same as every other item on the menu and just as crappy. It really does suck now.

[u/YoureSpecial → u/MandudesRevenge]

All the menu items use the exact same ingredients, they just change the shape.

[u/PineappleCharacter15 → u/suckyousideways]

Yes, they not only got rid of the green sauce - I loved the green sauce and the fiery hot sauce both together, but didn't they get rid of the taco salad also? I loved those, when I was in the mood for junk food!

[u/Low_Coconut_7642 → u/peon2]

Taco Bell has changed to a strategy to charging a lot unless you get specific combo boxes or use the app.

So it's very much a different experience based on if you know what your doing or just order off regular menu. I regularly go there and get enough food to fill two grown men, with a drink, for less than 12-15 bucks. You just have to order the app exclusive combo tbh

[u/NAPA352 → u/peon2]

I had a funny Taco Bell story from the other day. A guy I work with is on work release. So he's been in prison for 8 years, and works with us now to serve out the last year of his sentence. So he's hasn't had fast food in 8+ years.

He also can't leave work to go out for lunch or whatever, he just has to stay at work and go back to the facility afterwards.

He has one of the other guys pick him up some Taco Bell. One of those if you fly I'll buy things. He just wants 3 taco supreme. The driver gets back and also got 3 taco supreme.

It was like $32! He was floored.

I warned him he better check prices from now on because fast food has changed A LOT in 8 years.

[u/ItGradAws → u/peon2]

PE owns Culver’s, it’s only a matter of time

[u/OphidionSerpent → u/Madeup-Alias6869]

I worked at Chick-fil-A for six years, 2013-2019. The prices of the most popular items at the time I left are seared into my brain for seemingly eternity. And they have increased significantly. The original sandwich was $3.49, and $4.09 for deluxe. Original sandwich meal was $6.39. Now it's $4.99 and $5.79 for the sandwiches respectively, and $8.85 for the meal. 8 count nugget was $3.05, now $5.09. Medium fry was $1.65, now $2.45 (and the portions are smaller). They had increased a little from the time I started to the time I left, but increased by leaps and bounds after the pandemic. I've seen numerous articles talking about how fast food prices have increased at a rate significantly higher than inflation.

[u/whumpied → u/Madeup-Alias6869]

at this point you're paying restaurant prices for gas station quality

[u/UnderlyingLogic → u/Madeup-Alias6869]

"Mediocre" service is putting it lightly. Aside from a few exceptions, such as Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out, and Culver's (at most locations) they've all gone to trash on the service side. Not that I can blame the employees too much - they get paid absolute dogshit and management sucks.

Also see: any grocer/supermarket/wholesale that's not named Costco for the same reasons.

[u/netarchaeology]

Clothing

Obviously I cant completely stop, but I have become much more discriminating.

[u/Photodan24 → u/netarchaeology]

Levi's quality is crap now. The fabric is junk.

[u/goldenrodddd → u/netarchaeology]

Weirdly specific but I've been trying to find a decent women's sweater for the holidays for years now. Everything is a bad fit or falls apart after like one wash or costs like $100 so I'm just sticking with ugly Christmas sweatshirts. I give up.

[u/netarchaeology → u/goldenrodddd]

I've started learning more about fiber quality and stiching methods. A good quality sweater will cost a pretty penny but shouldn't fall apart and will stay with you for years.

Keeping an eye out at thrift stores might also be good place to check for something more affordable though.

[u/brightsideofmars → u/netarchaeology]

I pretty much exclusively thrift my clothes for this reason. They’re cheaper and made much better.

[u/MrsEmilyN → u/brightsideofmars]

I was coming to comment the same thing. I find older pieces from popular brands that were made better than they are now, for a fraction of the price.

[u/brightsideofmars → u/MrsEmilyN]

Exactly. The thought of spending more money for lower quality plastic ain’t it.

Edit: responded to the wrong comment lol

[u/Frostyrepairbug → u/MrsEmilyN]

I've had to stop thrifting, as even that has gone enshittified. 95% of whats available in is fast fashion, offloaded to the thrift store so they can restock. Even indie thrifts are losing the good donations. I switched to garage and estate sales, hoping to find those vintage well-built pieces, or I just sew and knit my own instead.

[u/Wetworth]

Butterfinger. It was my favorite candy but they changed the formula. Instead of candy it tastes like peanut butter, and instead of being crumbly and flaky it's a solid, dense mass.

[u/CrispyCalamari → u/Wetworth]

YUP. KitKat too! Absolute garbage now

[u/HNL2BOS → u/CrispyCalamari]

US KitKits are definitely one of the candies I can taste the difference in the chocolate ...not only the taste but the texture of the chocolate is worse too

[u/Pickles_McBeef → u/HNL2BOS]

They're crunchy wax now. It's a bummer.

[u/Moal → u/HNL2BOS]

It’s like vaguely chocolate flavored wax now. 

[u/jollygoodfellass → u/Wetworth]

Ruint!

[u/DroidSeeker13]

cadbury. switched to Tony's Chocolonely.

[u/hungryforhood → u/DroidSeeker13]

Tony’s is one of the most ethical chocolate brands. Cadburys…no comment.

[u/Which-Break5673 → u/DroidSeeker13]

I’ve heard that Cadbury tastes not so good with the new owner.

[u/DroidSeeker13 → u/Which-Break5673]

Even worse now that they are planning to use synthetic chocolate from an Israeli company, instead of paying cocoa farmers a fair price.

[u/fitemillk → u/DroidSeeker13]

I switched to Tony’s as well. I like that they’re as ethical as they can be, and their chocolate tastes better than any American slop chocolate. If Tony’s made Easter candy, Cadbury would be doomed

[u/XpCjU → u/fitemillk]

they do, little egg shaped chocolates in a tiny egg carton. But I don't think it's hitting the same spot.

[u/swankyfish → u/DroidSeeker13]

I’ll never forgive them.

[u/HoaryPuffleg → u/DroidSeeker13]

Getting that one crème egg every year was such a treat as a kid! Decided to buy one a couple years ago, thinking everyone was over-reacting to the changes but they were not. It was waxy and flavorless. Don’t want to imagine what they did to the Dairy Milk bars.

[u/paulsoleo]

Everything. Literally everything sucks now. Every single product or food I’ve ever liked at one point has gone to complete shit.

There’s a reason the word “enshitification” has gotten so popular.

[u/sebnukem → u/paulsoleo]

The only thing improving with time and resisting enshitification is enshitification.

[u/Tri4ceunited]

Panera. And if you’re getting it delivered? Forget about it. It’ll be missing one item at least. I admit I’m biased, my location is notoriously awful.

[u/GlitteringBrother880 → u/Tri4ceunited]

We were sick a while back and a bread bowl sounded amaaaaazing, so we ordered delivery. Got the soup... Not the bread bowl. I was so upset.

[u/vivalakaley → u/GlitteringBrother880]

Years ago when I was 18/19, I was so sick and broke. I ordered Panera for delivery, luckily lived in a big city close to one so delivery was cheap. I wanted a broccoli cheddar bread bowl. Got the bread bowl, no soup. I cried because it was just about the rest of my money, and being sick made it where I couldn't work for a few days :')

[u/angelerulastiel → u/Tri4ceunited]

I worked for them for 3 years. I loved their food. After the price of our last trip, with a tiny sandwich I would have been ashamed to sell as a half, and it wasn’t that good, I’m done.

[u/Armyofducks94 → u/Tri4ceunited]

Haven't eaten there since they got rid of the sierra turkey. I refuse to try anything else. If I wanted hospital food I'd go to a hospital cafeteria

[u/KingoreP99 → u/Tri4ceunited]

My friends and I had a joke that whenever we went to Panera they would be out of the first 3 things I ordered, because they always were. At 11am.

[u/JicamaAppropriate920]

Chocolate. Hershey's and similar brands just taste like chocolate flavored gunk, it's disgusting

[u/SomeGuyInSanJoseCa → u/JicamaAppropriate920]

I mean, if you walk down the chocolate aisle at any grocery store, Walmart, Walgreens, or even Grocery Outlet, there's tons of better products - Ghiradelli, Lindt, See's are simple mass-market brands that should be pretty much everywhere - so why would you still buy Hershey's and still attribute it to all of chocolate?

Chocolate is as great as ever. The amount of variety and various increases in quality is as immense as ever. Especially now that we have stores importing tons of really good chocolate (not just big brand stuff) and a lot of independent chocalatiers popping up like microbrews in the 90s.

Step outside the Hershey's world, and even mass market chocolates, and you'll see we are in the golden age of chocolate.

[u/PineappleCharacter15 → u/SomeGuyInSanJoseCa]

I love Lindt chocolates! Russell Stover is not too bad. My all-time favorite can only be bought in Maryland, and that is Wockenfuss. I bought it when I was in Ocean City Maryland, about 5 decades ago. I still order it every winter.

[u/shinkouhyou → u/SomeGuyInSanJoseCa]

It's not just Hershey's, though. Mars, Cadbury, Ferrara, Toblerone and Nestle brands all taste weird and waxy now. The "better" mass market chocolates (Lindt, Ghiradelli, etc.) still taste fine, but the prices are kind of outrageous. $7.99 for a small bag of Lindt balls? No thanks, I'll just buy Tony's.

Independent chocolatiers are great when you want to splurge on premium chocolate, but sometimes you just want something cheap and sweet.

[u/Elegant_Fig3004 → u/JicamaAppropriate920]

The smell of Hershey’s chocolate makes me gag. A few months ago, my dog found some Hershey’s chocolate kisses and ate them, foil and all. I panicked and called the vet, since chocolate can be poisonous to dogs. The vet laughed and said you have nothing to worry about, Hershey’s chocolate has hardly any chocolate in it! The dog did make some glittery 💩 later.

[u/Someone4350 → u/JicamaAppropriate920]

Interestingly Hershey’s was never particularly good chocolate since inception, but it was the first and what the country got used to.

It’s founding history is pretty interesting.

[u/Total_Nectarine_8797]

Literally everything from Amazon. I don’t trust it, it’s an over priced Temu or SHEIN. I cancelled my subscription  a few months ago after realizing not only have I not watched Prime for a long time I haven’t bought anything either. BYE FELICIA

[u/BluePrintSpec → u/Total_Nectarine_8797]

Amazon badly needs to institute a better measure of product quality than the star rating. I'll pay a higher price if I know it wasn't shit quality.

[u/Adventurous_Fig4650 → u/Total_Nectarine_8797]

This. I laugh when people say they don’t shop on temu or shein but shop on Amazon.

[u/MGreymanN → u/Adventurous_Fig4650]

Why act like Amazon doesn't also carry name quality brands as well? If you are shopping alphabet soup brands, would you not expect Temu quality?

[u/Real_ilinnuc → u/MGreymanN]

I get the hate against Amazon, but it sucks how useful it is. Local stores don’t carry everything, nor do I want to wait a week+ for an online order from Walmart or target or something.

I just avoid the obvious garbage products, which is generally pretty easy to do.

[u/unwinagainstable → u/Real_ilinnuc]

I find it very useful for finding products. Their search is useful and covers a massive number of items. I can figure out what products fit my needs better through Amazon than web search. I’ll look around to see if prices are better elsewhere but often just end up ordering through Amazon.

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/MGreymanN]

Amazon also carries counterfeit versions of quality brands. It's all mixed together. I got counterfeit Frontline flea medicine and had to take the cat to the vet.

[u/grendev → u/UniqueIndividual3579]

I swear you can order two of an item and get one real item and one counterfeit. I can't believe that nobody's ever made a bigger deal about how many counterfeit items they sell.

[u/Defenestratio → u/grendev]

I feel like this was a huge deal like ten years ago when it first started happening with SD cards. People revealed the issue was Amazon was just dumping stock from genuine manufacturers and sketchy resalers into the same baskets. Amazon promised to stop doing that (and did, at least for certain products for a few years or so) but now it's like they completely gave up and everything is just a crapshoot whether it's real or fake. Other online storefronts are doing it too now, was shopping for Halloween costume stuff and found Walmart carrying alphabet soup branded shit the other day

[u/DD-DONT → u/MGreymanN]

Amazon seems to shows you the garbage junk brands even when you try to search a name brand instead.

[u/ajax81]

Pringles taste like fucking cardboard boxes now.  The tube they come in probably tastes better than the chips. 

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/ajax81]

How do you screw up pressed, dried, potato flakes?

[u/ReturnOfBane → u/UniqueIndividual3579]

mix a bunch of cellulose into it

[u/DeCePtiCoNsxXx]

Cadbury, most take out

[u/Skidro13]

Banana republic 

[u/mail4vaughn → u/Skidro13]

Add J.Crew to this

[u/Common-Macaron1407 → u/mail4vaughn]

They’re on my list of stops today but only for one blazer jacket that I really do like but I did cry about the $100 price tag… it’s very much not worth that. But it’s hard to find women’s blazers that match all the proportions in a flattering way.

[u/BabbatheGUTT]

Cadbury chocolate and McDonalds coffee.

[u/mario_salami_petrino → u/BabbatheGUTT]

My first thought was anything McDonalds

[u/JamesTheJerk → u/mario_salami_petrino]

I stopped by a McDonald's on my way to work the other morning and ordered a chicken McMuffin sandwich with a tomato slice added. Just the breakfast sandwich with the tomato slice cost $6.50. They added a dollar for the tomato. For a sandwich smaller than a hockey puck.

A dollar for a slice of tomato, gimme a break.

[u/rueffinnuts → u/BabbatheGUTT]

The Cadbury that is English is still VERY good. #1 ingredient in milk chocolate is actually milk, and they use sugar. American Cadbury is shite.

[u/the_lovely_boners → u/rueffinnuts]

I went to London during Christmas a few years ago and fell in love with the Cadbury chocolate orange bar. I bought one the size of my arm before I went home. The candy in the UK is soo much better than the US, I make my husband bring a bunch back every time he visits for work lol

[u/pseudonymnkim → u/BabbatheGUTT]

So I wasn't imagining that both didn't taste good anymore. Good to know.

[u/faugh_a_ballagh]

Bryer's Ice Cream. They lowered the amount of milk fat and now label as a 'Frozen Dessert'. Used to be a go to for premium ice cream, now go with Tillamook.

[u/dma1965 → u/faugh_a_ballagh]

Back when I was a kid Breyers had a purity pledge on the package and it was basically milk, cream, sugar, and natural flavoring and nothing else.

[u/raptorphile → u/dma1965]

And it was so good

[u/LKayRB → u/faugh_a_ballagh]

I don’t eat ice cream anymore but Tillamook is so good; I’d def buy theirs over any others.

[u/zoidbert → u/LKayRB]

Came to this reply thread to recommend Tillamook; had it for the first time recently (after all the nonsense was raised about it) and it is top-tier ice cream. Well worth seeking out.

[u/mothmanuwu]

Produce from the grocery store. Everything is like one day from molding. I've started paying more for fresh produce from my local farmers market instead. I also get to walk around, socialize, support local farms, and get some fresh air at the farmers market anyway, so it's been a nice change.

[u/St3phiroth → u/mothmanuwu]

You have to be picky with the farmer's market stuff too now. More and more of them are resellers and don't grow the stuff locally. Especially if the market doesn't have a rule about it. I started asking at booths what farm it's grown on, and more than one place had no idea and said "we just get it in bulk and resell."

[u/mothmanuwu → u/St3phiroth]

Oh wow! My local farmers market has strict rules, and everything is from actual farms, bakeries, cafes, and orchards in the area that you can visit. My favorite stand is an apple stand with over 20 different types of apples from their orchard.

[u/aivideorecap]

fast food joints. paying double the price for a cold lukewarm burger that somehow shrunk to slider size while charging ten bucks for fries is straight up extortion.

[u/iswallowmygum]

Little Debbie's

[u/Adventurous_Fig4650 → u/iswallowmygum]

Taste like sugary cardboard now

[u/thiswaspostedbefore]

Not so much buying but using food delivery services. I've always known the prices are overinflated, but I would've been paying $25 to have what is actually $12 worth of food if I pick it up myself delivered to me

[u/Adventurous_Top4121]

Kraft mac and cheese - the noodles suck

[u/St3phiroth → u/Adventurous_Top4121]

We switched to Goodles and like them a lot better! I heard they are getting bought by a bigger company though (Barilla), so I am worried it's going to be ruined too.

[u/BillDaPony101 → u/Adventurous_Top4121]

Annie’s has REALLY gone to hell.

[u/ReturnOfBane → u/BillDaPony101]

i saw that one coming when i found out they got bought

[u/NAPA352 → u/Adventurous_Top4121]

My mom used to get the Velveeta shells and cheese from Sam's when I was a kid. Single mother raising two boys. My brother and I used to look so forward to those things, usually with some hot dogs cut up in them.

Man I remember it used to be so good.

I haven't had it for years so I decided to make that meal for nostalgia a few months ago. I couldn't even eat it now. It was so gross and watered down.

[u/recyclopath_ → u/Adventurous_Top4121]

Annie's is owned by General Mills and getting the same enshittifocation treatment.

[u/nearlyatreat → u/Adventurous_Top4121]

I always get Cabot mac and cheese now

[u/PM_ME_PUPPY_YAWNS]

Fast food

[u/anooname]

McDs

[u/terrafirma42]

McDonald's. Miss it. But it's awful now.

[u/EnsignMJS]

I recently bought a box of Twinkies. They taste... not as good as I remember. Or maybe I just got older and my tastebuds changed?

[u/Effective_Present763 → u/EnsignMJS]

No they changed the recipe. They used to be delivered fresh by unionized route salesman. Now they are sent frozen and have a much longer shelf life. Source: my dad worked there 35 years.

[u/Adventurous_Fig4650 → u/EnsignMJS]

Same for Little Debbie snacks

[u/ablanketofash → u/EnsignMJS]

That’s what I keep thinking about a lot of stuff… But then reading this thread, I don’t think it’s my taste changing. These companies are changing recipes and putting out crap products.

[u/BlitzWing1985]

KFC in the UK feels like it's been in free fall quality wise the last 5+ years.

We used to have a once a month big order for like a family get together. Like fucking clockwork every three orders they'd always forget something or it'd be watered down gravy, room temp or in one case the drinks were all cross contaminated so we'd have like 3 ice tea, Pepsi max combos. We'd get a voucher here and there but it was always just for that same location and we had to use them in person not over the app etc.

Luckily a place closer walled Wingers opened up and for the like 10% bump in cost the food is hot, taste great and has a wider selection. There's also a huge amount of Pop Eyes opening and from the two I've tried if what I had was normal service KFC either has to change or it's fucked.

[u/TheLawOfDuh → u/BlitzWing1985]

Same here in the US but it’s declined for decades. Lots of chicken competition here so KFC is making themselves obsolete.

[u/SexyCouple4Bliss]

Might be easier to ask what is still good? Everything has been sacrificed to God Profit and it all doesn’t seem worth it. Except Del Tacos. Those are still pretty good.

[u/LowNearby5450]

Papa John’s pizza over a decade ago. It used to be good. Plus John said that horrible stuff

[u/Wetworth → u/LowNearby5450]

It did use to be good. It's unrecognizable now.

[u/SinclaireJames → u/Wetworth]

I have been craving Papa John’s mainly because of the pizza sauce and the garlic dipping sauce. This comment section has saved me money and possibly disappointment. I need to see if online has a recipe for both sauces so I can make it myself.

[u/Strong-Penguin-Bias]

AAA games

[u/midnight_rebirth → u/Strong-Penguin-Bias]

Nah just wait a year or two until they're $10 and patched.

[u/Strong-Penguin-Bias → u/midnight_rebirth]

ahh a fellow Steam ambassador.

[u/Dvanpat → u/Strong-Penguin-Bias]

Best gaming decision I made in my life was never to buy a Steam game at full price. In fact, I wait until probably a 30% discount minimum. One of the only exceptions I've made in years was for Baldur's Gate 3, I kept waiting for a discount that was never going to come, so I ended up buying for about $50 rather than $60.

[u/Dragona_TNT]

Shirts from Threadless, which sucks because I absolutely loved them, and still do love the designs. But when the old screen-printed shirts I have from them are still going strong and two of the 8 shirts I bought last time literally fell apart after a couple washes, I finally stopped buying from them :(

[u/dcmso]

Fast food.

I didn't bought it often to begin with, but now? quality is worse, portions are smaller and prices skyrocketed.

[u/caoilincorner]

Pretty much everything on Amazon.

[u/Brian_Corey__ → u/caoilincorner]

No way. GHURZLOG makes the best men’s apparel! And it’s been that way for weeks!

[u/jeff92k7 → u/Brian_Corey__]

…and now that brand is gone. But don’t worry, there’s a new brand of totally random consonants and vowels that took its place.

[u/MandudesRevenge → u/jeff92k7]

I myself am partial to the stylings of Patebapzin

[u/Hairless_Squatch → u/MandudesRevenge]

I didn’t know my blood pressure medicine also made men’s clothing!

[u/DependentShop3882]

Any takeout really. It’s just gotten so expensive and it’s just not good anymore, as the occasional junk food.

Also Beef, also insanely expensive and the quality seems worse than it was ten years ago. Smaller, worse cuts for higher prices.

[u/dod2190]

Dr. Marten's shoes and boots. They moved production overseas and quality went off a cliff. Not worth the money any more.

I understand Solovair is still making the same products in the UK on the original DM tooling.

[u/Spicy_pewpew_memes → u/dod2190]

Oh fuck that company. They decided not to honor my for life boots after they failed. After wearing them for 2 years.

[u/tomoki_here → u/dod2190]

I've never owned a pair of Dr Marten's but I read about this while watching a ton of shoe cobbling videos during covid and it got me thinking about footwear a lot more. I just want something that lasts and if it's repairable, even better.

[u/Loud-Coffee-714]

ELF makeup.

[u/SinclaireJames]

Filet o Fish from McDonalds. They are practically slider size now!!! Thankfully I found a copy cat recipe online and am resorting to it when I crave this sandwich.

[u/InvertedEyechart11 → u/SinclaireJames]

I buy the Gorton's fish sandwich fillets, cheese, burger buns, and tartar sauce. Make my own and it's cheaper in the long run.

[u/ShyShutterbug13 → u/SinclaireJames]

Would you share your copy cat recipe??

[u/kater_tot]

Chicken breast. I still try occasionally. There’s always one woody breast in the pack, no matter how much I poke and examine it beforehand. Raw chicken should not crunch when you cut it or separate into spaghetti strings. Everyone comes back with “buy organic” or “spend more than $2” as if I didn’t just buy air cooled organic $12/lb chicken breast and STILL get crunchy chicken.
It’s been getting worse in precooked and restaurant food, too.

I bought a Sam’s Club meal kit last week - the chicken street tacos, and didn’t know they had swapped out the shredded chicken for whatever tf they replaced it with. The chicken cubes were woody and separating into layers, plus the color and texture was crazy. Costco looked like the same.

[u/cutie_inpink]

fruit!

[u/iridescentcotton → u/cutie_inpink]

Omg yes the amount of mangoes I've cut into that have been black. So heartbreaking

[u/defucchi → u/iridescentcotton]

It's so hard to find good produce these days :(

[u/Bush_D1D911 → u/defucchi]

I stopped buying apples just because of the price, $9 a pound

[u/anbujar → u/cutie_inpink]

Especially berries!

[u/Buffster13]

McDonald’s and KFC have taken a big hit. McDonald’s has been fairly consistent quality wise but now mine and my husbands order is close to £30 which is crazy. There are much more satisfying meals out there for that price. KFC quality has gotten soooo bad. Batter is never crispy and the dead lettuce inside the soggy ass zinger burgers with the wet salsa is so depressing

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/Buffster13]

The KFC near me provides excellent food poisoning. I was sick for three days.

[u/ActualLunch1242]

Literally anything Great Value brand. We got a Costco card because F walmart.

[u/flyPR39]

All snacks like cookies and most chocolates. They are all plastic like and they taste terrible. Most potato chips are pretty bad too.

[u/LAsupersonic]

Subway, mcdonalds, wendys, taco Bell, basically like 90% of fast food, they want to charge the price of a sit down meal for their tiny fake food, and now days they roll their eyes if you try to order or eat in reataurant, the employees seem to work at a factory and dont want customers talk to them

[u/lucyharris_]

Bread

[u/baw3000]

Amazon Prime subscription

[u/irwinlegends → u/baw3000]

Years ago, most stuff was delivered for free the next day and returns were easy.  Now, they promise next day delivery, then apologize for a three day delay, anything fragile will arrive broken, returns are a pain in the ass, and the quality sucks. It's not worth it anymore. 

[u/baw3000 → u/irwinlegends]

Yep, and remember how good their customer service used to be? They were really good. Then it was kinda worth it for streaming, then they added ads.

[u/theillustratedlife → u/irwinlegends]

They sent me a literal sheet of cardboard when I had ordered a towel. Took them a week to "investigate" their own delivery before they would refund it.

I'd also ordered a bottle of lube. It came unsealed, so I tried to return it. They wouldn't take it back for "sanitary reasons." No shit: that's why I don't want it either.

[u/Existing-Poetry-3289 → u/irwinlegends]

Ordered a bottle of starch and some hardware with screws a couple months ago and they just threw them loose in a box. A wet box when it arrived.

[u/longshot21771]

Any Dodge vehicle

[u/Unlikely-Grape-5762 → u/longshot21771]

Did you stop buying them in the 70s?

[u/bluesox]

Just got a cheesy Gordita crunch for the first time in years. It was literally half the size it used to be for double the price.

[u/IminLoveWithMyCar3 → u/bluesox]

The burrito at Taco Bell is half the size it used to be.

[u/ablanketofash → u/bluesox]

Taco Bell here is insanely expensive. We don’t even bother with them anymore since there are a couple local Mexican spots that aren’t much more expensive and serve large portions of fresh food.

[u/Krisb1978]

Cheez-its. They have no taste anymore.

[u/ablanketofash → u/Krisb1978]

I thought there was something wrong with my tastebuds. The last couple times I’ve bought them, I have thrown most of the box out.

[u/charlieyeswecan → u/Krisb1978]

Yes they taste like cardboard. Sad

[u/CelebrationFar2804]

Chocolate boxes (British ones). They keep getting smaller year by year

[u/NUMBerONEisFIRST]

I was about to delete the GrubHub app on my phone, since I never really do food deliver. Then I realized I had a $10 credit from when my last order got messed up.

Long story short, I tried ordering food 3 different times, 3 different orders. First one got cancelled for them not having what I ordered. Second order was for a 1/2 dozen donuts and a milk. The shop cancelled all but 1 donut and the milk, and it was delayed 3 times until an hour went by and they cancelled it.

Each time GrubHub gave me a $5 credit.

The third time I ordered $20 worth of arbys. Waited another 45 minutes, it said delivered, no food ever showed up.

Customer support said they could credit my account, and I explained these 3 orders today were credits from my last order being messed up. I said keep your credits, I'm deleting my account.

So my answer is GrubHub.

[u/loztriforce]

There's so much junk food that used to be so much better, like old Twinkies and the ho hos wrapped in foil from back in the day were awesome. So much shit sucks nowadays.

[u/PerniciousVim → u/loztriforce]

It all tastes industrial. Did it get worse or did our adult palettes become too refined?

[u/erinjaszcak]

Meat

[u/Interesting-Read-245]

Talenti Gelato

[u/mail4vaughn → u/Interesting-Read-245]

Unilever acquired Talenti in 2014 then destroyed what it used to be

[u/Interesting-Read-245 → u/mail4vaughn]

I used to eat ungodly amounts of it when it was good and saved so many of their pints.

FF and I saw Talenti on sale at my local shop and bought favorite flavors. The pint is cheap plastic now that can’t even be saved for storage like I used too.

The gelato itself has an artificial taste to it and the texture isn’t creamy like before.

Oh, and it’s actually more expensive now than before 🙄

[u/PBGXXI]

Nike Shoes

[u/ExcitingAd9947]

Most fast food

[u/Badmoterfinger]

North Face anything

[u/supleahsup]

Taco Bell. I hope they go out of business. Their greed knows no bounds

[u/seppukucoconuts → u/supleahsup]

It’s like $20 for what used to be $5-7.

[u/SinclaireJames]

The last few times I’ve craved fries I ended up regretting eating them because they were not fresh and they had this unrecognizable aftertaste to them.

[u/LR75852 → u/SinclaireJames]

And it blows my mind that a bunch of restaurants near me are trying to charge $8-9 for an order. It’s insane

[u/firekitty3 → u/SinclaireJames]

Homemade fries are extremely cheap and easy. Highly recommend.

[u/Wingsnake]

Lego. Not that it good bad, just the competitors got better. And why pay more for the same or in certain aspect worse thing? Maybe certain sets at a good discount but otherwise I leave the luxury brand to others.

[u/Brave-Engineer-2991]

Lulu Lemon hoodies (used to be amazing quality)

[u/disarm33]

Klondike bars. They used to be huge with a thick chocolate shell. If you got the heath bar or the crunch bar varieties they were completely covered with the stuff. I got some recently and the shell was so thin it didn't even cover the ice cream on the bottom and there were about five little heath bar chunks sprinkled on. Broke my heart.

[u/starlightskater]

Victoria's Secret. Quality imploded. Badly.

[u/texbird]

crackerjacks. they now use a sprayer that just spatters a few specks of caramel on the popcorn. like 5% coverage. and the toys are just little paper tatoos. worst drop in quality ever.

[u/flowermaneurope]

Chocolate in America

[u/luckylefty06]

Chipotle

[u/Buffster13 → u/luckylefty06]

I miss prime chipotle

[u/Southern-Garden-6253]

Cheap dog toys I’m tired of the fluffening and it looking like someone mauled a sheep in my house

[u/EastCoasterRoller]

This is odd, but energy drinks from Amazon. I have no idea why, but I always would buy Monster cases on Amazon because they were so much cheaper than in stores. But something about the ones off Amazon tastes so weird. I don’t know if Amazon gets like bad quality batches that were on audit or something, but they are awful. I got fooled a handful of times and had to stop throwing money away.

[u/meatsweatmando → u/EastCoasterRoller]

As ridiculous as this may sound, they may be bootleg energy drinks. There have been instances where customers have been getting counterfeit merch, and one that’s relevant to me is guitar strings.

[u/EastCoasterRoller → u/meatsweatmando]

That’s a wild thought but your right stranger things have happened

[u/VISABLEWOOD]

Gasoline

[u/mail4vaughn]

Panera

[u/ratchetcoutoure]

All the food products from small companies that I sued to love that declines in quality after big corporate brand bought them because formula change into cheaper substitutions and super watered down, such as Bachan BBQ sauce

[u/Cutmybangstooshort]

So many things. It’s the enshittifaction of so many things problem. I need a winter jacket and I’m actually thinking of buying a Patagonia puffer and they are so expensive. But so much is junk now and they are supposed to be good. 

[u/cancelmyfuneral]

AAA games

[u/Wonderful_Quiet_1084]

Birkenstocks. I used to get the bottoms resoled a few times before cork damage. Now, less than a year, cork damage all the way through on several pairs. Im guessing it’s private equity now. I’ll buy cheap knock offs for $20ish and replace them yearly rather than over $100

[u/dod2190]

Craftsman branded tools. They used to be the absolute best thing a DIY-er could buy. Only thing up from that was the really expensive stuff off the tool trucks, Snap-On or Mac or Matco. Hand tools were guaranteed for life, no questions asked. (Abuse wasn't covered, but really, nobody made a fuss.) I still have Craftsman sockets and ratchets and wrenches that I bought in the late '80s to work on my first car, and it wasn't unknown for people to inherit sets of Craftsman tools.

Then came the merger with K-Mart. Quality dropped like a rock after that. I started reading accounts where people had been refused "lifetime" warranty claims on hand tools, and the definition of what was a "hand tool" that qualified for the warranty shrank also. Then Sears went bankrupt and the Craftsman name got sold off to Stanley-Black & Decker.

There's nothing that occupies the spot on the price/quality curve that Craftsman once did. Harbor Freight (Hazard Fraught) still isn't that great but they've improved a lot and they're OK and a decent bargain if you're careful about what you buy.

[u/suckyousideways]

Reeses Peanut Butter anything. Used to be my favorite.

[u/Three3Jane]

Anything that starts out small and good, and then gets acquired by either a big unicorp or private equity.

[u/Interesting-Ad5551]

McDonalds quality I guess didn’t change but there’s so much better quality food you can get for a tenner per meal nowadays.

[u/terrafirma42 → u/Interesting-Ad5551]

It's quality has declined

[u/LemonlimeLucy]

Candy bars

[u/Intrepid_Top_2300]

Fast food

[u/music-and-song]

Funko pops. The painting quality declined so bad a few years back and I haven’t bought any since.

[u/Really_McNamington]

Microsoft x box controllers. So much stick drift failure.

[u/Druken_sincerity]

Haven't been in a subway in like 5 6 years now. It was always kind of meh, but the prices are insane and the quality somone how even worse.

[u/PineappleCharacter15]

I like Burger King's chicken sandwiches the original, and the club. They also had a sandwich there called the Improbable or Impossible Burger, that was soy based I believe. You could not tell the difference! It was pretty good but hard to get your mouth around cuz it was huge.

[u/Protected22]

McDonalds. Their prices has increased dramatically while the quality got worse. We used to pay 50 cents for a small burger, now that same burger is €2,75. A Big Mac menu used to be €6,99. Now you pay €13,35.

[u/GremlInTheWoods]

Strawberries have mold on them when they come into the store. I want to grow my own at this point. 😭