35 Infuriating Examples Of Companies Making Everything Worse To Make A Few Extra Bucks
I had to buy a new fridge last year, and it already needed a repair because the freezer stopped, uh, freezing. That’s the freezer’s one job. Nobody asked it to connect to Wi-Fi or make restaurant recommendations. Just keep the pizza cold.
Luckily, it was covered under warranty, which felt like winning the lottery. Every other warranty experience I’ve had made it seem like the product was carefully designed to fail one day after the coverage expired. Somewhere, an engineer gets a bonus when the washing machine dies at 12:01 a.m.
It’s no secret that everything keeps getting more expensive while the quality drops dramatically. Just look at the shrinkflation examples we’ve shared recently. Companies keep charging us more while quietly removing the parts that made their products worth buying.
The obvious answer is to get pickier about who gets our money, but finding a better alternative isn’t always easy. Sometimes every available option is worse, only in a slightly different box.
These posts from the r/enshittification community show just how far products and services have fallen. We’re all paying extra for front-row seats to the decline.
1. EU Huge Step On Protection Of Consumers
2. He’s 76 Years Old Man
3. When Digital Menus Randomly Change To A 30s Advert, Making The Menu As A TV Pointless
4. Enshittification And Corporate Greed Are Coming For Every Industry
5. Can’t Even Do My Laundry Without Dealing With This Nonsense
6. They’re Editing Digital Books To Contain Ads Now
7. What A Time To Be Alive
8. It Gets Worse. They Posted This And It Turns Out The Guy Gave The Money To The Person Who Lost It
9. Take A Feature Away And Sell It Back To Me In The Same Email, Really TIVO?
10. Hp Forces You To Replace Your Ink Cartridges After Canceling Your Subscription
11. We’ve Reached A New Low, Ads On The Sinks In The Gym Bathroom
12. This Thinly Veiled Gambling Bull Directed At Kids
I know the “collect em all” tactic has been around since baseball cards but these godforsaken balls taking over toy aisle are especially egregious IMO. And expensive.
13. CGI Is Actually Magnificent, As Long As You Allow The Time And Budget To Do It Properly
14. The Enshittification Of Our Brains On ChatGPT
15. They Knew What They Were Doing
16. Cottonelle What Are You Doing Baby Girl
Left is old TP from another brand, right is new Cottonelle. I wonder if I’d have even noticed unless I saw them side by side like this inadvertently. Good luck to you if you have large hands, some of your fingers may be participating as well.
17. Purchased Movies Will No Longer Be Accessible, Thanks Sony!
18. Electronic Shelf Labels May Use Your Data Profile To Make You Pay Different Prices
19. Sorry I’ll Be Late To Work I Had To Update My Doorbell
20. Has Anyone Else Noticed That Non-Scratch Sponges Start Disintegrating Immediately Now?
21. This Is Painful
22. Tyson Chicken Tenders From Costco = More Than Half Breading Bits
23. From “My Computer” To “This PC”
24. Imagine If Everything Else Kept Up
25. When Did Hotels Get So Much Worse?
Pictured above- hotel removed refrigerator. I travel a bunch for work, although I’m currently an unpaid intern. I’ve noticed how much worse hotels have gotten in the last few years. Some of the stuff I’ve seen in the last few months include-
$25 charge every time you want to use a luggage cart
$16 a day for Wi-Fi, $20 a day for decent wi-fi
$20 a day for parking in a non-urban area
Removal of ice machines
No ability to do your own laundry on site
I need all of the above- and all of this seems pretty standard for a mid-priced hotel. Apparently not anymore. Now I’m just sad that my leftover Italian food I had for late night work is going to go bad.
26. Self Checkout
27. I Can’t Delay Start My Dishwasher Without An App, And The App Sends Me Advertisements
28. The Ice Cream Keeps Getting Smaller Without Updating The Picture
29. Removed “No Preservatives” And Changed Real Fruit To Whole Fruit Whatever That Means
30. Bandaids Look Like They Are Deteriorating After Just A Couple Of Hours
31. Breyers’ Cookies & Cream Is Not Ice Cream
32. Anyone Still Watching The News?
33. Mounds Don’t Even Use Real Chocolate Anymore
34. Psa: Rosetta Stone Is “Bricking” Permanent Licenses To Force Users Into Subscriptions
35. No Way To Pause TV For Details Anymore
