once again i credit immrnonamehello for the orginal idea and following on from brands that are expensive but crap - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/795422?page=3#comment-1421…
i had another idea as i drove past Centercom in sunshine brands/companies that were once great built a good reputation but are now crap living off a reputation they built but no longer deserve…
So im thinking Centercom, Qantas, Sony, Disney, the ABC and SBS etc….maybe even Red Rooster….
if you have others comment below
+1 for Blizzard
+10 for Reddit. People getting banned for "associating" with subreddits that admins disagree with. Madness. Imagine Reddit actually paying someone to go through lesbian subreddits for example and one by one banning every single person from a particular front page trans subreddit, what an utter waste of money and time.
sounds like brigading…justified
in general ive found reddit mods to be consistent and fair in their moderation….MUHAHHAHHAHHA!
the only difference is that that is being done by admin (if it is admin) instead of just the witchunts and dodgy behaviour by "mods" acting as the untouchable lords/ladies of their own petty fiefdoms.
I don't mind when the mod who actually created the subreddit is still around moderating like that, it's their toy, they made it, but so many subreddits are far removed from their OG creator they're a 'community possession' rather than that of the mob of cronies installed. I started looking into creating a mod election system/bot, that could sit above it all, but got disenfranchised with the place and binned it.
Amazon (prices still great)
Sigh… it's a sad reflection on the state of Australian retail that this can be considered the case. I used to order from Amazon regularly overseas, and the .com and .co.uk sites were miles ahead of .com.au, where things are either nonexistent, Chinese factory garbage, or with jacked up prices.
also from overseas, aussie websites are 10-20 years behind. usually just the bogus sorting options drive me insane
also amazon.au is just aliexpress in disguise
also amazon.au is just aliexpress in disguise
Yep, looks like many of the more mainstream Western products just aren't available on the .au. It's full of jacked up Aliexpress garbage and brands with ALLCAPSNAMES.
after 10 years and may a dozen searches, I still can't get amazon to give me search results based upon my criteria, still have yet to buy something from it
I wish quotation marks worked in their search engine like they do with google.
Trying to search for an (uncommon) 10-pin mini-B USB adapter is impossible when it ignores the “10-pin” part of the search term and gives pages of 5-pin options.
In the vein of gaming, (profanity) Rockstar!
I think you can just copy and paste the responses from the previous thread into this one
I think you can just copy and paste the responses from the previous thread into this one
I think you can just copy and paste the responses from the previous thread into this one
Rivers
Bonds
The Liberal Party of Australia
An alarm bells outfit all in one.
Why is everything from Rivers just so comfortable?!
once again i credit immrnonamehello for the orginal idea and following from other posts what brands were crap but are awesome now
David Jones is probably an example of what im talking about …however im not sure i never shopped there
David Jones clothing is good quality. I always stop by their sales rack. Never buy new though, way overpriced. But if I were rich I suppose I would chop there for convenience.
Bonds
KFC - (still tastes good but poor value for money/portion sizes)
Red Rooster is a way better alternative for fast food fried chicken.
but 5 pcs for $8 at KFC, cannot beat, especially if you get a few thigh pieces
IMO KFC still has ok deals from time to time, unlike others (Hungry Jacks)
yes but hungry jacks have really recuded staff barely teenagers, i often get doubled or extras in my order as they mess it up :)
I wish they would toast the buns though
Panasonic. Why this once great Japanese electronics company dropped the quality is a disaster. With 1980-90s quality today they would surpass Apple and could charge a substantial premium.
All the bankrupt great high end brands now sold at ALDI/Kogan as junk. Blaupunkt, okynoko, Technics (I think) and dozens more.
Not sure how to rate once great brands that went terrible and have come back to just sub-average. E.g. MG, Landrover, Jaguar.
When I think of the cachet many, Japanese especially, brands built that they just abandoned - Toshiba, Sanyo and many others, it is disappointing.
In Australia, probably Crumpler bags, not my thing, but Fletcher Jones used to make old guy clothes of great quality. Dozens of craft beer brands, and I'll add Blundstone. The boots are worse, and Chinese made for the same price.
When I think of the cachet many, Japanese especially, brands built that they just abandoned
Honda.
I'm going to go against the OzBargain grain and say Toyota. Once upon a time Toyota meant a car with decent gear but most importantly it will just freakin go forever, like the Nokia 3310 of cars. But at some point they just stop innovating and just making the same stuff over again.
200 Series Landcruiser is a good example. Interior was dated, and headunit was basically out of the early 2000s. They knew the car would sell no matter what so they did nothing.
Now I have a 2022 Hilux workmate as a work car and to say that it is pov pack is an understatement. Bigger wheelbase than a Landcruiser which gives it horrible turning circle, and a nightmare in small carparks. No intermittent windscreen washer setting. An engine that first came out about 2004 (crappy petrol version, thanks work, enjoy the fuel bills).
I remember my brothers ~2000 Camry. Damn thing refused to die. I remember once he asked me to do an oil change because the oil light had been on for a couple of weeks, I dropped about 1 litre of oil from that engine. Filled it up and it kept going to many more years until he had a crash and it was written off.
who buys a toyota for interior design (or even outer) ever ? they still innovate it just doesnt reach us or costs a lot more
gone to garage to kiss undead toyota
Technics is still owned by the same parent company as Panasonic, and they still sell high end gear, no idea what the quality is like.
Loewe is another once great electronics brand than is now rubbish. Philips deserves a mention too.
Toshiba used to make some of the best laptops around back when Dell was average.
Toshiba doesn't make anything consumer facing anymore (and is subject to a buyout), the laptop division was spun off and is now called Dynabook wholly owned by Sharp.
And in keeping with their history, they are business focused machines.
Didnt Toshiba get taken over and is now has no connection to Japan?
Don't forget Nakamichi.
nakatomi was a great brand until the robbery of their bearer bonds.
Ruined Christmas
Explorer socks
I have 5-6 pairs from circa 2008. Still as good as new, wear them regularly.
Bought another 5 of the pure wool ones in May. So far they seem as good as the OGs.
Why the Explorer hate? Are you buying the cheap cotton blend ones?
not hate, just quality has been a bit hit and miss over the last 5 years.
I've been wearing explorers for 30 years - back when they were made in Box Hill (or Brunswick). and you could buy seconds at Dimmeys Richmond (RIP) for $1.
i've noticed that some pairs last like they used to -i.e. hard wearing /good quality. whilst others have lost elasticity, or worn out faster.
I had a couple of pairs that, after wearing and washing them a few times , that they went sort of stiff, and not elastic (sort of like they were made of thick felt).
I recently bought some of the cotton blend ones (6 pairs) from this deal and have only worn them a few times but they seem ok, but time will tell.
i just miss the consistency of the old explorer sock
That's a shame to hear, appreciate the feedback on your experience. Hope your new ones hold up ok!
If not, recommend giving the wool ones a crack when a sale happens. 3 months isn't a long time to prove quality, but they've definitely gone through the wash a handful of times without issues
Sydney Morning Herald and associated press
Why?
Cost cutting, focus on property advertising rather than journalism, sale to Channel 9, for Fairfax.
They still do decent investigative journalism. The other stuff is just a sign of the times plus business decisions considering hardly anyone buys the broadsheet anymore
@[Deactivated]: I don't think they are bringing through the same calibre of writers. Alan Ramsay, Michael West, Ross Gittins, Kate McClymont. They were all/are heads and shoulders above the pack. Hard to grow a new generation if they are writing click bait headlines about "why Sydney hates carparks" or whatever "greatest renovations in the west of Randwick."
@mskeggs: yep.
I recall when Guardian Australia first launched in 2013 and poached a number of good people like David Marr (who I would always read, even if I don't always agree with him) and Lenore Taylor
Used to be a great sauce of news, smh.
Agree, another LNP aligned media unit now.
SMH being owned by 9 and having Peter Costello as Chairman isn't a great look. IMO there are still some decent journos at SMH/Fairfax
Target, once a strong competitor to Kmart and BIGW, now a dying name with stores disappearing
Shame, I valued their position as higher quality but value price. Happy to pay $40 for jeans instead of bigw $20 while they were a substantially better product.
I don't want to pay extra for branding, but like good quality.
You might like Uniqlo
sizes too small for tall people
Target and Kmart have had the same owner for decades, not really competitors.
Their kids clothes used to be great. More expensive, but the quality was far superior to Kmart, Big W, Best and Less etc. Now they're just overpriced rubbish and no different to anywhere else.
Ozbargain
If you know you know
Yeup, pretty big scandal. Scotty not even being Scottish, not fat and is into fitness, let alone not even a spaceship engineer.
????? It was great, it still is great.
We're all here, right?
Exactly, it must be good if old timers like me are still paying the annual subscription.
Well you need Ozbargain Nitro to really enjoy the benefits of this great ecosystem platform.
But yeah where are my menulog vouchers?
I got Ozbargain Platinum Subscription back when it was free and still not paying for it.
I'm actually right now wearing the complementary Ozbargain undies they used to send out
Wow .. a sequel to the overpaid series..
Clark's shoes. They had a reputation for being robust and would last and last. The most recent pair I bought for my grandson fell apart after five months, he didn't get a chance to grow out of them.
Athletes foot stopped stocking them, that was an eye opener.
Long time ago:
Telecom Australia. Not the cheapest but its mobile net was worlds best.
Now Telstra, sometimes a bit hell and others a bit useless.
Metallica
Ford Falcon vs Holden Commodore
Mambo
Disagree completely with Red Rooster. They might’ve been on the downhill from the early 2000s to the mid 2010s but ever since a Macca’s exec moved over several years ago they’ve done a complete 180 in terms of the quality of their food, their menu and their stores have also been renovated.
It's still chat.
Holden. They were good for the first couple of decades, then got outdone by the Japanese. They continued to trade on their good name for many decades.
You don't rate the billion dollar baby? Love our WM Caprice.
Our VY International wagon is pretty good too apart from the two piece drive shaft
.
It was rebranded German's cheap Opel anyway.
Was round a mates place the other day and in his shed he had his mums old Holden, the first model ever produced, all original. The engine purred like a kitten.
If it's one of the first-first batch (the 1948 ones) it's probably worth more than the house it's in. Running and all original is probably worth a pretty penny as it is.
Yep, and only has 20,000 miles on the clock.
@WhyAmICommenting: It would of also been paid for with pounds and can only be filled with gallons of petrol.
Subway. Has become unaffordable rubbish.
Australia Post
Agree
Arnott's
Mr Chen,s dumplings
Ebay. Rarely any good deals these days like the 20% off we used to get every now and then. The seller fees are (profanity) too.
W - ebay has become a over priced retailer opposed to a way to get a good deal on 2nd hand items
Seems like an online store rather than an Auction site now.
Nike
Tandy Electronics
They're still around ?
Facebook
YouTube
YouTube is not too bad. The only issue is that there is more ads now than viewable content
iiNet … left them recently after 20+ years as they have just gotten worse and worse lately. Gone with Launtel now and they're great.
For us, went down hill once TPG took them over.
Humble bundle
Used to love Uniqlo. They used to fit well and back then they lasted forever.
Uniqlo before and after Covid is a different quality.
I should have bought more chinos in 2019
OZbargain … there I said it
Reddit
Blizzard
Amazon (prices still great)