Funniest/weirdest product goof you've seen here

DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
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So, in the light of trying to see the humor in everything, one of my sons and I have a list of the funniest things we've bought or received here in terms of an item being: mismarked, defective, broken, missing parts, or other interesting peculiarities of the 'reject' imports we get here.

Some examples we've noticed: Oreo cookies with the printed side facing in (not a taste issue but funny); pens that don't work straight from the box (annoying); cars that are supposedly "built with a noise" according to the dealer; medicine that isn't what it says on the label (dangerous); double stamped bottles of sunscreen; re-dated packages of all sorts of things; mis-spelled all sorts of cartons and labels, etc.

TIA...consider this a contribution to the collective humor and levity of the ex-pats's survival.
Paz y salud,
DrChrisHE
 

Campesina

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Sep 12, 2004
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Playero, in Sosua, is selling "Ocean Spray Cranberry Spray". In the USA, they usually sell the juice!
 

DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
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Playero, in Sosua, is selling "Ocean Spray Cranberry Spray". In the USA, they usually sell the juice!

LOL- did you get your SPRAY with the bottle opening? I could really go on and on about that one. Cranberry shower in a bottle? Thnx!

The closer one reads the labels the more one sees these things. I have a friend who insists that if it isn't broken when it enters the DR, they MUST break it or take a part or alter it;)
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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hmmm... intimate parts wash with a very strong mint smell and ehm... feeling. given in caba?as. it was suggested by lambada it might have been mouthwash. yeah. re-bottled and re-packed.
one man's mouthwash is another man's, woman's, p***ywash...
 

mountainfrog

On Vacation!
Dec 8, 2003
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www.domrep-info.com
Monday, Monday....

Seguros Pep?n hands out a little card calendar in which the month of April does not have any Mondays....
In other months some Mondays do not have a date but a %- sign. :laugh:

mountainfrog
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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ah, antibacterial pens, duly bought for me by office manager after i had para-typhus.
 

RHM

Doctor of Diplomacy
Sep 23, 2002
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www.thecandidacy.com
Hmmmm...

This is not really a product, but more of a "special feature".

I was looking at a car several years ago. The man (110% Dominican) opened the hood and then stepped away for a minute. Well, the hood came crashing down and almost took off my fingers. He casually looked back and said over his shoulder "Cuidate, es automatica."

RHM
 

jrf

Bronze
Jan 9, 2005
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I bought a number of tennis shoes at La Pulga in Puerto Plata.
They are puma knock offs - look exactly the same but say....


Numa
 

hifiman

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Jul 13, 2005
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I was told that if I ever see this guy around the new garden hotel that I should stop him and buy his book.
So I did it is a book on learning spanish and bases its teaching more on everyday conversational spanish that you would find in the Dominican Republic. When he handed over the book I nearly fell on the floor.The title Learn Spanish in Trhree months.
hifiman
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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I bought a number of tennis shoes at La Pulga in Puerto Plata.
They are puma knock offs - look exactly the same but say....


Numa

LOL...My brother had a shirt he bought that said "Calvin Kleen". The thing is he was wearing it and had not even noticed...
 

mike l

Silver
Sep 4, 2007
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There are more knock offs in the DR than a Florida Flea market.

This should not suprise anyone and with the crack down it will only get worse.

Callaway Golf Clubs are a prime example............4 4 4

Sun glasses and shoes for all of the j...
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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The DR is loaded with misprinted items, items mispackaged ect. ect.
Once I saw a bottle of cloro that said great tasting!
My theory is that since quality control is almost non-existent here, there is a great market for products that fail the QC elsewhere.
Where else can you sell containers of rejects? Developing countries take them, no problem.
What really gets me, is going to a ferreteria and purchasing an item that doesn't carry corresponding accessories, parts or anything else related.
My last shopping spree involved wanting to buy a utility knife, but what good is that when all they carry are replacement blades that fit another knife that they don't sell?
 

DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
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OMG these are hysterical. Keep 'em coming...hopefully others will get a chuckle too.

I bought a "super sponge" at Dollarazo ($ store-here so you can JUST imagine) and it had a label that said "It really suckles." I tried to imagine a nursing/breastfeeding sponge.
 

DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
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I just read all of these to my dh and couldn't make it through without tears of laughter coming out. Thanks...I look forward to MANY more as I know they are out there.

Last night my dh had opened several packages of chocolate wafer cookies (the kind that are supposed to have cream in the middle) and two out of the cookies in each package (almost) had NO cream (those things taste like dirt without the cream).

We bought cheesecake at PriceSmart which we've had many times in the US. Half of it had no crust and the other half had it swirled up into the cake...not a serious problem but definitely a reject.

Hair DYE--this is one you REALLY need to be careful with. I once bought hair dye that was supposed to be blonde and was PINK. And, no--I didn't find out until after I put it on. I had to do a quick run to get some that I CHECKED prior to buying. For those of you who do this, you'll know that hair doesn't take kindly to repeated dying and bleaching in a 24 hour period so much of my hair fell out!
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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Bought a de-watering pump (big sump pump) for irrigation purposes here at a ferreteria, it is a true Honda knockoff. Took it home, opened the box and looked at the manual. I knew right then and there what I was dealing with. On the front cover in bold letters it said: Warning! Please read and understand this equipment completely before operating the manual.
The rest of the manual has all sorts of typo's and mis-translations, I had to figure out how to "prime" the machine through my own trial & error. Made in China.

Another time I brought a flat wheelbarrow tire to a tire store here in POP. The owner said no problemo and told one of his guys to replace the tube for me. The worker then took the tire off with much effort, bending the rim a little, cracking the paint and generally scratching it all up. I stood there with my wife in horror, watching, as this guy continued to molest my wheelbarrow rim. She told me if I didn't like the way he was doing it to tell him to stop, take the thing home and do it myself, which BTW I am very capable of doing, but hey since I'm here... So the worker finally gets the tire off the rim and pulls out the torn tube. At this point we were pre-occupied with "people watching", a group of men arguing across the way. We turn our heads back and see this worker finally putting the tire back on, again-with much effort. I'm thinking GREAT he is going to puncture the new tube this way, but he finishes up and walks to the air filling pump. Only to realize he forgot to put the tube inside. I couldn't take it any longer and took both the new tube, still in box and the rim/ tire back home.
Only in the DR..........
 

RandyE

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Feb 4, 2002
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Anyone in Puerta Plata see the toy store? TOY'S 'N ME...... The giraffe wears glasses...
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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There's at least one local brand-name that won't travel well - a line of shampoos, shower gel etc called "Kreissy".

Either things have improved or I've learned to avoid them but when I first got here I remember ironing boards that would spontaneously collapse when you tried to use them and plastic dish racks that wouldn't hold up the drying dishes.
 

DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
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Ahh yes...the dish drainers that seem to "melt" under the weight of dishes. Yes, Chiri I think you've become wiser. I now inspect things almost fanatically. Frequently store personnel observe me during my inspection and I have to explain that I'm used to productos Dominicanos. That usually gets a great laugh out of them and they shake their heads, walking away while laughing.

I expect many of these things now in supermarkets and local stores. However, when we buy things at PriceSmart (even the Kirkland brand) I DON'T; alas, even those are rejects.

It has now become a game in our family to answer the all humorous question: "Why is THIS product being sold in the DR?" Usually if you look closely, there IS a reason. We try to not compare everything from here to other places but some of the situations are too humorous or frustrating not to do so!
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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DVD rentals: try watching the bonus features on some and they have nothing to do with the actual feature presentation.