Syracuse (Consumer Reports) -- Get ready to bite your tongue and force a fake smile. Twenty-percent of adults will get a lousy gift this holiday. That's according to a study by Consumer Reports.
So what does one do with their new Chia Pet or Snuggie? Well, most will grin and bear it, while others will donate the item or even try to pass the inferior present along to another victim.
Forty-nine million people admit to getting stuck with an awful holiday gift. To get even, recipients tried tactics from re-gifting to ridicule, according to a recent Consumer Reports poll. Some donated unwanted gifts to charity or threw them in the trash, while others handed the pitiful presents back to the original giver.
Many of the one of five adults nationwide who told us they'd they received a crummy gift last year stubbornly refused to make the best of it.
Eighteen percent donated it to charity; 15 percent re-gifted it to an unsuspecting family member, friend, or coworker; 11 percent returned the item to the retailer for a refund or merchandise credit, the same percentage that elected to toss the gift in the trash. Six percent tried to resell their lousy gifts.
Some irked recipients chose a more brazen response. Two percent of those surveyed actually confronted the original giver to return an unwanted present. Another 2 percent retaliated with ridicule -- posting photos of the cringe-worthy item on the Internet.
Who earned the title of worst gift-giver? In-laws were singled out by 11 percent of those surveyed. But even grandma and grandpa didn't escape unscathed. Five percent of adults who participated in our poll said that grandparents gave the most terrible presents.
