What's the best freebie you've ever had?

[VincentHanna]

The two best ones I can think of:

I ordered a Panasonic DP-UB820 4k blu-ray player for £399.99 when it had just launched, and received two.

When I part-exchanged a car once, the salesman put the mileage down as 11,800 instead of the actual mileage of 118,000 and gave me way more than it was worth.

Edit - Oh and I was able to claim €2400 from British Airways for some delayed flights. That then paid towards a lovely holiday in Barbados - We flew with BA again though so they (kinda) got some of it back.

 

[Dyson]

Isn’t that stealing?

With me, I found a mint condition boxed NES with Mario Bros 3 in a skip.

Isn't taking from someone else's skip without permission also stealing?

 

[TheBrooder]

Paid a small amount to trial a magazine for 3 months, but they took the full subscription amount - I complained and they refunded the whole amount but I still receive the magazine to this day.

 

[ianh]

Leatherman Wave I got in late Oct 2001 - should have been over £100 but got it from a USAF dude as we headed off post 9/11 and it's still being used today, still working perfectly!

 

[Lysander]

Holiday to the Bahamas via Fort lauderdale - Gift from my parents for getting married. Some might call it a honeymoon but as that marriage is over, it has reverted to a free holiday, in name

That's a good point. I was given two four-day stays in a high-class all inclusive in Turkey. That was pretty great.

 

[Jean-F]

Isn't taking from someone else's skip without permission also stealing?

Apparently so, years ago I did a short term gig, driving a refrigerated truck delivering to a large supermarket chain.
One time in Norfolk, a guy brought a chocolate cake out to the loading dock, and placed it on a stack of wooden pallets.
It was in a cardboard box, and through the cellophane top, I could see, “Happy Birthday X”
I asked about it, and was told that it had been ordered and paid for, but not collected, and would be put in the skip, which was inaccessible then, as my trailer was in the way.
I said that I’d have it and take it home, and was told that if I took it, the police would have to be informed, as it was the property of the supermarket, and I might get food poisoning, then sue the store.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Apparently so, years ago I did a short term gig, driving a refrigerated truck delivering to a large supermarket chain.
One time in Norfolk, a guy brought a chocolate cake out to the loading dock, and placed it on a stack of wooden pallets.
It was in a cardboard box, and through the cellophane top, I could see, “Happy Birthday X”
I asked about it, and was told that it had been ordered and paid for, but not collected, and would be put in the skip, which was inaccessible then, as my trailer was in the way.
I said that I’d have it and take it home, and was told that if I took it, the police would have to be informed, as it was the property of the supermarket, and I might get food poisoning, then sue the store.

That's a lot of commas. And no cake.

 

[robfosters]

Isn't taking from someone else's skip without permission also stealing?

Not when you’re working at the persons house and they give you permission to take what you want from it.

 

[Greebo]

The old days when mobile phones came with no free minutes, calls were 25p per minute plus a monthly subscription. I worked for a large haulage company and we had a lot of mobile phones so every year the major mobile network providers would try and win the next years contract by throwing in lots of freebies.

I had 4 days at the golf open with free bar and food each day for 2 people. That was messy.
150 brand new Sony walkmans (sold them all at the car boot the following Sunday)
£6,000 cheque personally made out to me and send to my house ( I turned that one down as they werent the cheapest contract and I always went with the cheapest each year and was then happy to accept whatever incentives they gave).

Just remembered my best one. Got taken out by a potential supplier to Spearmint Rhino and they spent £1200 on me and another guy from work

My old boss got the best freebies though due to what his company spent. He got to go up in a harrier jet courtesy of Volvo and an all expenses paid trip round the michelin factory in Europe where he and his partner stayed in a 5 star hotel and wined and dined for 3 days, and several winter trips to Sweden courtesy of Volvo for his whole family with trips to see reindeers and Santa and sleigh rides and northern lights etc. He hated sport so turned down many rugby world cup tickets and ashes tickets sadly. He wouldnt even accept them and let anybody else go.

Freebies used to be immense in the old days.

 

[Jean-F]

That's a lot of commas. And no cake.

Granted, on re-reading, some commas were superfluous, hangs head.

 

[dlockers]

Just remembered my best one. Got taken out by a potential supplier to Spearmint Rhino and they spent £1200 on me and another guy from work

You and your colleague were paid £1200 to strip at Spearmint Rhino?

 

[Resident]

I think tbh the best one was the launch day PS1 I was given.

I was a 'Saturday boy' building basic PCs for a small independent shop. Owner decided to launch into consoles with the PS1 launch.
He ordered 20 and the distributor sent 23. The 20 ordered plus 3 "complimentary units", one for the store, one for the owner and one to give away as a prize.
The owner had no interest in gaming himself so gave it to me.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Guided tour of the Tower of London by one of the Yeoman Warders (including an epic subtle **** take of various colleagues) followed by a 4 course meal with unlimited wine as part of a works European team meeting.

 

[krooton]

A 12 night Baltic cruise valued at £6k.

 

[Feek]

The old days when mobile phones came with no free minutes, calls were 25p per minute plus a monthly subscription. I worked for a large haulage company and we had a lot of mobile phones so every year the major mobile network providers would try and win the next years contract by throwing in lots of freebies.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that. When we were negotiating a contract nearly twenty years ago, myself and my manager at the time were getting quotes from multiple suppliers, most of them offered cashback in the form of a substantial technology fund to be used over the term of the contract (I think we were looking at five year contracts) and one offered us £50,000 cashback on the deal. When we asked if that would be credited to the account, he said no, it would be actual cash. We didn't go with them.

 

[kaiowas]

Volvo branded fidget spinner

/mic drop

 

[Lysander]

Volvo branded fidget spinner

/mic drop

The envy. I can't contain it.

 

[subbytna]

You and your colleague were paid £1200 to strip at Spearmint Rhino?

 

[Mr Badger]

That's a lot of commas. And no cake.

The cake is a lie.

Also, at the start of the first lockdown my local ASDA were giving away food at closing time. Presumably their stock management was all over the place with social distancing requirements and reduced opening hours. This went on for weeks during which I was able to mostly eat for free.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Granted, on re-reading, some commas were superfluous, hangs head.

Is it French pauses? When I was learning French in primary school we used to count the number of times my teacher would say "err" in a lesson. It was hundreds.