Gift-giving is supposed to be an act of love, but for some couples, it becomes an annual test of patience.

One man finds himself stuck in a long-running cycle with his girlfriend, whose exceptionally high standards make every gift feel like a headache.

This holiday season, he grapples with how to break the cycle.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for refusing to buy my GF presents

I (39M) have been dating my GF (38F) for 3 years.

My GF is incredibly sweet but extremely picky and has a habit of returning at least 50% of the things she buys herself.

This has turned the joyful act of gift giving into a huge chore.

This makes buying gifts for her extremely difficult.

Over the years, she’s only liked one gift I’ve gotten her. Even when she picks out the gift, she still wants to exchange it.

This song and dance has gotten frustrating. This year, I thought I nailed it.

He bought her things he knew she could really use.

I decided to replace her bedding because her current bedding looks like it came off the bed of a broke guy in his early 20s, and replace her coffee maker, which is at least a decade old.

I gave her the bedding early because I knew what would happen.

But, of course, the gifts fell flat.

Of course, she wanted to exchange it, picked out a new set, then wanted to exchange that.

Then Christmas morning, I gave her a $100 coffee maker to replace her old Mr. Coffee and was met with a look of disappointment.

He had no other choice than to just give up.

Finally, I just told her I don’t want to do gift exchanges anymore.

I’m not hurt or mad, I just don’t want to do it anymore.

What’s the point of buying a gift when you know you’re just going to have to return it?

He knows there must be a better way to show his affection.

She’s not rude about not liking the gifts, but I’d rather just cook a nice meal or take her out rather than repeatedly buying crap I know she’ll find something wrong with.

AITA?

This gift giver wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

What did Reddit have to say about all this?

This type of behavior would drive this redditor up the wall.

Gift giving really isn’t much fun when the recipient is ungrateful.

Buying an experience might be the best way to go here.

This commenter would also swear off materialistic gifts.

After years of returns and headaches, he finally had enough.

Hopefully next year his girlfriend can add some gratitude to her wish list.

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