Gmail Still Rubbish

The most annoying thing with Gmail is how you can't easily get rid of items under the promotions and social tabs. Recently I went in, marked unread items as read, deleted them, then went to the bin and emptied it. All gone then, or so I thought. Two days later I log back in, there they are again, everything back, marked as unread. I've mentioned this to others and they say the same thing happens to them. Gmail is the only free web based email that pulls this trick; they're keeping users on the site longer and forcing them to read emails you just want gone, for whatever reason.