Was I unreasonable to buy my friend something she didn't ask for

[LifeofI]

I went on holiday for a week and my friend was looking after my cat.
Before i left i said i will give her petrol money (she lives about 10mins drive) but she refused and asked if i can buy her some tobacco in the duty free.
When i came back i passed by spain and the tobacco she wanted was 55 euros as they only had the big boxes.
So instead i brought her a MAC mascara.

When i gave it to her today she said to me she didnt ask for this and wanted tobacco.
I could tell she was disappointed and i felt bad.

was i wrong to do this?
should i buy her a pack of tobacco from here?

[Waltermittythesequel]

God that is so stingy!

[LifeofI]

just want to clarify there was no set deal. She said IF there is blah tobacco then get me some because she refused petrol money.
I didnt think it was that much of a big deal as she didnt make out she really wanted the tobacco.
I dont think im tight, i wouldnt take my cat abroad ever so that doesnt apply.

[Whathaveilost]

I would be annoyed at the mascara TBH and I love MAC.
I'm glad you are getting her some baccy. As others have said it is a massive favour. Make sure you say you misunderstood or something.

If she is driving 20 mins each day ( 10 each way) and then doing cat duties it is taking up a chunk of her time every day for a week.

[sharonthewaspandthewineywall]

AIBU? All- yes...OP.... I'm not!

[shazzarooney99]

You really could have bought a single pack of tobbacco from a local shop abroad. its not much of an ask really, she done you a favour by looking after the cat.

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

She was just doing that thing of being really polite when she asked for the tobacco, if it was there/not too much trouble etc. She did actually want it and was looking forward to having it. You underestimate how much us smokers love tobacco!

Cash in a thankyou card would have been better than makeup.

[limitedperiodonly]

I don't like MAC mascara. It smudges. Get the tobacco from home. And make sure you spend 55 euros worth.

[ohtheholidays]

I don't smoke and I never have but I'm pretty sure it would be very hard to smoke a mascara OP even if it is a Mac one

I can understand why she wasn't pleased and yes I'd buy her some tobacco from here.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Op- you're wrong.

[Maryann1975]

Don't buy her flowers, buy her more tobacco. It's what she wants so don't waste your money on more stuff that she doesn't want. (I don't smoke but if I was expecting someone to bring me back a nice bottle of vodka and they bought me mascara, I wouldn't be happy. If they then bought me a small bottle of vodka and a bunch of flowers I would be doubly miffed, spend the flower money on extra tobacco for her.
I have cats and hate using catteries so am forever grateful to anyone who saves my cats from these places. (I'm sure there are lovely catteries out there, it's just the one I know about is always fully booked and the others all seem so dark and dingy I can't bear to leave them there).

[Waitingfordolly]

I'm going against the grain here and saying YWNBU. But then it depends what relationship you have with your friends. We do each other favours and no way would expect a gift to that value, in fact I would find it embarrassing and difficult to accept if someone spent that much on me.

[limitedperiodonly]

Don't buy her anything if you think you're right. Next time you go on holiday, just turn the cat out into the garden to fend for itself.

It's not just the petrol money. She fed him, gave him water, changed his litter tray - you do have a litter tray, don't you or do you let him shit in your neighbour's gardens? - petted him and made sure he wasn't stuck under the floorboards.

I'd think that was a bargain for 55 euros.

[pinkcan]

10 mins drive each way and feeding cat is not just the petrol money, it's quite a chunk of time each day. I definitely would have paid 55euro for this.

[fastdaytears]

i wouldnt take my cat abroad ever so that doesnt apply

Huh? Who suggested you should have taken the cat with you?

[TurnOffTheTv]

Yes you are right.
Who on earth said about taking s cat abroad?

[TurnOffTheTv]

Tight not right!

[fastdaytears]

Why didn't the cat get a holiday?

[VelvetSpoon]

I'd be pissed off if someone bought me a MAC mascara, as I only wear 1 very specific mascara Max Factor False Lash Effect. Mascara's a bit of an odd present too, if you were set on getting something at the airport wouldn't a small bottle of her favourite perfume be better?

In your position I probably would have bought her the big tobacco (as a friend, I'd expect her to say oh that's too much, let me give you £10-20 or whatever towards it) and worst case just swallowed the extra expense - or if I simply couldn't afford it, I'd have got her £20 worth from a supermarket when I got back.

[SoThatHappened]

So she looked after your cat for a week, spooned out foul smelling cat food, scooped out cat shit from its litter tray for a week.....and you dont think that is worth £40 worth of cigarettes.

You think that was only worth what a £10 mascara?

Fuck. Oh well she will never cat sit again I bet.

[Fedup21]

i wouldnt take my cat abroad ever so that doesnt apply

What?!

Next time-spend £80 on a cattery.

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

Yabu.

Your friend did not do you a favour she did an actual job for you

[NewChristian]

Sorry, I think YABU. I would have bought her the tobacco. It's never a good idea to give someone make up anyway. I would feel really embarrassed if she'd looked after my cat all week for nothing and I didn't give something she wanted in kind.

[Nightonthetown]

YABU - £40ish is nothing to spend on a friend who has done this.

My friends and I do favours like this for each other and we tend to just buy some sweets for the DCs or maybe a bottle of gin for each other.

I really wouldn't want someone to spend £40 on me TBH if I had offered to do them a favour but if it was the other way round and they had mentioned something they really wanted and the only version was £40 then I would have got it anyway.

[Paddletonio]

Yabu ditto everyone else

[Duck90]

Isn't Mac mascara around £19 in the shops? Do you not get discount in duty free for make up?