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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think I shouldn't have to replace my colleague's umbrella?

154 replies

PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 11:49

One of my colleagues is notoriously tight-fisted - the sort who steals biscuits from meeting rooms, is always the first to help himself when you buy treats for the office yet whatever he buys never gets offered around.

He is also very proud of the fact that he's never bought an umbrella for years as he has a collection of ones he's found on the train! He keeps about 3 of them in his drawer at work. The other day it started bucketing down and I had no umbrella so I asked if I could borrow one. After much deliberation he gave me the oldest one he had but I was grateful anyway as it saved me from being drenched.

Unfortunately it was also a windy day, and just as I got home, it got caught in a gust of wind and turned completely inside out. I examined it and it was pretty much wrecked. I apologised to my colleague the next day and explained what happened and he's insisting I buy him a new one, and "not one of those cheap jobs from Primark"!

AIBU to think I shouldn't have to? It was an ancient one he found on the tube years ago and he has plenty of spares! Or, if I'm going to replace it I don't see why it should be with a brand new brolly when it wasn't new to begin with. And no, it's not that he can't afford a new umbrella (he is single, on a good wage and has no mortgage) or that he's a collector of antique umbrellas!

OP posts:
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PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 14:45

I don't think he'll mind much Starlight - the one he lent me was (faded) hot pink with purple flowers!

OP posts:
PickAChew · 19/05/2017 15:19

Sports direct is a good suggestion - one too long to fit in his drawer.

HelpTheTigers · 19/05/2017 15:27

Norland - thank you, I definitely needed that laugh today! Star

AmserGwin · 19/05/2017 16:12

Get him a cheapo one
BUT forget to bring it in so he has to remind you again and again, which will make him look even more of a cheapskate 😏☂️

HelpTheTigers · 19/05/2017 16:21

Are there any old dusty golf brollies lying around at work, preferably one with advertising logos etc? There used to be a few in my office but they vanished. Could your Meany Man have swiped them?

PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 16:22

I really don't understand tight people. This guy is the first to help himself whenever anyone buys biscuits or cake for the office but he was once gifted a box of chocolates for doing something for someone in another team and refused to share them. Someone asked him about it and his logic was that what people bring into the office is for everyone to share but the chocolates were given to him specifically. So a further AIBU would be AIBU or is my colleague a tight bastard!

OP posts:
SwimmingInLemonade · 19/05/2017 16:24

'I don't want to risk getting you a style you wouldn't like. Just tell me exactly how much you paid for it and I will give you the cash to replace it'

Fizzy has the perfect answer. Or just tell him you handed it back in to lost property at the train station, where it should have gone in the first place!

Also, you didn't break it. He lent you something that wssn't fit for purpose.

cantthinkofanythingwitty · 19/05/2017 16:27

This could have been written by me about an ex colleague. When we had birthday buffets etc he would always bring in a 5p 2L bottle of cherryade (for himself) and scoff all the food everyone else had provided. Not a one off either

jarhead123 · 19/05/2017 16:27

I see your point and he sounds like a dick BUT you did break something that you borrowed, so yes, I'd buy a cheap replacement to keep the peace

JaneEyre70 · 19/05/2017 16:45

Just pop into your local bus or train station, ask for the lost property office....and claim an umbrella. Simples.

allertse · 19/05/2017 17:02

I think you should replace it. You weren't taking the moral highground about it being stolen when you wanted to use it Hmm

PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 17:06

Erm, no moral high ground as I never said it was stolen...

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 19/05/2017 17:26

'When we had birthday buffets etc he would always bring in a 5p 2L bottle of cherryade (for himself) and scoff all the food everyone else had provided. Not a one off either'

Why did no one EVER pull him up on this? Or the department secretary send out an email 'Buffets are for contributors only.' 'Hey, you didn't put anything in, X, why are taking food?'

And OP, just give him a poundland one and if he doesn't like it, 'It's like for like. Take it or leave it.' 'I said not a cheap one.' 'I don't take orders from you. It's like for like. Take it or leave it.' If you buy treats for the office and he jumps up first, pull the tray away, 'Off, you cheeky monkey! You never bring anything in, you can go last this time.'

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 19/05/2017 17:33

I don't understand tight fisted people either. Confused

Do they not realise that they're pissing everyone off? He's the first to take any cakes or chocolates offered round but won't share his own?

No one likes a tight arse so he clearly wants no friends or respect from his colleagues. It's bizarre.

Greyponcho · 19/05/2017 17:37

Hmm, this got me thinking about tightwads, it's the ones who are paid the most in our office who eat the majority of the communal snacks and treats and contribute nothing Hmm

PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 17:56

When we had birthday buffets etc he would always bring in a 5p 2L bottle of cherryade (for himself) and scoff all the food everyone else had provided. Not a one off either

Could be the same bloke, I mean I'm talking about someone who went to scoff cakes at an office Macmillan coffee morning and then complained that he was told to make a donation!

OP posts:
allertse · 19/05/2017 18:03

Erm, no moral high ground as I never said it was stolen...
Well picking up and keeping something that isn't yours is theft... Which you weren't fussed about when you borrowed it, so how he acquired it shouldn't matter and you should replace it.

missiondecision · 19/05/2017 18:40

Charity shop

missiondecision · 19/05/2017 18:42

However technically, it wasn't his to lend, therefore no, no replacement. But you work together so for harmony I'd go to the charity shop.

Mummyoflittledragon · 19/05/2017 19:18

If you post the name and work address on this site I'm sure several hundred helpful mums-netters will send a barrage of unwanted peppa pig and Minnie Mouse umbrellas. Wink

DearMrDilkington · 19/05/2017 19:35

Next works party, if there's a karaoke invite him up for a duet to Rhianna's Umbrella

GrinGrin

Birdsgottaf1y · 19/05/2017 19:35

It doesn't matter were he got it from, you need to replace it, like for like, or as close as possible.

As for the other stuff, he needs pulling upon it.

PineappleFwitters · 19/05/2017 20:15

Ok, next time I go for a walk I'm going to keep an eye out for an old brolly someone might've deposited by the wayside...

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glueandstick · 19/05/2017 20:20

Get one from pound land, shove a load of glitter in it (like the glitter bomb idea) and hand it over sweetly.

Tosser.

GloGirl · 19/05/2017 20:53

Take him on Judge Rinder! Grin