...to return work Christmas gift

[Noodella18]

Given an expensive hamper from work for Christmas (very lucky as it's been a tough year for them (small business) and I know lots of people don't get anything at all from their work.)

Hamper is from large department store. WIBU to return it and use the store credit for something that won't make us fat? I don't have the receipt, so is it even possible?

It’s a gift, YABU to expect to swap it for cash because you need baby stuff.

Either eat the food or donate it to the food bank.

I know it’s disapointing to get a gift you don’t really need instead of getting a cash bonus but sadly that’s your boss’s choice not yours

Just fucking rude.

Yes, so rude to want to exchange such a personal gift. They must have spent months thinking about it...

And YY on the food bank thing - my mum gets a few hampers every year that she gifts to local charity raffles and re-wins (or wins other peoples gifted hampers) and tried to give a couple to a food bank and they didn't want it.

No because it's not proper food. It's pointless stuff, it won't cook a meal, it's pretentious salsa, bijou biscuits with sundried tomatoes, mint chocolate crisp, etc etc.

Exactly. Christmas food. So she can use the “pointless stuff” in the hamper instead of buying pointless stuff.

Unless by “loads of food knocking around at Christmas” the OP meant more potatoes than at other times of the year.

but this year I'm just thinking about all the stuff I need to get and how much I could buy with how much it cost!

Focus instead on how you can provide for your child off your own back then rather than bilk your employer for trying to do a kind thing when they had a rough year . Did you not consider how much kitting out a baby costs before you got pregnant? It doesn't have to be expensive, for example, you can buy a Moses basket and excepting some extreme circumstances, you don't need bottles. Or even a buggy.

Dh got a Xmas hamper from work when dd1 was a few months old. It was lovely to have 'nice' stuff which we weren't buying for ourselves as we were putting the money aside for dd's things.

The hamper has been used as a toy/storage basket ever since.

Enjoy the contents of the hamper, regift if it helps and use the money you would have spent on food towards baby things.

Otherwise donate to the food bank. Because it's food I don't think you'll be able to get a refund on it. Not least because the company may well have bought a load for a discounted rate and therefore it might not have cost as much as you think anyway.

Most hampers are non returnaby, they are seasonal and contain shelf limited items. Contrary to popular opinion now, shops only have to change faulty goods, not fitting, not liking etc is at the shops discretion.

There's no obligation to 'gorge' on anything. What about having a small amount at a time?

@wilburforceraven I haven't once 'complained' about the gift, and I definitely don't think swapping a present for something that I would find more useful would be 'bilking' which is to obtain or withhold money unfairly or by deceit; to cheat or defraud (I mean really, that's quite ridiculous.)

Have you seriously never returned, swapped or regifted a present? (because I assume saving the money you would have spent on the other person's present fits your definition of bilking)

You need basics for the baby but you also deserve a nice treat too. Don’t feel guilty. If the hamper has things you like in it then enjoy them and think of it as appreciation from your employers (which it is). If you don’t like the contents then you could always ask if it can be exchanged and if not donate it to a food bank. I tend to feel I don’t deserve indulgent gifts as there are so many essentials I need, but I’m starting to make myself enjoy anything nice that comes my way and not consider wondering if I could exchange some nice bath stuff for a new kettle etc 😀

Enjoy it ad a luxury item before baby arrives. They won't take food back for safety reasons.

I think some people on here are being unfairly harsh. If she really doesn’t want the hamper and needs lots of things for the baby I don’t think it’s so terrible to want to exchange it. Work need never know.
Do you definitely know where it’s from OP? Is it somewhere like John Lewis? If it is I’d ring the store and ask if it’s returnable in exchange for gift vouchers and just explain it’s a gift from work that is unsuitable (they don’t know if you have a food intolerance or whatever). The worst they can do is say no. I would ring first though to save you lugging it into town, only to find that they won’t return it.

There's no obligation to 'gorge' on anything. What about having a small amount at a time?

Don’t you dare come out with that nonsense! 😠

eyes up Pringles box

Keep on justifying it to yourself however you like, OP, I hope they tell you to sling your hook if you try to return foodstuffs. Your baby basics are your lookout to buy.

Keep on avoiding the bilking question then @wilburforceraven !

I was going to say "let the baby sleep in the hamper" but EmmaPeel beat me to it!
I don't think it's cheeky to exchange something you don't want for something you do. I would.

I'm not the one who expects my employer to buy my baby a cot and buggy aside from the salary I earn from them, OP. But again, maybe next year they'll be passing out P45s as you said this year was a tough year as it was and then you'll really have something to whinge about rather than a few chocolates.

"@diddl isn't the whole point of gifts that you 'profit from the kind gesture'?!"

You have profited-by having the hamper.

You not being able to afford baby stuff is an entirely seperate matter.

What on earth are you raving about @wiburforceraven ? I don't expect them to buy me a cot?! I didn't and don't expect anything from them at all! And unemployment is an absolutely lovely thing to wish on somebody about to have a baby! Go and have a cup of tea!

I think it’s a fairly typical illustration of the waste this time of year.

OP received stuff she doesn’t need that’s definitely over packaged as it’s in a hamper. A lorry probably delivered it to the store, clogging roads for a pointless needless load of crap.

All this gift giving in the name of “nice gestures” has got out of hand. Christmas is about shops making money. That’s all it is these days.

@diddl that's my point - you said I would be 'profiting from the gift' by swapping it and that 'profiting from a gift' is unacceptable. But you're saying I'm profiting from being given the hamper in the first place. Which is the whole point of getting a gift. You profit either way.

How big is the hamper basket? couldn't you use it as a cot for the first few weeks.....

Helpful suggestions a house speciality.

Oh, I am not the first.

Quick rethink. A hamper basket would be useful storage for all the unwanted baby clothes you'll be given. Would also make a great footstool for tired pregnancy legs.

@viques nah, I'll be defying mumsnet and swapping ALL those unwanted baby clothes