Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I didn't cross the line? Work related

215 replies

checkthetraderplease · 02/09/2019 12:30

I'm a PA for a relatively medium sized company. I've been in the job about 8 weeks now.

Every year when the company celebrates another anniversary of starting, the MD takes everyone for a lunch, drinks, and we finish by 4pm.

In addition to this, the 'significant' staff get a Harrod's hamper. The task was given to me. Most people got one costing £120, the bigger fish got one for £400.

I was given the task to order them, not the 'number one' PA. I was hired so he could be more hands off with general PA work and accompany the MD more.

Anyway, I was told by the MD that I certainly MUST order myself one (I was not on the usual list).

I did... Except the one I ordered was different. It was £80 and I got it because it had a Harrod's teddy. DS got one when he was born so I thought it'd be nice to have another teddy for him.

Long story short, the number one PA said I really shouldn't have done that as he MD would've wanted the whole £120 spent and he might be quite surprised.

I've no idea what the big issue is (I saved him some money), and the number one PA said it just doesn't work like that.

MD is only holiday for two weeks now so it can't be brought up.

AIBU to think this is a bit silly and I didn't cross and lines? This PA seems very shocked at my behaviour. The MD didn't specify a specific one to order myself. He just said the money he wanted spent on each person.

I have an otherwise really good relationship with the other PA. He is an extremely nice man and very good at his job.

OP posts:
DishingOutDone · 02/09/2019 17:08

It's called recognition and appreciation. Happy staff are productive staff.

Sounds like the most miserable place to work ever where people are manipulated with "gifts".

diddl · 02/09/2019 17:18

But if Op supposedly if asked explained it by saying that she didn't feel entitled to buy what her boss had told her to for herself, why would she feel entitled to buy something for her kid??

31RueCambon75001 · 02/09/2019 17:20

I used to work forva place like this. You could never guess what completely inoccuous thing would be deemed to be wrong.

You have said sorry. Do yrslf a favourcand never mention it again

Lumene · 02/09/2019 17:24

Any new job you learn about that company’s culture and expectations. Check it out with the M.D. on return and chalk it up to experience. Other than that I would think no more about it.

AccioCats · 02/09/2019 17:27

This is Harrods hampers and big money which makes it all feel a bit ‘detached’ perhaps.

If scale it down, and imagine being the boss, you give your PA money to buy a £25 bottle of wine for everyone working at a particular level (PA included) Then the PA returns having bought herself a top for £15 and a toy for her kid for a fiver. Is that ok, just because she gives you a fiver change?
It’s a bit of a cheek really

Rachelle11 · 02/09/2019 17:33

Not only is wrong that you chose something different, but yes companies have a budget and they will lose their budget the following year if not used. IT's not just the MD trying to splash money around.

fascicle · 02/09/2019 18:02

Ilikethisone
I totally get the ops thinking. But she was told to order herself the same gift as everyone else .

Where has the OP said that? She has said she wasn't on the list, and the MD said she must order one for herself. Her not being on the list creates ambiguity and should make this a non-issue. Had she been on the list, with a hamper value next to her name, that might be different.

TheBeesKnee · 02/09/2019 18:05

I hope you didn't tell anyone about the teddy or the real reason you ordered a different hamper. Ever hear the term FIFO? Fit in or fuck off. It may well be that sort of place.

AccioCats · 02/09/2019 18:14

The OP said She wasn’t on the usual list because it’s an annual thing and she’s only been there 8 weeks!
It’s stretching things a tad to use that fact to the to justify her buying something different

Ilikethisone · 02/09/2019 18:23

Where has the OP said that? She has said she wasn't on the list, and the MD said she must order one for herself. Her not being on the list creates ambiguity and should make this a non-issue. Had she been on the list, with a hamper value next to her name, that might be different.

Talk about tying yourself in knots.

2 hampers were ordered. Some £120 and some £400

OP clearly said everyone else got the same one. Its not hard to deduce 'order yourself one' means 'order yourself one'.

Not 'order yourself something up to the value of x'.

Why would you assume he meant order what you want?

FlangeBucketFace · 02/09/2019 18:31

I think you have made a bit of a bad move here, OP. It was a gift from your boss, with everyone getting the same thing. It wasn’t for you to choose an alternative gift you preferred, even if it was cheaper. It can lead to resentment from other staff who may also prefer something else to the hamper chosen. As you are still relatively new, if you wanted to vary it, you should have sought guidance first. Poor judgment on your part I’m afraid.

BobbyPuck · 02/09/2019 18:43

If this ends up in the DF and is identifyable then you really will be in the 💩 and look v unprofessional.

motherheroic · 02/09/2019 18:48

You basically bought a gift for your son with company money.

If the hampers are delivered to the workplace people are going to see yours and think 'What's she got in hers and why is she getting special treatment after 8 weeks?'. This can lead to a lot of gossip and speculation.

fascicle · 02/09/2019 18:58

Acciocats
The OP said She wasn’t on the usual list because it’s an annual thing and she’s only been there 8 weeks!

OP did not actually say why she wasn't on the list. Length of employment could be a reason, in which case the MD might have been making an exception for OP, possibly because she was doing the ordering.

Ilikethisone
Talk about tying yourself in knots.

No, that would imply inconsistency in my argument, rather than offering a different viewpoint. Not sure why you think your deduction is more acceptable than the OP's, especially when she did order a hamper from the same supplier, but at a reduced cost to the company. If this is potentially such an issue for the company, I am surprised they give out hampers to only some employees and that those who receive them get one of two amounts spent on them. (The money spent on the hampers will presumably be insignificant compared to the cost of other pay/perks received by the more valued hamper recipients.)

DarlingNikita · 02/09/2019 19:01

mother, did you miss the bit where the OP says 'For what's it worth though, nobody would've seen my hamper. We put them away downstairs and people are told when to come and collect.'
?

Ilikethisone · 02/09/2019 19:09

Where has the OP said that? She has said she wasn't on the list, and the MD said she must order one for herself. Her not being on the list creates ambiguity and should make this a non-issue. Had she been on the list, with a hamper value next to her name, that might be different.

There were 2 types if hamper. OP, rightly deduced it wasnt the £400 one.

So there was one option left. I dont get why you think its entirely normal to know that everyone is this one particular product, but it must be ok to have a different one.

Read the thread, there are loads of office politics that rear their head in these situation. Often petty, but still frustrating for those having to deal with it.

Theres a reason they all get the same one.

LaurieMarlow · 02/09/2019 19:17

The fact that it was cheaper is immaterial. MD isn’t concerned with saving 40 quid.

But the fact that the OP took matters into her own hands won’t be appreciated.

MD asked her to order x hampers at £120, spending x amount. Now the bill comes to something different (at odds with what was accounted for) and it turns out the OP tailored her own gift to her preferences.

That’s not what she was asked to do.

Having said that, just apologise for the error if judgement and move on.

Lelly0503 · 02/09/2019 19:24

YABU, just because you were tasked with ordering the hampers it didn’t give you free reign to choose what you fancied. To me, the task given was order x amount of £120 hampers and order x amount of £400 ones. Not decide to have a browse and see what you like, the monetary value is irrelevant, if the annual gift was ‘give everyone x amount to spend on what they want’ it would be different. Also, it could be viewed that you wasted work time browsing the harrods hamper selection instead of just purchasing the right amount of each hamper required.

AccioCats · 02/09/2019 19:30

Fascicle you’re really clutching at straws.

The OP said she wasn’t on the usual list for the annual event to mark the anniversary of the opening of the company. It’s not difficult to deduce from that, that it’s because she wasn’t in the flipping company until 8 weeks ago. The list would be updated each year- which is why he told her to add herself to it.

To try to suggest that her not being on the list ‘created ambiguity’ which therefore justifies her in going and buying herself and her son something different to the instructed gifts is beyond ridiculous.

And besides, the OP didn’t say she bought something else because of ambiguity and being uncertain. She bought it because she preferred that particular gift over the one the MD had selected

Mammyloveswine · 02/09/2019 19:32

Totally missing the point but how do I get a job there?? Grin

MissSueDenim · 02/09/2019 19:50

It doesn’t really matter if anyone has seen the hamper or not, if the company has it’s own in house accounts department, then accounts payable will be well aware that OP got her own unique hamper when they come to square the invoice. Hopefully they won’t be as gossipy as the accounts department in my last company & claim the MD is buying OP special gifts.

NatashaAlianovaRomanova · 02/09/2019 19:50

A PP suggested that the MD may not find out - my MD knows every penny that goes out & comes into the business so it's a very definite possibility that they will find out.

OP has been a cheeky fucker - imagine the reverse thread:

The new PA has only been in our office for 8 weeks & has been tasked with ordering our annual hampers. She has ordered herself a hamper tailored to a gift her DS would like while the rest of us got a generic cheese & booze hamper. AIBU in thinking she's a cheeky fucker?

HeadintheiClouds · 02/09/2019 19:57

Why will accounts payable know it was op that got the unique hamper? The bill won’t be addressed to her...

Original poster
checkthetraderplease · 02/09/2019 19:57

My goodness, I'm shocked at some of these replies! I made a genuine mistake and see the error in what I've done.

I had a PA like you once - she was tasked with organising our move to a new office. I was very specific about the telephones, where I wanted them to be and how many and explained to her why I needed them like that. Come moving in day, the telephones weren't as I'd specified because she "thought it would be better to do it this way" and "we don't need all those lines" and "it was cheaper to get this package rather than the one you wanted". She didn't last long.

I would do nothing of the sort.

OP posts:
TheAlternativeTentacle · 02/09/2019 19:58

It's like I always say 'DON'T MENTION THE TEDDY'.

Happy days.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.