There are associations you can join where you get 20% off a participating restaurant’s bill if you use the correct card. amarinth specifically said if was for a restaurant tab, so it wouldn’t be applicable in this situation.
Just to be the umpteenth person to say it, they are being silly.
And the best analogy is RickJay’s–what if she were given $20s but used $50s to pay for the gift card? It doesn’t matter.
Did anyone else offer to buy the card at WalMart?
If Gina derived some small benefit from the arrangement, she also provided an extra service - even if it was “on her way” - that no one else provided. In other words, she “earned” whatever small advantage having the cash gave her.
Is this an accounting firm? I can see an accountant having some concerns over money from different accounts mixing inappropriately. I don’t believe you could pull this off with corporate funds. It could be argued that they had formed an informal corporation, with Gina as CFO. Her mixing of corporate funds with personal funds would then be inappropriate. However, in this case the funds were purely personal, and I agree that there is no problem.
I think they’re angry that they didn’t think of this trick themselves. You did say courthouse, right? That implies either lawyers, or someone who spends way too much time with lawyers and politicians. Just the type to be jealous of others perceived benefits.
Trick? Is this satire? There is no trick here! She has to pay it off, she could have paid her bills with the credit card, instead she used the cash. Same god damn thing. Either way, she winds up with $300 on the credit card. Lawyers are smart enough to recognize that there is no benefit here, real or perceived.
But…what if she took the $300 cash, bought the gift card on credit, and then declared bankruptcy so that she could keep the $300? Did anyone think about that? I think that many of us are underestimating the painfully obvious deception perpetuated by our so-called “friend” Gina.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen this level of consensus among the Members about a question. It must be some kind of record.
Your coworkers are nuts, or idiots, or griping because they didn’t really want to give the money in the first place. Any way you cut it, they’re WRONG.
Their money went towards paying for Gina’s bills. Gina’s money went towards the gift. It still results in a $300 gift for Don, but it’s not the same thing. The money was intended for the gift, not Gina’s bills.
Presumably, if Gina did not handle the $300 for the gift, then she would not have paid her bills on time or she would have found some other “loan”. Either of these situations would result in an interest charge or back payment charge – whatever. The $300 allowed her to avoid this additional charge that would have resulted from the unpaid bills or loan (a charge that, logically, would be less than the credit card bill. As, if the credit card would have been cheaper, it doesn’t make any sense to use the $300 for the bills). Therefore, resulting in a benefit to Gina that was not intended by those donating the money.
The real question is whether Gina volunteered to get the gift or Gina was told to get the gift. If Gina had volunteered, she gives the impression that she intended to take advantage of the situation, to take advantage of the money, to take advantage of those who donated it. She was never forthcoming about her intentions for the money until after the fact. Had she asked those who donated the money beforehand if she could use the money for her bills and use her credit card for the gift, I doubt any of them would have had a problem. It is the underhandedness of the situation that upsets them.
If I were in that situation, I’d be upset at Gina. It’s too late to get their money back, but some form of compensation from Gina would be in order.
None of the folks who are bothered are lawyers- they work in various offices in the courthouse. And I suspect that Danalan hit it on the head that the gripers are annoyed that they didn’t think of it first. I’m really surprised that it’s become such a tempest in a teapot- I’m tempted to print this thread and post it in the office in question!
I'm also not sure how it was decided that Gina would be the one to get the card- whether she was asked or whether she volunteered.At my job, I work on the road, installing car alarms, remote starters, and other accessories out of the back of a small truck. Mainly we work for car dealers, but occasionally, we go to someone’s house and do a cash job. I stop by our shop whenever I’m in the neighborhood, to take care of paperwork and restock my inventory.
If I’m out of cash, and I need lunch, I use the money I took from the customer. Next time I’m at a fee-free ATM, I get enough money to cover the shortage, and next time I’m at the office, my company gets all its money.
Like Gina, I enjoy a handy free benefit, and no one loses anything except the out-of-town ATMs. My boss knows about this, and no one thinks it’s at all wrong, or even a big deal.
Your co-workers are either jealous that Gina used her brain to make her life easier, or else they’re profoundly stupid.
Even if she used a credit card with a cashback program, she’s still going to be paying the interest on it. Odds are she doesn’t have $300 to pay it off all at once. So what real benefit would she have gotten, except for the cash on the spot.
If the people involved thought they were giving cash - then I could see them getting pissed. But it sounds like they knew it was going to be a gift certificate. They just aren’t using their brains.
Antimanics, Gina’s benefit is a win-win situation for everyone. The coworkers don’t have to go through the trouble of purchasing the gift, and Gina gets benefit that takes away from no one. Gina did glean a meager benefit, but it wasn’t at anyone’s expense, to be angry about it is petty.
The 20% thing that was mentioned before, is a rather significant benefit, and perhaps deserves different treatment. This could result in the person eating for free, or making money on the deal, which is unseemly. Gina’s benefit doesn’t even come close to this level.
You are kidding, aren’t you? What on earth sort of “compensation” are you envisioning? Just what would the recipients be being “compensated” for? There’s nothing at all underhanded about Gina’s actions.
Simple…
Gina did in fact gain a small benefit, but…
At NO ONE’S expense!
None of the gifters or the gifted suffered at all. If it were a crime (which it is most certainly not), it would be a victimless one.
People who get angry about someone else’s good fortune, sense, ingenuity, whatever are basically being jealous and petty.
Assholes. Office full of assholes. I can totally relate.
Fucking assholes…
hope I just didn’t veer off into BBQ Pit territory there…
compensation?.. please!!
Office full of assholes.
Something to think about is, what if Gina had been mugged and the cash were stolen? Would the others expect her to replace it? What if she had somehow carelessly lost the money? You can bet your boots she would have been expected to replace it.
The point is, in accepting the job to take the cash and buy the gift, she put herself at risk for being liable for the whole amount, out of her own pocket. In my opinion, her coworkers (and Antimanics) seem to be totally ignoring the good she did, and going out of their way to condemn her for something that, as stated above, didn’t cost anyone else anything at all. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me.
I feel very badly for Gina; if she thought it was in any way underhanded, I’m sure she would not have mentioned doing it. The fact that she did means she had no idea anyone would be offended; if she hadn’t mentioned it, no one would ever have been the wiser…why are people penalizing Gina for her honesty?
Your coworkers sound like just the sort of petty people who have nothing better to do during the day than sit around in knitting circles critiquing whoever isn’t around…and trust me, whenever this sort of thing occurs, it only takes a few minutes for a minor question to evolve into a Major Issue.
I’m sure all of your coworkers “drive by” a Wal-Mart at some point during their day; the fact remains that Gina took the responsibility for the money, and took time out of her day to buy the gift card. If she “laundered” the money through her Visa card instead of using the cash, whose business is it but hers?
:rolleyes:
They hand over $300. Don gets a gift certificate worth $300. What are you on about?
Suppose (to avoid carrying cash) Gina banked the money, and paid for the gift by cheque. Is that ‘the same thing’ to you?
Perhaps she would have paid her bills by by credit card. (Which wouldn’t have been cheaper for Gina, but would save the various retailers the 2% credit card charge the company makes. You do know about that, right?)
According to your thinking, if Gina hasn’t got $300 by next month, she’ll pay about 25% interest on the balance. Considering also her petrol money, and her time spent, I reckon you :smack: owe her money.
Yeah, Gina really stitched them up good! She made a profit of, let me see now, don’t rush me, errr, $0.
Yes, OK, but they didn’t get what they asked for! They did? What ? My brain hurts…but I just know she did something wrong!
The real question is why anyone would want to work with someone who thinks like you (or Gina’s co-workers).
The people in the office who are upset about this are stupid.
I’m wondering what your co-workers’ reactions would be if Don decided to take his $300 gift certificate to WalMart, buy a $10 item, and pocket the cash to pay his bills.
(I agree with everyone who says Gina’s actions were fine and your co-workers are probably annoying people.)