Woman offered to pay for a co-worker's shopping as a leaving present

Woman offered to pay for a co-worker's shopping as a leaving present. Photo / Getty

Deciding how much to spend on a co-worker's leaving present can be tricky - especially if you aren't close or you haven't known them for a long time.

A British 19-year-old supermarket worker asked users of Mumsnet for their views after revealing she had spent £72.34 (NZD $139.89) on a colleague.

Photo / Mumsnet

Speaking under the handle "LilacBearberry", she shared that the woman had racked up the sum after she offered to pay for a few items of shopping as a leaving present, reports Daily Mail.

She wrote: "I told her to grab a few bits and I'll treat her. The shopping came to £72.34, she then goes "thanks so much".

"Maybe it was my fault for doing what I did, but don't you think that's quite rude?"

The supermarket worker asked if it was rude for her colleague to rack up the arguably hefty bill knowing she's a student.

She also later revealed they hadn't been close but she felt it was necessary to buy a gift as everyone else did.

Most responses to the thread slammed her for agreeing to pay the amount and questioned why she didn't give the woman a maximum spend.

Photo / Mumsnet

One person wrote: "I'm sorry when the bill came to over £70 ($135), I don't get why you didn't say something, no one is that spineless."

Another said: "I would've refused to pay for it. Sorry but think £10-£15 max would've been more reasonable. £70 odd quid? cheek".

One person shared they had been in a similar situation where they felt compelled to give someone money.

Others gave advice on how to stop people taking advantage.

Photo / Mumsnet

A user with the handle "Glumglowworm" wrote: "That's a ridiculous amount to have spent on someone's generosity, but you really need to learn to say no.

"You should have simply said 'oh I didn't know today was your last day! I have a gift for you at home, when would be good to meet up so I can give it to you."

"Work on saying no, it'll do you good and stop CFs taking advantage of you".

Others debated over if it's strange to offer to pay for someone's shopping and suggested the teen could have bought wine and chocolate to give.

Photo / Mumsnet

One person said: "It was a bizarre offer. All you needed to do was buy a bottle of wine yourself if you really felt the need to buy a gift. But you hardly knew her so buying a gift anyway was unnecessary".

Another speaking under the handle "Emmageddon" wrote: "She must have realised you meant for her to get a bottle of wine and some chocs, not a full trolley of groceries".