OT: Gifts from vendors

[jeepgirl30]

okay this is way off topic and I'm not sure where to post but since I am here most times this is where I'm posting!

At my company I occassionally will get gifts from vendors i work with. I'll get wine, cookies or product samples. I occassionally go through it and will share a couple items with friends here at the office or put cookies in the kitchen.

However a couple co workers have made some really nasty comments in the past that I should but the entire box of whatever and let everyone pick something. Meaning I should not pick first.

We have no company policy on receiving gifts. I have a bottle of wine on my desk i got 2 years ago but feel guilty taking it home! My CEO actually received it but said it was more mine since it was my project.

I'm the only person in my department so its not like I can share with my team!

I just got a box of cookies and put 2 of the 5 packs out in the kitchen. I just got a comment on why I didn't put all. Now other people get gifts here a lot but don't share any.

Am I wrong by keeping some of the gifts?

 

[pilgrimage]

How incredibly rude of your colleagues to insult how you share YOUR
gifts. In our company, items for sharing are shipped "XYS dept."
and put in the break room. If addressed individually, then they are
private property to be enjoyed or shared. That is our policy.
Maybe your employer could post something to take the stress off.

 

[Darsa]

Wow, no kidding! A gift sent to YOU is for YOU, and it's generous of you to share with the others in your office!

Our office gets gifts a lot this time of year as well, which all go on the table in the kitchen for everyone, but that's because they're FOR everyone! I always get the totally cool boxes that they Harry and David stuff comes in

 

[bookgirl]

Hey if they're addressed to you and your "department" then they are yours and it's just sour grapes on everyone else's part. Next time I'd just remind the groucher that they are addressed to you, and while noone else shares their goodies you feel like you share enough, but if they'd rather you'll just keep them in your area to share with only those involved in your projects.

 

[Cruise]

To be perfectly honest, I'd quit sharing at all. It may seem a bit Scrooge-like, but it will avoid the comments all together. Frankly, you're being nice enough to share something addressed to you and if people are going to be rude rather than grateful, there's really no reason for you to continue to do so.

Not sure how mail works at your company, but I'd just open any packages quietly at my desk. If I saw it was a vendor gift, I'd close the box back up and put it under my desk until it was time to leave and then take it home with me. If anyone questions the box just answer with "Errmm.. it's my mail" with a look on your face that implies you don't ask them what their personal mail is. Alternatively, if it's apparent it's a vendor gift before you open it, just don't open it at all and wait to see what it is until you get home.

 

[sndfan]

Since you've gotten multiple snide comments, I'd just take the box home and open it there. End of story.

No good deed...

 

[Handbag Lady]

I feel your pain. I have both clients and vendors that send me a lot of gifts. I don't always share, especially if I really like the gift or item.

I would stop sharing if I were you, and only put out the stuff you don't like or want. (If pressed, for example, nosy Nettie from the next desk sees something like cookies that she wants, you can say, "Oh, Molly and I had such a great time at dinner last week! How sweet of her to think of me, my kids, husband, etc. will LOVE these!" thus showing Nettie that they are a PERSONAL gift.)

Gifts addressed to you are yours. Gifts addressed to the entire department or section should be for everyone.

It certainly is nice when you share personal gifts from vendors, but you never have to do it at all. I usually share my gourmet popcorn, but only the kind with coconut in it because I hate coconut.

 

[scrapbookworm]

A couple questions: in your job, are you the only one who would receive any gifts (such as the purchasing manager), or do the complainers also receive vendor gifts? Are the gifts addressed to the company, or to you specifically?

I guess that it just depends upon the dynamics of the work place. Could it be something more than just simply sharing a box of chocolate? Are they bitter or envious over something else that is going on? How did they know you have 5 packs of cookies but only set out 2? Sounds like they are really breathing down your neck about holiday goodies, lol.

I do think that it's incredibly petty of them to complain that you didn't share or didn't just give away everything you received. If they also have the opportunity to receive vendor gifts, then I would just take your own gifts home and not even offer the coworkers any.

 

[jeepgirl30]

A couple questions: in your job, are you the only one who would receive any gifts (such as the purchasing manager), or do the complainers also receive vendor gifts? Are the gifts addressed to the company, or to you specifically?

I'm a department of one! Other people in the company receive gifts too. Sometimes they share and sometimes not.

our office manager/hr is the one that always makes snide comments to me. She makes snide comments though about everything. The gifts she gets though are for the whole office (addressed to the whole office) like the coffee samples from the coffee vendor.

I had one customer appreciate help I gave him and his wife. He sent me a big box of products his company sells like shampoo, dish soap, etc. He had a note that he hoped my family would like it. I got so much grief from a couple women here that I should have shared it. I really feel it was just jealousy.

From now on I will just take the boxes home and open there. That way no one knows.

 

[4Seasons]

To be perfectly honest, I'd quit sharing at all.

I agree, I would stop sharing and just take the stuff home. Stuff you don't like or want pass along to a friend or neighbor who would appreciate it.
I can't believe how incredibly rude some people can be.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I agree. Stop sharing all together unless the gift is intended for the entire staff. If it's only addressed to you, do as you wish with it.

We many receive gifts from vendors, and the intended receiver decides whether they want to keep or share, and no one questions their choice. If it's addressed to multiple staff members, it usually goes to any of the named who want it or it is given to someone we feel has been helpful to us throughout the year.

Last week, each of 3 buyers in my office received the same tin of popcorn from the same company. One opened hers to share among the 7 of us, another gave to another office who she felt deserved a bit of gratitude for what they've gone through this past year, and the third is going to give hers to another group - as soon as we decide who it should be.

 

[okeydokey]

I'm a department of one! Other people in the company receive gifts too. Sometimes they share and sometimes not.


From now on I will just take the boxes home and open there. That way no one knows.

That's the right thing to do. The gifts are for you so it's perfectly fine for you to open them at home.

 

[SnowWhite2]

WOW, I'm glad my company forbids us to accept any gifts unless they are of nominal value (under $5) and are stamped with the company name. The CEO prepares a letter to send out when we return anything sent by a vendor so they don't think we are being ungrateful. Any food gifts that would spoil are to be donated to a food bank.

 

[Stacerita]

I would quit sharing as well. Our company has rules so anything that comes in is shared so no one "gets" the gift. If they are nice things, we will raffle them off. But its part of company policy.

 

[Laura24]

I look at it this way, I am a buyer for a retailer, the vendors I buy from know me on a closer business level than my team behind me so of course I would be their contact for gifts sent to the store. I look at gifts as a thank you to the entire staff for representing their product on our sales floor. It's the efforts of the entire staff that deserved to be acknowledged and a gift from a vendor goes a long way to let my team know they are appreciated. Now, if it is an item of clothing, accessory or the likes, and not size specific for me, I put those types of items in a grab bag and let them have at it. I have a jr. buyer that hoards any freebies she gets and does not pass out anything to our staff. She keeps all of it for her personal use or her family's use and you can just imagine the hositility it causes. Better her than me!

 

[DisneyDawnNH]

We have a very tiny office of 4 people and each year our office gets gifts addressed to the office supervisor who immediately hides the gift under her desk and brings them home when she thinks nobody is looking. So last week I get a gift basket addressed to me from one of my CUSTOMERS and she parades out making a HUGE deal out of the gift basket WE GOT!! I opened the basket and put it all out to share with the 3 coworkers letting them know it was there. Yesterday a box comes in from our freight forwarder but it was never seen again!!

My opinion is they may be vendors you personally deal with but you are working with them on behalf of your employer. The gifts should be shared with all the employees. Just my opinion.

 

[prncess674]

My opinion is they may be vendors you personally deal with but you are working with them on behalf of your employer. The gifts should be shared with all the employees. Just my opinion.

I agree.

 

[missj1975]

My opinion is they may be vendors you personally deal with but you are working with them on behalf of your employer. The gifts should be shared with all the employees. Just my opinion.

I agree too. We get lots of gifts from our vendors addressed to our boss because everything is addressed to our boss. He is the contact name for all of our vendors even though pretty much all of our employees deal with the vendors at one point or another. Thank goodness our boss takes all the gifts and puts them in the kitchen for everyone to share because otherwise I bet the employees would feel pretty left out.

We send out gifts to our high dollar customers with the contact name on the present but we do expect the contact to share with everyone in that company too. Perhaps it is just how the people in our "field" is but I can't imagine employees taking the gifts home and not sharing. Sounds pretty stingy to me.