Employee spends over $500 on coworker's going away party, coworkers refuse to pay $35 each to reimburse him

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Apr 12, 2026 4:30 PM EDT

Would you front a work cost on your credit card?

It's not a great idea to spend money on your job, unless you're a business owner. If you have a regular office job, you should probably try to separate your personal money from your business expenses. Because you never know whether or not you're going to get reimbursed. You hope that you can trust your coworkers and your workplace enough not to leave you stranded with the bill, but you never know. But sometimes this comes up with employees, and you have to find your way around it. You never know who you can trust and who you can't, and some people get kind of weird about money. But should you be expected to front every cost that comes your way?

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  • 01
    A frustrated employee sits at his desk
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)
  • 02

    Was I wrong for canceling the catering order for my coworkers going away party after nobody reimbursed me for three weeks?

    so our department was throwing a going away thing for someone who has been here for like six years. really well liked, the whole floor wanted to do something nice. someone suggested we pool together and get catering from this place she loves instead of just doing a sad grocery store spread.
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516
  • 03
    I said I could put it on my card since I had a work card with a high limit and everyone could just send me their share. around thirty five dollars each. fourteen people said they were in. I placed the order, paid the deposit, locked in the date. that was three weeks ago.
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516
  • 04
    I sent a breakdown in the group chat the same day. everyone saw it. a few people said nice one and moved on. nobody sent anything. week two I brought it up again. got a lot of yeah sorry III do it tonight. one person asked me to resend my venmo which I did. still nothing.
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516
  • 05
    week three I messaged people individually. most of them responded. a couple left me on read. one guy told me he thought someone else was handling reimbursements which. no. I said that in the original message. I am handling it. please send me thirty five dollars. the party was four days out at this point and I had collected maybe a hundred dollars out of almost five hundred.
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516
  • 06
    I sent one message to the whole group. said I need everyone paid up by end of day tomorrow or I have to cancel the order because I cant front this myself. three more people paid. the rest either didnt respond or said they were good for it.
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516
  • 07
    I canceled the order. lost the deposit which was sixty dollars, I just ate that myself. then I told the organizer what happened so she could make other arrangements and she was upset, not at me, but the whole situation. the party ended up being store bought stuff which was fine but definitely not what everyone said they wanted. AITJ?
    via Fuzzy-Medicine8516

  • Sometimes, with a work celebration, it has to come out of your employee's pocket. If it's an optional sort of deal and you want to buy something just to be nice, you have to expect that you're going to cover the cost. You may not like it, but that's sort of the way it goes. But if you're worried about not being reimbursed for something, then you should probably not cover the cost of it. That's what happened to the person in this story who fronted the cost of a going-away party and later regretted it. It's not fun to have to chase someone down to pay you back. We've all been there. You put down your card at dinner and assumed that people would pay you back, and they just didn't. Nobody wants to be the guy who is hounding everyone for money, but sometimes you can't help it. You want to get paid, and you don't want to be punished for your generosity. That's what happened here, though, and the employee was left wondering whether or not they were in the right. Keep reading for the full story and see what you think about it.

  • 08
    A man looks at a tablet at his desk, upset.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09

    Commenters gave their takes on this story.

    Pale_Arm_5341 "they were going to pay eventually" ok so why didnt they pay when you asked three times
    via Pale_Arm_5341
  • 10
    Bulldog MikeLodi If it's on a work-card, did you run it by that department by accounting or your boss first? At least explain to them what's going on.
    via BulldogMikeLodi
  • 11
    OrdinaryMango... You did the right thing. Now you know to never volunteer your card again.
    via OrdinaryMango4008
  • 12
    Consistent_Proof... They learned a valuable lesson
    via Consistent_Proof_772
  • 13
    That_Argument4... NTA. Lesson learned, never front money and hope people pay you back.
    via That_Argument4096
  • 14
    lucyfussbudget1 What garbage. Those are people without integrity. They are not good people. Even the ones who finally forked over when you Threatened to cancel it. They deserve grocery store garbage. You deserve prime rib tho.
    via lucyfussbudget1
  • 15
    SgtKarj My wife is the coworker who always gets stuck with being the party organizer/up front money and struggles to collect afterwards from the same group of slackers. She stresses about it every time and finally put her foot
    via SgtKarj
  • 16
    down. No one in the department has stepped up to "take the reins" and it's amusing when the coworkers start asking about an upcoming birthday or holiday party. She just smiles and shrugs.
    via SgtKarj
  • 17
    nuwaanda Please tell me you didn't pocket the funds folks sent you and you refunded them.
    via nuwaanda
  • 18
    TheDarkHelmet... NTJ... This is why I never offer to help groups anymore. Far to many people disrespect you in those situations and its not worth the guff you have to deal with to do it 99% of the time.
    via TheDarkHelmet1985
  • 19
    KnaprigaKraakor NTJ. This is one of those situations where the payment needs to be made by someone with a company card that no individual employee is responsible for. It is effectively a company event.
    via KnaprigaKraakor
  • 20
    I would not necessarily go so far as to name and shame the employees who let everybody down, but I would probably instead suggest to a smaller group (the ones that paid up) that we take the leaver to her preferred restaurant for a lunch on her last day, and let the ones who did not pay "enjoy" their own sad-sack lunch.
    via KnaprigaKraakor
  • 21
    MadeltOutInTim... Your coworkers owe you 60 and next time anyone asks you to contribute just deduct it from the 60 they owe you and pay nothing till even
    via MadeltOutInTime95969
  • 22
    Adorable_Ask9... NTJ, but this seems like a high amount to have to pay for a work thing. But if people agreed to pay the amount in advance, then left you hanging, you were right to cancel and not be stuck with possibly 400 of your own money. It's too bad the company didn't pay anything towards it.
    via Adorable_Ask9938
  • 23
    hokeypokey59 You said "nobody reimbursed you", but some did, right? Never front the money. Collect from each person by a set date in advance because this is exactly what happens. They don't pay in advance, eat and them
    via hokeypokey59
  • 24
    complain about the food as their excuse for not paying. OR the "bow out", don't pay and show up to grab a plate and go back to their desk. I'm just guessing here from experience but are these engineers? NTJ
    via hokeypokey59
  • 25
    Stranded_Send_... I would have started naming and shaming in week 2. "So far I have only received payment from Tim and Tina (thanks!). John, Irving, Mary, and Harry are all slow payers and need to cough up.
    via Stranded_Send_

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