Employee pays for lunch with loyalty points, coworker protests she should save them for the group order: 'I put the whole order through my account'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 23, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

Should ordering in for the office come with some perks?

Lunch is the highlight of the workday for many, so it is important to put some effort into it now and then. When you are behind on several deadlines and your manager is getting on your nerves, it is nice to have the sweet embrace of tasty food to fall back on. It is fuel for wherever the afternoon is going to take you.

It is no wonder that some kind of lunchtime arrangement is a perk of the job with many companies. They know that their employees will be more compliant when they are not hangry. On top of that, a team eating lunch together is one of the simplest ways to facilitate workplace bonding. While it isn't everybody's favorite thing, it is often important for morale and productivity.

At the same time, as soon as lunch becomes a group enterprise, there is an element of project management brought into the mix. Everyone's opinion has to be taken on board, even if it is impractical or annoying. Some would argue that the person in charge of bringing the food has the ultimate say in the matter, but that isn't what everybody would like to believe.

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  • Three coworkers sit and eat lunch together with their open-plan office behind them.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Three coworkers sit and eat lunch together with their open-plan office behind them. Stock photography for depiction only.
     

  • An employee took on the responsibility of ordering lunch for her small team every day through her personal account. She also picked up the order from a local sandwich shop. Because of this, she felt entitled to use the points from the reward system they had to get her sandwich for free.

    Problems arose when one of her coworkers saw the freebie on the receipt, and insisted that she should be sharing the point equally among her colleagues instead. She didn't know how that would work, and felt like she was entitled to use the points however she wanted.

  • Am I wrong for keeping the restaurant points from our office lunch orders?

    I work in a small office and a couple times a week 5 or 6 of us order lunch from the same sandwich place. I usually put the whole order through my account because nobody else wants to deal with collecting everyone's order, and I also walk over and pick it up so we don't have to pay delivery fees. Everyone just sends me what their food cost.
    via SpectacularBlossom
  • The restaurant has a rewards system, so naturally all the points from these orders have been building up on my account. Last week I had enough for a free meal and used it on my own lunch.
    via SpectacularBlossom
  • When I brought the food back, the itemized receipt was stapled to one of the bags. One of my coworkers grabbed it while figuring out which sandwich was his and noticed my meal showed as $0 with a reward redemption underneath it. He jokingly asked how I got mine free, so I told him I'd used the points on my account.
    via SpectacularBlossom

  • He felt like she was being selfish.

    That's when he said it was actually kind of because most of those points came from food everyone else paid for. He thinks whenever there's enough for something free it should go toward the next group order.
    via SpectacularBlossom
  • I said I don't really see how we'd even divide restaurant points between six people, plus I'm the one placing the orders, fronting the money and physically going to get it every time. There have also been plenty of times I've had to remind someone to send me their part later.
    via SpectacularBlossom
  • He said none of that changes the fact that I basically got a free lunch using everyone else's purchases. For what it's worth I have money saved and I'm not hanging onto these points because I desperately need a free sandwich lol. I just always assumed the rewards went to whoever actually placed the order.
    via SpectacularBlossom

  • Other colleagues were in agreement with him.

    A couple people at work agree with him now and think the points should be used on the group. AITA?
    via SpectacularBlossom
  • An employee holding a mug with her laptop on her lap gestures to her coworkers, who are eating lunch.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    An employee holding a mug with her laptop on her lap gestures to her coworkers, who are eating lunch. Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.
     

  • Perhaps the arrangement wasn't working anymore.

    Confident_Ad_919 Time for everyone to order and go get their own lunch!
    via Confident_Ad_919
  • a_blue_pterodactyl NTA, It's work to get orders and collect from people. If they're that ungrateful, then stop picking up their orders.
    via a_blue_pterodactyl
  • Particular_Bus_9031 If they want them to be used for the group all of them should take a turn collecting the money and picking up the food......simple as that
    via Particular_Bus_9031

  • They weren't points for sharing.

    Usual Permission_841 The points are yours. If anyone in the group would like to start benefiting from the points tell them they can take over organize lunch, putting it on their account, collecting the funds and going to pick it up.
    via Usual_Permission_841
  • Puzzleheaded-Call351 Time for everyone to go get their own food.
    via Puzzleheaded-Call351
  • Spork_Facepunch Sounds like that person wants to get their own lunch. There is no reasonable way to separate points. So if they want to collect their own, they can put in the effort themselves. Solved.
    via Spork_Facepunch

  • Maybe he needed to start ordering.

    ghostoftheradio You should say that's absolutely fine, and then refuse to having any part of collecting the orders or going to get it. It's literally a tiny perk you get for the effort you put in and there's no better way to show them that then making them do what you've been doing all this time.
    via ghostoftheradio
  • SaltPaint8964 Whoever orders and picks up gets the points. Let everyone take turns. NTA.
    via SaltPaint8964
  • moanofarcc You save them delivery fees by physically going and getting the food? You deserve the free sandwich. It's a SANDWICH, you're not pocketing any money from them. Just go and get yourself lunch from now on. One guy ruined a good thing.
    via moanofarcc

  • She was providing a service for her colleagues.

    blippityblue72 NTA. Stop being their DoorDash driver if they're going to be ungrateful for the favor you're doing them. Demand gas money.
    via blippityblue72

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terrible coworkers ordering lunch break work stories
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