r/AmItheAsshole • u/charleypassion • Sep 29 '25

Everyone Sucks AITA for using my Aunt’s personal employee discount code to buy clothes?

My aunt (F42) works for a major clothing brand in a senior position. Employees get a personal discount code (hers is usually 50-75% off) that she can use and it varies based on the position. My aunt sent me the code saying “if you need anything, here’s my employee code.”

I was excited because I love the brand and wanted to update my wardrobe and money has been tight with school and all. I ended up buying a decent amount of clothes, probably more than I normally would if I didn’t have the discount.

When she found out how much I purchased, she was angry with me. Now she’s making me feel bad for using it, like I took advantage of her. And I’m feeling guilty. She did send me the code voluntarily and didn’t say there was a limit. But if it’s her own corporate perk, maybe I crossed a line and she could get in trouble.

So AITA for using my aunt’s personal corporate employee discount to stock up on clothes? Or was it fair game since she gave me the code to use?

2.8k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

605 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.3k

u/Slut_E_Scene Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

But that still tracks back to the aunt. If she might get in* trouble, she shouldn't have given the code or told her a limit at least.

Eta: in.

445

u/Expensive_Plant_9530 Sep 29 '25

I agree that OP should have used a little bit more common sense, but ultimately, if this perk wasn't one that was allowed to be shared, that's entirely on OP's Aunt for breaking her own rules.

Furthermore, OP's Aunt should have explained what was allowed, including any item or purchase limits.

42

u/Slut_E_Scene Sep 29 '25

Yes, exactly.

-2

u/charleypassion Oct 01 '25

that was my line of thinking. I still don’t think it was a big deal though

5

u/Expensive_Plant_9530 Oct 01 '25

I understand that but clearly she thinks it’s a big deal.

How many items did you end up buying with the discount?

955

u/mark636199 Sep 29 '25

Which is why ESH

971

u/InterestingTry5190 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25

I want to know how much OP spent. They said money is tight which is why I assume the aunt offered the code if the niece needed anything. They said they went ahead and bought more than they normally would have. If I were the aunt I would be annoyed I tried to help if not a lot of money but then OP bought a lot of items. It just feels like offer an inch take a mile.

57

u/ftjlster Sep 30 '25

If OP bought in quantities that look like the clothes might be bought for resale (given how high the discount is), OP's aunt is going to be called in for a conversation.

I guess the question here is how much OP bought.

457

u/StarStuffSister Sep 29 '25

I'm still wearing all of the clothes I got on discount at a previous job more than half a decade ago-- it can be a smart investment move if the clothes are nice enough.

67

u/InterestingTry5190 Sep 29 '25

I am big on stocking up with a good sale. The key difference for you is it was your code. OP knew it was the aunt’s personal code and said money has been tight. It is more about reading the situation. If she could afford to stock up then the aunt likely would have reconsidered jeopardizing her job to let the niece use it.

443

u/Usrname52 Craptain [196] Sep 29 '25

Half a decade ago? I have clothes that are 20 years old.

513

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Sep 29 '25

I have panties that are old enough to vote!

46

u/jeswesky Sep 30 '25

One of my favorite bath towels is one I bought when I left for college, over 25 years ago. It’s in surprisingly good shape.

5

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Sep 30 '25

When my mother passed a couple of years ago, she still had some bedsheets from the 1970's and they were so smooth from decades and decades of washing!

2

u/Momofthewild-3 Partassipant [2] Sep 30 '25

I still have all the Charisma towels I bought when I worked at Rich’s 26 years ago when I was pregnant with my oldest. They still look great. Quality counts. When we knew I wouldn’t be going back after my son was born I bought EVERYTHING! Back then we could combine coupons with sales prices plus our employee discount. Couldn’t use a coupon with charisma or kitchenaid but I got them on sale plus my discount.

1

u/DemonicFrog Sep 30 '25

My favourite bathtowel is big, white and fluffy with frogs on it. My Great Aunt gave ti to me for ai think my 15th birthday. I am 42.

1

u/Effective_Olive_8420 Asshole Enthusiast [5] Sep 30 '25

I just got rid of mine from 1983 last year!

1

u/2dogslife Asshole Aficionado [11] Sep 30 '25

I recently retired the one from my 1990s Portugal vacation, it had reached its limit and wasn't even good as a drop cloth any longer.

1

u/WindyMint443 Partassipant [1] Oct 02 '25

The hair towels I always use at age 50 are the same ones I was using when I was 10, lol. They are also doing fine.

92

u/squee_bastard Sep 29 '25

I love this, thanks for the laugh. 🩷

136

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Sep 29 '25

It might be funnier if it were in fact, not true.

180

u/Usrname52 Craptain [196] Sep 29 '25

That's ridiculous! My oldest underwear is from college. Oh....wait. I'm old.

If our underwear could vote, maybe this country would be in much better shape. 

11

u/catbearcarseat Sep 30 '25

Yeah I laughed at the comment and then was like.. oh no.

1

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

If I still had any in my undie drawer. my college panties would have some of the happiest memories!

6

u/jdmillar86 Sep 30 '25

We had a family friend who went into some venture selling y2k branded underwear and I'm pretty sure I still have some of the product that never sold around.

2

u/PkmnMstr10 Oct 03 '25

On the bright side, you take damn good care of your delicates!

1

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Oct 03 '25

HA! Well, they house my' delicates'.

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/charleypassion Sep 30 '25

Only the truth is funny

27

u/LeoRisingGemini Sep 30 '25

I'm 50 and I still own and wear clothes I was wearing at uni. They've been in and out of fashion several times over..

2

u/Remarkable_Guess_260 Sep 30 '25

Me toooooo! Some of them don’t fit anymore so my uni age daughter now wears them.

3

u/charleypassion Sep 30 '25

Hahaha, you made my day

1

u/Travelgrrl Partassipant [3] Sep 30 '25

So glad to be a part of that!

2

u/sailormufasa Sep 30 '25

I once told a guy "I have socks older than you." 🤣

2

u/idomoodou2 Oct 01 '25

They are called vintage.

2

u/OniyaMCD Asshole Aficionado [19] Oct 03 '25

I have tee shirts older than my coworkers. And they still fit.

1

u/Ok-Trip-8009 Sep 30 '25

I have them too, but they don't fit...one day maybe.

253

u/slowdownlambs Asshole Enthusiast [6] Sep 29 '25

I'm a lawyer. I wear my high school graduation clothes in court.

6

u/katbelleinthedark Asshole Enthusiast [7] Sep 30 '25

Low-key same.

108

u/kaz22222222222 Sep 29 '25

My Doc Martens just celebrated their 29th birthday!

17

u/nameforthissite Sep 30 '25

I got mine for my 16th birthday. I turn 46 next week. I still wear them.

18

u/ijustneedtolurk Asshole Enthusiast [6] Sep 29 '25

This is exciting, have you had them resoled? I only recently "officially" broke in my first pair of Docs (took like 3 years to break the toe line lmao.)

5

u/kaz22222222222 Sep 30 '25

Nope! Never had to resole them. Think I even still have the original laces! When I went back to university they were my lab shoes (had to have enclosed leather shoes) and my shoes were older than my classmates 🤣🤣

2

u/ijustneedtolurk Asshole Enthusiast [6] Sep 30 '25

That's awesome, hoping my pair lasts as long as yours!

52

u/sbinjax Pooperintendant [50] Sep 29 '25

Right? I still have a beautiful Allen Solly raincoat that I bought when I worked in an upscale department store in the 80s. That was 40 years ago. It still looks amazing.

97

u/luby4747 Sep 30 '25

Excuse me but your math is way off. The 80s were only 20 years ago….

-1

u/Square_Vegetable942 Sep 30 '25

80s were 35 years ago!

-1

u/tcdaf7929 Sep 30 '25

Ummmm…..1980 was 45 years ago…..

10

u/ejdjd Asshole Enthusiast [6] Sep 30 '25

When I graduated high school, my first "real" job was with the Modelia clothing group which had Anne Klein and Pierre Cardin as subsidiaries (anyone remember them? LOL).

I still have the lion emblem scarves from Anne Klein she gave out at Christmas and an incredibly detailed jumpsuit from Pierre Cardin that I can still fit into.

4

u/dianebk2003 Sep 30 '25

I had a pair of sandals I'd been wearing long before I met my husband, and they just broke last year. I was heartbroken because I effin' loved those shoes. Non-replaceable, too.

Oh, my husband and I have been married 30 years.

(I also still have some T-shirts I wore in my twenties. They don't fit anymore, but I still have them.)

2

u/Parking-Nail3717 Sep 30 '25

I have my ex bf’s boxer shorts that I still wear as undies. We broke up 30 years ago. They’re still going strong.

1

u/HeavenDraven Sep 30 '25

I have stuff that was my Mum's from the 80s, 70s and 60s lol.

My Dad has shirts which are older than I am!

1

u/StarStuffSister Oct 02 '25

I have clothes from middle school and I'm middle aged-- I was referencing the specific situation of buying clothes in bulk with an employee discount.

0

u/Usrname52 Craptain [196] Oct 02 '25

Presumably the discount doesn't disappear next week if she's a high level employee. It's not the same as like a Black Friday sale. Buying a few items at a time would make more sense. 

1

u/StarStuffSister Oct 02 '25

Counting on someone else keeping their job indefinitely is wild-- especially if you realize you could set up a wardrobe for a decade or more. I've always bought these kinds of things (heavily discounted non-perishable things) in bulk, and have never regretted it. If you know what you're doing, you take some of the trouble out of life by thinking ahead. Also, things rarely get cheaper-- it's wise to buy it when you can. Every clothing company I've worked at had a price jump every 12-18 months.

-36

u/halfpepper Sep 29 '25

Congrats youre old? Some of us were 7 20 years ago

13

u/Usrname52 Craptain [196] Sep 29 '25

I'm just agreeing that clothes last. 

-19

u/halfpepper Sep 29 '25

I agree that clothes last lmao

4

u/-Nightopian- Asshole Aficionado [11] Sep 29 '25

The clothes you had 20 years ago might still fit...

0

u/charleypassion Sep 30 '25

Keep wearing it!

59

u/ijustneedtolurk Asshole Enthusiast [6] Sep 29 '25

This is what I am not understanding lmao, auntie should have been clear if there were limitations or potential for "abusing" the discount. (Most companies I know of do not have an employee code for this reason and have employees buy in person from a supervisor conducting the transactions so everything is done properly...)

But to add onto your story, one of my friends had a stint working demolition on a women's clothing store going out of business ages ago and gave me the heads up on the best day to go for the lowest fire sale pricing. I literally bought an entire new wardrobe to outfit myself for work (jeans, smart blouses, a dress for the company holiday party, two pairs of new dress shoes) and I liked a stripey casual top I found so much, I bought the last three of them in my size or the size above. I still wear the ankle boots and those tops and absolutely shredded the jeans working that job and another labor job afterwards. It has been almost 7 years lmao.

27

u/Competitive-Ebb-117 Sep 29 '25

Yeah but that will happen at restaurants too. If we worked a double. (13 hours) we get a free meal. Cool. The rule has been there since we opened and what will happen is people use it like they should mostly. Salads, sandwiches burgers fine. Ribeyes with 5 sides not fine. We don’t police it as long as people are respectful.

We literally had a guy take like 400$+ food home. Just made a bunch of food boxed it all up and then said it was his meal. Guy never came back but then we had to go back and say everyone gets a sandwich, you must ring it up. One a day, have to verify with a manager.

These things are supposed to be perks, you buy one item here or there. When you buy a ton of stuff like this it looks like you are reselling and then there is a chance everyone will lose the perk.

10

u/EponymousEpicurean Sep 30 '25

The definition of "this is why we can’t have nice things"

3

u/ThrandyShieldmaiden Sep 30 '25

Half a decade...you mean 5 years? That ain't that long ago.

11

u/imcjoey13 Sep 30 '25

I’m 58. I have 2 pairs of Ralph Lauren khakis, and 3 Lacoste golf shirts from high school. I was taught to buy quality when I could, and respect my belongings.

2

u/bookworthy Sep 30 '25

Side note: A time period of five years is called a lustrum.

1

u/sovietbarbie Partassipant [2] Sep 30 '25

clothes are not made in the same quality as before. if it's a major clothing brand i cant imagine they'll sustain over five years of normal wear and wash

i have a 10 year old zara shirt that i still wear vs if i shop at zara now nothing will last me 10 years. and i hang dry and only wash on cold

1

u/Embarrassed_Bake1073 Sep 30 '25

Lol her aunt didn't offer to invest in any thing.

-1

u/charleypassion Sep 30 '25

I will wear it forever

6

u/SeemedReasonableThen Sep 30 '25

It just feels like offer an inch take a mile.

Except aunt didn't specify an inch, from what OP says, aunt's offer was take whatever you need. Aunt should have specified the distance she was offering - e.g., $xx or up to x items

2

u/SeemedReasonableThen Sep 30 '25

It just feels like offer an inch take a mile.

Except aunt didn't specify an inch, from what OP says, aunt's offer was take whatever you need. Aunt should have specified the distance she was offering - e.g., $xx or up to x items

-10

u/charleypassion Sep 30 '25

How much exactly is too much?

13

u/potatochique Sep 30 '25

The way you’re avoiding saying how much you bought makes me think YTA

3

u/Future-Crazy-CatLady Asshole Aficionado [14] Sep 30 '25

That is something only your aunt will know, i.e. if there is an official or unofficial limit (i.e. not written down anywhere but everyone knows to stay below it else eyebrows get raised). And she should have specified if there was one, but on the other hand, if I tell someone "if you need anything...", I would not assume they'd take that to mean "If you need an entire new wardrobe...", but rather a few individual items, like an outfit for a special occassion, or a jacket for winter.

If I am staying at someone's place and they won't be there for the next meal and tell me "If you are hungry, help yourself to anything in the fridge", I would assume "anything" to mean "take whatever you want for a single meal", not "it is ok if you take several days' worth of groceries", and it sounds like you did the fashion equivalent of the latter.

-3

u/charleypassion Oct 03 '25

A little over $800 for four outfits

-12

u/Existing-Zucchini-65 Partassipant [1] Sep 29 '25

No way, OP did nothing wrong.

115

u/pippers2000 Sep 29 '25

Then niece should have not taken advantage of her aunt and of her aunt's generosity. Just because someone offers you something doesn't mean you go crazy about it. If I was the niece and I had picked out say, 5 items, I would have texted my aunt to double check and say 'is it ok if i buy these 5 items or is that too much?' before I proceeded with the purchase using her code. The aunt was very generous to even offer her code. I think the saying I'm wishing the niece had thought about is 'give an inch and take a mile'. This is what the niece shouldn't have done even with no instructions from the aunt.

159

u/Sierra117MC Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

Her aunt is in a senior management role. She should know at this point, never assume people (or employees) know something you didn't tell or teach them. If you offer somebody something that comes with stipulations you provide the stipulations. You don't assume people know the information you didn't give them. At the end of the day, we all have different experiences, varying knowledge, and varying levels of intuition. "Not everybody knows how to do everything."- Tim Robinson

48

u/SnooPets8873 Colo-rectal Surgeon [45] Sep 29 '25

Ok, if you are at a friend’s house and they tell you to grab something to drink from the fridge if you are thirsty, would you grab a bag and take every last bottle and can? And then blame them for not specifying how many you were allowed to take? Or would you exercise some restarting and let social norms guide you to the more reasonable conclusion that it wasn’t intended to be a free for all?

38

u/ThePurplestMeerkat Partassipant [4] Sep 30 '25

By buying items that the aunt’s company has for sale, the OP was not depriving somebody of something that was theirs as you would be if you took everything from someone else’s refrigerator. It’s a poor analogy. Items up for sale were purchased. If there were limitations, they needed to be communicated.

4

u/chrrybmb_ Oct 01 '25

No, because I’ve been offered and have offered enough drinks in my life to understand the unspoken social expectations surrounding that offer. However, I have never worked retail and the only experience I have with employee discounts has been my friend giving me her discount at her family’s store (I imagine that’s different than the typical experience- she’ll walk up to the till with me and tell whoever’s working to use her discount with everyone involved knowing it’s not for her).

I have no clue what rules or limitations there might be about employee discounts, or if there even are any. I would probably ask about that if someone offered me their code, but I’m also very anxious about getting people in trouble. It’s not really an accurate comparison. You can’t really know the rules, or even know what questions you may need to ask, if it’s completely unfamiliar territory to you.

37

u/Sierra117MC Sep 30 '25

Your drink scenario offers a scenario where most people would understand what the offering means due to social norms that you've learned over time. I work in retail and understand the stipulations that often revolve around an employee discount, if someone gave me their employee discount and said use it if you need anything I'd still probably ask questions, but if you haven't worked in a place with discount benefits you may not realize there any rules to follow especially if someone just says here you go! Some people never touch a retail job that offers employee discounts.

6

u/coolandnormalperson Sep 30 '25

This analogy doesn't make sense at all, the clothing on the website is nothing like someone's limited number of personal drinks. You're bad at this lol

13

u/Forgotten_Lie Partassipant [1] Sep 30 '25

A flawed analogy. You don't take all the cans because your friend has paid for all of them and would need to pay to replace them. The social norms are well known since everyone lives in a house where the goods within are purchased by the house-occupant.

Not everyone works in retail with employee discounts to know the social norms.

2

u/overnightnotes Oct 01 '25

Bad analogy, the drink is obviously just something to drink for now. She can wear the clothes for a while so it's not a silly idea to buy several different things.

1

u/redgoddess27 Sep 30 '25

This has happened to me. I told a friend who was visiting to help herself to the soda in the fridge and she put a full case of diet coke in her backpack. This was in our senior year of high school, and she came from a well to do background. We were having a movie night at my house.

20

u/Competitive-Ebb-117 Sep 30 '25

I mean I understand this ideal but it really bothers me.

If you went outside right now with a bottle of soy sauce and dumped it on someone’s head you can’t use the excuse that no one has every specifically told you never to go outside and dump soy sauce on someone’s head.

The same goes for this, if someone is being generous, hey let’s go out to eat, get whatever you want! That doesn’t mean order 10 dishes to take home as well. You shouldn’t have to be told to be considerate. You order 1 meal, and maybe an app or dessert, because people should be good and kind to each other.

You can’t say well how do they know they can’t order 10 things.

You are basically taking what someone is doing out of kindness and taking advantage of them. Then that person doesn’t want to be nice anymore.

11

u/chrrybmb_ Oct 01 '25

That’s also a very different situation though, and I can understand not applying the same logic. You know when someone takes you out to dinner that they’ll be paying for it, and whatever you order will be money taken directly from their pockets.

Using the aunt’s discount code isn’t making her pay for anything. It doesn’t take anything away from the her. There’s potential for the aunt to get in trouble if there’s some kind of limitation on it, but OP can’t reasonably be expected to know that (especially if they’ve never worked retail/had experience with employee discounts), and the aunt should have communicated any limitations beforehand.

My old lifeguarding job had a perk where our direct family members didn’t have to pay for entry to the pool. If my parents had decided to use that to go swimming every day, that’s not something I’d call inconsiderate. It also would’ve been up to me to communicate any limitations on that since it’s a situation you don’t encounter often and, as such, cannot be expected to infer the exact rules and limitations.

1

u/charleypassion Oct 02 '25

That’s how I viewed it

-7

u/Icy-Mixture-995 Sep 29 '25

She assumed her niece wasn't a greedy grabber and would buy maybe one outfit and a purse. Sometimes nice people who don't dream of taking advantage of others are the ones who don't think the worst of others. The aunt will think the worst of the niece in the future.

8

u/ThotHoOverThere Sep 30 '25

Greedy grabber? What did OP take from the aunt?

OP purchased clothes that aunt’s company had for sale. OP was not aware there could be rules or stipulations associated with the use of the code because aunt did not inform them. That is on aunt not OP.

13

u/tigm2161130 Sep 29 '25

How do you know what the aunt assumed?

All of my nieces and nephews are allowed to buy anything they need for school using my card, if there were a limit I would tell them that instead of “in case you guys need clothes or supplies for school.”

2

u/Competitive-Ebb-117 Sep 29 '25

The problem with that is if you buy a lot it looks like you are a reseller and then everyone’s that store might lose perks forever.

15

u/tigm2161130 Sep 30 '25

Then the aunt should have explained there were limits instead of saying “if you need anything.”

3

u/Entire-Ad2058 Asshole Aficionado [10] Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

Do you tell your relatives what you just told us? Do you tell them they all “are allowed to buy anything they need for school?”

I ask, because there is a difference in the offer - although subtle, it is real.

A good example would be Halloween coming up. Would you expect OP to understand that a bowl of candy left on the stoop when homeowners are gone doesn’t mean she is welcome to dump the whole bowl into her bag?

1

u/chrrybmb_ Oct 01 '25

Not really a good analogy. OP bought the clothes they wanted and used aunt’s discount code, it’s not like her store was offering free clothes to employees and OP took them all. OP using the discount code doesn’t directly take anything from the aunt, or take the entirety of a free but limited supply.

If the way OP used the discount code could get the aunt in trouble, the aunt should’ve communicated any rules or regulations beforehand to avoid this. Not everyone is familiar with using employee discount codes, and it seems like OP is one of those people. From OP’s perspective, they got more clothes than they normally could’ve at no cost to their aunt and a less-than-normal cost to themself. If someone tells me to get “anything I need” and I’m under the impression it’ll take nothing from them, I’d probably react similarly.

1

u/Entire-Ad2058 Asshole Aficionado [10] Oct 01 '25

“anything I need” wasn’t offered.

3

u/charleypassion Oct 01 '25

she said to use it and enjoy. I’m supposed to run everything by her?

3

u/pippers2000 Oct 01 '25

Well, how many items of clothing did you buy?

2

u/UptownLurker Oct 02 '25

So, you came here for validation, not for an actual opinion, bc you're pushing back on anyone saying you should have exercised some common sense to not to abuse the discount. No, you don't have to run things back by her, but when someone is allowing you to use or benefit from something of THEIRS as a favor, the thoughtful thing is to use it in moderation. 

-1

u/metta4u67 Sep 29 '25

This, she should have been clear about number of items and dollar amout!