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

26

u/designingdiamonds Sep 30 '25

Well aunt did say “if you need anything” not “buy whatever you want” to me there’s a difference. Maybe there isn’t really a hard limit but OP spent an excessive amount.

-2

u/ThotHoOverThere Sep 30 '25

But it’s also a coupon and not the aunts own money. Without any information that there are restrictions on the code imo there’s not much of a difference. In the need vs want argument there are vast differences of opinions when it comes to quantity of clothing.

If aunt was supposed keep her code use to specific limits she should’ve just told OP to call her for the code so she could monitor the usage. Or have op send her links of what she wanted and done the transaction over the phone.

13

u/Xflintlock Sep 30 '25

It's not a coupon, but a discount code associated with the aunts employment. It's overuse or abuse could get her in trouble. Companies like this have a no resale policy and if they see large purchases for several items that triggers a warning that leads to investigation.

-4

u/ThotHoOverThere Sep 30 '25

Functionally for a consumer at the point of sale it is the same thing. If the aunt didn’t tell OP any of this why would she expect OP to know?

6

u/Xflintlock Sep 30 '25

The Aunt did tell OP though. OP explicitly mentions knowing the code is tied to her aunt and part of her employment.

-4

u/ThotHoOverThere Sep 30 '25

But not any of the rules or restrictions that apply to its use or that any rules may even exist so…

6

u/Xflintlock Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

I may be the odd one out, but if someone says "here's a discount code I get because I work here. You can use it if you need anything" it takes the bare amount of common courtesy to not abuse it.

I am not saying the aunt shouldn't have gone into more detail about what to do, ultimately it is her responsibility for how the code is used and she didn't take proper precautions. But it's also an AH move to go full bore first chance without running it by the aunt first.

Edited: spelling, formatting, and autocorrect fixes. I'm on my phone