I Offered Hermès, But They Wanted Gift Cards

My employees dragged my name through the mud online, calling me a cheapskate for only giving out 0-0,000 gift cards for Christmas.

But that 0-0,000 gift card was their own choice, determined by a vote.

What I had originally prepared was a 0-00,000 Herms bag for each of them.

Now, the entire internet was calling me stingy.

I smiled and sent out a company-wide announcement: "Respecting the democratic decision, the Christmas bonus will officially be 0-0,000 gift cards. The surprise is canceled."

The moment the announcement went out, AstraCorp blew up

Because the Herms order confirmation was now being frantically shared in every WhatsApp group.

A week before Christmas, Monday morning meeting.

I stood at the front of the conference room, looking at the room full of employees, and decided to set the stage early.

"This Christmas, the company has prepared a special surprise for everyone."

I paused deliberately. "It's a secret for now, but I promise, this will be the most thoughtful Christmas gift you've ever received."

A buzz of curious discussion rose from the audience.

Chloe, a new employee, her eyes brightened, but she immediately whispered to Mark next to her:

"A surprise? It's not going to be our own products again, is it? I gave last year's custom thermal mug to my dad."

Mark, a five-year veteran at AstraCorp, chuckled. "The boss loves this kind of thing. It'd be more practical to just give us cash."

The next day, the buzz in the breakroom shifted.

Chloe held up her phone, her voice clear enough for the entire open-plan office to hear:

"Look! Our competitor is giving out $2,000 Amazon gift cards this year! The company downstairs is giving out cash directly!"

She sighed. "Our company isn't small either. 'Surprise, surprise,' who knows if it'll actually be surprising?"

A few young employees gathered around to look, envy etched on their faces.

"If only we could get gift cards, then we could buy whatever we want."

"Exactly, what if I don't like it?"

By the afternoon, Chloe knocked on my office door.

Behind her were Mark, and three or four department representatives.

"Boss," Chloe smiled sweetly, "we all discussed it, and we have a small suggestion."

Mark took over, his expression earnest:

"Boss, we know you put a lot of thought into it, but everyone's giving out gift cards this year. Should we perhaps go with the general sentiment?"

I scanned each of them. "The surprise I prepared is worth far more than a gift card."

"But boss," Chloe blinked,

"Gift cards are the most practical. Everyone can buy whatever they want for their families. That's true freedom."

Another employee chimed in, "Yeah, boss, the surprise is your good intention, but what if someone doesn't like it? It's better to let everyone choose for themselves."

They all looked at me with expectant eyes.

I paused for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Alright. Since this is everyone's wish, then this year we'll switch to gift cards."

"0-0,000 for each person, to be distributed before Christmas."

Cheers erupted, almost shaking the building.

Chloe shot Mark a triumphant glance.

They had won.

After the announcement about switching to gift cards was sent out, the company was jubilant.

The SnapChat group was flooded with "Boss is wise!" and "Thank you, boss!"

I instructed my assistant, Sarah, to cancel the Herms order.

The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon.

Sarah was rushing through the office, documents in her arms, when a delivery confirmation slip slid out of her folder.

She didn't notice and walked straight into the conference room.

The paper fluttered to Chloe's feet.

She bent down to pick it up, intending to return it to Sarah, but her gaze fixated on the paper

Herms Official Order Confirmation

Item: Birkin 25 Leather Handbag x 230

Ordered by: AstraCorp

Total Amount: $2,300,000

Notes: Christmas employee gift box, greeting cards to be imprinted with "Thank you for being with us."

Chloe's hands began to tremble.

She mechanically looked up and saw Mark walking over. "What's wrong, Chloe?"

"Mark." Her voice was trembling. "Look at this."

Mark took the receipt, his eyes instantly wide.

He sucked in a sharp breath and read the amount twice more.

"Over two hundred Birkins? About ten thousand dollars each?" His voice was barely a whisper.

The number exploded like a bomb in both their minds.

They had exchanged a 0-00,000 bag for a 0-0,000 gift card.

Chloe suddenly snatched the receipt back and pulled out her phone to take a picture.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked urgently.

"Posting it in the group!" Chloe's fingers were shaking. "Let everyone see! We've been tricked!"

"Wait"

But it was too late.

The photo was dropped into the company's 200-person main SnapChat group.

Along with Chloe's question:

@Boss What is this? The "surprise" you prepared, was it this?

The group fell silent for a full minute.

Then, it exploded.

Herms Birkin???

One for each person???

So this is what we were originally going to get???

I traded a 0-00,000 bag for 0-0,000???

Questions, shock, regret, and anger flooded the screen like a tsunami.

Mark's phone started vibrating wildly as private messages poured in:

"Mark! Is this real?"

"Why didn't you say the surprise was this?!"

"Can we still switch back now?"

Mark watched the chaos in the group, and a thought suddenly sparked in his mind.

He private messaged Chloe:

We can't just let this slide.

We need to get the bags back.

Chloe replied instantly:

How? We're the ones who asked for the switch.

Mark typed quickly:

We'll say the boss deliberately misled us! If he'd been clear it was Herms, who would've chosen 0-0,000?

This is fraud!

That night, small discussions began to appear in industry forums.

An anonymous account posted:

"Gossip time: a tech company boss played mind games, giving employees a choice between two Christmas benefits. He deliberately didn't mention option A was Herms, misleading employees into choosing option B, a 0-0,000 gift card. Now the employees are furious."

Someone in the comments asked: "Is this for real? Herms as an employee benefit?"

The original poster replied: "Got the order confirmation as proof, but the boss says since they chose B, they can't change it. He's incredibly cheap."

This post was forwarded to a private company SnapChat group.

Chloe watched the rising number of likes and said in the group:

We need to stand united. One person complaining won't do anything; if we all do it together, the boss has to give us an explanation.

Mark immediately agreed:

Exactly! This is the boss's trick! He deliberately wasn't clear because he didn't want to give out the expensive one!

Someone timidly asked:

But, we're the ones who asked for the switch.

Chloe immediately replied:

That's because we didn't know what the options were! This is fraud through unequal information!

If we'd known it was Herms, who would've chosen 0-0,000? Is that fair?

Emotions flared.

Regret and greed festered, turning into anger.

The next morning, a jointly signed petition from over a dozen employees lay on my desk.

It demanded a "fair re-selection of benefits" and "compensation for emotional distress caused by lack of transparency."

I looked at the familiar signatures on the petition

The intern whose rent I paid for half a year.

The single mother I specially approved to bring her child to work.

The technical backbone who always said he'd "work with the boss for a lifetime."

I pushed the petition aside.

"Inform everyone: the benefit plan has been democratically decided and will not change."

When the news spread, the company erupted.

Chloe directly filed a complaint with the labor union, crying about "corporate fraud against employees."

Mark, meanwhile, started sending private messages to peers, partners, and investors:

"The boss might have funding issues, otherwise why would he go back on his word?"

"I heard they've been delaying payments to suppliers for a while."

"They can't even afford Christmas benefits, is the company going under?"

Rumors spread like a virus.

In the afternoon, three partners called to inquire about the situation.

That evening, a screenshot of a chat log circulated within the industry

"AstraCorp's capital chain is broken, Christmas benefits shrink to 0-0,000, employees protest en masse."

The source of the screenshot was shown to be an internal company email.

On the third day of the fallout, I received a call from Michael, Executive Vice President of Okovia Group, our largest client.

His voice was as cold as ice:

"Alex, I'm hearing some disturbing rumors."

"Our collaboration for the next quarter is based on the premise of your company's stable operation."

"Now, the industry is buzzing that you have financial issues and widespread employee protests."

I tried to explain: "Michael, this is just a small misunderstanding regarding a benefit plan."

"Misunderstanding?" Michael cut me off. "My inbox received five anonymous tips, all from your employees."

"One of them even included your company's cash flow analysis for the past three monthsinternal data, Alex."

My heart sank.

Someone had leaked financial data.

"I'm giving you 24 hours," Michael said.

"If by this time tomorrow, I don't see your genuine commitment and a plan to completely resolve this issue"

He paused. "We'll initiate the process of replacing vendors."

The call ended.

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the scattered media vehicles gathering downstairs.

Sarah cautiously knocked and entered:

"Boss, two more media outlets are requesting interviews. Also, Chloe and Mark are here with over a dozen people, saying they want to see you."

"Let them in."

The door was pushed open, with Chloe leading, Mark following, and a dozen or so flushed employees behind them.

Chloe showed me her phone screen

It displayed her live stream data: 120,000 viewers online.

"Boss," her voice was shrill, "the whole internet knows how you 'defrauded' your employees now."

"Our demands are simple: either distribute the Herms bags as originally planned, or compensate the difference$9,000 per person."

Mark feigned a sympathetic tone:

"Boss, everyone isn't unreasonable. But your actions were indeed not ethical. Now that it's blown up, it's not good for the company's image. Why not compromise?"

I looked at them.

At those whom I had helped, trusted, and considered my comrades.

Their faces were etched with greed.

"What if I say no?" I asked calmly.

Chloe smiled.

She tapped another screen on her phone

It showed fragments of our core product's design source code, redacted and posted on a tech forum.

The poster was anonymous, but the title read: "AstraCorp Core Code Leaked, Company May Face Bankruptcy."

"Then maybe tomorrow, it won't just be fragments that are leaked," she said softly.

"Boss, what do you think? Are a few dozen bags more expensive, or is the company going bankrupt?"

The office fell into a deathly silence.

I slowly stood up and walked to the window.

Then I turned around, looking at each of them:

"Inform everyone: tomorrow morning at nine, in the main conference room."

"I will provide the final solution."

Chloe's face flashed with a victorious smile.

They thought I had caved.

After the crowd dispersed, I called in the legal and IT department heads.

"I want to see a complete chain of evidence before tomorrow's meeting." My voice was devoid of warmth. "You know what to do."

I gave them diamonds, but they threw them away like worthless trinkets.

And after throwing them away, now they want to snatch the diamonds back.

Fine.

Then I'll show you.

You don't even deserve the glass beads.