Gift giving etiquette?
Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:31 pm
So I was wondering your opinions on returning the favour of gifts given to you by random people.
I'm asking because this happens to me quite often. My username and the names of my pets are words/characters people like to search..and so I get a lot of jelly from newbies and such like. But today a girl requested to be my neofriend (I accepted) and started sending me really cheap items. The first two times I sent her cheap (but not equally so) gifts in return..but she didn't stop. I can tell from her lookup she speaks french (I speak English & German, no help there) so I looked up how to say 'thank you very much' in french, neomailed her, got no response, and she keeps sending me things.
And I understand this is a weird thing to complain about, but I feel bad as she's a newbie and I don't want her spending all her np sending me things and I don't feel like sending her a 200np item for every 1np item she sends me...but I also don't feel like going off to buy a bunch of 1np items just so we're even.
Should I just ignore her gifts? Should I neomail her in english and hope she's bilingual? Does anyone know how to say 'It's awfully nice of you but you really don't need to keep sending me this stuff' in french?
I'm asking because this happens to me quite often. My username and the names of my pets are words/characters people like to search..and so I get a lot of jelly from newbies and such like. But today a girl requested to be my neofriend (I accepted) and started sending me really cheap items. The first two times I sent her cheap (but not equally so) gifts in return..but she didn't stop. I can tell from her lookup she speaks french (I speak English & German, no help there) so I looked up how to say 'thank you very much' in french, neomailed her, got no response, and she keeps sending me things.
And I understand this is a weird thing to complain about, but I feel bad as she's a newbie and I don't want her spending all her np sending me things and I don't feel like sending her a 200np item for every 1np item she sends me...but I also don't feel like going off to buy a bunch of 1np items just so we're even.
Should I just ignore her gifts? Should I neomail her in english and hope she's bilingual? Does anyone know how to say 'It's awfully nice of you but you really don't need to keep sending me this stuff' in french?
Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:03 am
I only give gifts when I want to give gifts. And neither do I expect something in return. Well, maybe a little neomail is nice.
My advice to you is to return the items. Write her and say "Merci beaucoup. Votre amitié est assez pour moi." Okay, so I only took two years of French. But what I'm trying to say is be nice and polite but firm. Don't get into a gift war that you don't want.
My advice to you is to return the items. Write her and say "Merci beaucoup. Votre amitié est assez pour moi." Okay, so I only took two years of French. But what I'm trying to say is be nice and polite but firm. Don't get into a gift war that you don't want.
Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:27 pm
Well, personally...I would ignore them...but then again, I'm not a nice person. 
Well, it's more like I wouldn't know how to respond, and I'm a very "ignore the problem and it will go away" type of person.
But you could write her in English, and suggest that if she doesn't speak English to use babelfish or something to at least get the general gist of your message. Or you can use babelfish yourself. It's poop for a good translation, but it might give her the idea...
I took four years of French, but I didn't retain much. Merci beaucoup pour tout les cadeaux, mais n'utilisez tout tes Neopints pour moi, s'il vous plait!
That's the best I can do. XD Literally that says "Thank you very much for all the gifts, but don't use all your Neopoints for me, please!" Luckily it could all be said in the present tense because that's really all I remember!
Well, it's more like I wouldn't know how to respond, and I'm a very "ignore the problem and it will go away" type of person.
But you could write her in English, and suggest that if she doesn't speak English to use babelfish or something to at least get the general gist of your message. Or you can use babelfish yourself. It's poop for a good translation, but it might give her the idea...
I took four years of French, but I didn't retain much. Merci beaucoup pour tout les cadeaux, mais n'utilisez tout tes Neopints pour moi, s'il vous plait!
That's the best I can do. XD Literally that says "Thank you very much for all the gifts, but don't use all your Neopoints for me, please!" Luckily it could all be said in the present tense because that's really all I remember!
Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:50 pm
If she wants to be Neofriends with someone who she can't expect to speak French according to your lookup, she probably speaks English herself. Since large parts of the site remain untranslated I assume everyone on Neopets can understand at least a little English.
As for the gift returning, if they're only 1np or so, I wouldn't feel obligated to return everything. Just explain that you have enough cheap food items yourself and she should keep them to feed her own pets.
As for the gift returning, if they're only 1np or so, I wouldn't feel obligated to return everything. Just explain that you have enough cheap food items yourself and she should keep them to feed her own pets.
Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:14 pm
If it bothers you, you can always return her gifts. That is what I do when somebody I don't know sends me something inappropriate.