Done any Secret Santas? (not OcUK related)

Pawnless Endgame

Pawnless Endgame

Pawnless Endgame

Soldato
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There is the OcUK Santa, but wandered if you have done any others? How did they go? Tell us your stories :) Edit: title was meant to be - Does anyone do Secret Santas, but I can't edit the title!

I've been in a few work Santas, with various limits like £10 and £15. Most of them have worked out pretty well. One was for a team of 8 and this one girl was the dept's gossip queen and she would figure out who had who in the Santa :D One year I asked for a Nero gift voucher and I got given a Costa one instead. Bit ignorant imo as they all knew that I go to Nero every Saturday but I still used it.

For family, we usually spend £20 each for everyone, but this year for the first time, we decided to run a Santa, so single gift to a random person but at £50. So it means that everyone gets 1 present each but it's a sizely one at £50.

Going back to work Santas, I heard one story where 30-odd people from an open-plan setting (basically an entire floor of a building) participated in a Santa. One of them cheated by not buying a present so that their recipient got nothing. They never found out who the cheat was. Kinda their fault really for not using an independent adjudicator but poor lass who ended up out of pocket. The Santas I've been involved in have always used someone from another department to audit it.
 
I hate them personally.

We have one at work every 2-3 years but this year they didn't even bother including me (not that I was interested in being part of it).

I find it hard enough to find presents for people I do know and it rubs me up the wrong way for some reason just buying some token present.
 
Not this year because I work from home now but in previous years I've been in Secret Santas and really enjoyed them. It helps being part of a team of people that you really like and buying presents for them is fun. I even bought a couple of extra presents for people that I didn't draw!
 
I don't bother.
The majority of my workmates are women and, well, there's only so much Lynx you can receive every year before it scunners you. I'll just buy my own and save £20.
 
I really enjoy them. I did get screwed over a few years back on the retrocollect forums and said I would not do an online one again.... But then I started on these forums :)
 
We run a Secret Santa at work. I have been properly stitched up in recent years getting both the chief exec and finance director, but ended up with a good one this year; a friend who I purchased a bottle of gin for as a decent gift, and also a 'how to win a pub quiz' book with a personalised message on the front for humour - her team usually come last in the local pub quiz.

It would be a more interesting experiment if there was more licence to buy humorous, risqué or obnoxious gifts. The whole point for me is to have a laugh with it - but the amount of times people buy candles and chocolate, it becomes a pointless exercise. :rolleyes:
 
Work secret santa this year was £5 limit and you had to buy an item/items beginning with the same letter as the persons name. I had a J so bought 4 beers and a couple of bags of sweets all beginning with J. I personally was bought two pairs of Socks.

One of the partners was bought a Sixteen pack of Sausages. :p
 
kinobestew123 said:
Work secret santa this year was £5 limit and you had to buy an item/items beginning with the same letter as the persons name. I had a J so bought 4 beers and a couple of bags of sweets all beginning with J. I personally was bought two pairs of Socks.

One of the partners was bought a Sixteen pack of Sausages. :p
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Thats exactly what a secret santa at work should be.. A bit of fun... Low investment..
 
We're doing one this year for both my family and the wife's. Cut spending to £120 (60 limit on both) but it's probably not as good as buying individual presents.
 
had ours today. went pretty well and got a mini poker set which might actually get some use over christmas.

think the lower pricing say £5-15 works best for secret santa as no one gets to bent out of shape about things if they dont like what they received.
 
We've got one going with my wife's family. The limit was £50 I think. Who knows what I'll get...normally if I want something then I'll buy it.

I've got my sister in law a manicure and a jumper.

At work we did this thing they call Pakkeleg in Danish, where you bring in some presents and then you basically have 3 rounds of rolling the dice and trying to win presents from other people. It was absolute chaos...very fun. I ended up with some ramekins, some pom poms, a noise generator, and a bottle of madeira, which was all I really wanted. I spent about £15 on my gifts and then someone bought be ******* pom poms...not impressed.
 
we didn't do one this year but normally set a £10 limit and just do fun stuff.

However one year someone got an envelope with £10 worth of 10p's.....funny looking back :D
 
We do £1 limit so it's always pound shop gifts.

Waste of time, I'm not doing it anymore, also the time I gave them chilli chocolate repackaged didn't go down well.
 
kinobestew123 said:
You need to take the hint. I've personally never received Lynx. ;)
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:D

I know, right?
You only receive Lidl brand deodorant, where as I get Lynx. You think it's time I told the women you're not just an object of smelliness but, are a sexual being, a man that deserves to mask his smelliness with a more premium brand.

Hint taken! :p
 
A feminist activity book and some crayons for boss at work who is always banging on about white male privilege.

Went down a storm, much to my surprise.
 
Teh_Next said:
I don't bother.
The majority of my workmates are women and, well, there's only so much Lynx you can receive every year before it scunners you. I'll just buy my own and save £20.
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I've worked in a dept like yours - me, 1 other guy and 6 women. I guess I was fairly lucky, as I've received the following (in separate years):
- novelty light
- bottle of gin
- Costa voucher (as in my OP)
- a couple of blu-rays that I wanted

sneakysnail said:
had ours today. went pretty well and got a mini poker set which might actually get some use over christmas.
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I got given a poker set as well a few years ago! From the same team as my above other items.

Flaevius said:
We run a Secret Santa at work. I have been properly stitched up in recent years getting both the chief exec and finance director
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Hehe... I had my boss 3 years in a row :D

kinobestew123 said:
One of the partners was bought a Sixteen pack of Sausages. :p
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Odd one! Wouldn't they have needed to go straight into the fridge after unwrapping?

GAM8LE said:
we didn't do one this year but normally set a £10 limit and just do fun stuff.

However one year someone got an envelope with £10 worth of 10p's.....funny looking back :D
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PMSL!

Skillmister said:
Did one at work, got a voucher :rolleyes: Ultimate cop out, which I said out loud and someone went very red :p :p
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You called them out, like a boss :p
 
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