I Forgot To Care About Your Request

I work for a fairly small, newer branch of a much larger company. One of my coworkers — a low-level manager — has a habit of asking people to purchase things for the company and then “forgetting” to send them along when payroll comes around. This results in a whole circus of arguments and frustration from everyone.

One day, he reaches out to me via the company messaging app.

Coworker: “Hey, can you go get [specific expensive ink]? I’d go, but I have a mountain of work to do.”

Me: “Did you place an order?”

Coworker: “No, just go pick it up for me.”

Me: “And you’ll pay me back?”

[Coworker] calls me.

Coworker: “Are you going or not?”

Me: “Are you paying me back?”

Coworker: “It’s for work!”

Me: “So, just say, ‘Yes, I’m going to approve the expense,’ and I’ll go get it.”

Coworker: “Jesus, [My Name], just go!”

Me: “No.”

I hang up. He goes back to messaging me.

Coworker: “We really need that ink.”

Me: “Then you go get it. I’m done with this conversation until I have it in writing that I will be reimbursed.”

He stopped talking to me. He convinced someone else to go instead and “forgot” to tell payroll. Several people have gone to Human Resources about his forgetfulness, but nothing has been done yet. I suspect it’s because every time he doesn’t submit an expense, the company hopes they will be able to keep the money and [Coworker] looks like he has a great handle on the budget.