Would you send a gift through the post office postage to be paid upon receipt?

It obviates the meaning of “gift”; it invalidates the meaning of “friend.”

I would not accept the parcel and have it returned…

Because they knew you were not religious or of faith so they did it that way to give you the option if you wanted it or not.

@talljasperman I didn’t know what was in it to reject it.

I appreciate the gift, but if it’s the thought that counts that’s a lot more than a penny for her thoughts and her gift cost her nothing and me $10.

That sounds like a Passive-Aggressive move on her part. Is she clever (spiteful?) enough to do that? If no, fuhgeddaboudit and just use it to water your plants.

If yes, then you can send her a live bunny for Easter as a thank you gift.

@Hypocrisy_Central

That’s certainly one way to spin it I suppose. Especially since the OP had no way of knowing what was in the package unless they accepted it.

No, I would not accept a “gift” that was COD, unless the friend had contacted me beforehand and explained that they were in financial hardship and could not afford the postage themselves. In this case it sounds like your friend was just being a cheapass.

This would not qualify in the it’s the thought that counts category….I think it is both presumptuous and cheap. Plus that must have been one hell of a vial to cost $10.00 to ship.

@GloPro Begs the question who is the holy water to be used on? Any zombie problems?

Ten dollars well spent in my book. Now you know never to accept anything from her ever again.

I probably wouldn’t have paid for it and I never would have sent something C.O.D. even if I was broke.
Have you talked to this friend since you received the package?

I would probably buy a nice ‘Thank You” card, box it up, and send it to her, COD.

Sign it, “Well, bless you!,
GloPro.”

I’m with @talljasperman. I think it’s an insult and if it happened to me, I would not accept the package.

You have to pay the cash, on delivery, in order to open the package and see what is in it.

I still like my suggestion about boxing up a “thanks” card. If there’s a chance that there was a mistake involved, maybe she’ll call you, “WTF?” Then you can explain and have a laugh. If it was an intentional slight, you’ll never hear from her again. Accept no more COD packages, from her or anyone else.

Maybe better, separate answer:

Maybe your could call her collect to thank her? If it was intentional, she will refuse the call. If there was a flub, she’ll take the call and be concerned. Hang up and call her right back if you detect concern.

I don’t think I could ever send something C.O.D. unless under some weird circumstances and the person receiving it would always know about it before the item was even shipped.

I’d be pretty pissed if someone sent me a bottle of “holy water” that I had to pay 10 dollars for…

@GloPro O.k. I read the details… so your friend wanted to bless your dog. Is that a normal thing to do that. Was your dog possessed?

@talljasperman Nope, she’s just a blessed Catholic woman who knows I’m training this pup for search and rescue. She’s also a little kooky. I do not doubt her genuine affection for me or the dog she’s never met. She’s an oddball, and a bit sensitive, to boot.

You guys see how stubborn I can be. I don’t want to take any of the equally passive aggressive suggestions to heart. I agree there is some twisted passive aggressive something there. Is it religious? I don’t know why you would send a package COD…

@GloPro But dogs don’t have souls, why would you bless it? :P

I would never send anyone a gift like that. We send gifts with the hope of making them happy. The smile on their face they receive the gift is truly priceless. Here what you received cannot be considered as a gift. This can be just considered a COD transaction! Since you were not expecting it, you could have just returned it.

Send them a cinder block COD.

No. Absolutely not. Very bad taste or a very bad joke. Go with @johnpowell ‘s suggestion.

I suspect the ‘holy water’ is in fact dog’s urine and someone is taking the piss.

I hate to do this but I will. I’m cool if you are cool with the Bible. I don’t really care unless you do shit like this. This is over the top. If I need to find Jesus and be saved I can manage that on my own.

Pushing the shit on me really makes me mad.

I’ve sent plenty of gifts to people through the mail, and made sure that when they get it, there is nothing for them to pay. That’s a pretty dick move. Especially for a vial of water. Could have used that money for dog food.

If you are dead against doing anything passive-aggressive, are you for doing something aggressive-aggressive? You could phone and thank her for the gift, and ask why she sent it COD. “Did you realize that I would have to pay $10 to receive your gift?”

If she’s a kook, maybe she doesn’t actually know what COD means. You might save her other acquaintances a few bucks in the long run.