Unexpected parcel arrived yesterday. Nothing so odd about that - I pre-order things relatively often, chip-in to Kickstarter and Indie-Go-Go projects, and what have you - so a surprise parcel isn't, in fact, that much of a surprise. Yesterday's parcel was your genuine unsolicited surprise - a bottle of wine, all bundled up in a wooden box, from my accoutant. A little card inside read Thank you for your recommendation, cheers to many more of them ...

Weak pun aside, I am uncomfortable with this. I like my accountants and did recently recommend them to someone, so I assume that's what has triggered this bottle.

If I give you a recommendation or an endorsement, particularly in a professional context, I'm staking my reputation, such as it might be, on someone else. That's not something I do lightly. I wouldn't do it looking for any kind of quid pro quo or kickback, and I feel awkward now it's happened. I might ask them not to do it again.