aisleorwindow

Because so many FTers are business travelers, I thought I'd ask this question. Could be a fun thread.

Let me know if this is too OMNIesque to be in TravelBuzz.
I guess if it is, we could change the question to "strangest travel expense" or something like that.

Looking forward to reading your responses!


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"I just wanna wish you good luck, we're all counting on you"
-Dr. Rumack

richard

I had no time to cash a traveler's check and I had to pay a cab. The UA counter wouldn't cash the check. I paid the cab $100 traveler's check for a $15 fare. I expensed the $100.

P.S. I got it back from UA...they sent me a check for $85 after I wrote to them.

JS

I expensed the $2 I gave to this woman who was asking for some money for the train (the subway) in NYC.

I usually don't give money to panhandlers, but this woman was not a typical panhandler. She was both pretty and pleasant (in fact, at first I thought she was a well-dressed hooker). I didn't run off afterwards, and we actually had a nice little conversation. She had been laid off from her job at the sewage treatment plant, and she was on her way to visit her sister in Harlem so they could drink beer.

On the way back to my hotel, I thought, you know what, it's all my employer's fault for having an office in such a sh**ty neighborhood (yes, sh**y even for New York), so I'm going to label it a "meal" and expense it.

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"Yippie-kay-yay, Mr. Falcon!" -- John McClane, Die Hard II As Seen on TV


[This message has been edited by JS (edited 11-01-2003).]

RS

When I went to work over 25 years ago for one of the largest accounting and consulting firms in the United States (I won't mention the name but it had something in common with "Price Club," "Water Company," and "Random House.") I saw senior people expensing "drinks on plane."

I would never have thought of hitting the company - actually the client as it would be billed to the client being visited - for such a petty charge. But back then, there was so much more drinking on the job, it could add up.

JayBrian

45 pairs of steel toe safety shoes.

A team I was leading to survey a ship didn't originally require safety equipment because the ship was supposed to be active. When we arrived at the facility in San Diego we found out that the ship was moved to drydock at another facility that required safety equipment. I was able to arrange loaners for helmets and safety glasses but not footware. You should have seen the look on the salesperson's face at Sears when we showed up. After about two hours everyone had shoes and $2500 was charged to my credit card. There were lots of sore feet that week.


Jay

richard

I'm sure it was a necessity!

divaof travel

In 1996, my company relocated my wife and me from Boston to San Diego. The cat freaked out, ran away, and we never saw her again (coyote dinner.) I expensed a new cat.

Internaut

I expensed a night in the hotel I was staying in for a very drunk customer I'd been entertaining. When I paid his bill, I found that he'd done a remarkably good job of the mini bar for someone who could barely walk

Edited to add: My employer stopped paying anything termed "Misc" on hotel receipts from Africa when they found out that this was a not so discreet term for having ladies of negotiable affection in the room.

[This message has been edited by Internaut (edited 11-02-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Internaut (edited 11-02-2003).]

WHBM

Arrived at a construction site out in the country 0700 one morning to do a project review; found things in disarray at entrance to the temporary offices there.

My expense report subsequently read:

"�10 gratuity to labourer to remove dead cat from lobby of site offices".

There was no receipt. Nor did the accountant ask for one.

notknownat

�750 worth of sex toys.

Might seem strange for some but it's everyday stuff for my business.

Non-NonRev

Bribe - in NYC at a late 1980s trade show (only two months on the job), my boss told me to slip the union electrician/foreman $40 to give us the OK to do some wiring by ourselves. He had no problem looking the other way. On the form, I put down "facilities labor expidite fee" or something like that.

alanw

I was conflicted about whether to post about my recent "2 sex toys, 2 skateboards, and 1 small tub of crisco" shopping trip but you completely stole my thunder.

BTW, that was 2 receipts, from 2 different shops.

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-alan in sitges, home of Si-Do

lensman

Only two stores? Am I naive?

GadgetFreak

I dont think I am naive, but rather hopeful. That the Crisco and the skateboard were the two items that came from one store. The alternatives are modestly disturbing.

As to how they went together and exactly what type of business this would be, Im not entirely sure I need to know.

gerryallen

I expensed the $152.00 speeding ticket for driving a rental car 36 mph in a 35 mph zone driving through town of Sicily Island, Parish of Catahoula. Was pulled over by the Chief of Police. The ticket had no address as to where to send the fine, so I asked where to mail as was told, �Just write the check out to me, in care of the town of Sicily Island, Parish of Catahoula.�

Turned in a copy of the ticket and the hand written note and never heard a thing about it.


[This message has been edited by gerryallen (edited 11-02-2003).]