‘My boss said I over tipped servers, so I tripled the cost of my work trips’: Employee costs company thousands of dollars after boss's reprisal over corporate tipping policy

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jun 5, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

Traveling to customer sites to analyze defective products means traversing under a corporate travel policy. In this case, OP was given a certain allowance according to his company's corporate travel policy, which he followed vigorously. OP actually skimped out on expenses as much as possible to make sure he didn't cost the company too much money, so he didn't even max out his allowance. That is until his boss called him into his office for a proper scolding after he had allegedly 'overtipped' servers when eating at a restaurant. The amount in question was $20, including the meal itself. OP remembered the meal quite well, as OP had been super 

OP was already having a pretty tough time at his job, and this was the last straw. The servers had been genuinely helpful on one of the worst days of his working life, and they deserved the big tip they had gotten. So OP hatched a plan, deciding to maliciously comply with the corporate travel policy down to every last cent. What ensued was a series of expenses the company hadn't foreseen, as OP tripled the amount he spent on said trips.

Scroll down to read what happened next. For more stories like this, here is a Karen who flew off the handle when she found out her name was mentioned in passing in a local newspaper.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/Eureecka 1 day ago Most Expensive Tip Ever M OC Nearly 15 years ago, I went to work for a company. The intent was for me to complete a project in quality and then move over into program management but someone quit
    via u/Eureecka
  • 02
    Font - and I was asked to fill in as a customer quality engineer. This meant that every month, I traveled to customer sites, did the first pass analysis of our defective products, and got yelled at - A LOT. It sucked. Also worth mentioning, our branch of the company was too small to use the corporate travel so for
    via u/Eureecka
  • 03
    Font - every trip I was scouring discount travel sites to find the cheapest flight/hotel/car. I was ridiculously vigorous in seeking best prices. If the shiest sh tbox car was $32/day and the not-so-sh_ty car was $34/day, I picked the $32/day car to save the company $2/day.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 04
    Font - One fine trip, several months in, was spectacularly awful. Not only did I have a truly terrible car, the hotel was all new depths of yuck. My shoes stuck to the carpet in my room and the security flipper thing on the door was plastic. Also, it was in the worst part of town and I worried about my safety to the
    via u/Eureecka
  • 05
    Font - point that I ended up pulling the little couch over to block the door and sleeping on it. Adding to my misery, I was sick. I had some creeping crud that plugged my sinuses and made me long for de ith. Normally, I'd have canceled the trip but the customer was in an uproar about our
    via u/Eureecka
  • 06
    Font - continued repeating defects and required someone to be there. I made this trek every month. And once during every trip, I would eat at the local Outback Steakhouse. It was a known quantity, the people who worked there were great, and it helped me to have that connection.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 07
    Font - On this particular trip, I made my way to the outback for dinner and I was clearly sick and miserable. And the workers took care of me. They sat me next to the fireplace, brought me tea, and had the kitchen make me chicken noodle soup even though it wasn't on the
    via u/Eureecka
  • 08
    Font - menu. I nearly cried I was so grateful. My bill for dinner was less than $10 so I charged $20. Yes, more than a 100% tip but their kindness kept me going. I got home, did my expense report, and turned it in. My director called me into his office and screamed at
    via u/Eureecka
  • 09
    Font - me about how the corporate policy was 10% tip and it should never exceed 15% and what was wrong with me for paying them so much. Remember: total bill including "excessive" tip was $20. It broke me. Well. It shattered my loyalty to the company's bottom line.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 10
    Font - So, I made them give me the corporate travel policy where the tip policy was outlined and from that moment on, I followed the corporate travel policy exactly. No more sh box $32/day cars; I'm in midsize or better. No more flying out at 4am in the center seat; the
    via u/Eureecka
  • 11
    Font - flights fit my schedule and I sat where I wanted. No more scary hotels in the worst part of town; now I'm staying at the nicest executive hotel allowed by the policy.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 12
    Font - The cost of my trips were pretty regularly double or triple what they had been, adding up to thousands of dollars a year but I never disobeyed their allowable tip policy again.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 13
    Font - The true irony: their corporate tip policy actually had verbiage that said "exceptional" service could be recognized with an additional gratuity but basically, don't make a habit of it. Also, the allowable per diem was $50/day and a receipt was
    via u/Eureecka
  • 14
    Font - only required if over that amount so the tip that started the whole thing was within per diem, allowable for exceptional service, and the receipt for it had not been necessary.
    via u/Eureecka
  • 15
    Font - Thepatrone36 +3 · 1 day ago I got a job that required travel working as a sub for Marlboro. My first trip I followed the rules to the letter and pretty much as OP stated the car was a junk heap, the hotel I checked my room for chalk outlines on the floor before setting my bags down, you get it.
    via u/Thepatrone36
  • 16
    Font - A week after I get back I get a call from the VP of the department wanting to go over my expense report. 'Oh sł t'I thought but said 'yes sir'. He proceeded to tell me that when I was on the road I represented his company and in his words 'We don't stay at fleabag motels and we don't drive sł t cars'
    via u/Thepatrone36
  • 17
    Font - 'But sir the rules are stated in the contract' 'And who do you think approves your expense reports? That's right.. me. We're Marlboro. We have money in the bank that has mold on it. Represent us in the way that we want to be represented'.
    via u/Thepatrone36
  • 18
    Font - After that it was top flight hotels, room service, and generally a convertible Mustang or an Expedition if I needed to haul promo product around. That was a great two years and my expense reports were never questioned. Ever ridden a limo through New York city hanging out of the moon roof with a drink in your hand? Highly recommended LOL. 4 1.3k ↓ Reply Share
    via u/Thepatrone36
  • 19
    Font - Ich_mag_Kartoffeln 1 day ago I wonder how they would have reacted to my expenses on an emergency work trip one time. I offered to take a per diem and stay with a friend, but was told, "No dice. If there's a hotel available, you stay in it!" So I did. $3000 for the night, and I added to that starting price.
    via u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
  • 20
    Font - WarLorax 21 hr. ago If your company makes you travel, and you don't own the company, and said company has a travel policy, do whatever you can within the travel policy. A company will never suffer for you, so don't voluntarily suffer for a company. Reply Share Vote ...
    via u/WarLorax
  • 21
    Font - anomalous_cowherd +2 . 1 day ago I knew a guy who had a trivial expense claim cancelled so he did the same, got hold of all the relevant policies and worked out exactly what he could and couldn't claim for, and this was at a big bureaucratic organisation.
    via u/anomalous_cowherd
  • 22
    Font - After his next trip his claim took a while to process, then the local Finance Director called him into their office.
    via u/anomalous_cowherd
  • 23
    Font - Apparently it was "the most ruthless expense claim" the guy had ever seen, but it was all within policy. It had taken finance hours to check it all out. Some expense line items were for literally a few pence.
    via u/anomalous_cowherd
  • 24
    Font - They agreed to pay his original claim too, in exchange for him lightening up on his future claims. Six months later a new vastly simplified expenses policy came out. ✩ 2.5k 2.5k Reply Share
    via u/anomalous_cowherd

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management per-diam boss workplace-stories malicious compliance servers corporate-travel-policy malicious-compliance-reddit company-trips tipping petty revenge travel-policy work-trips company
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