Business traveler spends $218 on taxi after company refuses to reimburse his train ticket: 'No can do... order me a taxi'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 11, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Even though going on business trips is something employees do to help their company, some workplaces still treat their employees as if they're going on a frivolous vacation. Although some jobs require their employees to travel all the time, other jobs have voluntary trips for some workers to go on. Maybe the company needs to connect with clients across the globe, so they ask for a volunteer to represent them. So this worker is taking time out of their own life to travel to the airport, spend hours on a flight, check into a hotel and sleep in a bed away from home, and then finally get started on their work for the company. It's a big ask, so it's bizarre to me that some companies treat the worker as if they're trying to steal cash from the company. That sales dude isn't buying a $400 steak, he just wants to eat dinner after a long day of work! 

Scroll down to check out the way that this guy handled his own workplace's stingy attitude. 

Next, read about the 14-year-old basketball player who got even with their entitled coach, saying "I don't care. I won." 

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  • 01
    TAXI Nastup 36 Kč/km- Kč/Min XI
    via Maik Winnecke on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "Dont worry I made sure to get a receipt this time"

    My dad gets sent on business trips fairly often. As with most business trips, all of his expenses are covered. When he has to spend money during the trip on things that can't be paid in advance, he gets reimbursed by the company when he gets back and lets them know what he spent and what he spent it on. This is just stuff like the hotel, food and transport.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 03
    During one of those trips, he was staying in a Swiss hotel, taking a plane back home the next morning. As he leaves the workplace, they ask him if they should order him a taxi for the next morning to get to the airport, which is about 50ish km away. My dad replies that its a 5 min walk from his hotel to the train station, so he'll just take a train to the airport instead.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 04
    He does, and a few days later he gets a call from whatever finance departmant handles repaying expenses. They ask him if he's got a receipt for his train ticket, because otherwise they can't cover it.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 05
    Dad replies he only has the actual train ticket which has the price on it but thats all he has, you just buy it at a machine in the station and all that you get is the ticket, there is no receipt. So the lady at the phone tells him they can't pay him the cost because he doesn't have a receipt.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 06
    So a few weeks later, he's back in the exact same spot, and when they ask if he's going to take the train again, my dad goes 'no can do, I dont get a receipt that way. Order me that taxi. So the next morning he goes on a fairly long taxi drive to the airport. Fun fact: Swiss taxi rides are expensive as f
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 07
    Once again, a few days after he's back, a call from finances. About what the h I this 200 euro charge is, and how he had to spend so much this time. Dads reply was something in the lines of
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 08
    "Well last time I took the train, but you didn't want to reimburse my ticket because I didnt have a receipt. So this time I took a taxi, but don't worry, I made sure to get a receipt this time, so there should be no problem with paying me back for this right?"
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 09
    I was told they accepted because technically there was nothing they could do: the expense was necessary (to get to the airport) and he had a receipt proving it.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 10
    Later that day they informed that in the future he was allowed to use the train if it was cheaper, and he would only need to provide them with the train ticket.
    via u/MisterDerptastic
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10492407296
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    soda_cookie Haggling regarding expenses is the dumbest part of taking business trips. In your dad's case, I think at least my company would accept it since it had the price on it. Once I had to call a pizza place and have them fax me a copy of the order I
    via u/soda_cookie
  • 13
    made because the receipt they provided was not itemized, which is a requirement for meal expenses at my company. Maddening
    via u/soda_cookie
  • 14
    The Iron_Yuppie Similar story here. While on a work trip I skipped a full meal for breakfast and just got a coffee and donut. Submitted the receipt in my expense report itemized as breakfast for that day. Accountant rejected it saying it wasn't breakfast, it had to be a meal, and the company won't pay for my drinks and snacks all day.
    via u/The_Iron_Yuppie
  • 15
    This resulted in a few emails and phone calls between her and myself about the charge and hilariously debating what defines a breakfast. We wasted about an hour of company time for a $4 expense.
    via u/The Iron_Yuppie

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