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Company strongarm tactics re: Diner's Club
Old 08-17-2009, 07:26 PM   #1
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Company strongarm tactics re: Diner's Club

My company has issued a policy that requires all company business expenses to be charged to a "company" Diner's Club card. However, it turns out that the card is a personal liability card; I am required to fill out and submit the application, and the card will be my name. My company makes it clear that "all charges remain the sole responsibility of the card holder". The account will be structured so that my company credits reimbursements directly to the Diner's Club account. They are doing this to avoid having to issue reimbursement checks or use direct deposit so as to save some expenses. Is this standard business practice at large corporations?

Frankly, this royally p*sses me off. In my opinion, if my company wants me to use a Diner's Club card, then they should issue me a company card. I don't see how they can force me to get a card in my name that I don't want, and that is going show up on my credit record.

Am I way off base here?
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Old 08-17-2009, 07:46 PM   #2
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Am I way off base here?
Depends on whether you value your job above this principle.

Ha
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Old 08-17-2009, 07:54 PM   #3
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Hmmm....

Can you, in reasonable amounts, get advances on your expenses?

The salespeople at the last place I worked before my career change did all the time. ( I was part of accounting and all of payroll, so I know )

ta,
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:01 PM   #4
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I work for state government, and we have to turn it receipts to be repaid. The last time I returned from a conference, I owed THEM money(it was all the a la carte smoked salmon at breakfast). Had to write a check to fiscal to get them off my back...
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:11 PM   #5
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Depends on whether you value your job above this principle.

Ha
I hope they value me more than this principle. I've been with the company almost 22 years. I think I will tell them politely that if they will not reimburse business expenses unless they are on a Diner's Club card, then I simply will not incur any business expenses.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:12 PM   #6
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In my last j*b, I issued cash advances to employees that later vouchered their expenses with receipts. Later the company gave out company MasterCards.

I see a problem if a person can not get a credit card for their company expenses in their own name if their credit score is not good enough. How will the company handle this situation?
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:28 PM   #7
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I hope they value me more than this principle. I've been with the company almost 22 years. I think I will tell them politely that if they will not reimburse business expenses unless they are on a Diner's Club card, then I simply will not incur any business expenses.
Let us know how this works out for you....
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:32 PM   #8
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I am a federal employee, and I have a government Mastercard for use when I am traveling for work. It has a very official-looking design with an American flag and a bald eagle on it.

It is in my name, but it is not really my card - - in the sense that I am not permitted to use it except for pre-authorized expenses.

Our travel arranger directly bills air fare to the card. After pre-authorizing, I charge my hotel room and rental car to the card. Each month, the government pays off the authorized charges to the card automatically. That's about it. Pretty exciting, huh?

As for BbbamI's question, in our case a credit check is done as part of the security clearance when we are first hired. So, it is not an issue.

I wouldn't worry about your Mastercard. I think it's standard practice these days for organizations to put their Mastercard in the employees' names.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:38 PM   #9
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Yes, I believe this is common practice. A megacorp I was with previously allowed employees to use the card for personal expenses, and separating these from business expenses was the responsibility of the employees. I do not know if they still allow that. Another megacorp does not want us to use the card for personal expenditure, except while during travel but for personal items or expensive meals that exceed their limits.

I suspect the reason for this practice is that they can easily see what the employees actually spend while on company business. They do not like to reimburse for "cash expenses", because the latter can be inflated.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:40 PM   #10
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I work for a medium-sized company. Our policy is exactly the same as yours. Employees have to apply cards in their own names, and after each expense report, the company pays the expenses directly to the credit card company.

The only issue I have is that sometimes my boss is out of town and it may take a few weeks for an expense to be paid. I don't want my credit record to be ruined because of the dysfunction of my company. Luckily it has not happened so far. There have been late payments, but never more than 30 days late.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:46 PM   #11
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Uncle Sam issued me six or seven cards (gas, telephone, travel, other expenses) and then pulled them all back and gave me a single Master Card that was in my name. We would submit the paperwork for reimbursements right after making the expenditure and generally had the money direct deposited before the MC bill came due - which we paid with a personal check. Not how I wanted to do business, but it's not like they gave me any choice.

All was good until Congress didn't pass a budget on time one year and reimbursements were "delayed". It also happened to be right after I had flown half a dozen times, spent about half the month in hotels in NYC and Miami, and had bought a set of tires and some repairs for the G-ride. Master Card sent me a bill for more than four grand and there was no sign of a reimbursement deposit from the G. The nice folks in the fiscal office at the field division I worked in sympathized with me over the missing reimbursement, but the answer was, "I don't know" and the underlying message was, "and it's not my problem". I decided I wasn't going to send MC a check until the folks in DC reimbursed me.

A few weeks after the bill was late I got a nice letter from Master Card reminding me of the debt. I called MC and explained how I viewed the situation.
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Look, I didn't want the damn credit card in the first place, but they made me take it. Congress won't pass a budget and all the agencies are operating on reduced figures from last year. Which means the [agency] is dragging its feet in reimbursing me for the travel I performed as part of my job. All these charges were authorized government expenses and it's the government's responsibility to pay them, not mine. When I get my money from them I'll write you a check the same day. But until then, I'm not about to float the government an interest free loan because it can't pay the bills on time. I suggest you call [agency] headquarters and explain this to them. Oh, and if you guys cause any negative comments to be entered into my credit history, stand by for a lawsuit.
Apparently someone did call headquarters, and eventually I got a call from someone within the agency trying to tell me I had to pay the bill. They got the same response that MC got, because even though I had a fed badge and ID, my paycheck still came from the city. After a couple of tries to get me to pay it they gave in and moved some money from one place to another and my reimbursement money showed up in a couple of days. MC didn't even charge me a late fee.

Edit to add: Just read Want2retire's post that she entered while I was typing this. I wonder if the agency paying the bill is a government wide change since I left, or if it is case by case basis depending on the agency. Some of our travel and expense decisions were made in the field when there wasn't time to get any paperwork done. We always had the ability to use the cards for any justifiable business reason. Justifying expenses, I learned, was a governmental comedy. I spent about seven grand one holiday weekend (helicopter fuel and a block of hotel rooms and meals for a local crew) and fiscal didn't bat an eye. The very next week I turned in a receipt for a $5 shrimp platter and a $2 beer and they made me answer multiple questions by memorandum.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:46 PM   #12
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I sure miss my Mega Cr*p!!!

Thanks for sharing this. It is an item that will make ER sweater for you.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:58 PM   #13
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I hope they value me more than this principle. I've been with the company almost 22 years. I think I will tell them politely that if they will not reimburse business expenses unless they are on a Diner's Club card, then I simply will not incur any business expenses.
They are within their rights. We had a similar situation at my MegaCorp that was in place when I was RIF'd three years ago. While this wasn't my favorite situation, it turned out to be very little hassle and, in fact, until I read your post hadn't thought about it.

If you can live with the minor inconvenience, live with it. If you can't, quit.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:04 PM   #14
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The only issue I have is that sometimes my boss is out of town and it may take a few weeks for an expense to be paid. I don't want my credit record to be ruined because of the dysfunction of my company. Luckily it has not happened so far. There have been late payments, but never more than 30 days late.
This is my main concern. My wife and I have a perfect credit record and I want to keep it that way. I have always submitted expense reports and receipts and been reimbursed in the past. I consider this a major imposition, but it sounds like it is common practice.

I'll sleep on it and try to calmly consider it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your helpful insight.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:06 PM   #15
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As for BbbamI's question, in our case a credit check is done as part of the security clearance when we are first hired. So, it is not an issue.
I wonder how often a credit check is done after an employee is hired.....
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:28 PM   #16
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This is my main concern. My wife and I have a perfect credit record and I want to keep it that way. I have always submitted expense reports and receipts and been reimbursed in the past. I consider this a major imposition, but it sounds like it is common practice.

I'll sleep on it and try to calmly consider it tomorrow.
In addition to using a similar CC for expenses and having the same concerns as you, I was also responsible for approving expense reports for a few dozen folks. In that regard, I liked the new system. The approval SW, which pre-checked the expense reports, promoted consistency from manager to manager and required overrides and explanations for exceptions to policy. I was sooooo tired of hearing crybabies whine that other managers were allowing their team to stay at five star hotels, fly first class, charge souvenirs/family gifts to their expense accounts, etc., etc., that when the software caught most "little descrepancies" for me, it lifted a great load. It was also amazing at how the same guys who I could never get to turn in their reports in a timely fashion when they were spending against cash advances, suddenly got prompt when they needed a credit card bill in their name to be paid!

BTW, despite being pretty active traveling my last few years with MegaCorp, there was never an issue with late payments to take care of the card. I do recall that, as an approver, if I was going to be on vacation or whatever I set up an alternative. I also believe there was an automatic followup by accounting if charges weren't cleared by some cutoff date. I also liked that everything was on line and I could approve expense reports as easily from Singapore as from my desk in the Chicago area.

Hope it works as well for you.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:46 PM   #17
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I see a problem if a person can not get a credit card for their company expenses in their own name if their credit score is not good enough. How will the company handle this situation?
The company is actually co-signing the card that is in "your name." There are. as far as I know, no issues with the employee's personal credit preventing him/her from getting a card.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:50 PM   #18
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This is my main concern. My wife and I have a perfect credit record and I want to keep it that way. I have always submitted expense reports and receipts and been reimbursed in the past. I consider this a major imposition, but it sounds like it is common practice.

I'll sleep on it and try to calmly consider it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your helpful insight.
FWIW, my company card never shows up on my credit report.
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Old 08-17-2009, 10:31 PM   #19
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There are three types of card agreements, usually. The most popular is where the employee is responsible for all charges. That way if they spend it on hookers and blow, the company will not reimburse them. Not that an employee would ever abuse their card.
The other is corporate liability where the company is solely responsible for the charges. When I worked for an Internet company everyone had to get a corporate card for travelling. All were personal except for one lady who had a bankruptcy and the company had to take responsibility for the card. The company ran out of money, people didn't get reimbursed and everyone was out except for the one lady. Bankruptcy paid off for her.
There is also joint where both the company and individual are liable but this is rare.
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Old 08-18-2009, 07:55 AM   #20
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Why did they choose "Diners Club" for the mandatory card? I've been plenty of places that take MasterCard or Visa but that do not accept Diners Club. Is that going to be an issue with reimbursements for business expenses?
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