Work trip - no food in hotel!

I would be complaining at work. For bigger trips they should offer advances

Yes I guess so, a taxi is a lot of you are on limited budget but I guess I was thinking she's saving money not eating in the restaurant and a loaf of bread and some sandwich fillings won't cost much. I'd personally do that and claim cost of taxi back from employer.

It's only one meal - you will survive.

Probably too late now (I assume the event was only for the one night?) but could you contact work and ask for an instant bank transfer of some expenses to cover this?
And obviously leave stinking reviews of the hotel everywhere you can.

Exactly - was at do at the weekend in Bucks, so not far out of London really, but the hosts had been at great pains beforehand to point out the single bookable only taxi based at the station and the fact there’s no Uber coverage, or Deliveroo or its like and distinctly patchy mobile network availability. There’s a village shop 3 miles away , run by volunteers, open from 10am to noon. People coordinated beforehand to give lifts to those without car access.

DH has a credit card that is only used for work expenses which he claims back at the end of every month, so he never has to pay out of pocket for long if that makes sense?

The card we use gives us loads of points that we then use for holidays!

For the future can you do something similar?

For comparison, people preparing for surgery will have to fast for x number of hours. People on diets regularly skip meals. People recovering from dental surgery or painful procedures like braces often spend weeks without eating 3 meals every day and they also survive. People doing Ramadan fast from sunrise to sundown and all survive just fine.

There is always one!

You’re missing the point 100% that she’s got limited funds.
18 mile round trip soon adds up.

Doesn’t sound like it’s that often, and it doesn’t sound like the OP is in a very senior role. Only a fairly small minority of employees have company credit cards. DH and I both worked for decent sized companies, travelled a fair bit - him to some rather unusual parts of Asia - never any possibility of company credit cards. Most companies simply don’t offer them. Fork out and claim back on expenses is absolutely the norm.

Next time you do this kind of trip either get a company credit card to cover the costs or your employer could pay you an advance. It is ridiculous for you to need to supply working capital like this when it might leave your family short.

If neither option is possible, then I wouldn’t be working away from home - it is deeply unreasonable for your employer to put you in this situation.

Taxi Quote says £23.10 for 9 miles in wiltshire - and OP would need a return trip so over £50 by the time shes bought some food too, well out of OPs budget

I had to go to a hotel for work during Covid when nothing was open and they weren’t serving food. Thankfully there was a petrol station in walking distance where I was able to buy a few snacks. Since then I always take stuff like cup a soups/noodles I can make using the kettle and some pre packaged pastries. What a shit situation OP. Hope you had a good big breakfast xx

Yes that will help her get food..LAST NIGHT!

Yes I work in Wiltshire! 9 miles in a taxi doesn't cost that much!!

Learn to drive

Have you ever thought that your opinions may be unpopular because they are not well thought through?

People might well fast for all sorts of reasons but it's their choice to or it's a necessity.

And I might well not eat a lot during the day or have food with me if I'm expecting a good dinner later.

Honestly some people are just mad, just don’t understand. I kept getting on my thread - take a weeks worth of food, take your own fridge/cutlery/plates etc. Make your own meals. Eat sandwiches every day for lunch and dinner (partner is a heavy manual worker). No way can you not get dinner for less than £20 - there’s ALWAYS a Wetherspoons within 2 miles of you. The advice was crazy to our situation. 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

If they've really locked up and gone home and left you potentially the only guest in the hotel, it begs a few questions:

• what would happen in the event of an emergency?
• did they leave the kitchen unlocked so you can go and help yourself??

No need to shout. I was happy to wait till she clocks off. I still want to know what happened at breakfast this morning and dinner tonight as do many others on the thread.

Also you need a work credit card if you are travelling regularly for work. It's unreasonable of them to ask you to fork out so much and then claim it back.

That is a real issue and extremely unfair on the part of the employers. You should not have to effectively subsidise the company. You should ask for a cash advance.

I never ceased to be amazed at the number of people who cannot comprehend that even areas near to small towns can be utter dead zones for food and taxis, especially after late afternoon.

Any hotel in this kind of location will know the situation which makes their response even worse.

Really! I live in a village in Wiltshire, the single shop opens for one hour on Sunday and the pub shuts at 4.00 pm. It’s three miles to the next shop and taxis have to be booked well in advance. No Deliveroo or Just Eat, closest garage is in the town four miles away.

I hear you and feel for you OP. I made a thread a while ago, and was pretty much slated from everyone for not following their advice, and basically taking a full on kitchen when working away, including fridge I might add! 🙄🤨😵‍💫
I hope you got sorted, as that’s shit.

She's at WORK