Friend charged drinks and desserts to my hotel room.

[annaherrings]

I was NY where we have an office (the company I work for that is). I was staying in a hotel (paid for by company). I had two friends from London who were in NY at the same time visiting for Easter break. They wanted to meet up and I invited them to my hotel for lunch/drinks. I do not expense my hotel charges as I never have work meetings at the hotel and our offices are where all meetings are held. We also eat out a lot and work pays for that. So I settle any incidentals bill myself - whereas the room is paid for.

We had lunch and everything was fine. I had to head back to my office so I settled up. The waiter asked what my room # was when I asked to charge it to the room as I had to go. So I told him/said it out loud. I signed the check/bill and left. Before leaving, the two girls said: 'We might stay for one more in the adjoining bar'. That was obviously fine. They are free to do what they want/go where they want.

Upon checking out; I see extra charges of 4 drinks and two desserts. Totalling $140 and I'm pretty sure two of the drinks were champagne. (It was a 5* hotel in Manhattan).

It stood out because I was only aware of the lunch total since it was the only thing I charged to my room throughout the entire stay. So it wasn't exactly hard to spot.

I asked the hotel for the actual receipt (the one which you sign your name/room # on). Sure enough, it wasn't my signature. They had even added on the 20% tip.

When I queried them (the girls) on it, they said the hotel staff (same waiter) immediately charged it to my room and didn't give them a chance to pay. They 'wanted' to tip (tipping is a big deal in the US) so they said they asked for a check/bill - and tipped via the room - meaning my card. Hence the receipt in front of me. They also wrote down my room # since they heard me say it out loud prior.

I do not believe they didn't have a chance to pay. If they really wanted to, they could have. They then said they assumed my work was paying (I work for a famous/large bank) so we aren't exactly short of company money - hence their 'assumption'.

They then said they did 'ask me' if it was ok to 'stay for one more at the adjoining bar' and that I was more than ok with it.

To clarify, they didn't 'ask' and moreover; no two grown women need to ask my permission as to where they can go. It is entirely up to them where they go and what they do.

I need up paying their bill as I didn't want any awkwardness. I haven't responded to their texts and TBH, I'd rather just never talk to them again. AIBU to think there was no misunderstanding here? I could never ever walk out of a place - 5* or not - and not pay. The audacity of charging anything to a friend's room - and not even telling them about it after the fact - is unbelievable to me. My DH says to drop it and leave it be and called it 'cheeky' but not worth losing friendships over. I suspect he just doesn't want to engage.

I actually dislike the idea that it would have been ok if it was on expenses. No, somebody pays for it - it's dishonest, really.

In any case, they should pay you back, because it's straightforward theft. And not nice considering you just sprang for a nice lunch for them.

Except OP literally communicated to them that her work wasn't covering it so that's not what happened at all!

Why would you think a company would pay for an employee’s friend’s to have drinks alone in a bar?

And grow up. Someone buying you lunch doesn’t mean they have to foot the bill for the rest of your day. Whether it’s $300 or $3000.

Unless they apologise and arrange to pay up pronto (as in today) I’d drop the CFs. They should be able to afford the $70 if they can afford to holiday in NY. If they paid up swiftly I’d be inclined to cautiously forgive and forget. Sorry - friends can be disappointing and grabby. Always a shocker.

Omg at PPs who haven't RTFT. At least read the OP's posts ffs

“It’s ok to steal from my friend or my friend’s employer” is one hell of an opposing view. Super helpful!

As others have said ask politely for the the money. If they don't pay then its 'thanks for the memories' and move on. If they do pay and shut you out, then its 'thanks for the memories'... If you pretend it didn't happen it would far more stressful meeting up with them again without that colouring the experience or you feeling the need to be on alert in case they take the proverbial again.

Not helpful to know that 96% of people including the person whose bill you would have stiffed would think you were a thief and drop you as a friend like a stone? Because your opinion that to do this is ok is as valid as anyone else’s 😂😂😂

Well you do you obviously but a free dessert and glass of champagne would not compensate me for the loss of my good name and friendships

No you don’t. No company foots the bill for any expense. You haven’t even bothered reading the OP’s posts either.

@annaherrings id be surprised if they reimburse you. You’ve been a generous friend, but as you see from some of the responses here, sometimes generosity is met with resentment and “Well she can afford it anyway” etc etc.

Often people in more run of the mill jobs don’t realise how expenses work - no way would my place pay for drinks etc like that.

It’s no big deal, you would have done the same?

So if you had been the op, you would have had no hesitancy in stealing from defrauding your Company? I really hope that your Company decides to audit expenses and finds out just how dishonest you are! Good luck with the job hunting after you have been charged (and convicted) with fraud.

Ring your card provider and get the unauthorised amounts actioned as a chargeback. You did not personally authorise those charges, and were not present at the hotel when your 'friends' made further requests over the bar. I've made chargebacks in similar circumstances in the past. You should tell these women you are doing that, and wind them up that the hotel will be chasing them for fraud (you are just letting them know what the bank has told you...). If it is a big brand hotel, they may believe you!

They're absolute CFs. Whether they pay up or not dump them, they are not your friends.

Yep that’s hilarious! @Mycatisfatafatcat can you post the paragraph from your expenses policy which says you can claim expenses for drinks which you weren’t present at, enjoyed by people known to you but who have no connection with your business in any way. Because in 30 years of working in a professional field with lots of travel, I’ve never seen anything remotely like that however generous the expenses policy is and I can’t see why it would be in the interests of any company to fund this!

When? OP's post makes it perfectly clear that they literally didn't ask.

I'm fully grown, thanks :)

There's NO way a hotel is going to say: "There's nothing you can do. No, we aren't willing to take a card payment from you. Too late. I already added it to the room account! Damn!"

And in the incredibly unlikely event that they did. surely you'd immediately text the hotel guest to explain what had happened and ask for bank account details so you could reimburse her.

Hope they pay you back. I think the relationship is soured either way.

To everyone saying the friends thought OP was being reimbursed: that’s not how most expenses work. You’re only reimbursed or allowed to charge your company card for business-related meals and expenses, and are required to state who you paid for and why you are using company money to buy them a meal. Company cards are definitely not for lunches with friends. Also many companies have strict limits on how much you can spend on business meals, and rules around alcohol. I think your friends were being deliberately cheeky (especially given you’d already treated them to a very expensive lunch) and hope they pay you back OP.

I agree. I don't know why op chose a super expensive hotel.

Why is that relevant? It's not as if OP was expecting them to pay for the lunch.

Really hope that industry isn't one that requires close scrutiny of textual detail.

@ZforZebra Exactly. And industries like banking have additional regulatory and auditing related checks. You can’t just buy whatever you want for whomever.

Absolutely outrageous of them. There is no excuse for this, none at all. Even if they thought that your company was paying, there is STILL no excuse. This would be a friendship ender for me. No true friend would do this.

Hope they pay you back. Awful behaviour!

I mean emotionally. No one owes you anything, even if they buy you lunch once.