Woman mistakenly uses company credit card for $300 personal groceries — then her boss confronted her

Sometimes, there is no going back from what we have done, even if we did it by mistake. One woman learned this lesson the hard way after she accidentally used a company credit card to make personal purchases. Lizzie Wells, who worked for Media A La Carte a New York City-based social media agency, recently took to the company's TikTok account to explain the huge issue that happened due to her mistake.

The text in Wells’ first video read, "POV: You accidentally used the company card for your groceries," with the captions, "Put a finger down if you’ve ever had to explain to HR why you spent $300 on the company card." Many took to the short video and asked for a detailed storytime video, which she later uploaded.

"Yesterday, my boss texted in our company chat, ‘Does anyone recognize these Instacart purchases?'" she recounted in the video. She then says how this is pretty common in her workplace as they do have to order off Instacart for client photoshoots or something related to getting work done for the clients. "Everyone, of course, responds, ‘No, no, no. That wasn’t me. That wasn’t me,'" she says in the video. 

She then says how she had to use Instacart a lot in the past for one of the clients that she was working on. "So, then I go ahead and check my Instacart and, if you know me, you know that I am ordering all of my groceries off Instacart. So, I went in and checked my recent purchases and realized that every single purchase that my boss asked our company whose client purchased there was just me, purchasing my groceries on the company credit card, thinking that I was charging myself. And, so, now I’m about to meet with HR and fight for my life," she said. "Wish me luck!"

Many took to the comment section and talked about the situation, with many saying that it was no big deal. "I did something similar and just paid them back, no harm done. Red flag with that meeting title" writes @kelseyyx1. "My old workplace literally had a form to fill out to fix it when those things would happen," added @astaaruun.

In the third follow-up video, the employee shared that she was asked to sit alone and work by the corner wall for some time. Many in the comment section said this was hardly a punishment, but rather a boon that she didn't have to interact with her co-workers. "That sounds like a blessing, not a punishment!" writes @travelingwithtabby, while @bynxthor writes, "That sounds like a reward."

Company credit cards are useful for businesses to streamline all sorts of internal processes by giving employees direct access to company funds. Employees are usually given free rein to spend the company's money on company-related expenses. While using a business credit card for personal use can have huge consequences, it is not illegal for an employee to pay for personal items with a company card. Normal businesses function just like personal debit cards in the sense that you can use them at any vendor that accepts cards. However, it is illegal for an employee to use a company card fraudulently.

"Making personal purchases on a business credit card likely violates the terms and conditions of your card agreement, which can come with serious consequences," according to Bankrate. 

You can follow (@media.alacarte) on TikTok, for more work content.