Remote worker on 'vacation' mistakenly pays for hotel with corporate credit card, asks internet for help

Working from home has been the new normal for some since the inception of the pandemic in 2020. This woman while working from a vacation spot accidentally signed into her corporate account. The woman took to TikTok to discuss the unfortunate mistake and revealed something she didn't tell her boss. "I accidentally charged my hotel to my corporate credit card," the caption of the post read while the overlay text read, "How do I explain to my boss I accidentally charged my hostel to my corporate credit card when she has no idea I'm working remotely out of Mexico." 

People in the comment section came up with ideas to help her out in this situation. "Get it refunded and charged to the correct card. Report the corporate card as lost," reads the top comment while another user said, "Call the card and tell them the charge is fraud they will stop it the boss wouldn’t know." Normally, corporate credit cards allow businesses to streamline all kinds of internal processes by giving their employees access to the company funds. This involves a great deal of trust between businesses and their employees. Employees are given full access to the cards and can use them for business-related transactions. According to Getmoss, it is illegal to use these corporate credit cards fraudulently. 

What can employees do in such a situation?

The first thing that the employee should do is to find the purchase receipt, with which it will be easier to get a refund and much easier to prove the details of the transaction to the employer. In case you do not have the receipt, you should inform the employer anyway and wait for the next account statement. As an employer, you should inform your accountant about the spending right away and should ask for a repayment from the employee for the personal transaction made from the company card. 

The repercussions of this will depend a lot on the company. For example, in 2023, Disney reportedly allowed an employee Taron Sargsyan a second chance.  The employee who was struggling with drug addiction, came clean to Disney and said how he fraudulently used the business card to buy drugs. The man also convinced them that he would pay it back. While he was terrified of getting fired or even convicted, he gathered the courage to talk to his manager. To his pleasant surprise, Disney offered him the chance to pay it back and left me with a formal warning. 

He goes on to say, how this was the "turning point of his life" and he was grateful to the company who helped him "heal" from his addiction as well as get his life back on track. "Although I no longer work for the company, I'm grateful to Disney for unlocking the power of my imagination and giving me a second chance at life. I'm also eternally grateful to my family for evolving with me throughout my main-character journey," he said in an essay for Business Insider. 

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Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 8, 2024. It has since been updated.