Should I snitch on cashback 'womble'?

regency_man

morg_monster wrote: »

However if she's booking more expensive rates to get the cashback it's iffy morally though I doubt legally.

This is exactly the issue and the reason she should not be doing it, it's not just morally iffy, its legally iffy, IF I worked for the same company I would report them.

The deals presented through cashback websites are not always the cheapest deals available for the hotel - it could be the case that best rate available is £100, but on the cashback website it's £110 with 10% cashback - seemingly a better deal by £1 but in reality she is defrauding the company by £10 because she is charging the company the full £110 rate and pocketing the £11 cash for herself.

My company has a policy against this and if she was found out, would likely be fired. Similar to the policy on Airmiles, hotel points etc - you must take the lowest fare available for the journey and class of travel. A member of staff was recently fired for spending more of the company's money on a flight to China to fly with a specific airline who were offering double points promotion so they could get a free holiday, when they could have done the same business class flight with a different airline for £1500 less.

I'd be interested in people's opinions if this was for a holiday booking for a group of friends and she pocketed the cashback and never told the friends and charged them full whack. Technically the same situation.

crazy_girl_2

Yes, of course you should snitch on her !!!

darkh0rse

Good on her!

I'd do the same if it was me.

LOUY_2

I pay for company expenses on my personal credit card which gets cash back and earn points/air miles.

The savings are all mine

Sharon87

My industry is very laid back about cashback, nectar points, airmiles. When the production manager/coordinator books flights they ensure airmiles for the person is also included. It's a perk, same with the cashback. I've gained a lot of loyalty points from Tesco, Sainsburys and Boots when buying for work. There's no issue, it's expected!

darren_lane

Let her keep it.
Don't be a grass.
If you have a company car and put fuel in it paid for by the company-you get to keep the air miles/nectar points etc.
it's her ingenuity-she should be rewarded for it.

mspritch

It may be such a pain trying to get the cashback back into the company books without unbalancing them that it's easier to just keep the cashback.

If the person's deliberately using one firm that gives x% cashback over another one that's x% cheaper though, that's a different matter, no different to getting cash bungs from dodgy suppliers and a big no-no.

Ebenezer_Screwj

I would keep out of this because you have no proof of what your colleague is actually doing, if anything. It will profit you nothing if you interfere.

duchy

Some companies do have a view on this - Most frankly don't care.

The ones that do generally issue company credit cards for business use only - and some have taken it even further than this and claim the air miles/frequent stay points also belong to the company.........however....most companies who have tried this ended up abandoning the idea as it caused cash flow problems and resentment. If people are travelling on business on a very regular basis - depending on where they need to be -often it is better for the company if they travel (say) on a Sunday to be ready to start work Monday morning. Not so good for the (usually salaried) employee.

Most companies seem to work on a compromise basis -I'm not taking rights and wrongs -simply the pragmatic approach taken by most larger companies that the traveller gets to keep the perks as a form of compensation for travelling in their own time as it costs the company nothing and is a very real benefit to the frequent traveller. (Not just in cash terms but free stays or flight upgrades). One company I know of decided they would keep the flyer miles - Suddenly all of their consultants and engineers couldn't fly Sunday afternoons anymore but exercised their right to fly Monday morning so weren't on site first thing in the morning anymore......Took two months to reverse the decision back ! Sometimes there is a bigger picture

If the OP really wants to do something about it - a more subtle approach would be to ensure the travellers in the company are aware of ways they can personally benefit from frequent stay programmes, flyer programmes and cashback sites. However some will think it's great and others simply won't be interested even though it is of benefit to them and can't be bothered. Sounds bizarre but I have friends who have told me they can't be bothered with it -despite seeing me fly to the US for free using them. How hard is it to add a card number to a booking or flash the card at check in ......but that's how some people think !

Often senior management are well aware of how this works (and benefit themselves too)and wouldn't welcome a whistle blower rocking the boat and making waves. Most savvy companies do have a written travel policy anyway that very possibly the OP has no access to as it doesn't concern them and all this may already be addressed and above board.

I'd echo the advice above.....you don't know the full situation so stay clear and concentrate on your own work.

prowla

I think the person doing the bookings is abusing their position.

And I think it should be a disciplinary matter.

On person seeing themself alright is not a good thing for the company.

It may also be against company rules for taking & declaring gifts.

However, on the flipside, they may well be saving the company money and getting the best deal.

I would view it differently if each individual was making their own booking and individually doing it via cashback site.