Company refuses to reimburse job interview expenses

steampowered

I am struggling to follow your story to be honest. I do not understand the breakdown of expenses between the different companies. It seems extremely complicated.

If you want to get anywhere with small claims court, you need to be able to explain the situation in a much more concise manner.

You will also need to be able to provide some evidence (e.g. an email from the recruiter) which clearly demonstrates that it was agreed that Company X would reimburse the £400 you are asking for. Do you have such evidence?

yours3lf

You will also need to be able to provide some evidence (e.g. an email from the recruiter) which clearly demonstrates that it was agreed that Company X would reimburse the £400 you are asking for. Do you have such evidence?

Yes I do have emails from the recruiter clearly stating they'll reimburse the flight costs. There's no conditions stated.
Sorry about my explanation

lincroft1710

If you haven't asked Company X directly for the money, then that is why they may not have reimbursed you.

However if I were Company X and since you had not used the return portion of the flight and had taken the opportunity to attend interviews with 2 other companies, I would feel obliged to refund you only 33.33% of a single ticket.

If you are contemplating suing them, the first thing you should do is to write to them directly asking them for the money. I'll leave it to your conscience how much you ask for. If they don't respond or reimburse, then you can send a Letter Before Action.

It is possible (and I may be completely wrong) that Company X may not have been impressed by you using "their" money to attend other interviews and thus didn't offer you the job,

yours3lf

It is possible (and I may be completely wrong) that Company X may not have been impressed by you using "their" money to attend other interviews and thus didn't offer you the job,

Yeah, I think they were not impressed.

Thank you very much for the advice!

Manxman_in_exile

Your answers to different questions don't seem to be very precise (eg "I think...I'm not sure but...") and your explanation of what has (or hasn't) happened is not very clear.


You'll need hard evidence if you are going to sue company x successfully.


(eg do you have an evidence trail going directly back to company x saying they would pay, or are you simply relying on what your recruiter said company x said?)

yours3lf

are you simply relying on what your recruiter said company x said?

I am relying on it, yes. I assume he has emails about it.

Manxman_in_exile

yours3lf wrote: »

I am relying on it, yes. I assume he has emails about it.

You assume? If I were contemplating suing someone I wouldn't rely on anything that I didn't know for sure.

stuartJo1989

yours3lf wrote: »

Company X still owes me ~400 GBP (cost of flying to the UK)
Company Y and Z only covered the cost of flying back and the accomodation.

Why would Y and Z agree to mutually cover your EXIT fees and not your entry fees?

It doesn't make sense! If a company wanted you then they'd pay for your inbound flights and MAYBE your outbound ones too. They wouldn't leave you to fend for yourself in getting there!

So you've been playing these companies off to some extent. The whole thing doesn't make sense and as such I would be wise to leave it for a court of law to figure out (should you decide to pursue this in small claims).

It's the tech industry. I don't want to name the companies, but they all have tons of money so 400GBP is nothing to them.

That doesn't mean anything.

It is a chair-warming job, but not a six-figure one unfortunately (not a NMW either though). 400GBP is not a few miserable quid for me right now.

How about I cross-reference your online footprint and figure out who these employers are? I would hope that they wouldn't be impressed with you calling it a "chair-warming job" (though I am reminded that another user mentioned that phrase first).

Maybe you shouldn't be so casual about how you perceive your potential future jobs? I know many people who would chop off their left *** to have a "chair-warming job" AND have them pay for travel! Most mere mortals would have to pay for our own travel + accommodation (and would coincidentally probably end up in a pub afterwards as apposed to the MSE forum).

So it seems like legal action (suing them) would be my option. Is there any UK law related to this so I can do a bit of research before actually going forward with sueing them?

Do you mean "suing"? If so, yes you can take them to small claims court armed with your evidence.

yours3lf

Why would Y and Z agree to mutually cover your EXIT fees and not your entry fees?

Because Company X already covered my flight to the UK there was no need for another round of flights.

How about I cross-reference your online footprint and figure out who these employers are? I would hope that they wouldn't be impressed with you calling it a "chair-warming job" (though I am reminded that another user mentioned that phrase first).

Please don't make any threats, there's no need. I mean it's literally a chair warming job as I'm a programmer. You sit on a chair all day and warm it, plus do some coding while you are there.

I know many people who would chop off their left *** to have a "chair-warming job" AND have them pay for travel!

You don't have to do that, just learn programming (takes about 2-3 years) and you have a chair warming job for yourself.

steampowered

The next stage is a 'letter before action' to Company X I would have thought.

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

(eg do you have an evidence trail going directly back to company x saying they would pay, or are you simply relying on what your recruiter said company x said?)

The Op doesn't need this. A recruitment agent would typically be acting as Company X's agent - and Company X would be bound to the agreement.

If Company X does not approve of the arrangements made, it is for Company X to take that up with the recruiter.

Maybe you shouldn't be so casual about how you perceive your potential future jobs? I know many people who would chop off their left *** to have a "chair-warming job" AND have them pay for travel!

Maybe those people should have studied a bit harder in school, then? Or worked a bit harder? Then they could have a good job rather than being jealous of other people who have one.