Worst Work Trip Ever

[Son of a Beach]

I've been sent to Melbourne for work this week. It's not going very well so far. I flew in late yesterday (Sunday), and caught a taxi to the hotel. It was when arriving at the hotel that I discovered all the Cabcharge vouchers that work had given me had expired.

After a phone call to my wife, she managed to combine all the money from all our accounts into the account attached to our Visa cards so I could pay the taxi driver (it's pay day tomorrow, so that leaves us with nothing until then).

Not only that, but the travel advance payment that work claim to have paid into my bank account last Wednesday has still not appeared in my bank account. I thought that would be no problem because the Cabcharge (huh!) and credit card authorisation they'd sent the hotel would account for most of my needs.

Well, they'd neglected to send any credit card authorisation to the hotel (huh! again). I tried to cover at least the first night on my own credit card, but of course that had been drained by the taxi fare and was rejected by the hotel. It then took an hour of phone calls, SMSs, emails, and just waiting around before my boss's credit card authorisation was supplied to and accepted by the hotel. At least the hotel staff were all very polite in the mean time.

Of course, now my wife has no money to buy the medicine she was supposed to buy this morning. grrrr!!! At least it's pay day tomorrow.

Well... I managed to get a 4km run in this morning, through Fitzroy Gardens, so today is looking better so far.

Off to work now.

[andrewbish]

Had a very similar experience in Sydney recently - cab charge vouchers didn't work, hotel not pre-paid by work, plus another room in the same floor of the hotel had been recently painted, releasing toxic fumes into my room. Very frustrating #ifeelyourpain

[ollster]

I've been sent to Melbourne for work this week. It's not going very well so far. I flew in late yesterday (Sunday), and caught a taxi to the hotel. It was when arriving at the hotel that I discovered all the Cabcharge vouchers that work had given me had expired.

....

Off to work now.

Hmmn... sounds familiar... I'd say about 30-40% of the cabcharge vouchers I get work. I usually take 2x what I think I'll need... and I've had the whole "we did receive the CC details" bull from hotels too. It's usually their mismanagement I've found.

[Azza]

I used to have a proper CC credit card, but my company cancelled their account.
Because we're paying something ridiculous like $40k per month on taxi's.
They won't provide itemised accounts we couldn't work out what the money was going on.
There was a big discrepancy between what was reported by employees and what we're paying.
The company thought everyone was using their cards to get taxi's home from the pub on friday night.
Turns out its a pretty corrupt system, Taxi drivers were skimming peoples cards and when
they're having a slow day they'd just run up a few extra taxi trips on the eftpos machine.
CC have no interest in investigating, they just responded with well you must of made a mistake.

So now I have to pay for it out of my own pocket and take the risk with my personal card.
Which really sucks when working interstate for a few months and clocking up $300+ taxi's per week.

[Azza]

As for worst trip... I worked every day (except 1) for two and half months straight.
I'd go to Melbourne for the week and work till 9-10pm every night.. fly home on the weekend and then work all day at home. Repeat again.
Its was a continuous nightmare that I never want to repeat again.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Last time I went to Melbourne to renew my licence, work provided me with flight details and booking reference on my roster... but forgot to book the flight (which is even more funny when you consider I work for an airline!)
Turns out in the mad rush that followed to get me there on time, the only seat to Melbourne was a $1200 business fare which was paid over the phone via company credit card.
Glad it wasn't my stuff up. I'm fairly sure someone from rostering would have walked home with a black eye that day!

[tasadam]

Well, since we are discussing bad work trips...
There was the time when my company sent me interstate for 5 days, and it turned out I was on the road for 6 and a half weeks... But that wasn't all bad. Melbourne, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Rockhampton, Great Keppell Island, Townsville, Cairns, Dunk Island, back to Brisbane, Sydney, then flew Syd - Adelaide - Alice Springs - Ayers Rock all in one day, then back to Alice Springs, back to Adelaide, Melbourne, then home (Hobart at the time).
And I hadn't even packed my camera

But the worst one would be my New Zealand trip, 12 days, working mostly nights, with half a day off where I spent the time sitting on the beach with a blood nose and not enough tissues - I'd caught a shocking cold.
Last day night I had a lot of work to do, so I'd gone to the chemist to ask for something that will get me through it - don't care if I die after tonight but have to get this work done.
They gave me these 12 hour Sudafed tablets, which effectively made my sinuses explode and haemorrhage. I'm working in the admin office of the Sheraton Auckland, had to ring room service for a bucket of ice and a few towels. Room service boy arrives at the admin door and I take it from him, blood everywhere, patched myself up and kept working. Not much fun at all. Rushed to finish the work, go to my room (the only night where they actually put me up in the posh hotel), collect my unpacked suitcase, take the chocolates from the turned-down bed, and rushed to catch the plane back to Sydney, not a wink of sleep.

No, not much fun that one.