Job Discussion Forums

[Dan__]

I think my school is trying to screw me over...

They're telling me that in order to get the 4000 yuan travel reimbursement that they'll owe me at the end of this term, I must supply a fa piao (receipt) for the plane ticket. Problem is, I'm not going to be leaving the country in the near future, and a domestic air ticket receipt won't do.

Now they're saying, "no receipt, no money."

Anyone have any suggestions, or am I just going to have to bend over and get screwed out of 4000 yuan?

I am sooooo p!ssed..........

[writpetition]

That's one of the subtle ways employed by penny-pinching FAO's and some do resort to ploys such as this one...
It happened with me at one university and I just gave them an old ticket...they paid! That was for my outbound flight. If you have the ticket, tear out and keep the flight voucher and hand them the jacket.
Try it, Dan...might work but no guarantees!

[shenyanggerry]

As I understand it, it's like an expense account. If you didn't spend the money, there's nothing to claim. Amounts can be very different. My travel from Eastern Canada is much more expensive than someone travelling from Australia.

If a set amount is due as part of a contract, it should be paid. This is a different kettle of fish.

[Spiderman Too]

My actual plane ticket receipt, as issued by a travel agent in Thailand, was printed out on a plain sheet of paper using an old dot matrix printer. Of course, the name of the travel agent was printed out at the top (by the dot matrix printer) but it was not stamped, or in any other way endorsed. It wasn't even signed. It was a very 'plain Jane' receipt. My university accepted it without question.

Microsft Excel (XP version) has a sales receipt template; quite a fancy one at that.

You could print out your own receipt.

If you have already told your university that you do not have a receipt, just tell them that you subsequently contacted the travel agent and they sent the receipt by e-mail

[cujobytes]

Devious, spidey, devious. I like it.

[smalldog]

Buy a refundable ticket, get it reimbursed, then get a refund? My university only pays if I go home, so I'm thinking of using this tactic in the summer.

[Susie]

I got burned, no ticket no money. Even if I had had a ticket, the school leaders told me that I would have to use that ticket to fly home, the ticket would have to be in my name, and then I would have to post them the USED ticket in order to get reimbursement and the money would have gone into my China bank account.

Then the school leaders raised issues about dates, such as, well you started work in Sept 1998 and your ticket should be dated around that date, and your ticket would have to show that you came from country XX city AA to country YY city BB. Now for returning from China Guangzhou YYBB the ticket date should be around July (but we'll allow you until September) 1999 and the destinations have to be YYBB to XXAA.

So the problem with a REFUNDABLE ticket is that you have to know whether the school wants the used ticket or just to see the ticket that you plan to use or in your case the ticket that you plan to return for a refund. Tread carefully, there are traps everywhere!

The only solution would have been to have asked for a monthly bonus of RMB600 per month instead of flight reimbursement money! (RMB600 x 10 months = RMB6,000 bonus towards flight money).

The problem with an end of contract bonus, is that the school leaders can fire you just before the contact ends so as not to have to pay you your bonus, etc.

[parvati_overdrive]

dude: buy a ticket -for when you will be leaving. you can also buy a ticket of varying costs for different circumstance (ie nonref, 3mo,6mo,12mo). so buy a 12 month ticket -no worries. book it and CHANGE THE DATE.

id seen this scam in korea as well -although it may be a legit 'expense' that requires reciept. for instance in corporate usa - no reciept - no monee. thats fairly hard/fast.

smalldog: dont buy a ticket for purpose of refund. tickets are rarely refundable - the airlines have so many hurdles and hoops. even singapore air is a hassle -believe me.

is it possible to get a mothly pro-rated stipend? the contract i go in on i want to ask for 4-5000 every six months air stipend. paid cash and as usd.

[limits601]

Ya, i would say forge it

I can scan and send you a copy of my receipt and then you can use a graphic editor to edit the nessary parts of it, then print it out. Make up a store about how you had to get some1 in your home country to scan it and email it to you

Bullsh*t them like they bullsh*t us.

[yaco]

My current school has 2 rates of payment for airfares.

1) They pay 5000 rmb even if you dont leave the college.

2) If it is more than 5000rmb they pay up to 10,000 rmb upon sighting of a valid ticket.

When I first come to China they changed my contract from 12 months to 6 months which meant I would lose half my ticket money.

I asked the school how they organised the payment of money and they informed me that they rely on the ' teachers word'.

I advised the school that they should see the price on the ticket and pay accordingly.

Of course, I realised the full ticket price was printed on the ticket ( no person pays the full amount on the ticket ).

It was comical as the school authorities were converting Thai Baht to US Dollars to RMB.

To my pleasure the School payed half the price on the ticket which meant I still made a profit on the deal.

[Ariadne]

Parvati... re not buying tickets to refund later. I don't agree. All major carriers offer fully refundable, changeable tickets. They cost alot more than the discounted ones but they would work perfectly in the type of situation being discussed. Just make sure that you request and purchase a ticket that is fully refundable.
.

[Dan__]

Well, I pulled out all the stops, and had my wife (she's Chinese) talk to my boss to see if she could find out what the hell they're trying to pull.....

Funny thing then was that when I brought up the subject with him myself yesterday, he said, "I've already spoken with your wife. You should discuss it with her." Then he refused to say another word about it.

After talking with my wife, I'm fuzzier than ever about what we need to do, but apparently:
I can use a domestic air ticket, but can't hand it in until after the ticket is used.
The ticket does not have to be in my name. Anyone got a used plane ticket that they'd like to send me?
I may even be able to use other "transportation reciepts." This may (or may not) include train tickets, bus tickets, taxi receipts, etc. (When I think about how many times I've taken a taxi but not gotten a receipt..... )[/i]

[limits601]

Im currently in Jiaxing which is about 1 hour away from Hangzhou by train. I often go there on the weekend. I have a used plane ticket stub from China Eastern that i still have (I think). We can meet up and i could give ya the stub.

Its a Business class ticket though. Im sure it will still work. Did you fly over to this country on China Eastern ?

[struelle]

I had the same problem last June when the term ended at the high school I as teaching at in the Shanghai suburbs. Since I was sticking around (and later traveling), I didn't plan to fly out immediately. But my contract entitled me to reimbursement of a one-way ticket back to Canada, and didn't mention anything about a receipt.

So first I fill out a reimbursement form for 4000 yuan but the FAO basically tells me, "We'll give you the cash when you show us the receipt. And hurry up, you only have until June 30th"

I was furious at the time, but later calmed down. I was able to obtain a receipt through a contact of my employer where I was working part time - this person worked at an air ticket company. Such a 'service' cost me 400RMB, but it was, shall we say, win-win.

If you have these connections, that helps, but other options like printing out receipts or changing dates are good ideas too.

Steve

[7969]

i thought this air fare reimbursement was more of a bonus than actual reimbursement for used airfare. at least thats what i was told at my last college in china. they never asked for air tickets. they knew that somewhere along the line i had to pay to get here.

now that this has been brought up, i'm going to re-read my current contract. i can't believe they won't pay it unless you go home, and even then if only if you send them the receipt/used ticket. i want payment before i leave the premises, that's the only reponse they'd get from me.

having re-read my contract, it states:

"Party A shall give Party B RMB5000 of international air ticket allowance at the end of one year's contract." i note that it states "allowance" and not "reimbursement." the former tells me that i get the money no matter what, the latter seems to indicate to me that i only receive the money in reimbursement of an actual air ticket purchase.

anyone else read it that way? or does anyone think it even matters.....?

ariadne is right, fully refundable tickets cost a lot more than any other ticket with restrictions, but they ARE fully refundable. perfect for this occasion and for when airlines dont let you board without proof of onward travel. of course, it takes upwards of 4-12 weeks to get the money back on a fully refundable ticket. my experience with an airline in the past.