Using a Car Service
QUESTION 43: USING A CAR SERVICE
My friend's employer asked him to work late, and agreed
to pay for a car service back to Monsey. The car service
the company usually uses charges $150 for the ride home,
which the company pays for. My friend prefers to use a
Monsey car service because the drivers know the way better,
and the Monsey car service charges only $80. He puts it on
his credit card, and the company reimburses him. On the way
home, my friend wants to stop in Washington Heights to pick
up his mother to come to Monsey. That extra stop costs an
additional $10. Can he charge the entire $90 to the company,
since it is less than the $150 his company is willing to
spend, or should he just charge the $80 - excluding the
extra fee for picking his mother up on the way home?
RABBI BELSKY
There is no question he can charge the $90. If he would
charge them $150 and pay the taxi $80 and keep the $70
for himself, it wouldn't be right. The company said it
would pay for the taxi ride, and no more. But if they
had a choice between paying for two taxis, one for $150
and the other one for $90, which is $80 plus the extra
service to pick up his mother, they would certainly be
amenable to pay for the less expensive taxi ride over
the more expensive one. Picking up the mother is really
not a separate ride. It's a ride that includes an extra
change of $10, adding up to $90, because it made a stop.
Naturally there's a limit to these things. If the taxi
would make another three stops, it wouldn't be fair to
charge it all to the company.
QUESTIONER
So let's say he would take a regular car service for
$150 and pick up his mother for $10, could he charge
his company the $160?
RABBI BELSKY
No, that he couldn't do.
QUESTIONER
So the fact that this is less - that's the deciding
factor, the fact that he is saving the company money.
RABBI BELSKY
If you say you have a ride that does more service and
charges less, who would think that the company would
insist on paying $150? The worker feels better with
the less expensive ride, because he is able to pick
up his mother. The company wants the worker to have
a comfortable ride home, that's why they're paying
for the taxi.
QUESTIONER
The same person told me that a round-trip first class
plane seat to London costs $4,000. His company bought
him this ticket for a business trip. He wanted to take
his wife on economy class for $300 each, and the company
said no.
RABBI BELSKY
There's a great difference. They want him to travel first
class so he should be fully rested when he arrives and go
straight to work feeling great. If he goes economy, then
he's oisge'mutchet (bothered and lacking peace of mind).
Why do they pay the extra money for first class? He's
probably going to be there for ten meetings in only one
day, one after the other. And they want him to arrive
refreshed. In first class a person can stretch out,
and can practically sleep the whole way. On economy
class, his head wouldn't be the same. So for them
it's worth it.
But regarding the taxi ride, there's no aspect in
which his company will suffer.
NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION 44: CAR MECHANIC'S FAULTY WORK
The side car door on my van didn't close properly.
I went to a mechanic, and he said he'd fix it, that
it needs a new latch. The latch cost $78, and the
labor is $70. I paid with a post-dated check. When
I got the car back, the car door was still broken,
perhaps a little worse than before. I went back, and
he and his men worked on it for an hour and a half.
It closed well. He admitted that this is really
bodywork, which is not his specialty. Two days
later, the car door doesn't close well anymore,
and even flies open when traveling. The check
hasn't been cashed yet. His assistant said the
owner isn't in today, and that they gave the check
to someone else. The check is dated tomorrow. His
assistant says to make sure that the check goes
through, and that the owner will be reasonable. What
should I do? Should I stop the check and then
negotiate with him, or let the check go through
and then negotiate with him. What do I owe him?
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