My company was originally doing a travel event to unite East and West Coast teams to physically meet for the first time. We had planned it for months and had all these activities lined up for social events. One of which was a bowling night. My boss asked me to set this up because I’d done so in the past. You get a certain amount of lanes, shoes, drinks and catering for 2+ hours. It’s not a bad deal but it’s like $6-800 depending on the bundle chosen and number of people attending.
Two weeks prior to the big meet up, my boss’s boss, who was running this thing, had to cancel because of whatever corporate BS reason. “Conflicts”. This meant people had to cancel flights. Which also meant you get credits and not a refund. So they’re out that money until they fly sometime in the future. More an inconvenience. But the bowling thing was paid for and no refunds given. In their contract.
My boss’s boss gets approval to have the company take care of the bowling bill even though the trip was canceled. We are still going because it was paid for but now we are bringing spouses because it will only be half the team as the other half is still on the West Coast.
Now my boss is trying to guilt us to pay for it out of pocket because “she feels bad that the company has to pay for an event that is now only for her team.” This is a multi billion dollar company. I said no. A number of other team members are following suit. My boss has responded saying “fine, but spouses are no longer invited because it’s a company event”.
You think I care? You think my wife wanted to bowl?? GTFO.