reimbursement blow off...

[spacezeppelin]

So something kind of strange happened with one of the schools I visited. They said that they would cover half my flight (another school I visited covered the other half) and the hotel room for the two days I was in the area. I went to the visitation day and really did like the school. Ultimately I decided to go someplace else, mostly because the other school gave me better funding and the first school was in a very expensive area. I just decided I couldnt really justify the extra costs.

 

Anyway, at the visit there was no discussion of where to turn in reimbursement forms. At the very end the person in charge of that sort of thing said to send her an email or a fax with recipts. Or at least that was my understanding, now I’m starting to wonder if I misunderstood...

 

I sent her an email with the attached receipts just a day after I got home. At that point I hadn’t decided where I would go. I didnt hear back from her and I declined a few days later. I still havent gotten a response, and its been well over a week. I feel VERY blown off.

 

Do you think I should email again? Its pretty awkward because I decided to go to a different school. Has this happened to anyone else? I guess I’ll survive without my reimbursement, but frankly it was kind of a lot of money...I couldn’t really afford to go on my own dime right now, but I guess I essentially ended up doing that.

Edited April 19, 2013 by spacezeppelin

[mgd71]

No, you should call them.  Emails can be blown off.  Phone calls cannot.  These people are usually very busy, and its easy for things to get lost in translation.  Pick up the phone

[ShortLong]

I think you should give it some more time since it has only been a week. Accounting departments take a lot of time. It took almost a month to get one of my reimbursements back and it has been over a month waiting for another.

[ak48]

I'm still waiting over a month . one week is really short, especially for money to be sent

[jmu]

Call and ask to confirm that everything was received. Reimbursement can take a long time.

[spacezeppelin]

Just to clarify, I want expecting them to process it in a week. I emailed asking for a form to fill out and just to start the process. I thought I would get an acknowledgment or a form or something.

I guess I just thought it was strange because the person in charge of the refunds has responded to my almost immediately in the past. Like within a few hours.

I guess that’s maybe just because, while I was still considering the school, I was a higher priority. I guess I'll give it some more time then try to figure out who is the best person to call if its still an issue.  

 

[Cookie]

It took about a month for me, for all the schools i visited.  If you already sent a receipt, please be patient.  I have never heard of any reimbursement "blow off".  And dont expect any confirmation on yr paperwork either.

[TakeruK]

Reimbursements are not "blown off" although it might feel that way since the process takes a long time and is out of your hands!

 

When did you email them the receipts? You should not expect to get a receipt acknowledgement email. What usually happens is:

 

1. The department admin staff takes your forms and receipts.

2. They check it for completeness and have to find whomever is authorized to sign off on the expense to do so (it could be the staff, or it might have to be a specific prof)

3. They send it off to the University Finances department

4. These people audit the request and make sure all claims are legitimate. A case like yours could take extra time (since you're splitting with another school)

5. There are usually extra paperwork when the person being paid (i.e. you) isn't a member of the University (otherwise it could just be easily direct deposited in your bank account etc.)

6. The Finances department mail you a cheque directly.

 

Obviously, I don't know exactly how it works for every school, but it's probably something like the above. My point is that early on in the process, the paperwork leaves the hands of the department / people you have contact with and no one really knows where it is. Step #2 could take a long time too if the person is away or really busy / absentminded. I would wait a couple of weeks and then email the department (or call if you prefer) back to check on the status. The most they could probably tell you is that they've submitted the forms to the Finances department. After that, you really should just wait, unless you really need to know where the money is, then it's okay to ask the department for the ID number of the claim and follow up with the Finances department directly.

 

Overall, you should expect it to take 1 to 2 months for your claim to be processed. I think the longest I had to wait was almost 3 months, but even the most efficient schools take at least a month. I would suspect that external claims are probably lower priority!

 

Edit: Reading your posts again, I was a bit confused. The first post, you said you emailed them your receipts. In the second post, you said you just wanted to get the expense report form to start the process?? Maybe the person you sent the receipts to thought that you wanted them to fill out the form themselves, so it might also be on their "to-do" pile. It might be worth a phone call or email again soon to confirm what's going on!

Edited April 24, 2013 by TakeruK

[Kwest]

Maybe my case is out of the norm, but I got my reimbursement within a couple weeks (if that long even) I didn't have to submit my receipts. They calculated my mileage (I drove in) and gave me a dollar percentage of total miles driven. I was given the option to refute their claims and submit my receipts if it didn't align with my records. Again, though, maybe this is only the case for people within a certain mile circumference to the school and could drive or maybe it's not normal at all

[mariiiiie]

Just my two cents but usually you have to mail the original receipts for them to reimburse you. Scanned receipts won't be accepted, and that's maybe the reason why you haven't been reimbursed yet?

Edited April 25, 2013 by mariiiiie

[lypiphera]

All the schools I went to had different procedures for how/what to fill out and how long it took.  I think it's fine to ask for confirmation politely, saying you just to make sure there's nothing else they need from you, but after that I would probably wait at least 3 months before asking about reimbursement. My checks arrived ranging from 2 weeks and 2 months, and I did not always get a confirmation.  Some wanted physical receipts in person, others said email was fine.

[selecttext]

accounts payable departments at universities are often insanely slow. at some universities, it has taken as long as 8 weeks for reimbursement of expenses!!! just find out if your department has submitted the request yet. if so, it'll only be a matter of time.

[ak48]

finally got my check today