27

I had a phone interview for a remote consultancy position. It went well, so I expect to start receiving assignments.

But during the call, we were disconnected, so I called him back. Later I discovered that this call - an international call - cost me $129.

I should have realized that the cost of this call wouldn't be covered in my phone plan. Even if I had, I don't think I would have realized how much it would be. Clearly, I should have waited for the interviewer/boss to call me back instead.

That said, I suppose that the boss pays a similar amount for these calls. But unlike me, he plans for it as part of his recruiting process.

So would it be acceptable -- and not unwise -- to politely ask him to cover the cost of my half of the interview call?

FOLLOW UP [Edited]

Thanks for the advice to wait until I actually got the job. While waiting I contacted my phone carrier, and learned that I pay $3 per minute for international calls, regardless of who initiated the call.

Furthermore, the $129 was just for my 42-minute callback to him. I think I also have to pay $108 for his initial 36-minute call to me.

In other words, I would have to $237 even if the initial call had not been disconnected. In that case, would I still be asking if the interviewer/boss might be willing to reimburse me? Probably not.

Also, my phone carrier may be willing to waive this first offense. So I'll probably just drop the idea and ask my new boss to use VOIP or Zoom next time.

Thanks, folks.

Improve this question
11
  • 28
    My guess is the boss does not pay a similar amount. Anyone who expects to make a lot (or more than a couple) of international calls would have a dialling plan or VOIP to avoid paying that much Commented Feb 26 at 19:43
  • 2
    Meets, Zoom, Whatsapp Voice Calls, any VOIP basically (Voice Over IP as matt mentioned) are alternatives... but yeah I see how one could instinctively call back and fail to realize that it was an international number or something that is overcharged by your Phone Company. Commented Feb 26 at 20:32
  • 14
    Might be per minute, a 40ish long phone call would fit for an interview duration, 43*3 = 129$ Commented Feb 27 at 6:59
  • 5
    3$ for incoming call sounds at least crazy - unless you were in some roaming. So I strongly suggest you to talk to the phone company to understand all the details of the situation (who did actually call, from what country, was it a special phone number...). From there, you decide the road to take. And definitely, learn the lesson :) Commented Feb 27 at 10:27
  • 4
    Shawn: Please clartify if that is $3 for an incoming call or $3 per minutes. || Are yoi in the US as your profile suggests? || This sounds to me strongly like a scam, sadly. Do yuou have other means of contacting thedm? How did you convey your phone number to them? || Skype allows you to call telephones at low cost. Commented Feb 27 at 11:20

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
63

[Based on the OP's most recent edit, this doesn't seem like it was a scam call. But I'm leaving this answer here in case someone else has a similar question.]

I'd like to suggest a second possibility.

This interview could have just been a scam. Some scammers trick people into calling back a premium international number so that they get a cut of the money.

See International Telephone Number Scams.

In which case, don't be surprised if the job never materializes (despite what they promised you during the interview), or if they try out additional scams on you.

Improve this answer
11
  • 16
    I am not going to downvote - but absent additional info, jumping to the conclusion it could be a scam is a stretch. Commented Feb 27 at 2:31
  • 7
    I agree with @stephan: That may be a scam. First they called the OP. Then, they pretended to be disconnected. Then, they waited for the OP to call back. The OP may need to pay $129 now. That is very suspicious. -- If this job is not offered to the OP, then definitely, the interview is a scam. Commented Feb 27 at 5:53
  • 14
    @TheDemonLord I don't think this is a long stretch. It's been very long time that I had my last interview by phone. However, OP could check whether the company declared country and the country code of the interviewer phone number actually match. If they don't, it's definitely a scam. Commented Feb 27 at 7:54
  • 8
    @TheDemonLord - who jumped to a conclusion? Words like "possibility" and "could be" are a long way from any kind of conclusion. I'm with Stephan - without addition information it's also impossible to rule out this possibility. Maybe. Commented Feb 27 at 12:30
  • 8
    @Job_September_2020 Honestly, I thought about that. But this call was not my first contact with the company; I had found their website when looking for consultancies to work for, and they responded to my email by sending a consultants agreement. I just now set up my company email address. But thanks for watching out! Commented Feb 27 at 17:02
25

So would it be acceptable -- and not unwise -- to politely ask him to cover the cost of my half of the interview call?

I agree that the charge you got is very high for one phone call, and I think that anybody would be surprised by such charge.

I also noticed that you returned the call and (given the lack of you mentioning it) the interviewer didn't see it as a problem or mention "hey Shawn, are you ok with you calling us back? This is an international call and you may be charged other rates"... this suggests that the interviewer was not aware that such a charge could happen to you.

However, if we look at it bluntly, this was a mistake from your part (not paying attention to the call being international and not knowing your phone service fees/coverage), so asking them to pay you may be a bit unwise or not recommended.

Still, I think this experience is something worth mentioning or at least making this company aware of. You most surely learned your lesson now, but chances are this company is unaware of the consequences their phone calls can have (what if future/past interviewees suffered the same thing as you did?).

On a side note, this wouldn't have happened if the call would have been on Meets/Zoom/Whatsapp/Telegram/etc. that use VOIP technology and where the cost of a phone call is "absorbed" by the data plan/usage your cellphone/internet has.

Improve this answer
0
9

Ooooo this is a tough one.

My initial thought is this: Whilst it is a lot of money, ultimately - you want the job.

And asking for the company to pay for something before they have even decided if they want to hire you is a good way to colour the perception of you before you have started.

Imagine if you asked them to pay for something like a Suit or transportation to get to the interview - something where you are out of pocket for the cost of attending the Interview - it wouldnt fly.

That Said

As you pointed out, it is a lot of money, it is also a cost that the company was willing to pay (they called you).

This would be something that maybe I would ask after you have either been rejected or approved for the position, so as to not influence the decision.

It may lessen your chances of getting anything, but it is worth a shot. You could always justify the delay due to when you recieved your phone bill.

To Conclude

It is is a lot of money, but you dont want to bias their decision to hire you by asking for costs

Improve this answer
3
  • 14
    "it is also a cost that the company was willing to pay" - This really isn't in evidence. Most companies would have some form of VoIP or similar explicitly for avoiding this kind of charge. Commented Feb 26 at 21:32
  • 1
    While I suspect almost all employers would balk at paying for a suit, the two times I've attended non-local in person interviews (both 90-120 minutes drive away from where I lived) the company covered a hotel room and mileage for my car. One also covered my dinner the night before. Commented Feb 27 at 1:18
  • 4
    I pay next to nothing for most international business calls using a VoIP service. $129 would be days of talking for most countries. And for family and friends we use a variety of messaging apps which cost exactly nothing no matter how long we talk. Commented Feb 27 at 8:54
6

For the sake of perspective:

I was once in a situation where I was relocating between cities a couple of hundred miles apart. I was given an interview at a company in my destination city which the employer wanted to conduct in-person. They paid my travel expenses (flight and taxi) for a same-day round-trip to bring me on-site. Depending on company policy, it would not be unreasonable for an employer to cover expenses beyond what might be incurred for a normal daily commute. Recruiting is often an expensive undertaking for a company; reimbursement of a $129 phone charge would be a trivial item for a business seeking quality talent.

Improve this answer
3
  • A couple of hundred miles? Pish tosh. My first job flew me from Boston to Los Angeles for the interview and put me up overnight. That's why I suspected that what you say is true: $129 might not be too big an ask. Commented Feb 27 at 17:10
  • @ShawnV.Wilson I mentioned distance only to establish that it was beyond a reasonable drive/commute. I assume you were already the preferred candidate or at least on the short list, and it was for a professional/high-skill position; I know it's routine for that sort of thing. Commented Feb 27 at 18:34
  • This.In some sectors covering expenses for interviewee is routine and this would fall under that. you might want to wait for the result though, to see if you are hired or not, then approach them to ask if it was possible. Be prepared to get a no though, it isn't required and unless you discussed it beforehand there's not much you can do now unless swallow the cost and learn from it. Commented Feb 28 at 11:45
4

I feel it is an unfortunate learning experience. Waiting for them to call you back would be wise financially, but calling them shows that you have an interest in them.

  1. Asking them to pay for something they themselves may have already paid or to pay a lot less because it was covered in their contract with their communication provider is unlikely to happen;

  2. The person over the phone may not have the authority to expense outside of budgeted money, it will require some effort on both your and their ends to fill an expense form with proof (your phone bill). If you are not an approved supplier, either they or you will need to fill another form to open an account so the money can be tracked by accountants;

  3. Asking something that is outside of the norm can be perceived as a red flag during the recruiting process: "Is this person disorganized?", "Is this person difficult to work with?", etc. It can affect the chance to be hired.

129$ is a lot of money, personally, I would be more comfortable to inquire about it after the position is official and after I received my first contract, so that the supplier account will already exist and the contract will already be given.

Some say "we do not get if we do not ask"; you can try and ask them. Your chance probably increase:

  1. if the company is smaller or lean;
  2. if you can tap into their "organizational values" or mission.

Good luck!

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    Reimbursing phone call costs might as well just be normal procedure for the company, so it might be worth inquiring if these costs are reimbursable. Commented Mar 1 at 13:44

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.