Confusion over whose actions can be used with もらう/いただく


I encountered this sentence in the first book of Minna Intermediate:

> わざわざお時間をとっていただいたのに

It is used by a student discussing her meeting with a professor regarding her
(the student's) thesis paper.

So far I have always thought that we can only use the actions of the one who's
doing the favor (in this case, the professor), so it should be something like

> わざわざお時間をとらせていただいたのに

I then looked around a bit and found [this
question](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1014827245)
on chiebukuro, which confirmed my confusion, so to speak, because that means
that Japanese people also find it strange even though they still use it this
way.

So, **is it possible to use the receiver's actions before these verbs, too?**
Or is it just another [common
mistake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5h7ecWBmwI)?

_P.S. According to the plot, the student is Chinese, so I even thought that
the authors somehow did it deliberately, but then again, this chiebukuro post
shows that this usage is not just "how foreigners might speak"_




Let me put what I said in my comments in an answer, just for easier reference
for future readers.

Your understanding of いただく is correct. Your confusion stems from your
misreading of 時間をとる. It’s the professor’s action. The professor took the time
to meet the student.

The
[question](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1014827245)
on chiebukuro is different. It is asking whether saying 時間をとっていただいて would be
appropriate when the listener (the doer of the favor) took time to meet
someone for the speaker (the beneficiary) without the speaker being present,
rather than spend that time to meet with the speaker. The asker felt
時間をとらせてしまって might be a possibility but was not sure. Either way, 時間をとる is the
listener’s action. (The causative とらせる is the speaker’s.)




Let me put what I said in my comments in an answer, just for easier reference
for future readers.

Your understanding of いただく is correct. Your confusion stems from your
misreading of 時間をとる. It’s the professor’s action. The professor took the time
to meet the student.

The
[question](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1014827245)
on chiebukuro is different. It is asking whether saying 時間をとっていただいて would be
appropriate when the listener (the doer of the favor) took time to meet
someone for the speaker (the beneficiary) without the speaker being present,
rather than spend that time to meet with the speaker. The asker felt
時間をとらせてしまって might be a possibility but was not sure. Either way, 時間をとる is the
listener’s action. (The causative とらせる is the speaker’s.)

