What should the final pay for this job be?

I got an email for two gas stations. It stated that they would add a $5 bonus to the $25 pay. It also reimburses $2 for a required purchase.

I replied with the following email:
(Is the bonus $5 for each location in addition to the $25 listed?

Would you be able to add $40 travel pay if I do both of these shops? It is 122 miles round trip)

The reply was simply "yes."

What does this add up to in your opinion?

At first the $40 travel pay was not added. So I emailed the scheduler to make sure I would get it. She replied that it has been added. When I checked again, the pay was increased, but not what I thought it should be.

So I want to see how you all interpret this. Should I email her back, or was I not clear on the amount I was asking for, and just let it go?
Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2017 02:03PM by Reeses200.

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122 miles, I would want $100 travel pay ($50 extra for each location), but that's only if they are close to each other. But I'm not clear on what you were asking for either. Was that $40 travel pay total or each? And what did the pay increase to?

Looks to me like you asked for $104, including the reimbursement.

Based on the information in your post, I would expect the $25 pay plus $40. The $40 would be instead of the $5 bonuses.

I often use bonus and travel pay interchangeably, and I know many schedulers do too. If a shop is nearby, I may ask for a bonus. If a shop is far away, I may ask for a travel incentive.

If we're talking about a difference of $5 or $10, I personally would let it go. I have had similar issues in the past. I learned that when discussing prices/bonuses, it helped if I clearly stated the total amount I expected for each shop, including any travel or bonuses. It seemed a little repetitive and impolite at first, but I got over it.

Since the exact total amount you expected was not stated, I'm with mystery2me. If I were the scheduler, it would be my assumption that you were asking for a $40 bonus for the two shops rather than the two $5 bonuses that were currently offered. I can see where there might be a misunderstanding, because you may have believed it was clear that you wanted everything already on the table and the $40 on top ($25 + $5 + $2 X 2 = $64 + $40 = $104). I don't think it was clear.

I'm leaning with Austin and Mystery. It sounded like you asked for a $40 bonus for the two shops instead of the $5 bonus they were already offering. Or, $20 bonus per location instead of $5. I wouldn't press too much if they offered $45+$2 on each locations since the scheduler is probably already signed, sealed, and happy to get it all wrapped up at the end of the month.

MegglesKat

Ceasesmith and AustinMom calculated as I did. But most of you said it wasn't exactly clear. And as MountainCatcher stated, it is the end of the month and they are probably happy to just get it wrapped up. So I am going to let it go, and accept the $40 + $2 per shop, instead of being a PITA. live and learn, I will spell it out more clearly next time.
On another note, based on JASFLALMT'S reply, am I way under bidding travel expenses?
Since I was doing two shops in one trip I figured the furthest shops mileage at .35 per mile. The other shop was on the same road, so I didn't think it would be honest to ask for mileage as if it were two separate trips.
Thank you everyone for your input.

I don't think you're "underasking". My long drives are all through open countryside, without traffic. Therefore, I ask for $1 a mile, one way. I bundle shops into routes, so often I end up with quite a bit more.

A lot also depends on the difficulty of the shops and reports. Quick in an out, no photos, quick report -- all good. An hour on-site, 2 and a half hours on the report, printing out 36 pages of guidelines first? Nope. Gonna pay me a LOT more for that one! LOL!!!

@ceasesmith wrote:

I don't think you're "underasking". My long drives are all through open countryside, without traffic. Therefore, I ask for $1 a mile, one way. I bundle shops into routes, so often I end up with quite a bit more.

A lot also depends on the difficulty of the shops and reports. Quick in an out, no photos, quick report -- all good. An hour on-site, 2 and a half hours on the report, printing out 36 pages of guidelines first? Nope. Gonna pay me a LOT more for that one! LOL!!!

This was more like 15 minutes on site, 10 minutes filling out report, and uploading receipt plus two pics for each shop. So I thought it was a pretty good deal.
Plus I got to drive through the town I grew up in, and have dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

You're going to get a varied response. I think you could get a bit more. Some would say $1 per mile total miles for a travel fee not including the shop fee.

I come up with $104.

The scheduler reply simply said yes. So that assumes yes is the answer to every question.
If the shops paid $25 each and reimbursed $2 that's $27 each.
You asked if the $5 bonus was per shop. If the answer is yes then that makes it $32 each for a total of $64.
You then asked if she could ADD a $40 bonus. You didn't ask if she could raise the bonus to $40 or either or both shops. You simply asked if she could ADD a $40 bonus for doing both. That's another $40.

Total fee should have been $64 + $40.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

How much would you have asked for if it were you, griff?

@JASFLALMT wrote:

You're going to get a varied response. I think you could get a bit more. Some would say $1 per mile total miles for a travel fee not including the shop fee.

My travel is EASY. I've driven in places where it wouldn't be possible to get to a place 25 miles away in less than an hour. I get to a shop 60 miles away in an hour. If it took 2 hours to get there, I'd be asking $100 instead of $60.

On top of the job fee, of course.

yeah, I came up with $104 as well. You were clear imo the $40 was for travel pay not to be confused with the shop bonus.

One simple additional sentence would have done the job: "so that would be a total of $104 for the two jobs".

Easy peasy.

@ceasesmith wrote:

One simple additional sentence would have done the job: "so that would be a total of $104 for the two jobs".

Easy peasy.

Yes! I will add that in the future for clarification.

As stated, travel rates will vary from shopper to shopper. I have a lot of back mountain roads that you can only drive 15-25mph on, and then there are interstate routes that allow me to drive 70mph on the highways. There are toll roads, and on and on. I've kinda started looking at it by time spent total and the reports afterwards.

MegglesKat

I was asked what I needed for an incentive a couple of months back. I thought I over priced myself. When my amount was approved , I regretted that I didn't add another $50. That said, I wouldn't go over the top when asked.

It really depends if it's the end of the month, the end of the quarter or the end of the contract. I've been paid major money for flakes. And when you need to ask for cash, it helps if you are available at the end of the month.

No one can tell you how much you need to ask for bonus/incentive.. This is something you need to figure out yourself. I would love to tell you there is a flat rule, but there isn't.

I have one shop that if I get a $5 bonus, I'm doing the happy dance. Other shops, I want money, big money.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

I have had this scenario many times, and I would always interpret it as $100. I have never had it interpreted otherwise. Keep in mind I'm talking about the pay for the job plus bonus plus travel bonus. I would always expect reimbursement for client required purchases, and I never consider them as pay for a job.

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