I believe I've read here that the Source is well regarded because they are one of the few companies that pay mileage. I'm thinking about applying for one of their shops but I would have to get PAD because it's 110 miles round trip for a shop fee of $34 that will take over two hours to do the shop and complete the report (their estimate). That's a five hour time investment for only $34.

Do you figure PAD at $0.52 a mile? Or just put down a figure you'd like to get?

I doubt they are going to give you the PAD that you would deserve for that trip. I have tried to get $10 PAD for going 45 miles round trip and they wouldn't do it.

I have about giving up on getting a reasonable amount. Each time they ask me to travel and I figure out the amount that would make sense for me to do it, they do not approve my request.

It is difficult to get PAD from Trendsource. They do not routinely pay for mileage. There is one location that is 43 miles round trip for me, in an area where there are no other opportunities for other shops. I routinely offer a $20 PAD, which is routinely declined....until this month. It just absolutely had to be done, and there was no one else to do it, so I got it for my $20 PAD....but that is a rarity, when, as the scheduler tells me she has other shoppers who will do it for a $5 PAD. But I stick to my guns and just wait it out.....this was a LONG wait!! ha ha!!

On the PAD they show what it pays for mileage (and its low) and they show the mileage from you to the job (and its low).

PAD, very difficult to get, as they will assign to someone closer. I've asked for pad to no avail. that's why I take jobs close to home. Hard to schedule places maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.

I've had them say the PAD I am asking is reasonable and that they'll check with the supervisor and get right back to me. Then another shopper takes the shop at a lower rate and I am not even given the consideration by Trendsource to say, "Sorry, we found a way to do it cheaper!" I like working for the company - but they're about as cheap as it gets when it comes to any kind of bonus/PAD.

My old scheduler would flat out tell me what the other shopper would take it for. Unfortunately, he quit working for them as a scheduler. Bummer. I started asking for just 2 dollars less and finding another shop I could pair in the area. I know it's a mean game, but I like whats I like and depend on the extra money with grad school, marriage, car payment, yada yada. We all need the moolah. Most of the time, PAD requests for me are $25 but I always make a note that $13 of that is being eaten away by tolls -_- On occasion, I'll get a $45 PAD approval for a location I know is difficult. The funny part is, the store is easy and I'm always in and out in 10-15 minutes TOPS.

Although it at is named pre-authorized distance pay,. It's really just a mechanism to bid for incentives. The evaluation will be assigned to the lowest bidder. Also, for many of the outlying evaluations, I have noticed that they will wait several days to allow for as many bids as possible. And then, once it's assigned, you only have 4 hours to make your first call. I find it a bit unfair that they are allowed to string out the bidding process as long as they want, but once it's assigned, you had better do it right away.

That said, there are some extremely nice people at trendsource. When I was assigned an evaluation and I told the lady there that I was at work and couldn't make the call that day, she said that she would wait until the end of the business day to assign it so that I can call the next morning. That was very nice. They also pay very quickly. They just don't pay very good. It amazes me that some people will go as low as they do for some of these evaluations. I wouldn't do the evaluation at base pay even if it was next door to my house. I'm just not really into doing identity security evaluations for minimum wage. It is scary that the security of personal identities and personal information is being left up to people who are bidding the lowest. Let's just hope that they are good evaluators despite the fact that they're getting paid very little.

I've been keeping quite busy lately with their bv's and inspections. When they text me with urgent needs, and I ask for even a small PAD, I'm passed over. So I only request what's in my nearby area. Around me it's not so much the distance but the time it takes because the traffic is always so mind-numbingly heavy.

@kryswyn916 wrote:

I believe I've read here that the Source is well regarded because they are one of the few companies that pay mileage. I'm thinking about applying for one of their shops but I would have to get PAD because it's 110 miles round trip for a shop fee of $34 that will take over two hours to do the shop and complete the report (their estimate). That's a five hour time investment for only $34.

Do you figure PAD at $0.52 a mile? Or just put down a figure you'd like to get?

My limit is 20-25 miles one way. More than that distance is not worth it because you make more money by shopping several places close to each other. One day recently I did three shops less than a mile from each other and submitted all three reports the same day. Another day two weeks ago, I did three shops, $20 each, and two were 10 miles apart but didn't take long to finish. Yesterday I did two shops that were only across the street from each other, and they were both the same type of shop.

What is PAD?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2017 02:30AM by mdoc7.

The most I've gotten from them are two shops with $50 pad each plus the grocery shop fee and reimbursements of $5 each and the $9 for one and $12 for another, 93 miles 1.5 hrs drive time each way but I have other bonuses in shops in that town. When I'm traveling, outside of town, I get shops that add up to .55 a mile plus around $10 an hour drive-time past the first 15 minutes and/or 15 miles. For that trip, they are paying $85.8 for the mileage, the $30 for the drive-time and only $7.10 each for the two grocery shops and for them it's a bargain but they think I stink because I charged so much. They say they usually get someone to do it for $10-$15 pad. Well, whoever it is can have it at that rate, I don't work for love! I have to find another $300 in, or driving to, that town and I do once a month or so. I can get a burger, look at an apartment, ask about a cell phone and take pics of some dudes car and get the $300. I have an 8x4 white board and I write the travel towns and possible shops all over it. They're well regarded because they are nice people to work with, besides the whole "our budget....blah blah blah", they pay every two weeks and they have steady work. I never flake on their jobs, never reschedule, answer their queries immediately, apologize if I did something wrong or if they think I did something wrong, allow them to move my grocery shops because of their other idiot shoppers, do my shops early in the day/time frame and report their last minute shops on the spot right after the shop. I take every shop I can inside rotation. New shops are posted on Wednesdays, usually!

I've never been successful with a PAD request. I've shot for mileage, then shot for half mileage if I could find other MSCs that had work in the area. I've even gone as low as just seeing if I could get $3 for a 100 mile round trip....no avail. Glad some people are getting this, but my luck has never rolled in any more money

They have to get someone to do it so they are getting someone. Have you called and asked? You should call them, extension 123.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I'm going to give it a miss. Although one is at the end of the month so I might be able to find some other shops in that city but it would make a long day even longer.

In my opinion, it never hurts to ask. You probably won't get it but what's the harm in trying?

@mdoc7 wrote:

What is PAD?

Paid Authorized Distance.

I've had schedulers begging me to complete shops and when I say I'd need $5 PAD to do it they say they can't do it. Same thing the next week on the same job. It doesn't seem like in my area they really care if they hit their end dates.

When you consider the type of job you are doing for this company (I can't specify because the company has been used), business wise I am sure they are being compensated well by the client. It's the nature of the business. Schedulers are required to keep pad low or none so the company executives keep their status quo. They will tell you they can't go higher, but if the job does not get filled you will hear from them again. Spicy has the right idea. Keep requesting a reasonable pad. You won't be successful every time, but you won't be losing money when you figure distance, report time and most important, your time. Every msc does this in their own unique ways. It's nothing personal, it's just business. But business is a cold hard entity, and it's all about the bottom line.

They just ignored a 4.00 pad I asked for to do a health seminar 40 miles away.....didn't want to drive there anyway....#what else is new

A few years ago I found that in order to do a route, I needed to make a minimum of $1 per mile. The more shops I do, the easier it is to do that. If they call me for one shop 40 miles away, it better be $80 for the roundtrip, or two shops at $40. Now that fuel prices have gone up, I have to rethink my cost per mile. I think that $1 per mile is now too low.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

@mdoc7 wrote:

What is PAD?

Paid Authorized Distance.

OK. Got a call from MF asking me to do 4 shops before Monday. I guess the 4 additional dollars he tacked on for a shop 1 hour away is the PAD. At the end, another shop was even farther away and there was no pad, so I called back and asked for an additional $4 because of the distance. It was granted, and I was told I am good shopper. Just finished a shop tonight, the farthest one from where I live.

Did you drive an hour each way for $4? That's quite a drive, for sure. That explains their offers right there.

Yeah, not sure why you would do that, mdoc. An hour away? That doesn't even cover your gas. Why would you do that?

mdoc, I want to tell you that you can negotiate better than that..I have done shops that are only 20 minutes away for a $25 fee and sometimes more. Don't sell yourself short.

@spicy1 wrote:

Did you drive an hour each way for $4? That's quite a drive, for sure. That explains their offers right there.

Not $4, $10 total per shop, originally $6.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

mdoc, I want to tell you that you can negotiate better than that..I have done shops that are only 20 minutes away for a $25 fee and sometimes more. Don't sell yourself short.

OK, will do that next time I get a call.

And you can ask to speak to the supervisor!

Anyone else get an email offer for an inspection that shows two different dollar amounts; one is 33% of the other and the one is the shop fee? Hmmm.

I find with them it is much easier to get PAD if a scheduler contacts you directly. They have been very generous with me on PAD requests but I never request through the site.