Is anybody successful getting a reasonable PAD request approved by TS for their business inspections? I've been doing them for a couple of months, when they are close to where I live or happen to go frequently, & they've contacted me several times to "help them out" on some that far away from me. They say to name my price & I don't undervalue my time or wear & tear on my car, but my price seems to be more than what they're looking to pay. I'd love to help them out but I'm not making a 5-6 hour round trip for $23! Just wondered what other's have experienced with them.

I've gotten the PAD for their cell phone shops, using mobile check in.

They approve PADS but not very much. I guess it depends on how desperately they want it done. I wouldn't drive 2/3 hours for $23 let alone 5/6. Though unfortunately they will find someone who will. Goodluck.

even with PAD, they are never consistent on what they will pay for a shop. It seems to get lower and lower every time you do a shop.

I will not do a business inspection further than 8 miles from my home unless I will be in the area anyway or receive a PAD. I have requested a $5 PAD for an I-9 Verification that was 10 miles from home (20 mile RT) and it was approved. Then I requested a $5 PAD for a Business Verification that was 15 miles from home (30 mile RT) and was not approved. Like you, I will not use a gallon of gas for a $10 or $17 shop.

They are giving pad's for far away groceries, but still not worth it for me who only does jobs in my town (3/4 miles)
from home.

I don't do the inspections for TS. But I have gotten very decent PADs for their grocery shops at times. The amount of PAD I ask for and usually (about 80% of the time) get depends on their deadline, and how far away the location is.

The leader of the osi department asked me to do a 13 sch L this week an hour and half each way for 0 PAD. I asked him was he kidding me. Asking me to do it for free (7 gas each way and 3.5 hours) I would lose a dollar on gas off of the rip. And that's with a 4 cylinder.

I'm new to the company. May I ask, what exactly does PAD stand for? For the past few months I have seen them offer a certain amount plus PAD and I am often confused.

PAD = Pre-Authorized Distance (I think). It’s basically what they call a bonus.

I've gotten PAD for an in-home insurance shop.

I did not get PAD for an inspection 60 miles away.

I get PAD on every grocery store. Not sure why? None are further then 20 miles from my house. If I need something, I will sometimes find one to self-assign without PAD. Maybe 1-2 a month.

ETA: I don't do the inspections. The last MSC paid $25 and up (and that was in 1998).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2019 05:47AM by SoCalMama.

@Jenjgra wrote:

Is anybody successful getting a reasonable PAD request approved by TS for their business inspections? I've been doing them for a couple of months, when they are close to where I live or happen to go frequently, & they've contacted me several times to "help them out" on some that far away from me. They say to name my price & I don't undervalue my time or wear & tear on my car, but my price seems to be more than what they're looking to pay. I'd love to help them out but I'm not making a 5-6 hour round trip for $23! Just wondered what other's have experienced with them.

This is why I left Trendsource last year.

I got fed up of asking for PAD, doing the math (I have a few companies that pay by the KM, so average it out), and getting told no. Even had a big fight with them over them consistently wasting my time.

They are extremely stingy with PAD. It's just part of who they are. If you benefit from the shops with or without haggling with them over PAD then they can be a good company to work with. Mostly because they do so many grocery shops and pay so quickly. I manage to cover from 80-100 percent of our grocery bill each month.
For me I consider it beneficial if two weeks after buying groceries the money goes right back into my account.

That being said, if you are trying to get PAD for a shop you wouldn't be doing without it, I have found that to be mostly a waste of time. I was trying to put together a route recently and they had a cell phone shop in the general area that had been there for awhile. I applied for PAD because $6 is not worth me going to the trouble of parking and getting out of my car. When I route shops the best paying go in first and then I look for fillers. That particular day I had some choices of fillers and all of them were better than $6. So they didn't get their shop done because they just let it sit with the PAD request so the morning I left to do the route I cancelled the request. A few days later they emailed me with an offer of about half the PAD I had asked for (and it was very reasonable).

I appreciate them for what they do but I wait for them to contact me if they want something done badly enough and then I make my PAD requests.

I rarely get PAD from them but like the coffeequeen, I also am able to cover most of my groceries each month so I can't complain too much. Plus they pay very quickly in comparison to some other MSC's.