The Mystery Shopping thread - part 5

josie · 1 October 2008 at 9:13PM

mcallister1 wrote: »

Hi- I've just done my first tns job and the way they pay seems a bit complicated. My question is about travel allowance. Do people get the whole thing or is it a strictly per mile thing? As I only went 2 miles, but I'd like to claim the £3.50:o . Do they send a claim form or is it just the form you print off with the receipts?

I used to strictly claim only my exact mileage with TNS, but quite a few on here always claim the full mileage amount, so I must confess to having started to do that recently. I don't think they actually measure it on a normal MS.

They do, or did with me when I did a 40 mile round trip to do an urgent job for them and I asked for more mileage and he looked up there and then how far it was for me and offered me their corresponding rate for the full distance. I guess it's a moral question rather than a practical one, if you like.

learning_to_drive · 1 October 2008 at 9:36PM

How do we go about claiming costs for phone calls? Cant do mileage etc, can anyone advise?

Scaredy_Cat_3 · 1 October 2008 at 9:50PM

josie wrote: »

I used to strictly claim only my exact mileage with TNS, but quite a few on here always claim the full mileage amount, so I must confess to having started to do that recently. I don't think they actually measure it on a normal MS.

They do, or did with me when I did a 40 mile round trip to do an urgent job for them and I asked for more mileage and he looked up there and then how far it was for me and offered me their corresponding rate for the full distance. I guess it's a moral question rather than a practical one, if you like.

Never done a job for TNS but have a couple booked. How do you claim the mileage, then? Is there a question on the report?

ruthiejane · 1 October 2008 at 10:11PM

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

Never done a job for TNS but have a couple booked. How do you claim the mileage, then? Is there a question on the report?

Yes, right at the end, along with spend etc.

ruthiejane · 1 October 2008 at 10:12PM

learning_to_drive wrote: »

How do we go about claiming costs for phone calls? Cant do mileage etc, can anyone advise?

I just keep a record of the cost of the call from the itemised bill.

ruthiejane · 1 October 2008 at 10:13PM

josie wrote: »

I used to strictly claim only my exact mileage with TNS, but quite a few on here always claim the full mileage amount, so I must confess to having started to do that recently. I don't think they actually measure it on a normal MS.

They do, or did with me when I did a 40 mile round trip to do an urgent job for them and I asked for more mileage and he looked up there and then how far it was for me and offered me their corresponding rate for the full distance. I guess it's a moral question rather than a practical one, if you like.

I always claim the full amount to, but then living so rurally its usually more than however many miles you can claim anyway!

ruthiejane · 1 October 2008 at 10:14PM

Whoops - double post!

daydreambeliever_3 · 1 October 2008 at 10:43PM

I was told by my Area Manager to claim the full amount.

josie · 2 October 2008 at 7:01AM

learning_to_drive wrote: »

How do we go about claiming costs for phone calls? Cant do mileage etc, can anyone advise?

I don't have an itemised bill, especially for local calls like ordering takeaways for MS, so I just put a nominal amount of 50p on my records.

ThinkingOfLinking · 2 October 2008 at 7:33AM

I sort of agree with Josie as that nominal amount covers the time you put into making the call too; eg paying yourself a wage. Instead of the 6 months you're told to keep job notes for, keep them and use them for the tax returns and also so you can prove you have been making calls. Also make notes of when you ring your MSing company for the same reason.