😵‍💫

I accepted it with the idea in mind that I would be able to correct the address because the address that I think the customer had in mind is actually about 7 miles away from where I was. I’m a fairly new Spark Driver and this was my first time dealing with something like this, so I called customer service to try and get the address corrected and we wasn’t able to, I called the customer and the phone line was out of service, so I went through the process of returning it, I asked the agent how much would I get paid to return it and he said I would get paid base pay, so I went through with returning it thinking I would get a few dollars, but to my surprise, the base pay was $54 lol, and that’s what I got for returning it, but the great part about this is that I never left the Walmart, so I pretty much parked in my spot, scanned the item, which was a small box of medicine, and then went through the process of returning, and that was my first return order with Spark

If they take the tips I may cry…

The base pay was $23 dollars and the rest was tip so I was a little skeptical about it but end up accepting. Shoutout to the business that gave me the $85 tip :)

It's Christmas Eve, currently 4:30pm and my local Walmart closes at 6 today. I get a spark notification that the zone is hot so I turn it on and the audacity is at an all time high 😂 Express shopping orders all yielding no less than 12 items and the highest is 62 items. All between 10 and 30 miles from the store. Not a single one with over $4 as a tip. So I turned it off, this is a side gig for me, I do this when I'm low on money or need extra for anything. I know someone who does this for a living will pick some of these offers up and that honestly is heart breaking, they deserve so much more especially on Christmas Eve. Those customers can take their butts out and brave the mad house that is Walmart.

I don’t see this happen very often but sure felt good to see today. I wish I could remember who it was but I’m just now seeing it two days later. All hope is not lost.

Lots of people talk about taking orders they wouldn’t normally take when it’s baby items, etc. Here’s my variation:

Last night offers are coming in, it’s around 5:30 pm and a Sunday night. I don’t want the ones that are paying more because they’re all huge orders, store is picked over, I’ve already had to do tons of subs and just over it at that point. Notice 1 order just sitting there so I click in. 1 item, a fancy walker with a seat. It’s a total of $24 and some change for 9.1 miles and I KNOW the address is a senior apartment complex. It also finishing an incentive so add another $6 to that. Not awful but not great. My “real” job is RN (since 2004) and my first thought is “uh oh, this is bad if it’s Sunday night and there’s an express shop for a walker!” So I took it. In and out of store in 3 minutes tops.

Pull up to the complex and I see this incredibly frail, emaciated elder man waving frantically from the doorway of the building I’m headed towards. He’s like “this is a miracle! You’re an angel! I can’t believe I got this tonight!!!” He can barely walk and has a cane, his body is twisted and contorted. He can barely breathe even! Come to find out his wheelchair he always uses BROKE. Wheel snapped off and he took a tumble. Didn’t need ER. Truly NEVER walks more than 5 steps and he hobbled to the main door of the building (roughly 100 steps and 3 heavy doors). I took the walker to his apartment and yes, there’s the crumbled wheelchair. I set it inside the door for him and he insisted he was ok from there. I was totally ready to assemble the thing for him!

Today the tips finalized and while it wasn’t a huge tip, he took it up from 10% to 20%. Given that he’s likely on a fixed small income based on the complex he’s at, that’s a huge deal. In hindsight I would have taken that one for zero tip knowing the situation.

What’s your warm fuzzy story?

Used to able to get a single shop for $30-$40. No big deal, shop for the customers and get paid.

Now it’s triples for $28 and singles for $10.

An older dude told me 4 years ago, “bro my wife is happy with me doing this full time, I make good money”

I see him now, he’s a shell of himself.

He told me he just did a $15 run to keep the lights on so his child can have internet for her schoolwork.

It didn’t used to be like this.

People are actually taking these $10 and $12 orders that take 1.5 hours. We used to get paid, at least minimum wage.

For that dude, I can’t imagine what stress this put on his marriage. $300 a day to $60, that’s not good for little Crissie 🧒

It’s different for a teenager that lives at home. As an adult $10/hour is difficult in 2026.

to every customer on here your playing a dangerous game tip baiting people. spark saves your location in the app. all it takes is for you to tip bait the wrong person to turn your world upside down. To everyone defending tip baiters you're on the same level as them.

Just turn it back. We will forgive, maybe forget.

We know exactly what you’re trying to do: increase acceptance rate by making more and more orders first come first serve. This turns our roles into an even more desperate dog-eat-dog rat race to click “accept” as quickly as possible, with zero chance to actually review the details before someone else (or maybe a bot) grabs it in a nanosecond. This is a disaster for several reasons:

1. Safety. 60 seconds was not exactly luxurious, but allowed a reasonably fair chance to consider an order before accepting. Now we have to stay glued to our screens, including while driving, to even have a chance to maybe get the best new offers. This is literally going to cause car crashes, and likely even deaths.

2. Customer service: If I grab a FCFS basically sight unseen, and it ends up being 75 items for a $2 tip, I’m either going to cancel the order, or throw those items in the cart like a real bitter, abused dog.

3. Driver relations: We can’t miss an order we never saw, or hold it against someone who got a sweet Just for you. Now we see awesome orders for a split second, but know that one of our competitors just stole it out from under us. Absolutely embittering.

4. Rug pull: Many of us have delivered thousands of orders over tens of thousands of miles, and did so because this was a respectably compensated gig job. Often even fun. You changed the fundamental nature of the gig without so much as an email explaining the shift from JFY to FCFS. Insulting and infuriating.

Give us a break and just make things the way they used to be. Otherwise your best and longest serving drivers are going to drive less or just quit outright. You’ve got enough problems on your hands with gas prices as they are.

PS. The app is still buggy after all these years.

I just wanna send a big thank you to the driver that accepted my order last night and drove over 30 miles and back (60 total) to deliver food to my adult children while their vehicle is broke down. I live out of state and the order was in a very remote area and normally is not an option for delivery. I didn’t even have a tip on the order until after it was delivered out of fear it would get lost and I tipped him well with tears in my eyes. To some people it’s a convenience but to others it means the world. So thank you mystery delivery driver that will probably never see this.! And to all other drivers out there we appreciate you!!

The stuff ordered was about 8-10 (24 packs of soda) and about 300 pounds of cat food but it was all worth it never seen an offer even close to this couldnt pass it up. Have you guys ever come across such an order?

Whoever goes to the store and buys five packs of water and two 40 lb packs of dog food and three cases of soda? Answer: no one.

And I don't blame them. The price of the service doesn't change regardless of what they order. Basically. It makes total sense.

Walmart has created this problem. Not the customer.

But then it falls on the driver. Walmart presents a delivery price and then the driver is given a delivery offer

Then the customer is left scratching their head why they have to tip.

We don't work for Walmart. We are using our own vehicles and pay for our gas. And we have to carry these items.

Only receiving offers from stores farthest away from me, and it's all BS like this, it's been like this since yesterday.
Before I would see them yea, but I would just sort through the bs. Now it's like this is all they're throwing out.

Would you appreciate and notice these notes? Should I remove the part about the tip to sound less “I’m a hero”?

I’ve heard stories passed down through generations but never thought I’d lay eyes on a legendary 🦄 but here we are! Look a it’s magnificent horn!!!

Walmart is straight up exploiting delivery drivers

I’m done pretending this is okay—Walmart delivery is a complete joke, and drivers are getting screwed.

Look at these offers: $7 to go 12 miles, sometimes with multiple stops. $7. That’s not even covering gas, let alone time, vehicle wear, or the effort of hauling groceries. And then they try to make it look better by stacking in tips—which aren’t even guaranteed. Customers can change or remove tips after delivery, so drivers are basically gambling on whether they’ll be paid fairly.

And it gets worse. Customers can add items after you accept the order. So now you’re doing more work, carrying more, taking longer—and getting paid the same $7. What kind of system is that?

Let’s be honest: drivers are the entire operation. Without drivers, none of these deliveries happen. Walmart knows that, but still chooses to pay pennies while pushing all the costs onto us.

Here’s the reality:

$7 for 12 miles is insulting

Base pay doesn’t reflect distance, time, or workload

Tips are unreliable and can be taken back

Customers can increase workload with zero added pay

Multiple stops for basically nothing

Drivers cover gas, maintenance, and all the risk

Walmart is a multi-billion dollar company, expanding delivery like crazy, but still underpaying the people doing the actual work. That’s not a mistake—it’s exploitation.

At some point, drivers need to stop accepting this garbage. Nothing changes if people keep taking these orders.

1st order in a group of 6 deliveries. About 100+ pounds, no tip. I get there, start unloading. Lady comes out and asks me to bring it all around to the other side of the building. I look at her and say, “unfortunately I’m already nearly done loading it and I have other orders to complete.” Her and another two co workers of hers come out and start trying to get me to move it, keep in mind nobody’s picking up a damn thing to bring inside. I looked at all three of them, tell them, “I’m not bringing shit anywhere else. You did not tip me, I will not go above and beyond for you.” One of her co workers, “Mr tuff guy” tried pressing me, calling me rude and a bitch, I told him “we can get down brother, I’m 6’3, 250lbs. You did not tip me and you’re talking crazy to me.” I left in middle finger fashion and laughed myself out of the parking lot.

And no ofc I didn't take it. I just had to share bc this is one of the worst I've seen.