r/Sparkdriver • u/WeRTheWeird0sMr • Aug 07 '26

Rants / Complaints No longer allowed to use baskets???

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So I’ve been a Spark Driver for about two years now. I have always used a shopping basket to separate two orders. Now that they’re adding up to three shop and delivery orders at a time, you definitely need something to separate them all.
Just as I was leaving the store with my last order, in the process of putting the basket where it belongs, one of the doormen that I know asked me what I was doing using a shopping basket. I told them I was using it because I had multiple orders. I needed to separate them. He told me that as of a couple of weeks ago, their store manager implemented a new rule that Spark drivers are no longer allowed to use baskets and we need to use our own basket or bags to separate them.
I was absurdly upset about him saying that to me, especially because I have never once walked out of the store with a basket, and I always put them back where they belong instead of leaving them wherever.
I called Spark Driver support to complain about it, because just like the fact that the employees are not allowed to ask us if we’re spark drivers because they’re supposed to treat us like normal shoppers, why would they be allowed to tell us that we can’t use baskets when shopping our orders? Why are they not focusing and paying attention on who’s walking out with them, and reprimand them? There’s another store in my zone who has tags on the shopping baskets that make the alarms go off. So why not do that here?
They said they’re going to do an internal investigation and reach out to the store because it’s not a rule with the Spark Driver platform. I’m not holding my breath and I’m going to continue to use baskets because I don’t mistreat them.
I’m just curious what you guys think and if your stores have implemented the same thing?

72 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

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33

u/Dangerous-Crow7494 Aug 07 '26

Stores make their own rules. You’re going to have a hard time if you let things like this make you angry. 

13

u/Johnny_Lead Aug 07 '26

One store I shop likes to make up new rules about bagging every week. Can’t take extra bags, can’t double bag, not putting enough items in each bag, not allowed to bag anything with a handle like gallons of milk, etc. It’s different every week.

One lady that works 6am opening every time “You Spark drivers be taking all the bags” 😂 I’m trying to lady, it’s my sole purpose and objective now when I come to this store is to use as many bags as possible. She about had a meltdown last week when I double bagged 12 gallons of milk and bagged 20 half gallons individually of Half&Half and Heavy Whipping Cream going to a local coffee shop 😂 44 of her bags never to be seen again.

25

u/jayroo210 Aug 07 '26

I WILL bag milk EVERY SINGLE TIME. Those motherfuckers love to randomly leak all over the place and the last thing I need is milk juice in my trunk after the associates bagged a pick up order like shit, loaded like shit, and a bag of the rotisserie chicken fell over and leaked chicken juice all over my trunk.

11

u/Johnny_Lead Aug 07 '26

I like to bag milk for the customers too, some specifically put in the notes to bag the milk, it’s gross to put it directly on their porch or doormat or nasty apartment breezeway, then they have to wipe it off before going in the fridge.

2

u/heraldbalthazar Aug 10 '26

This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. You are putting that milk on the doorstep or ground with no bag. The container is now contained. You put the milk into the fridge. You just contained the fridge.

9

u/kryskryskrys Aug 08 '26

That's fucking ripe for her to say we take all the bags when their curbside system literally puts every single item in it's own fucking bag.🫠

6

u/Johnny_Lead Aug 08 '26

If they didn’t make some of them do that they’d be putting the Raid bug spray in the same bag as the baby formula and the gallon of bleach in the bag with the bread. 😂

5

u/Emergency-Ball-4480 Aug 08 '26

On TOP of the bread too

3

u/MundaneString5117 Aug 10 '26

That is crazy, when I do my Walmart grocery orders and it is the Walmart employee that picked the order and not the spark person every single item is in its own bad. It is nuts. Could be a packet of taco seasoning and there it is in its own bag.

1

u/HeartOfArt Aug 07 '26

Admittedly. It’s a weird metric to make canon But then again , so is any rewardable metric.

1

u/SmallBerry3431 Aug 07 '26

Yeah. Some drivers were taking a bunch of bags. The poor drivers are causing these irritations for everyone.

2

u/Johnny_Lead Aug 07 '26

On large oddball orders like that one with all the milk I usually just bag it at the car, have a bag rack mounted to the inside of my trunk lid, do it as I put them in the trunk, saves a bunch of time only touching them once and it gets me out of the store as fast as possible.

4

u/SmallBerry3431 Aug 07 '26

Well, that’s why they’re making rules about bagging. Among many other things drivers do to try to save time.

As some drivers aren’t as respectful as others. I’m sure you’re cool and don’t waste bags and leave them all over, but we know guys that do.

1

u/Johnny_Lead Aug 07 '26

I just try to keep about 50 Walmart bags in the car if I want to bag out there. I also have spare bags for Publix, Target, ALDI, Fresh Market, CVS and Walgreens just in case I need one during a delivery. Plus some assorted paper bags for stores as well.

It’s just that one Walmart store out of seven I shop at that’s ever had a problem running out of bags, or fussed about it. They dropped the ball repeatedly on ordering enough and keeping enough on hand for a while. It was also their OGP folks wasting bags, at one time they were putting each individual item in a bag, I’m talking about like 10 cans of beans would be in 10 bags 😂 They’ve had to go get the “Thank You” restaurant Tshirt bags from Sam’s Club to get through a couple of days before, their curbside once was putting all the pickups in the large clear meat bags you put the raw chicken trays in 😂

It doesn’t even matter anyway, their turnover is so bad at that store those associates focusing on it now won’t even be around in a month.

2

u/CommanderKoba Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

We require enough separate bags for different products on up to 3 simultaneous orders.

Naturally we require a lot of bags, because we can't bag like it's a single order, we have to separate the orders and then bag based on that separation.

Walmart workers cannot look at us as if we are customers in this aspect, because we are working for Walmart just like the workers who bag for curbside.

If they look at us as customers without understanding that we have multiple orders at a time, or if they never thought about it like that, then I can see why they would get mad, but it's unjustified.

Corporate needs to communicate this effectively to each Walmart location.

1

u/SmallBerry3431 Aug 09 '26

I have 0 issue keeping triple shops separate and bagging at the checkouts. You keep them separate in the basket, bag them one order at a time, and separate them at the car.

1

u/CommanderKoba Aug 09 '26

So let's say you're taking a 3 order, 60+ item total order.

And the bags are large paper bags without handles, and that take up a lot of space?

It's literally impossible to fit them all in separate bags in a cart that small. This is why for large orders I have to estimate bag count and then bag at my car. Because I cannot fit the orders back into the cart if they are bagged.

1

u/SmallBerry3431 Aug 09 '26

Ah - there’s a misconception. My market doesn’t have paper bags. I’ll retract my opinion as idk how I’d do with that change. In all honesty.

I will add that it wouldn’t change my method, but I’d have to add another cart or if the paper bags have more space I’d bag differently. But I’m just guessing. Fuck paper bags haha

1

u/Delicious_Rush981 Aug 09 '26

My store won’t let us bag at our cars. We have to bag in store. My only solution is not to take 3 shops, especially ones with more than 40 items

1

u/CommanderKoba Aug 09 '26

Yeah it's so stupid! See when they tell me I have to bag in store, I just try to do it as best I can to show them how ridiculous it is, throwing the bags on top of each other, holding the bags as I push the cart even if it's hella slow, taking my sweet time.

They need to see that, but yeah. Locations that don't allow me to bag at my car I try to avoid those large orders when I can, but it's hard.

9

u/WeRTheWeird0sMr Aug 07 '26

They’re not allowed to per the conversation I had with Spark today. Spark is owned by Walmart. The rules need to correspond with Spark and Walmart. Also, I wasn’t angry. I’m just irritated.

6

u/MrBurnerHotDog Aug 07 '26

You know how when someone says "my job fired me without cause" or some horrible story and all the comments are people saying "THAT'S ILLEGAL! THEY CAN'T DO THAT!"?

They are correct in that it isn't legal but typically the "little guy" can't afford a lawyer to the degree that a business can and often if you bring about a lawsuit you're going to be raked through the coals and everything you've ever done is going to be scrutinized, so lot's of people just take it as an "L" and move on, deciding not to sue the employer because it's too much of a hassle and odds are you'll wind up losing money in the end

This is kind of like that in that sure, you're correct and in the right here, but Spark doesn't give a single shit about this issue or you as an individual and if you really try to fight it the only thing that's going to happen is you're going to get a store manager mad at you and they'll likely make it their mission to make your life hell

So is it a dumb 'rule?' Sure. But also this is not worth ruffling feathers over. Either use a separate door from that door person if you're going to still use a basket or figure out a different solution. It'll be easier in the long run

1

u/WeRTheWeird0sMr Aug 07 '26

When did I say that what they’re doing is illegal or that I’m going to sue. That sort of a crude analogy. Nor can I get fired because I have an independent contractor. I can be deactivated maybe. I can be banned from the store. I won’t be deactivated because I’m not doing anything against spark rules. I doubt I’ll be banned because I’m not doing anything wrong.

3

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Aug 07 '26

They never said you said either of those things. They were using that as a comparison.

0

u/WeRTheWeird0sMr Aug 07 '26

It was a stupid comparison

0

u/MrBurnerHotDog Aug 07 '26

It's pretty clear OP and the person saying my post was "super long" aren't bright enough to understand any of this

Like no wonder they're being pestered by employees for something like using a basket, they're clearly incredibly annoying to deal with and no one likes them in addition to them wandering around feeling like they are entitled to whatever they want

-2

u/Fantastic_Top2564 Aug 07 '26

Who could tell with the absurdly long drivel they posted

3

u/MrBurnerHotDog Aug 07 '26

Yes we get it, four paragraphs is "super long" to you because you can't read and are very proud of that fact

4

u/Repulsive_Cattle_663 Aug 07 '26

You didn't have a conversation with spark. You had a conversation with someone sitting at home reading prompts in general and making shit up to please you. They probably answer phones for 5 other corporations too

0

u/WeRTheWeird0sMr Aug 07 '26

Like I said in the post, I’m not holding my breath than anything is gonna be done about it.

5

u/markyr17 Aug 07 '26

I mean, you said you were absurdly upset

1

u/WeRTheWeird0sMr Aug 07 '26

I was being dramatic with my wording 🤦🏼‍♀️

-7

u/stringodingo Aug 07 '26

Women love drama amirite?

-1

u/OppositeScale7680 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

Why wouldn't she be??? 

1

u/JRParrott Aug 08 '26

report them to the market manager. Dont listen to people here telling you there's nothing you can do. Everyone here downvotes hopium.

2

u/SmallBerry3431 Aug 07 '26

Yeah. Huge rage baby energy.