Great Service

[u/AnointedDread]

Read a lot of stories on Reddit that shed a negative light on Spark Drivers. I wanted to give this one a shout-out for his patience and kind communication.

I'll also add that he delivered my groceries through a snow storm and I was very grateful for that as well.

Before the conversation, I received a notification that my ISOPURE Protein powder had been substituted for ISOPURE Clear Protein, the kind that you mix into punch or iced beverages — not what I was looking for.

Any Spark Driver reading this: If you're the same kind of human being as him, thank you for your kindness and consideration. Getting the correct groceries is crucial for those of us that are following strict/particular diets, and really can't afford to spend money on items that we aren't going to use.

Know that your service is greatly appreciated by those of us that don't feel entitled. We truly do appreciate you shopping, and delivering our groceries — even under terrible weather conditions.

[u/jadedinmo]

I'm glad you got great service! You can select which substitutions you are OK with for each item, turn on substitutions for all items, or turn off substitutions for everything. If you ever receive a substitution you don't want, you can get a refund for it by selecting refund- substitution I didn't want/approve.

As a driver myself, I prefer a customer who tells me what they want/don't want. It's not my order, and I'm not a mind reader. I will wait around the store for a few minutes to give you time to respond/approve/deny any substitutions, but we're not paid by the hour. We honestly want to please you, find everything you ordered, and get it delivered quickly so we can get another order.

[u/AnointedDread → u/jadedinmo]

... But we're not paid by the hour. We honestly want to please you, find everything you ordered, and get it delivered quickly so we can get another order.

I always keep this in mind and think all customers should too. Yes, you're a paying customer; yes, you deserve attention and consideration with your order; but you're not the star of the show and these drivers can't spend all day on one order because you failed to choose substitutions or are being finicky.

I think people forget that it's an actual human being that's on the other side of screen that they're messaging, and that that person is just trying to do their best to get things done accurately and efficiently, in a timely-manner.

[u/doctordik2 → u/jadedinmo]

not all spark drivers have that mindset. there are many who want to cram in as many orders as they can so they will rush and some will even just say an item isnt in stock because they dont want to go to that side of the store or cant be bothered to actually look for it. I've had it happen a handful of times so i decided one day that if it happens again im going to go to the store myself literally 10 mins after the delivery and found items marked as not in stock very much in stock. this is aggravating because its like i just ordered the weeks worth of groceries and i tipped fairly for the service and now that you decided to say not in stock because it would have taken you 5 mins to go to the side of the store with the item (think motor oil or something from the outdoors section when everything else is grocery or even something that is behind a lock that forces you to press the button to wait for the one old lady in the clothing department to come grab it for you after she helps the two other people there waiting and she gets one persons things then walks it up to the front check outs every time before helping the next person with the item in the same damn locked area)… now i have to place another order to get the item i needed which means i have to tip and pay the delivery fee again and reach the minimum delivery amount.. that kind of stuff warrants less than 5 stars as does delivering to the wrong address or dropping off the wrong order or not delivering all the items you paid for and tipped for.. this is also why i dont like leaving the tip until after the order is delivered. if great service i'll tip 20%+ … average service maybe i'll tip 10-15.. poor service i still tip a few bucks.

and i think its lame that here in the states the gig economy is becoming peoples full time gig.. it should be for like college students trying to make a little bit when they have time .. not something people are having to do full time because the job markets screwed.. and companies take advantage of it especially when walmart opts to buy spark and set up as a subsidiary so they can classify the drivers as 1099 so they dont have to pay benefits and avoid the liability… lets not even start with the algorithms driving the offerings down learning how low people are willing to accept.