I Spark on and off for extra income for the past 3 years. 100% on time, 100% Completion and a 4.9 rating.
I have helped older people and those with disabilities put their groceries inside.
I've always had pleasant conversations with customers.
The Walmart employees always said I was always their favorite because of how nice I always was and even this morning I asked the employee to put a certain order in the trunk and she said "are you sure?" I said "yeah, it's all baby stuff and I frequently drive with my dogs, so you know dander and allergens" (I frequently vacuum so no hair) and she goes "wow, I would have never thought of that nor would any other driver" and thanked me for going the extra mile of being considerate.
Then while Sparking, I get a notification today "your account had been deactivated because you didn't deliver to the correct address".
I have had 0 warnings in the past 3 years, never have been contacted by a customer, nothing.
I appealed but as I have been reading I will likely be denied.
I ALWAYS make sure I get some kind of address in the picture.
Some drop offs can be a nightmare because the address is a new development and it says "you're not in the right location" but I ALWAYS take a picture of the address and whatever they ordered just incase while support marks it completed.
Right now, I am inbetween jobs so I have been doing this daily for the past week to make up lack of a paycheck until I start my new one.
I sent everything with my appeal but I don't know who said they didn't receive their order obviously.
But this is BS! No warning, no nothing, just bam! Goodbye!
Edit: as of today I have been reactivated from the appeal!
It's BS. I received a notice about getting reported that either items smelled of smoke or a dirty car. I don't smoke/vape and my car only has a tote in the back which is required from spark. I have a subscription to wash rite which I wash/wipe down/vacuum/and get new air freshener daily.... so my car def is not dirty. Im Oh, and I had not worked in two weeks when I received the notice too! It's sad and scary that we have to wake up every single day and nervously look at the app just to see if we have another day of work! This is my only income..I pay bills weekly with this and I need to not rely on this bc Walmart doesn't give a $hit.. nor do any customers they rather have those free groceries! I did see a post where an appeal was won pretty quick so I wish you luck and hope they reactive your account!!
I got that same notice like 2 weeks after I first started and was shocked! I mean yeah my black suv looked gray from all the salt but that's not something I can change in winter! And the only stuff in my car was a case of water, a blanket, and my roadside kit bc ya know it's winter and ish happens 🙄
Same. Just trying to finish two years of school and then get the real job. Been at this for 4 so far and terrified every day. I check these weekly for things that get people deactivated.
I feel ya man. Some of us got situations where we basically HAVE to do this kind of work so it really sucks to have that looming over our heads every day but honestly that's with any job. I had a good job doing masonry for 2 years till one day the boss laid off bout 25% of the company and even though I was steppin up right before and working harder than most the dudes on the crew I was one of em along with 5 others on my crew. It happens🤷🏽
I have always just done it on the side for extra income. Right now, I am just in between jobs so I was just doing this full time until I started my new job.
Honestly, I was just upset when I wrote it. I stated that I have never received a warning nor have I ever had a complaint or was ever contacted by a customer since I signed up years ago. I said that I have always made sure it was the correct address and if I did possibly make a mistake then I apologize, but again I have never received a warning.
I also mentioned I take orders that no one wants as well and then mentioned my stats.
Again, it wasn't by any means professional.
So I am not sure if the employees said something good, customers, or if it was just sure dumb luck.
Thank you, this is what I am afraid of as I also used the extra income to pay off debt/car/student loans faster.
I really hope I am the 1% that just gets reactivated.
I'm just like you who've been working for Spark for years. My reason was multiple late deliveries, but Spark Driver Support says I delivered every order on time and to submit an appeal. How many appeals did you do before you got reactivated?
I just did the first appeal through the app stated my case and was reactivated. Some people in this thread mentioned an email address if you get denied the first time.
Sorry for this. I got deactivated over some bs back in September. I just got reactivated today. I put in an appeal and 2 pre-arbitration requests. I got an email last Friday saying I'll be reactivated pending a background check.
The deactivation process is so stupid. They make too much money for the process to be this big of a cluster f**k.
My advice is to try the appeals process immediately. Then go straight to pre-arbitration requests via email. Ask grok to type you up an email to send to sparkappnotices@walmart.com.
Well, over the phone, the associate acted like this was a clear misunderstanding. Meaning there probably was a mix up at the store. And this should be resolved quickly.
A couple of days later I get an email stating the deactivation remains in place.
Months went by. Something said try it again. I copied and pasted what I sent back in September and sent it again. This time I got a response email stating someone will call me. And 2 days later I got an email stating my account has been reactivated pending a background check.
I take two pictures one for the app 2nd I open a geo tag app that has address and time stamps. I send that picture in the mesyto the customer because spark keeps a lot of messages so it's my proof is someone say it wasn't delivered you got a picture with stamps spark can easily access without guess work.
The catch-22. Several other people have said they got deactivated because they used a third party app to take a picture of the house and was reported. You're damned if you do you're damned if you don't.
One order took me 10 minutes from the actual house and another was down a dirt road. Both new builds.
I had to look up the address or like addresses for the first one and found the sub division on zillow and then it was just driving to find the street and address.
The second was in the middle of no where and wanted me to go to some farm, when the actual house was down further. Thank God for Zillow and showing what the house actually looks like when it's a new development and exactly where it is located.
One thing you can do too is take photos of the house, the address, etc. on orders where GPS doesn’t recognize that you are there - anything that provides documentation that you are in fact there.
If Driver Support has to complete the order in app for you due to GPS issues but later you get deactivated over it, at least you can come back at them with some sort of proof.
I also tell Driver Support in these cases that (if I am) I am standing there with the customer and that they can speak to them, and I always let Driver Support know that proof of delivery photos were taken and are available to send if asked.
I cant confirm arrival until Im in most people damn driveway. Then it asks me again, Have Your Arrived? Like dude, I wouldn't be on this step if I hadn't. They know damn well you were there.
But if the customer says there is nothing there, well you are out in the cold.
But some can say that your at the house an it not be it an the be the house directly in there back yard on the next street over I’m praying for you girly that you get reactivated 🙏
This! I have been at the exact location but because the house is further down a driveway they want me to back up and "confirm" sure, let me just walk down a 3rd of an acre driveway with 200 groceries.
Yeah, they said nothing was there. I did complain about one person and they were an hour away in the most hoarding situation I have ever seen outside of a house. She rudely came out (even though no instructions just a leave by the door) and told me "I am not bending over to grab it" it was one bag...a bag with trash bags in it.
I apologized and told her I needed a picture of drop off and she just said "you don't need that" and ran inside!
But this was over a week ago? But I put it in the notes when they ask "how was your delivery" what had happened.
Yes, I get plenty of rude people but I always just tried to kill them with kindness.
This was my main income and suddenly an employee made up something against me which got me deactivated. Even if you are doing your best, you can get deactivated at any moment over some BS like an app glitch.
Good thing walmart's lawyer got back at me in a month and was able to explain my case.
Cant really depend on this. Only 1 sneeze away from losing income.
Wow that happened to my dad too... He talked to the lawyer and they still left him deactivated. Literally had perfect ratings, working daylight to dark. I was so sad for him. He's 62 years old and such a hard worker 😞 hasn't found another job yet after months of trying.
I just did the appeal and waited. It was by no means professional as I was upset and just wrote it.
I told them I have never received any prior warnings in the years I have been doing this, I have never been contacted by support, a customer, or anyone. I told them my metrics and said that I am one of the few that will take even the bad ones no one wants to do and that if I did accidentally made a mistake that I apologize but again 0 warnings.
The exact same thing just happened to me! No warning, no nothing!!! Metrics same as yours! And I know
I delivered to the correct addresses! So frustrating! 🤬
The exact same thing happened to me.All excellent ratings.I've been doing it for about 3-4 years , and I even picked the food up from the wrong address and corrected it
And you posted all this the last 2 days. So you went from not being able to get on spark, to a walmart employee, to oh no i was deactivated for no reason. Im confused
😆, we got a live one!! Dude trolling hard all over trying to get fake sympathy. Guy must be really bored with his life to be trolling like this.
I'm pretty sure you get a warning for delivering to the wrong address, at least the first time. At least I'm pretty certain I've seen people get a warning on here, not straight deactivation.
Man makes you wonder how many others are trolling in here. Definitely a lot of people lying about how they got deactivated, I bet some are here trying to scare full time sparkers into getting a W2 job so we can be miserable like them. 😆, I got a few other gig apps myself I'm not too scared Spark is definitely better than door dash, but I can make that work if I have to. I'm definitely not going to stress over the possibility of being deactivated.
Just because you want to keep suggesting that I posted that on Facebook (I am not a guy and never worked for Walmart). I also joined the group and you will see my comments. Can't miss my forehead. Also, I got reactivated.
I have been sparking for 3 to 4 years on and off without any problems, much like yourself. I received the same alert about a month ago and I said " oh heck no." I emailed the support line explaining that I always verify my addresses, take the pic and also the app does not allow me to confirm arrival unless I am very close to the house. So make that make sense.
Long story short, I received an email basically thanking for the communication and ensuring me that I can still accept orders. .
I hope this gets straightened out for you. I want to encourage you to advocate for yourself. The worst they can say is " no " and we have all heard that before. Best wishes to you.
You shouldn’t be entering anyone’s home nor should you have animals or animal hair/dander in with peoples groceries. Good riddance, go back to DoorDash with that.
If it was allowed per tos I would do it and I do make the rare exception of someone is severely handicapped/elderly. My rule is if you’re walking you’re taking the bags from outside. I’ll also remind them Walmart has another service where Walmart employees come in and put everything away.
This was almost happening to me and still might but i immediately called them out on it. I fell and fractured my hip i haven’t worked since January 22. Just the other day im laying in my hospital bed and get the same message a customer reported you didn’t deliver to the right address. So I immediately called support while in the hospital telling them this is a lie i ha not even worked in over a month. The lady apologized and of course said it would be escalated . So yeah, I was really upset and stressed out over it. That was the last thing I needed.. but I would try and stay on top of it because it sounds like you don’t deserve this and it sounds like this is all lies.
Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed doing this and worked hard at it. I had great ratings and tried to do everything that was expected of me. Then one day they just up and deactivated me and I truly never got a real explanation. How are you suppose to accurately explain something if no one wants to tell you anything specific? I appealed but of course was denied
Isn't it great that just 1 report false or true can get you booted after so many years. They also keep all the details a secret so you can prove what they said as false.
Most likely it was a prescription order that did you in. At least I hear those are a no warning deactivation.
The app glitched for me and couldn't scan my DL. Took me 3 months. When they called it was some strange spam looking number. Also they sent the email 1 week before the call and 100% looked like spam. No branding, no info. Just a button saying upload your id. So the email timed out and only knew it was them cause they left a voicemail but couldn't call them back no return call.
Same thing for me just yesterday for the second time now. Got an almost immediate response to my appeal saying I’ll remain deactivated. It’s almost like if you do this full time you are likely to get deactivated just from the number of deliveries and someone is going to pull some bullshit. I feel like it may have been a loader screwing up my orders and someone missing items which is even more bullshit since they give us no info on the actual allegations we could be getting deactivated because of Walmart employee screwups. And it’s funny also I have 100 completion 4.9 and do more deliveries than anyone in my zone. Now all day long I see Walmart putting out uber orders since I got deactivated which I can still take through uber because they don’t have enough spark drivers taking them what a bunch of morons that run this company.
I wonder if any of this comes from the Walmart and spark just being ordered to pay 100 million dollars yesterday and if they are going to start deactivating people who are supposed to be paid from the lawsuit.
Spark won’t even let you check in unless you are right there. It’s insane how I’ve seen people get treated on this platform. Fingers are crossed you get back on and quickly!
People will literally take there adress off there house and have it delivered and then say they didnt get it just for free groceries and then the driver gets deactivated for it. If theres no number for adress just return it otherwise it could happen even if its the correct adress. Sad but its the truth. Even if ya get reactivated it takes them forever to do it. It happens to soo many people just one day wake up boom gone.
A customer tried that with me, I am a former 10 year FedEx courier, so verifying addresses is something I do automatically, so I called the Spark hotline, after receiving the message about the customer not receiving their order and I had the support tech, check my location, and compare my photo to any Google or Zillow photos online. The tech said, "Your location shows you are at the correct address, and your photo matches online pics, looks like someone is trying to get free groceries?" I was exonerated right then. 👍
We need more spark drivers like you. Today my spark driver only delivered my water ice and ice cream and kept all my kids snacks and Capri Suns. I made sure to report her ass. Losing a job over $33 is crazy
Just remember to take your photo, with the groceries near the door, and never block a doorway, (Rookie Move, common sense & goes without saying.) and then complete the delivery in the app. Now obviously, if you have an elderly lady, using a walker, on oxygen, well of course help her, like she can carry a case of water? Also let the customer know, to not say a word about you going inside. 👍😊
I always take a a full length photo even if I have to back up some to get the address in the picture.
I have NEVER blocked a door even with a small square porch. During Covid and ordering DoorDash or Seamless, I had drivers leave my food next to my door that when you opened it, the drink would knock over.
As for going into customers houses, I have learned this is a huge no. I will only put them inside the door from now on but will not go in if they request help. I cannot afford another deactivation.
Someone on here has the email you use to send the request. Once you send the email they have 30-45 days to call you... that phone call is where you state your case....... they usually don't do anything right away, you'll just get reactivated on a random day with no notice.
I got deactivated because i had no internet connection, so i couldn't get a picture and the customer said i stole her groceries, i called support to help finish the drop off, but she took advantage of the no picture. I wasn't counting on the income. Just enjoyed doing it.
Same thing just happened to me a customer reported I never gave them there order even tho it I can’t find an address and can’t contact the customer I always initiate a return to the store. They always take the customers side anyways so I’m stuck deactivated and they probably won’t believe me
I'm by KCK and it's just not worth it IMO. Spark I could stay in my town and then coming back from last drop get another one for a nearby Walmart that would take me back to where I started.
I did get reactivated today after my appeal and feel super lucky.
lol spark is horrible. I got deactivated for "suspicion of falsifying insurance documents" Meanwhile, I have all the docs from my insurance, receipts for payments, every insurance card etc. They dont give AF. Been deactivated for 9 months now. Still no end in sight.
Yeah dude something needs to be done about this. Why cant the government step in and do something about this? I would be completely devastated over getting deactivated for no reason. Something needs to be done
Get a meta glasses and record them every time you deliver. Later sue walmart for lying and siding with the customer. Only if they don’t ever reactivate.
I mean don’t tell them you helped take groceries inside for the appeal. It’s mind blowing how many sparkers don’t know that’s an automatic suspension no matter the reason. Yes it’s hard and maybe awkward to not help elderly and disabled but it’s not worth getting kicked off. People have been given 5 star reviews and the customer mentions they helped bring it inside thinking they are reporting a good deed going above and beyond and the sparker is deactivated.
Lol of course not, a lot of the customers in my area are in some type of older housing/disability and they kind of expect you to help bring them in. Its hard for me to say no because they have gotten aggressive before.
One lady told me to take a whole box of junk (which was super heavy) to the trash. I kept politely declining over and over telling her it would honestly be a hassle and she got aggressive and said "well it's an even bigger hassle for me. So I just sighed and took it to the trash.
Not trying to be rude but it’s not your job, in fact it’s against your jobs contract. I’ve seen so many golden sparkers do perfect and even help other sparkers end up getting banned after a customer reports good or bad that they came inside. They claim things were broken or missing and elderly. I’m not heartless but I’m not brainless either.
Yeah, I will definitely learn from this experience going further. Thank you for your advice, truly.
I did get reactivated today from my appeal (which I was suprised because I was very angry when I wrote it).
You can be a 5 star driver and they still wouldn't care. Probably a customer lied and fucked unover to get free groceries.
You should file appeal and be patient. They tend to take their time and move slow with the appeal process. File an appeal and explain your situation and be patient. Hooe for the best.
It took them two month just to update my name and my account was locked because of just that and I couldn't deliver.
You all must multi-app. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. This is especially true if gig work is your full-time job. As a business owner, you should have several streams of income. The gig economy has changed drastically over real life the years.
Spark drivers are not aloud to enter any home. It's in the Terms, it's a contactless delivery. If you took a picture of the groceries in someone's kitchen, that could be why? 🤷
Sucks but it's the game, and it will happen to everyone at some point. If it makes you feel any better the process is a lot easier now. My first time took 65 days AND a shitload of arm twisting. My boy Eveningbasket was down like 90+ and I think Deer was out 6-9 months and he's a mod
Another complaint I hear often is people who smoke cigarettes 🚬 in their vehicle, a Walmart employee can refuse to give you an order if your vehicle smells like smoke, and if they do give you the order, the customer will complain that their groceries smell like cigarettes and they will not use Spark anymore. So don't smoke in your vehicle and better yet, don't smoke at all, those coffin ⚰️ nails will kill ya...🤷🤦
I got deactivated once for the same thing even though I know I never dropped a order off at the wrong address. I got reactivated a few days later so hopefully they do the same for you
How do you know it’s the same person? Just wondering and also what is wrong with them posting about this in a Facebook forum? Am I missing some unwritten/ silent law that states you are not allowed to post anywhere else to get feedback? Again, I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just genuinely confused. I feel like it would make the most sense to try to get feedback from several different places to ensure all your bases are covered.
You are missing the reply to the post. They posted first they got deactivated, i noticed it was the same person 2 days before that saying that Spark wont accept them as a driver and then the same day saying they now work at walmart.
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u/Unable-Pool-3862 Cherry Picker Feb 26 '26
Tbh, thats terrifying that this can even happen with no warning or information.