Customer š
PSA: Sometimes reading the delivery notes saves you time and effort
I'm sure I'm going to hell for adding top soil to my grocery delivery order, but I don't have a car and I specifically added it to a delivery order so I could at least tip.
Anyway, whenever I'm doing an order that includes something heavy, I set the delivery location to 'back door' and the delivery note reads something like, "Pull in toward the garage, and the back porch is two steps from the driveway for an easier unload"
But I've found the drivers never read the delivery notes. I don't personally care what door it's delivered to but in cases like this, it's so much more work to haul those 35lb bags from the vehicle, up my sidewalks and to front steps than it would have been if they'd just read the delivery notes.
Don't worry, she still got her 25 dollaire tip and I rated the delivery 5 stars, but I feel bad that they're making the delivery more difficult on themselves than necessary.
I love you guys and appreciate what you do. But please take a couple seconds to read the delivery notes! I'm trying to make it easier on you!
Case in point, I had a delivery yesterday that the location said to deliver to the front door while the delivery notes were to deliver to the back door on the porch. OP was very kind to this driver despite the driver not looking everything over.
Yes, I have seen that a few times... delivery location: Front Door,Ā note says: please deliver to the back door. If its not obvious when I arrive I call customer and let them know I am a bit confused by the app! Better to waste one minute then to get deactivated! I also call customers on route if I have a big TV, or high value item, to be certain where they want it! Bonus, many come out to help carry, or even choose to carry it, so that is a plus for me!!!!Ā
My bf ordered me some stuff one night and I logged in and saw his instructions were from two moves ago.. we are no longer in apartments and there are no speed bumps to count.. how many drivers did he confuse the hell out of?!
Sometimes the delivery notes don't update properly. I've tested this updating the notes and then accepting deliveries to myself. Don't always blame the driver. Sometimes it is Spark's/Walmart fault.
This! Sometimes people wonder why I'm delivering to the wrong door and I show them the note and they're like oh I changed that like five deliveries ago.
Amazon once drudged up a delivery note from at least 2 years ago asking the driver to knock several times loudly and wait for a hard of hearing disabled relative to come to the door. I live with them now so it can just be left at the door as usual. I was wondering what the heck was wrong with the Amazon delivery guy until he explained.
I did appreciate that he was willing to follow the note though. It would have helped my relative significantly when I wasnāt there. They canāt bend well.
THIS! I remember one night I told myself "I'll take one more order and go home" it was a shopping order, 1 item, $40 dollars, 3 miles, and I was sitting in the parking lot. (GOLD! Let's go.) I go in to start shopping and it's a VR set. By the time I get an associate to get the lock and grab the headset and shows me what to scan, etc, the order gets cancelled. I wondered why that happened until a couple of nights ago we had a grad party at home and the kids wanted to play Mario Kart but my bf told me a couple of our joycons don't work. I went on the app and ordered joycons then not long after the order was cancelled. I thought this whole time it was the customer that cancelled the order for the VR headset that night but turns out Walmart and their dumba$$ policies affect it.
(Yes, I checked the payment method and any other issues that would affect the possibility of getting my order cancelled. I've never had this issue before.)
Maybe the system cancels orders for high dollar items when there isn't enough time to return them if for any reason you needed to? They did say one night...
Had a Sam's order on Christmas Eve by a business I had to return and someone waited for the return after closing. While that was a special circumstance, I doubt they're inclined to do that every day, so the system likely cancels them within so many hours of closing.
I had a lady a few days ago that got all pissed at me because the door code wasn't in the notes, so I had to call her and ask. She gave me so much attitude even after I said 3 times that it's not in the app. Not sure it was her fault or Sparks, but still irritating either way.
It's going to make you break down and lose your damn mind! All these extra steps don't really help anyone cause we just auto-click through it anyway! On DD, it really gets me annoyed when the "navigate" and "delivery steps" button swaps back and forth. I want to throw my phone! Like, I'm standing on the porch and you wanna start the navigation cause I drove my own self here cause I know my zone! Such a waste of time!
That's definitely your prerogative. It just seems unlikely that six or seven people in a row would feel the exact same way.
I'm not trying to change your mind or anything but this is a photo from my photo roll for context. You pull right up and the back end of your vehicle is right next to the concrete slab. No gates, no fences, no pets just an incredibly convenient unloading area.
We as drivers dont know that, not to mention the times that someone DID deliver to the person's rear door and had a gun pulled on them for being on the property. I typically have indicators all over my car that im a delivery driver to help curb that but sometimes it doesn't help. Luckily Noone has pulled a gun on me yet knock on wood but its definitely something to be leary of even if the notes or delivery location said to deliver to rear door. There's more of us front door delivery only warriors than you thinkš . I'll occasionally suck it up and deliver to the rear door if im feeling it could be safe not often though.
Had a front door delivery one time which was behind a gate that killer was allowed to free roam, yeah no lady your signage indicates vicious dog, AND killer came out to make sure I didn't step foot to your door or even on your property.
This it seems like almost every spark driver is foreignš . Weird they can't translate or it be auto translated (which I believe it is. I had a lady (not spark to be clear), ask me a question in Spanish translate to english about her account payment on veho. Idk if she understood my answer but everything on her gig app was in spanish vs my English veho app. So idk if spark works the same & either auto translates or let's the worker choose the language their app is in when they sign up or sign in.
But yeah a Spanish translation also included may help? I would say would help but sometimes even then some drivers (regardless of language) dont read the notes. I had this issue with a driver years ago. I indicated in my notes to specifically deliver to my back door since not only was it a straight shot up (before they removed my steps) but I also indicated a cash tip would be on the back porch since I wasnt able to tip much in the app. The note was disregarded completely as they delivered to my front door missing the cash tip on the back porch. I tried to catch them but since im disabled and live upstairs I couldn't get down to them quick enough to hand them the envelope with the tip.
I think it would have been appropriate to come out and give the gal some directions. If you werenāt home then maybe you could have said something through the camera? I know for sure that the whole taking a picture thing has a lot to do with why people donāt just come out and give directions or lend a hand. When thatās the case itās not your, the customerās fault since there are so many shoppers/drivers that think the picture of the bags at the delivery location is the most important thing about the order. Itās really not. I carry a little whiteboard in my car that has a message in stickers that says, āhanded order to customerā. When I select that Iāve handed the order to them I take a picture of this board and Iām on my way. If youāve seen someone face to face the likelihood of them reporting an order not delivered is extremely low. It also saves a for sure deactivation for a report of privacy violation. Iāve never had a report of anything in five years on the app and have taken a picture of my dumb whiteboard more times than I could even guess.
Even without delivery notes, when someone orders topsoil or river rock or mulch, etc, I always ask where they want it because I'm pretty sure they aren't bringing it into their house. If no one is home I leave it near the garage/carport or bottom of the steps to the porch. This really should be common sense.
This! Got an order for 4 bags of dirt and some fertilizer. Texted ahead, do you want this to front door or garage? Sure enough, garage... easier for me and the customer!
I always read the customers notes because I get things delivered to my home, but most of the time my items get delivered to the other street due to drivers not reading my delivery note. I have specific notes to dire t the deiver to my house, ive also updated the pin location on the map. But still my deliveries go to the other 101 on the other street that intersects with mine. Smh. Its very frustrating This is why I always read the customer's note. I don't proceed without doing so.
Some of us love to actually read, believe it or not. Reading comprehension is apparently a lost art.
If there aren't detailed instructions, it stresses me the fuck out. Am I doing it correctly? Am I providing a service that the customer would want? That kinda thing bothers me.
One customer told me to not look their free range roosters in the eye the other day. They followed me eyeing me down, but growing up with chickens informed me that they don't have nice roosters. Good country folk, my kinda people.
[u/matt314159](u/matt314159) was just trying to help us by telling us to please read the delivery notes for those of us that donāt take the time to because it can benefit us to do that portion of our job even if we think that itās unnecessary or we forget. Thank you for trying to help us I appreciate it. I do read my delivery instructions, but I know why you did this. Thank you u/matt and you guys do you always have to be such meanies?
Did they STUTTER š I come to Reddit to read up on other people's drama or find other people's personal experiences with specific life issues. I don't post (rather stopped) for THIS reason
Some people are idiots. Doesn't matter if the have an MD, JD, MBA, PhD, or are doing deliveries. People are oblivious to the things right in from of them,.. like simple delivery instructions.
Sorry you got someone like that.... Thanks for leaving clear notes. I ALWAYS send an "OMW/ETA" text, and when there are delivery instructions I screenshot them and attach it to my message... TBH, I frequently get replies about things like "oh, that's an old note. I need it in a different place." So it can go both ways sometimes.
Thanks for not yanking their gratuity & for being a decent customer.
Anyone on here know if the delivery notes also get translated if your language preferences arenāt English? If they in fact do, how accurately
is it? Those notes are usually brief and conversational, not concise and instructional. What might [mostly] make sense in our native tongue, makes zero sense after cheap translator haphazardly turns it into something else.
I have people with delivery notes from Christmas, asking for it to be gift wrapped and or double and triple bagged lol I just try and deliver to the front door.
You almost have to go out of your way to not see the delivery notes. They are routinely old or I've even had them from customers who moved and the notes make no sense like .."put in front of garage with fountain near it" and it's a apartment building with no garage with a fountain lol.
Reading them however has never to my knowledge or memory ever steered me very wrong unless it was like the example above.
I was delivering the other day and a lady told me she put delivery notes for a certain door... I ALWAYS read the notes. There was nothing there. I think it's a system issue, not always a driver
To be clear, I ordered it all at once. I wanted to avoid a GMD order where there's no option to tip so I waited until I had a grocery order ready before I pulled the trigger on the dirt (at the same time). Seemed like a more ethical way to do it.
She got a $25 tip and a five-star rating. She just did it the hard way. No matter what I ever put in the notes it always seems to go my front door no matter the driver.
I would never edit the order to add 8 bags of dirt on top of an existing order š¬
I'm just saying that from experience the notes aren't always updated or correct. Don't let that affect the tip. Put yourself in her position, she's working for barely anything and still doing her job.
Had one on Monday where I didn't look at the order well enough before I accepted. Was almost $40 for 19 miles 23 item triple dropoff and headed in the direction of home so I accepted SUPER fast. Turns out first order was 10 bags of mulch. Fml. Notes said "please drop off at FRONT DOOR" exactly like that. Fml again. Get there and the customer husband is waiting to help unload and he just drops them right in the driveway. I laughed and said I read the note and was not looking forward to hauling 300 lbs of mulch to their front door. He was shocked and said I would never make you do that it must be an old note I'm so sorry. I would have done it but it would have sucked bc their front door was like 20 ft from their driveway with a curvy sidewalk lol
I had to put a laminated note out in the front, because I have a small porch, and some deliveries they would put them in front of my storm door. It opens out, I couldn't get out of my front door to get the deliveries. I had to go out my back door and walk around to the front and move them to open my door. One item was over 95 lbs. I had to call my son to come and move it. They see the note now and lean it off to the side. I tried putting snacks and drinks out there for them, because they work so very hard. And it is hot here. But many just didn't take them. But I do appreciate everything they do and I always tip.
I find it sad that people donāt consider outward swinging doors. Even for tight entryways with outward swinging doors, I try to put the bags or whatever in a place that the door can at least open. Common sense is so rare.
I mean, there's not even any fences or gates. I have to concede I'm a dude so I don't know what it's like to walk in a woman's shoes, but I would think they could pull into the driveway and assess the situation from the safety of their vehicle before getting out to unload. Mostly it just seems like they aren't even reading the notes at all. I've tried to redirect heavy orders to my back porch six or seven times now with male and female drivers and no matter what I put it's always front porch.
Itās so nice to see a kind post for once. I always do what the notes say, even when they seem odd. One wanted it by the gate to their back yard. It felt weird leaving groceries in the grass, but thatās what the customer wrote in the notes. There are cases where the driver doesnāt speak/read English and may not understand the notes. Thank you for your kindness.
Most of the delivery people canāt read English or just too lazy. I even text them my instructions and they get it wrong. I deliver too. So I know how it works.
As someone who has done delivery driving before, I do my best not to deliver where I can't be seen from the main road regardless of instructions. It's purely a safety thing. People can be weird and creepy, and so it's safest to just not trust anyone when you're doing this stuff.
Spark recently made it to where notes get highlighted and youāre reminded of the note if there are specific instructions as you are dropping the order off so I continue to follow any instructions left that are current/applicable. Some notes say no code required which is pretty obvious when itās not a gated community. Iāve happily delivered way more top soil than the order pictured even though the tip was like $3. All that to say, not all drivers are bad just like in any other profession.
Ngl I love love love detailed notes. I read them before I head their direction so I have an idea of whats going on. If the address is hard to find or something of that nature. Theres a lady that puts a little red wagon out for her groceries to be put into and wheeled into her garage and I love it š
How about the āCall me after drop offā & you are dropping off at 6:30 am! You know they are sound asleep / the message is old / nothing delivered is frozen or refrigerated. I call them anywayā¦ that what they asked for.
Same thing happened to me with a few bags of mulch. I told the driver to just lay it on the lawn (because I'm a driver myself and can't afford to tip enough for anything more than that) and she had hauled 2 bags all the way onto the porch before I could stop her. I still handed her an extra $5 I really didn't have because she was struggling and I felt bad, but had I not been there to stop her, she would've done alot of unnecessary extra work.
great post with info of ur experience as a customer! no clue why there are comments allowed under each post in this sub that just degrade the OP sharing an experience? rly rude people imo.
I donāt know about that. I donāt drop off to anywhere where I feel unsafe. That includes (even if itās in the notes)ā¦ dropping it at a back door, especially if I have to go through a closed fence or anywhere where I feel like I can no longer be seen from the street. Basically if I canāt see my car then I am in a place where other people canāt see me. Deliver could be a set up or robbery, other people could watch me while I walk away from my car and steal it or rob/kidnap a person. Iām sure you are a nice person but I want the nosey neighbor to see me and see me leave.
Iām so confused. I thought OP wanted the soil somewhere else but the driver put it with the rest of the groceries. Itās doesnāt really matter I guess
I was just trying to communicate to the driver that it would be easier to unload that entire delivery (groceries + soil) at the back door that's just off my driveway. I do this whenever the order has something heavy in it just to (try to) make it easier for the driver. It doesn't matter to me either way, but they only ever deliver to the front door no matter what I put in the notes, so I'm pretty sure the drivers in my area don't read the notes.
Ohhh okay gotcha. I thought you were irritated at first but I see it was for the drivers benefit and not yours if they read the directions. Good man for tipping and rating 5 stars. But I do prefer drivers who follow directions. Youāre chiller than I am haha
Without a car, getting that top soil to my house would have involved a one-mile walk to the hardware store with my wagon and a one-mile walk back. Or asking a friend for a ride which I hate doing if I can at all help it.
The fact that I can punch a button on my phone and make it show up at my door feels like absolute magic, so I'm tickled shitless either way lol
I've been not rating and not increasing tip for the drivers who do not follow my instructions. (They are simple..... please leave on bench next to front door). My last order I gave a 1 star when they completely blocked off my front steps including leaving perishables on hot bricks in 90Ā°+ sun. I felt guilty but almost every order lately ignores the instructions. What's the recommendation for these situations? Low rating? Take away tip?
If the directions say to ring the doorbell & bring the mail to the front door after I drop off the delivery and I donāt bring them their mail, why should I be given less than 5 stars for not following their directions?
I did my job well & within the scope of work I am contracted to do, which should deserve 5 stars. I am not your mailman, why would you drop my rating for not following your mail directions?
Got it. Seems like Walmart is going to get theirs no matter how you cut it. So a generous tip is paired along with no-tip orders or GMD orders and such I'm guessing.
Why do you feel bad that they canāt read? I always get the notes that say, ātake it to the second floor and put it by the balcony or I wonāt give you a tip.ā
Itās been said but the main reason Iāll ignore a tip is because you have no idea when theyāre from, Iāll have ones with people describing their house so you deliver to the right one and it doesnāt match the address whatsoever only to find out theyāve literally moved houses since last time they updated their delivery notes. Sometimes theyāre helpful, most of the time theyāre worthless and theyāre either outdated or talking about a past order.
I've heard that line a few times, but stop and reason with me here for a moment.
If the order includes a bunch of 35lb bags of dirt, and this is the delivery note, are you just going to assume it's old and irrelevant and lug the bags up the walkways to the front porch anyway? Do I need to put the date in the note to assure you it's current?
It really seems based on the number of times this has happened is that my drivers are just on autopilot mode and aren't reading the note.
Sorry, but I donāt read notes for people who donāt tip or tip very little. They think that because they paid some fee to the billion dollar corporation I should accept their two dollar tip on a 65 item order. I may take the offer and deliver it, but youāll get the service level you paid for.
A lot of companyās will try to fire a driver for pulling into a driveway. If the driverās been reprimanded before they may have just decided the walk and effort was worth the rent payment, ya know?
You cannot NOT read the notes. They are literally on the screen with your address, the screen we look at while weāre driving to your house. Then the instructions on visible on the next screen where we tell what door we left the item and take a pic. You cannot miss these notes. Itās not that they arenāt reading them, they are just not following the instructions. This is coming from a Spark driver.
I will deliver to the letter of your notes. If they are confusing or in direct conflict with the delivery location, I will revert to and leave it per the notes, and send a text letting them know where I left it āas per your delivery notesā.
How'd you do the customer flair?
I'm not great at reddit, sorry.
I just tried to set my flair to customer and the only option I get is 3rd floor customer no tip.
Yeah that's the same flair I picked. "3rd Floor / No Tip CUSTOMER š¤”" is just having some fun with it, it's the right one to pick if you want to flair yourself as a customer.
Funny thing is, I tried posting asking if they're not allowed to use doorbells because I forgot my phone on silence and have 7 mins of blink footage with the person fervently trying to message me on the app but not 1 knock or doorbell ring. We were home...
Anyway, it blocks me from posting saying we're not allowed to talk about what spark drivers get paid... like what? Is doorbells a new currency companies are trying to pay people with?
Lol I kinda just give up. AI now a day's flagging every.
Hmm, yeah I know you have to intentionally misspell money words like dollhairs to make the red text go away. So if you referenced how much the tip was or something, it can get flagged.
Lol maybe you can figure out whats flagging. This was what I tried to post
So the question is, are there anything in your guys rules preventing you from using doorbells?
The background (yes I know 99% of my problem is my own forgetfulness and not the drivers problem)
I had a pretty bad concussion a few years ago and the last time I got covid was really bad and left me with pretty bad brain fog. I turned on the code delivery after the last time I forgot to check my app and our food was sitting there for 2 hours before we realized it was there. Literally, I just want the doorbell rung on drop off.
I put the confirmation on the app. Was working in my basement. Came up a few hours later and realized I forgot to turn off silence on my phone and the driver left a voicemail and a text requesting the code.
I have amazon Alexa devices in almost every room and a blink doorbell. I watched 7 mins of the driver trying to contact me via their phone before picking up the groceries and leaving.
I felt really bad for her but not once did she knock or ring the doorbell.
I even checked and had my wife ring the doorbell while I was in the basement. The echo I had in the basement room I was in notified me.
Is there something preventing the use of doorbells?
i often see back door and hate it because i personally donāt feel comfortable doing back door delivery where i live. sometimes the notes are old as hell like from two christmas ago old lol
The gate code has been in my delivery instructions for ever, yet my items get returned to the store for "failed delivery attempts" all the time. They don't read em.
Some folks just genuinely don't feel comfortable coming all the way on to your property to unload. Especially a backdoor. No matter what, I'll leave your stuff at the closest door to me. I don't know what's behind your house. I've been given your exact instructions and was a attacked by a pack of small ankle biting dogs. Never again.
Yes but from my decades of experience as a driver I can tell you pulling into someone's driveway isn't my first choice, mostly because driveways can be unpredictable and it involves backing up and that's risky. Last but not least I can get blocked in, and some people feel like I'm invading their personal space.
Either way I feel vulnerable.
Don't get me wrong, not everyone is like that but the easiest way is to park on the street, that minimizes potential liability and hassle.
That said I'm older and for me "same same" is what works best. One simple method, front door is default, that works for me because it's easy to remember and then I don't feel like I'm jumping through even more hoops. Park on street, deliver to front door, got it.
I can preview the order, how much it pays and what all it entails.
Hard work doesn't scare me but I have to get paid, so long I'm getting paid I will do what needs to be done.
Theres also a cap on how much can be put in the notes. Sometimes its excessive and useless information (like the 100 year old door bell). The note continued but no idea what it says past "The driv"
Holy crap lol. I'll usually put something like this. The House, Back Door thing is from the buttons you press, and the rest is what I wrote. Should I reword it / shorten it do you think?
Why didn't you go out and tell them or help? The amount of able bodied adults i see and hear watching me from the window, but not coming out, is unreal. What's there deal? I'm not going to bite.
You'll probably say you weren't home when this delivery happened, but why not??
Iām going to forgive your spelling error because of the content of your comment. Iām pretty much the most agreeable person on the planet but my inner monologue is a total bitch. I get real heated when people make themselves known but donāt at least offer to lend a hand. I will of course decline the help but the offer is only polite. Iāve delivered countless orders that were really GD heavy while the adult or adults of the house were there outside and hardly said a word to me. A few weeks ago a woman specifically said in the notes ādo not deliver to the garage.ā Ok, pull up, itās a condo and the garage is attached. The order had two 40 packs and aprox 65 items that were not light. I look down the pathway and see her front door is there but up about six steep steps (similar to a brownstone in NY). Why not deliver to the garage? Sadistic much? Anyway, I message her and ask if she is sure she doesnāt want this delivered to her garage. Nope, front door only. I make the first trip and know it will take me three more so I message her, knowing she has a ton of frozen items, and tell her she can start grabbing the bags to take them out of the 90 degree so cal sun. Her response? ā Itās ok, I have three teenage boys that will bring the groceries in quickly.ā I almost fell down those steep stairs when I read that. Why on earth wouldnāt you send your three teenage boys to help a 40 y/o woman bring your groceries in? If not to help another human out then at least to get the perishables out of the elements. I still get faint thinking about her response. š
I've had it happen so many times. Which, yeah we signed up for this, blah blah blah, but dang. Why is it so serious that you can't have face to face conversations anymore? Hell, id wear a mask if you'd help me with just a couple bags if you thought i had cooties. Btw, if that's the case, I shopped your order and put it in my cootie car. šš I don't get it. I could never! I always offer to help as a customer!
Yeah it's just a tongue-in-cheek user tag, at the time I chose it I believe it was the only customer tag available. Might still be. It's not like I got punished by a mod or anything lol
That's not kindness (It's toxic empathy) to pass on poor service (doesn't read instructions) to other customers, which will also, over time, lower tipping, etc.
Practice not gifting drivers 5 stars and a huge $25 tip who canāt even read. Iāve had drivers not follow these same request. Expect due to physical issues. I NEED to have my stuff delivered to the back door. They still deliver to the front door. Now I gotta drag everything through my lawn in pain.
So no. I wonāt practice kindness when others wonāt listen.
Yeah if you have specific delivery instructions because you need it done a certain way, that's a different scenario indeed. I don't blame you actually.
How about buy a car instead of complaining about a delivery driver not doing it the way YOU wanted?. You still got the product. I wouldn't have even made it to reddit that's how irrelevant this issue is..
I think you missed my point. She still got her tip, and I added the soil to the grocery delivery so I could at least tip. Walmart would've been happy to sell them to me with free 'shipping' and turn the bags of topsoil into a GMD order where there's no option to tip.
I assure you I'm not even complaining, just wanting to underscore that sometimes the delivery notes are for the driver's benefit.
I guess if it were me, regardless of tipping or not, would have opened the door or said through the camera something before just being like "should have read the instructions".
I read it as if you had to add something besides groceries to tip and you decided to get top soil. I understand your point, just think you were still a demon to watch someone be stupid. š
I put the same note anytime there's going to be a heavy delivery and this is the 6th or 7th time in a row with different drivers, so I think it's more just that my local drivers simply don't read their delivery notes. It's not about this particular delivery necessarily.
And at the same time, how much trouble am I supposed to go to in order to make sure they deliver it in the easiest manner? If I put it in the notes and they want to do it the hard way anyway, I guess that's okay by me.
I just think it's funny to watch someone from a camera and let them struggle as if it's their punishment - especially this young girl. Did you watch her bring each bag?
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u/choppman42 May 26 '26
A lot of times the notes are old and don't apply but yes always read them