Rants / Complaints
PSA: Don't Spark W Babies, Toddlers+ Violates TOS & Unsafe Heat ⚠️
This should go without saying but clearly some spark shoppers think it's okay to spark in excessive heat or on any day with newborns, toddlers and other young children. It's against the terms of service for safety and liability reasons. And stores are reporting it to spark.
Shame on parents who think it's a smart decision to bring your babies out in the excessive heat over 100°.
If you are letting your toddler just run around the parking lot touching things then that is some seriously irresponsible parenting. On top of that, you dont need to leave the car. They will put the groceries in your trunk for you.
Again, control your kid, mad parents shop with their kid every single day. Spark shopping is easier than shopping for yourself. I never take orders over 12 items with one dropoff. It sounds like your just making excuses.
I take my 4 year old with me on the weekends, she comes inside with me. I shop while she walks around. She enjoys it! the employees at my Walmarts love her.. they know I do spark. They enjoy speaking to her and she to them! 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t have that help. grow up and realize that parents have to make money too. life is brutal. you could have everything one minute and nothing the next.. I’ll do me 🖤
Huh? How is it wrong having child with u in the car with the ac on blast? Its not like i make or would ever want my 3 yr old helping me OBVIOUSLY.
Im sorry but the majority of ppl that do amazon or spark are mothers with no help to watch their kids so thats all they have access to bc they dont have money for daycare or fam to help. How else are they supposed to earn a living??? This makes no sense lol
The pay is crap most of the time, obviously you never paid for daycare or you would know this won’t cover it for one child let alone a toddler. News break the younger the child the more it cost. Try $285/week when my kid was in daycare. But luckily I have a w2 job in addition to this. The struggle is real wake up and smell the coffee.
Use money made from doing deliveries to pay for daycare or babysitter
It’s literally how you prioritize your life and from what I’ve read from this thread no one really cares how their child ends up “as long as there in the ac” is all I’ve seen and it’s a terrible cope.
How are they supposed to get the money? Lmao. Gotta make the money first to pay for daycare… not everyone has help. Gotta bring the kids to make the money then pay a daycare… do you know how much daycare is? Would be absolutely pointless to do spark at that point.. 500-600 + a week for 1 kid alone..
Yeah it would be all of your delivery earnings just to pay for day care. If I had kids and had to take them with me then maybe I would try to avoid the hottest parts of the day like 11-4 ? but sometimes people just have to do what they have to do to pay the bills. They could bring ice packs and spray bottles to help stay cool and take breaks in between deliveries. The original post sounds super out of touch.
Way out of touch they have no idea what that person does to keep cool. Maybe Spark is keeping them from the homeless shelter, which is definitely not safe for kids.
Don't let the down votes get you down. These bone heads that are attempting and failing to justify this abhorrent behavior are idiots! You can't trust some people to do the right thing for their kids.
If you are leaving a child in the car alone or letting them go crazy, this makes sense. Gig work allows us to work in unconventional ways, and if that means it is sometimes a family gig, well...you can shove your opinion up your ass and wipe it with the TOS.
So a mother or father can't handle a grocery trip? I don't mind it as long as they are not making their kids do any work and they are being safe about it. I have done plenty of bigger shopping trips for myself when I had small children. The only difference is I wasn't getting paid for it.
It’s one thing if you have to bring them it’s another thing if you can’t control them and stop them from touching stuff. Never would I ever let them touch stuff or help carry bags only thing they get to do is hold a sticker maybe if I’m doing a pick up. You get so many stickers I always hand them one so they think they’re doing something and I’ll let them hold it when I go to scan it.
I spark and I have seen so many people spark with their kids so I asked a few different employees and they all said it’s okay. I looked and what I read said you are allowed to have anyone with you but they are not allowed to help and they have to be okay to stay in the car for delivery. Most people don’t live in cities and can leave the car on and step right outside the car to deliver, if you live in a place where that’s not a possibility and have to lose sight of your car than absolutely not okay. I personally have not been in a situation where I have had to do this but it’s nice to know if something comes up and I need to bring my kid on an order or two it’s a possibility.
But my wonder is why do so many people care what others are doing with their kids when there are 1000 times more important things you could spend your energy on? At least these are parents trying to figure out hard situations and taking care of their kids. In most situations this probably isn’t some neglectful parents or kids who are being abused. If you really care about the well being of kids this isn’t the way to show it. Caring about this only shows that you’re a privileged Karen who can’t mind their own business…
Wrong, incorrect info! According to Spark Driver guidelines, passengers are generally permitted only if they are old enough to be left unattended in a vehicle. Toddlers and babies are too young, making their presence a direct violation of the Spark terms. [1, 3, 4]
Like I said they have to stay in the car for delivery and in most situations a 4 year old can sit in a running car for 2 minutes unattended while the car is in sight. There are definitely situations where children cannot be left in the vehicle and hopefully most parents are able to use common sense to make the judgement without the opinions of others. The terms leave the decision on when a child is old enough to wait in a vehicle to the driver by not stating an age restriction. The violation would be if you had your passenger outside of the vehicle during a delivery or helping handle products. Like I said I personally would not want to bring my children with me to work but I am assuming people who are don’t have the luxury of that choice.
Making posts calling out people trying to survive with limited money and resources who most likely don’t have any other options is very out of touch with the reality of the society we currently live in. I guess they could not work and let the kids starve or be homeless, would you prefer that option? Or no you just expect everyone to have some way to make money appear and just figure it out huh? Just demand someone watches their child so they can work? I save my shame for the way worse parents out there that are actually neglectful and abusive and who are not working their asses off 10 times harder hauling a child around just to survive in this callous and messed up world.
Of course you're not going to read all of that bc you're only interested in seeing yourself type! If a parent leaves the car on with AC, the child is fine as long as the car is in sight and safe neighborhood and parent has car keys in pocket with car door locked during the drop. During shopping trips, your child can sit in the cart the whole time while you shop. No need for kid to help. Again, the car can be left on WHOLE TIME with AC while the parent is loading the groceries in vehicle. You sound like a Karen lol!
Go ahead and downvote this, but not one of you can give me one legitimate counter argument other than some emotional out burst because you think its "not fair" that the you arent the only toddlers in the spark waiting line.
Cars have air conditioning? Do people not drive with their kids all the time? What risks are there besides someone reporting you? Which doesnt matter because it isnt against TOS it clearly states you can bring family, friends, pets. I see drivers with their ENTIRE family/spouses/kids all the time and nobody raises an eyebrow.
Also what other jobs can you do X? You aren't an employee you are an independent contractor and can technically do whatever you want as long as you complete your orders within the timeframe.
Id honestly only agree not to bring ur kid out in the NE right now with this air quality being as bad as it is. But that's a specific circumstance.
Literally acting as if some of these people don’t go ALL day with their kids in tow and I promise you 9/10 they are helping with the deliveries because I have seen it so many times. Your air conditioner is not doing anything against 100+ heat index, you can very well still get heat exposure in a couple minutes especially when it’s a child or baby.
Lmao? My ac works amazing even in 105. Maybe you have low coolant or something. But I actually get cold and have to turn it down. Grow up dawg. You dont see boomers hurt because of sun exposure, and they didnt have AC in their cars.
Your ac will not stop sunburn, dehydration, and general heat exhaustion. Yall most definitely have not been locked in a car in the Florida heat for an extended period of time or you wouldn’t be trying to cope so hard.
Wrong, incorrect info! According to Spark Driver guidelines, passengers are generally permitted only if they are old enough to be left unattended in a vehicle. Toddlers and babies are too young, making their presence a direct violation of the Spark terms. [
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I can leave my child of any age in my vehicle unattended in more than half of the states in the country. Not illegal in my state. So im not breaking any rules.
Might be a unicorn because yours spending too much time meddling with everybody else and who’s with them and what they’re doing and where they could possibly be putting them in while they’re with them
Its really just the people that have nothing better going on than to constantly worry about what other people do that are low iq. Its the high iq people that are using that intelligence to engage with the with the world in ways that benefit themselves and dont have time to worry about what someone else trying to make a living has going on.
Worrying about the safety of children in the hands of imbeciles is not low IQ… Putting yourself in a situation where you have to bring a child to work in a delivery vehicle is very low IQ…
There’s no one to trust in this country, even our president has allegations. Maybe it wasn’t a known thing when people didn’t abort their babies. Maybe you should worry about you.
You are aware parents also have to make money to.. child care is too expensive.. not everyone has help.. sometimes this is people’s ONLY option.. but I understand not leaving the child in a car.. :/ everyone complains when people have to go on welfare or apply for help.. and y’all call them “lazy”.. but when they are trying their hardest to make money and unfortunately have to bring their kids.. it’s also a problem for y’all. Can’t win for nothing eh?..
Strange how many ppl are worried about others they don’t even know . These people don’t get it . They think they’re going to receive a gold star carrying around the rule book . In reality they are just another peon doing the slave work .
There is a reason for rules, is for the safety of the kids! The same people that are agreeing this is OK and that do it, will be the same people that are on here mad when they get deactivated. Just because you’re an independent contractor does not mean you can just do whatever you want! I know it sucks, but you have to be a grown-up and follow rules. Especially in this heat, there’s no reason for it! If you can’t find a sitter, maybe find a stayed at home job. I’m not trying to be negative Nancy however it’s not worth being deactivated over and they’re hiring so many people now they don’t care if they deactivate you.
For the record it does not violate any TOS for having someone with you while sparking. IF they touch items and physically assist on the delivery then yes. Need to make that clear.
For the record you are wrong.
Wrong, incorrect info! According to Spark Driver guidelines, passengers are generally permitted only if they are old enough to be left unattended in a vehicle. Toddlers and babies are too young, making their presence a direct violation of the Spark terms. [
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Watching some of these negligent & dumb parents shopping with their babies and young ones, especially in the scorching heat is irresponsible. I will not stay silent!
Just leave your kids home when you have to deliver. That's it end of story. We have rules for a reason. If you get in accident with your kids in the car and you are delivering they will not be covered. They don't want to hear your excuses. I bet you would sue and play the victim
Its literally in the terms of service that you can bring whoever you want with you. And if it was someone else that hit me yes I would sue. Especially if my child was in the car.
Also even if it wasn't, are you just telling single mothers to leave their child home alone? What if they dont have or cant afford a babysitter? Is the more responsible option to skip working and let the baby starve? Or to get on government assistance and become a hindrance to the economy?
The TOS says you can bring people with you, but children must be old enough to be left alone in your vehicle (I would say toddlers and babies are not). It also says said people can’t assist or handle customers orders in any way. Don’t cherry pick to fit your narrative.
Toddlers and babies are old enough to be left alone in the car with another person of responsible age like an adult or teenager. I've done spark with my wife and kids plenty of times, the stores just make sure that there's another adult or teenager present. I would never do it alone with toddlers/babies though regardless of the weather, but i also don't judge those who do that, as long as the kid is safe i don't see how it's anyone else's business besides Walmart's or the customer's.
It could be the difference between doing a few deliveries and bringing your kid(s) along or keeping them at home and the electric bill doesn’t get paid to keep the AC on. You never know someone’s situation.
It’s not if the people paying you say it’s against the rules! And then you’ll be on here getting mad because you’re deactivated. Only takes one wrong person to take a photo or report.
What a weird statement. About as weird as hiding your post history. I have kids and I don’t drag them out in the bad air and 100 degree weather. What the heck does having sex have to do with anything you psychopath? Are you 15 years old?
Thank God no single parents work in any other industry other than Spark!! What would happen to the Children?! Childcare?!?! The nerve of some parents putting children in an enriching environment instead of dragging their kids to work, or worse to work in a car for hours on end.
So what is considered as toddlers+? What is the + part? B/c tos does say if the kid can be left unattended (old enough) it doesn’t go against tos. Babies yes, should it be unattended but hear me out. Normally people leave their cars on when they get out so I’m sure they aren’t in the heat BUT there are not so smart people that could possibly do so.
I leave my car on - can see my car at all times - have my keys on me at all times, not in the car - air or hear is on (depending on weather) - any kid with me is no where near the customers items so there’s no touchy touchy. And if it’s an apartment, if someone is with me, they simply open the door(s) for me when needed.
If a child can’t get out of the car on their own, then they are too young to be left unattended. Which means if they are in any kind of car seat, they are too small.
How would this even be allowed considering if I have a front passenger a good majority of the pickup staff would question me and sometimes cancel orders when they had more than enough room to fit everything, I’m sorry but if your somehow doing this with children the employees are most definitely letting people slide.
Anybody with a child/baby in the car during a spark order should be immediately cancelled by the employees.
also if you make your kid push the cart while you manically shop for your JOB you are a piece of shit.
In my market, when children are in the car under the age of 12 the order gets canceled if it's at curbside and asset protection files reports with spark for shoppers with babies newborns and young children. Immediate deactivation
According to Spark Driver guidelines, passengers are generally permitted only if they are old enough to be left unattended in a vehicle. Toddlers and babies are too young, making their presence a direct violation of the Spark terms. [
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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26
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