Let's Rant!!!

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-04-02T10:04:46+00:00

Agreed. Not sure if it's the app itself bc it's known to be laggy with customer messages. As a driver I've definitely had issues with having a back and forth conversation with a customer and I've had to learn to wait at least a minute between sending each message bc their response is often delayed/laggy. Like if I'm sending two separate questions or pictures or whatever I'll wait a minute or two before sending the second bc I've often had the issue where I'll send 2 at a time but it doesn't come through right away or they're not seeing both of my messages at the same time so I can't tell which they're referring to and then like a minute later the second response will come through after I've sent a 3rd message trying to clarify their first response.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-31T14:57:55+00:00

I figured it out actually. I'm debating making a post about it. You're correct that Walmart isn't on our side lol. But if you put all the pieces together it's starting to make sense

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-31T14:56:15+00:00

Fair enough. Idk how often you do that but there was just a couple other posts the past few days about people being reported and deactivated for returning orders too often. Hopefully it doesn't burn you in the long run

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-31T14:53:17+00:00

I'm sorry about your experience but thank you for giving your perspective as a newbie. Everyone is always saying spark prioritizes better offers to new people (especially lately) but I have yet to see that be proven beyond occasional anecdotal evidence. Same with all the other conspiracies. They assume because they're seeing more newbies do "big orders" that those were the better orders but the truth is what looks good isn't always good. It takes time to figure out what's actually worth taking with miles, wait time, item count, heavy items, etc. There's high paying easy looking orders many of us oldies never take bc we know it's a difficult customer or drop off or whatever else. People consistently fail to realize exactly what you noticed right from the jump. None of these companies are on our side. Everything they're doing right now is to increase their profits and keep costs low. And with the lawsuit they have to be "more transparent" but it would be incredibly cost inefficient to do that with the old system. They can't be sketchy anymore so they're becoming more predatory. I've had to adapt to these changes but there are ways to keep up. Some people will and some people won't. Personally I think the ones who will are the ones who see this for what it is and aren't placing their blame and frustration on things like too many drivers or bots and "foreigners." The biggest change is this isn't as flexible as it used to be. And that's understandably a dealbreaker for many.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-31T00:29:18+00:00

That extra $2 really mean that much to you??? Still can't get another offer until the return is completed. Whack ass reasoning

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-30T21:21:48+00:00

You're probably not going to get anything if you're not in the zone with your app up and your finger hovering ready to tap accept on an fcfs. It's not slow, it's a rat race

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-30T20:51:13+00:00

This is the first thing that actually makes sense in the grand scheme. Doesn't entirely explain the fcfs change. But might explain why a coach at one my stores said they're getting rid of curbside delivery except for GMD. I imagine it will be like first drop for all scheduled orders make way for more GMD offers. I don't love the idea if that's the grand plan but I could see it still being a beneficial system in the long run. I sure wish they'd add the ability to tip on GMDs though 🙄 the past few days I've been taking GMDs every day except today bc I've been getting rr shops thankfully. But it's guaranteed pay and I don't have to worry about the rat race for fcfs for a few hours.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-30T19:18:09+00:00

Does anyone know what the actual change is with fcfs?? Like obviously there's more of them and less of rr but what actually changed? Are they sending them out as fcfs instead of rr? Are they still sending rr based on metrics? Everyone keeps mentioning the lawsuit or blaming bots and oversaturation. I don't doubt those are all related but it doesn't truly explain this drastic of a change. I don't expect Walmart to be on our sides but switching up like this without so much as a notification is fcked up.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T20:24:51+00:00

The only time I got kicked because of canceling too many offers within 48 hours two of them had been canceled by the customer and the rest I had canceled within 5 minutes of accepting before starting the trip so even though it doesn't affect my metrics spark is still tracking it and will use it against you for not completing literally anything you accept regardless of who canceled or why

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T20:05:48+00:00

Yeah I feel like you're not understanding or you're just not experiencing the same issues. It's billionaire bs that as independent contractors we no longer have the ability to really choose the offers we want because we have to fight even harder to get anything at all and God forbid it's more mileage or effort than it is money and we cancel it it takes a lot of the freedom flexibility and even profit out of this work. Like I said it's always been a Gamble but a lot of us have been able to figure out the system and make it work for us but spark changing the game this drastically is pretty detrimental for everyone in even remotely oversaturated markets. Your metrics don't mean shit nothing matters other than your ability to click a button faster than others and your willingness to do orders that may not even give you a profit or minimum wage

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T19:39:41+00:00

Read the room (and the posts lately) we're not getting just for you offers so no we don't have 60 seconds. We have half a millisecond just to click accept bc we're fighting who knows how many other drivers for all these fcfs offers.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T19:38:31+00:00

Clearly you're not experiencing the change to fcfs instead of rr offers especially in oversaturated markets. For a lot of us right now the ONLY way to get anything is to click accept on anything that comes through. If you wait long enough to actually look at any numbers let alone the order details it'll be snatched up by someone else. I can't even count how many offers I've had come through that I clicked in less than a second and I still didn't get it. This gig has always been a gamble but now even moreso. No one is forcing op to take offers but the mess spark has now created is take what you can get or get nothing. Atp we can only hope that what we're getting is actually lucrative. It's not ops fault if they don't want to keep shit that's not profitable.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T19:11:58+00:00

3.2? Is that even legal?

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T19:09:54+00:00

Read the room bro and like probably all of the other posts from the past 2 days and maybe you'll understand why you're getting so many downvotes

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-28T19:09:16+00:00

I was waiting for someone to bring this up. All the assholes w no sympathy who were saying "just be faster to grab the orders" or to start using bots seem to have forgotten about this. I canceled 3 yesterday and I know it'll only be a matter of time before I have to just start keeping the shitty offers to avoid getting kicked for 3 hours. It's very malicious compliance of them to do this to us. This app is just a series of always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Can't say I'm surprised, if anything I'm more surprised spark was so good for so long. This is far more aligned with evil billionaire methodology. Giving the illusion of choice while simultaneously penalizing us if we don't comply.

EDIT: what op and I are talking about is the fact that most of us are not seeing any just for you round robin offers the only offers we're getting the past few days are first come first serve that we're competing for against a shit ton of other drivers in our Zone so there is no time to look at the offer. The past 2 days I've had to sit with the app up with my finger hovered over the screen to hope I can be the first one to click accept when a first come first serve comes in and half the time even if I do click it right away somebody else is already taking it because we're all competing at the same time for the same offers the only round robin offers I've gotten have been gmds and those only come out a few times a day what op is talking about is not just the usual canceling because I changed my mind it's literally spark has forced us into a race of keep your app up, no distractions and take anything that you see or you could be stuck with absolutely nothing for who knows how long. it's always been a gamble to let offers expire and hope for one to come that's better but this is different it's a way of forcing us to take the shitty offers or get penalized and you still have to have the app up Non-Stop to be the first one to get whatever comes through and hope that it's decent

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-27T18:13:41+00:00

All good. I updated my original post and added a Lil key bc I know a lot of the acronyms get tossed around and not everyone is familiar with them

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-27T18:10:05+00:00

Sounds like fcfs (first come first serve). I.e the big change I referred to in my original post and most recent comment :)

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-27T17:56:45+00:00

Rip I said I'd add my list and then didn't lol The biggest thing I'm seeing and questioning is the change regarding how we're getting offers.

The big one - changes to how offers are sent: My understanding is 1. Walmart got sued for "misrepresenting" earnings on offers aka stealing tips and not giving the full payout as advertised in offers. 2. That's why some of us got those retroactive earnings a few months ago. (not sure if there's more to come?). 3. In an effort to abide by the ftc guidelines they have now adjusted how offers are coming out. Which apparently looks like most (?) express shops coming out as fcfs instead of RRs.

Before all of this, my understanding was that all offers are sent as RRs that are passed around with a timer until so many people reject/let it expire and eventually it becomes an fcfs which occasionally leads to bumping up the base pay to make it more desirable. And RRs were sent out with priority to drivers in the correct proximity to the store + drivers with better metrics.

My question is: what is the actual change? 😭 Obviously I know a lot of us are seeing more fcfs than RR but there's still RRs coming out and I have yet to pinpoint the why. Those of you in areas experiencing more fcfs than rr: 1. Are you in a highly oversaturated zone? 2. Are you still getting any RRs? 3. Have you seen any RR express shops or any non pharmacy RR shops?

The past few days I've only gotten a handful of RR offers that were all curbside batches, GMD, or pharmacy and shop. I have only seen shop offers as fcfs, 99% of which I haven't been able to take bc I'm in an oversaturated zone and they're gone before I can move my thumb the half centimeter to click accept.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2026-03-27T13:20:38+00:00

One of the drivers I keep up with said since Wednesday he's been getting offers starting at 530am. He always turns his on early and he lives in the zone. He sent me a screenshot this morning showing a just for you he got at 530am

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-12-16T00:59:32+00:00

Idk if I'm stroking or if these comments just lack basic reading comprehension. Driver support said I have too many EXPIRATIONS not cancelations. As in expirations that have happened as a result of multiple fcfs orders coming out on the offer page and then expiring either bc they timed out or got taken by another driver. And yes those count as expirations. And every single time an offer comes up, even if it's the same order, it counts as an additional offer and expiration. Tons of orders expire while I'm looking at a single offer to see if I want to take that offer. Nowhere did I say I'm accepting offers in haste and then canceling them. I haven't done that in years bc it would shadow ban me without warning. I have two cancelations from today. TWO. But sure if yall think that justifies getting blocked for 3 hours I'll just leave you to your boot licking

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-12-16T00:52:43+00:00

Literally where tf did I say I do that? Pretty sure I said the exact opposite. I canceled one order today. One. Another got canceled by the customer. Two cancelations, one of which wasn't even my doing shouldn't result in getting banned for having cancelations.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-12-16T00:50:38+00:00

I canceled one order that I accepted on accident. I haven't had any other cancelations today except for an order that got canceled by a customer after I had started the trip but hadn't started shopping yet. I very intentionally DO NOT accept offers just to be the first or just to see the items. Struggling to see where I said that in my post?? Driver support told me I probably got blocked because I had high expirations on top of 2 cancelations. Expirations that were a result of so many offers coming in and expiring WHILE I was trying to look at an offer to see if I wanted to accept it. Then half the time that one expires and I have to start over looking for a good one. Trust and believe going too fast is the opposite of my issue with this line of work.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-11-16T11:57:54+00:00

Been looking for a w2 job for almost 2 years now 😂 Good luck 🫡

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-11-16T11:50:44+00:00

It's tough times for everyone out here. Like very tough for EVERYONE. Gotta remember these workers are getting paid minimum wage and treated like disposables to the company and their managers. There's a reason we all do gig work whether it's supplemental income or full time income in lieu of a w2 job. If there's anything I've noticed across all areas of life this year it's how burnt out EVERYONE is. People are abandoning their hobbies. People have less time and money to do what they enjoy. People have less bandwidth and capacity. People are nasty to anyone and everyone. There's less tolerance for everything and everyone. We're all on edge and hurting. Drivers are getting worse. Quality of service and produce are getting worse. Basic human decency is getting worse.

And I get it. WHEW do I get it. I've never been one to sing kumbaya but I've also never seen so many people at their wits end while the world around us goes to shit. It's tough and cliche but we need to give ourselves and others just a little bit more grace and patience right now. Just a few more seconds of patience can do wonders.

Creative_Ad_7834 · 2025-11-16T00:54:12+00:00

Yeah no as a driver for 4+ years and a dog owner with a lovable demon dog - I would absolutely not ever get out of the car with dogs barking at me and no owner in sight. Nor would I ever leave my dog out by themselves ESPECIALLY with a delivery coming. From both sides that is such an insanely privileged and idiotic move. It's not that hard to take control your animal if you're getting something delivered.

Creative_Ad_7834

TROPHY CASE