- Walmart Spark drivers often receive requests from customers to drop off groceries in the kitchen.
- However, entering a customer’s home is against Spark policy.
- Walmart’s InHome delivery service is staffed by full-time employees and provides pick-up and delivery from our kitchens.
Earlier this year, a Spark delivery driver in Nevada pulled up to a house with several bags of groceries to make a delivery.
The customer who greeted him had a request: “Can you bring the groceries to her house?” The driver said Spark’s independent contractor politely declined, saying the delivery was supposed to be left at the customer’s doorstep.
“Suddenly all hell broke loose and she started screaming at me,” the driver told Insider.
His experience is not unusual, with Spark drivers responding to requests from customers to have groceries delivered directly to their kitchens, according to three drivers Insider spoke to and posts on social media platforms. It is said that they often receive Customers may be confusing delivery with his InHome Delivery, another service offered by Walmart.
InHome Delivery promises customers “fresh groceries and household items delivered straight to your kitchen or garage refrigerator.”
However, Spark drivers are not supposed to enter customer residences, and doing so could put the driver at risk of being disabled.
“Safety is Walmart’s top priority and our driver contracts prohibit drivers from entering homes. Drivers can report safety concerns to our driver support line. ” a Walmart spokesperson told Insider.
“For customers who want their orders delivered indoors, Walmart InHome is currently available in 46 markets, including Miami, Dallas and San Francisco, covering 35 million households,” a spokesperson said. said the person.
Walmart says only full-time Walmart employees can make in-home deliveries. In contrast, spark drivers are gig workers who are paid per order or batch of orders and are not allowed into shoppers’ homes. Similar to DoorDash and his Instacart deliveries, employees drop off packages in front of customers’ homes and hand the deliveries to them.
However, if you decline the request, you risk upsetting the customer, which could result in the driver giving you a bad review or having the tip deducted from your order.
One Spark contractor in Texas told Insider that entering someone else’s home can pose a safety risk for drivers. The driver said he was making deliveries to his home at the request of elderly people who “really can’t do it themselves.”
But otherwise, decline requests to bring groceries to a customer’s home. “We put it on the inside of the door so you can get in,” the driver said. But she is reluctant to take deliveries to customers’ homes because “you don’t know who they are,” she said.
Employees making home deliveries have access to: A smart lock that allows access to the customer’s home. Customers can monitor deliveries through cameras worn by workers. The service is free to Walmart Plus subscribers, but customers must order at least $35 worth of merchandise and purchase a smart lock, according to the company’s website.
But the difference between InHome and traditional delivery is often not clear to customers. InHome received a lot of media coverage as Walmart expanded the program and retailers promoted the service on television.
It may not always be clear to drivers either.
In March, a driver shared a screenshot of the Spark Driver app on Reddit. A screenshot showed an order with special instructions from a customer: “Please wear a mask and bring it into the kitchen.”
“I’m using Spark for the first time. Is it normal to be asked to let it into my house?” the poster asked. “Is it safe?”
One commenter responded, “Walmart offers a service where Walmart employees come into the store and line up customers’ groceries.” “We are independent contractors and only get paid for our deliveries.”
Walmart has spent five years recruiting gig workers to become Spark drivers. In June, the company announced that the number of Spark drivers has tripled over the past year, with “hundreds of thousands” of gig workers delivering services.
However, that growth came with challenges. Some drivers told Insider in August that Spark employees routinely use multiple IDs to pick up and deliver orders, leaving customers unsure of who will show up at their door. .
CEO Doug McMillon said in September that Walmart wants employees to make more deliveries going forward.
Do you work at Walmart or Spark and have a story idea you’d like to share? Contact this reporter at abitter@insider.com.
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