A Spark delivery driver was tasked with delivering two Nintendo Switches to a customer, encountered a strange situation while trying to make the delivery, and then learned it appeared to be a tip-baiting scheme and didn’t tip at all. I shared my nightmare scenario. her efforts.
A TikTok video documenting the tipbait incident by creator Sarah Amber Victoria (@lilbabytrex) had more than 17,000 views as of Monday. In it, she described her $52 Walmart pickup order, which included an order for two Nintendo Switches. This is a welcome sight since she says she didn’t earn any money just driving a car on a given day.
“I was so excited about this. It was a six-mile drive,” she says. “By the time I got there, I had three orders, and I realized one of them had two Nintendo Switches in it. The chip was $41, and the Nintendo Switch that doesn’t connect to the TV costs $1. I know it was about $200 per unit, so it’s like a 10% tip.”
However, when she arrived and rang the bell as instructed, she became concerned when no one answered.
“I’m not going to leave two Nintendo Switches on someone’s doorstep. That’s obvious. So after a minute or so of waiting, a guy walks up behind me from the front yard and says, ‘ Didn’t you read the memo?” He said, “I rang the doorbell and told you to leave.” ”
According to the creator, the instructions didn’t say anything about leaving it unattended, and after explaining that he didn’t intend to leave the expensive switch alone, “he grabbed the bag from my hand and said thank you. “And when did it happen?” I walked to my car and he walked back to his car. ”
@lilbabytrex PSA – Stop throwing money 🗣️ What do you think happened in this situation? #sparkdelivery #sparkdeliverydriver #sparkdeliverydrivers #sparkwalmart #walmartdelivery #workvlog #psa #tipbaiting #tipbait #sidehustles #sidehustle #workstorytime #storytime #sidehustlestories #fy ♬ Original song – Sarah Amber Victoria
She then claimed that the service she provided took 24 hours for the tip to show up, and that she then learned the day after the bizarre exchange that she had received a “$0 tip” for the service.
“If you don’t have the money, say so,” she says. “But here’s my job. I think they were scammers. I don’t think it was their home. They came in a car and grabbed the items that were put back in the car. . You’re probably using a different address. I don’t know.”
She concluded with a PSA against the tipbait strategy, encouraging customers to tip the drivers serving them on their behalf.
The person who posted the comment had an idea.
“Perhaps they wanted to report you missing and were upset that you didn’t leave your bag behind,” one theory posited. “I am truly sorry as your chip should not have been at risk.”
Another said: “It looks like they’re just using that address and I’m going to claim I didn’t receive those emails for a refund.”
Another observed, “I’ve noticed that tip baits are common on Sparks.”
Sarah replied, “This is the second time this has happened in the first two weeks.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Sara and Walmart via email.
*First published: December 11, 2023 at 10:30pm CST
phil west
Phil West is a veteran professional writer and editor and the author of two books about soccer, The United States of Soccer and I Believe That We Will Win, both published by The Overlook Press. His work has recently appeared in The Striker (where he was editor-in-chief), MLSSoccer.com, Next City, and Texas Highways. He is based in Austin and is also an instructor in the writing program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.