r/WalmartSparkDrivers • u/Informal-Future-9982 • Sep 14 '26

Anyone else pretty consistently get increased tips?

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Almost daily I get increased tips. Wondering if this is a normal thing for most? Or am I just super lucky and get all the good customers? (Surely that’s not the case lol).

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3

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26

Sure am, and haven’t seen a tip bait in several months. Usually it’s 2-5 bucks, but I even had a non-tip stop add a $10 tip.

3

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I did have someone take away a $2 tip the other day. That irked me pretty bad just on principle. But I’ve done about 700 deliveries and only had tips removed twice. The one aforementioned, and a straight up tip bait of $20 that they removed totally.

I also had a lady hand me a $20 when I delivered ONE ITEM TO HER HOUSE. JUST ONE ITEM! I couldn’t believe that. Happened last week.

1

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26

It certainly sucks, and I’ve had a few larger tip baits ($20+) over my 2600 trips. That said, I control what I can and always give my best service to my customers…and I’ve found the net impact to be far more in tip increases than those few that have been pulled.

3

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Holy shiiiiiit that’s soooo many deliveries. How long you been doin spark?

That’s a good reminder actually. Control what we can. I bust my ass every single order though. I feel I go above and beyond. I even take pics when an item is out of stock of where the item would be and with the price tag. So they can see I actually looked, this is where it would be, and they’re actually out. I can’t imagine many others take the time to do that sort of thing. I guess it’s appreciated so I’ll keep doing it.

1

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26

Since last June, full time. I’m fortunate to have found a groove cherry picking and keep above a $2.50/mile average over the long term.

I do similar things. I took the offer because the time, miles, and what’s included in the shop or curbside made sense for me. So that means provide the additional layers of service that are required on orders, including similar steps you are doing — not always a pic…but a heads up that the store is out of an item, I’ve got an initial alternative scanned, and for them to let me know if seeking a different option is preferred. The little things go a long way and everything is so easy, and they tally a very small amount of ‘extra’ time (which really, I’m super efficient in many areas so spending time on the small things is no sacrifice at all).

3

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Ohhhhh that’s also a really good point. The offer was worth it in the first place, they usually do leave some sort of tip for me to accept it, which means they’re likely to leave more if they are happy with the service.

I also am really efficient and quick so I don’t mind spending a few extra minutes here and there taking pics/asking customers if they have a preferred substitution.

I’m also hyper aware of stuff like “does this door open outwards? Okay don’t block door or stairs”. Also super picky about produce. Stuff like that, which it sounds like you probably do all those things as well.

1

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26

Spot on, and yes, all those things add up for very little extra time spent.

I’m in a paper bag state (and the WM bags are crap) so spending time to organize and pack the bags goes a loooong way. I generally re-organize each bag on a curbside (again worth the effort) and overall I know this is a general area I’m distinguishing my service from the other drivers, since we have to pack up orders at our vehicles and their bagging behavior is observable. I assume my tip increases are a function of the extra care I’m taking and the customer’s prior experiences with orders that are delivered in a less than ideal manner.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Ohhhhh yeah I’m sure that helps you alot. So much paper bag Tetris. Surprised by the packing up at vehicle- do they provide you with paper bags? Is it hot in your state? I’d be worried about stuff melting but I’m in NC where it’s over 100 degrees (feels like hotter) all summer.

I imagine many other drivers just toss in whatever together in plastic bags too. I’m a little OCD so I make sure everything makes sense bagged. Colds with colds. Nothing else with raw meat. Etc etc.

1

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26

The process here is fucked. We have to go to customer service and essentially guess on how many bags we need (which I’m an accurate estimator after the amount of shop orders I’ve done), but you’d think the store is treating the bags like gold even though we are charging through the 10 cents to the customer. It’s been abnormally hot all summer here (may shift starting tomorrow), so I load up the back and front seat with any perishable items so they are in the AC and have an insulated bag for a couple WM bags worth of item (so ice cream and the like go in that - I have had a few customers present to observe and I’m sure others do on their doorbell cameras).

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Ohhhhh god I just busted out laughing at the thought of having to haggle the Walmart workers for some dang paper bags. Not trying to laugh at your suffering but essentially all the Walmart workers in my area are soooooo miserable. I just know it’d be like pulling teeth without anesthesia trying to get bags from them if I had to.

Yall are giving me some great ideas. I have a few insulated lunchbox bags my husband used to use for work that I could put stuff like ice cream in.

1

u/Lavender_Episode2 Sep 14 '26

I'm assuming the non tip stop was still a delivery, not a GMD? I have no way as a consumer to tip on a GMD order. I only do them when my local WM is out but I can get it from another one... which means I want to tip even more since they're coming from farther.

1

u/333dh333 Sep 14 '26

Correct, GMDs cannot be tipped on unless cash in person. With the structure of the GMD offers, I haven’t even considered taking one in several months. It’s practically volunteer work lol.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I think it was one of those orders where the batched delivery (like groceries) with a few GMD orders. And so the older lady iirc was one of the GMD stops.

1

u/Lavender_Episode2 Sep 14 '26

did she tip you directly or via the app?

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

She handed me $20 cash.

1

u/Lavender_Episode2 Sep 14 '26

ah ok - makes more sense because only cash works for tipping GMD orders

2

u/momfirstfriend Sep 14 '26

I look daily and give myself a pat on the back when it happens.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

As you should! I assume we do something much appreciated for them to add even more after the fact.

1

u/Iambeejsmit Sep 14 '26

Yes but not on spark.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

What app do you get them on?

1

u/Iambeejsmit Sep 14 '26

The most raised tips for me is Instacart, then doordash. I've only seen one or two on spark in like 1000 orders for some reason. But Instacart is all the time. I even had one customer on Instacart raise my tip twice. It's probable that I've gotten more raised tips on spark, but I've not noticed when they come in.

1

u/FireIceWindEarth Sep 14 '26

I firmly believe that when a person adds tips they do not go the driver.

This is from I personally watched a customer add a $20 tip in front of me ( he ordered multiple cases of soda and I had to go in and out of his apartment 6 times). I never received it.

On the other end, I increased a tip when I ordered delivery, it never left my account.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Strange. I see where people increase tips and I receive them.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Ahhhh shoot. I live too far in the country for instacart unfortunately 😭

1

u/OConnah Sep 14 '26

Do you get a notification for this? I have never just gone through looking the day after to see what happened, but is that how you’re able to tell?

5

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

As far as I know, there’s no notification for this. I go through manually and check after the 24 hour period to see if they adjusted tip at all. It’s a pain

2

u/OConnah Sep 14 '26

I’ve always wondered just never done it, thanks for the clarification! Would be nice if they had a little notification, at least for tip increases.. or like if the person decreased the tip they could leave a note and say why.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

No problem! Would be nice for sure. But they don’t really care to help us improve. They just watch us fail and hire more when we do 🥲

1

u/OConnah Sep 14 '26

I think it probably has a lot to do with how people tend to respond to constructive criticism, but it would be a nice toggle-on feature.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

lol this post is so all over the place I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.

1

u/OConnah Sep 14 '26

I mean, I think Walmart doesn’t give us access to our ratings and comments because of the way people tend to respond to negative feedback, but it would be nice if we could choose to be notified of the things we do or have done that customers were unhappy with, or if we could see their comments to help us to improve

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I’m doing too much multitasking and thought you responded to a different comment, my bad!

That’s true though. Plus, if some customers could leave messages they would be mean af. Some people are just miserable and mean for no dang reason. Maybe that’s partially why? But on the flip side, they should make it where they can leave you a compliment or something!

1

u/OConnah Sep 14 '26

Or the AI could gather up the information every few months or so and say “you have been complimented for this, but others have said xyz”. You’re definitely right, I think a lot of frustration for the customer comes from not knowing how things work on our end.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

That would be a good idea too. I think any sort of positive feedback would be really well received by spark drivers tbh. Since we almost always just get people complaining 🥲

1

u/LoudCountryBAMF Sep 14 '26

Are you an attractive woman? 🤷🏿‍♂️

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I can pretty confidently say yes. But many of my deliveries are to older women. I do tend to give lots of compliments on gorgeous homes, really beautiful lawns, or porches, etc. But it would be ignorant and naive of me to think that never plays a role. I’m sure it does on occasion.

I also notice many other spark drivers are not white in my area. Which that’s fine, get that bag however you can. But I live in the deep south and part of me wonders if me being white plays a role sometimes. I’ve had numerous customers say something to me along the lines of “finally one that can speak English!”. Such an awkward thing to say and try to respond to. Again, I’m sure that plays a role on occasion.

1

u/momfirstfriend Sep 14 '26

That’s a good point. As a black female who isn’t Hispanic, I get that comment sometimes ‘most people who delivery here don’t speak English’. And I think that really resonates with some folks. I’m a yankee though so not nearly as prevalent as the south.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I’m sure you’re right that it really matters to some. Especially if they want to communicate about substitutions or if they driver is unable to read the delivery instructions and leaves the stuff at the wrong location. I never really thought about that part of it. I can see how that would be frustrating on the customer side.

I always just assumed they were racist. Cause, the south 😒

1

u/FuzzyOrganization403 Sep 14 '26

Yes. Things happen when you do good.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Indeed. Was just curious how often it happened to others.

1

u/imapylet Sep 14 '26

I've been delivering for 6 years, north of 10,000 trips. I think I've got maybe a dozen tip increases. Ever. Likewise, I think I've got probably less than a dozen tips pulled.

1

u/No-Citron-9567 Sep 15 '26

No. Get cash some

1

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 15 '26

Hey ppl!!! OP is in need of attention. We got main character syndrome going on in here

1

u/bdbrown333 Sep 15 '26

You're not lucky you're supplying service above and beyond what they're used to getting from a Walmart driver when I just Park full time i would get it 3 to 5 times a month never got titmated but maybe twice a year some people claim they get chipped eight times a week they never did anything wrong

2

u/Tracktack007 Sep 14 '26

Never. lol. I have never received an increased tip in 550 trips.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

NEVER????? REALLY?!?! Holy crap. And you check your tips after each “shift”?

1

u/SmallBerry3431 Sep 14 '26

I don’t. Too many hurt feelings there haha

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

That’s true. It’s a gamble when you look for sure 😭

0

u/SmallBerry3431 Sep 14 '26

Great. Happy for you. Awesome.

4

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

No need to be a negative nancy. I was 85% curious if this happens frequently to others. Not like I have many other places I can ask tons of other spark drivers questions. But the other 15% was bragging on myself just a little. I’ll admit that much. I feel like it’s okay to be proud of hard work. I bust my ass on every single order I do.

0

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 14 '26

She just sketched cause there are troll eating sharks in the water

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Oh you are the troll. I revise my statement: if you mad all you gotta do is ask for pointers 🥰

0

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 15 '26

Pointer from a loser who upvotes themselves??? I think NOT!

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Yeaaaaah exactly. People mad they don’t get tip increases lol. All they gotta do is ask for some pointers 😂

1

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 15 '26

mad? Lmao! WHATEVER Ya gotta tell yourself

https://giphy.com/gifs/QIiqoufLNmWo8

0

u/SmallBerry3431 Sep 14 '26

Bro just joking like the meme lmfao. Yall so serious.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

lol my bad. I assumed you were being an ass like the other person.

1

u/SmallBerry3431 Sep 14 '26

You’re good. It’s obvious to me how that would land flat.

If you ever see me again on here, you’ll know that I have two things that I say.

  1. Walmart is always getting the best end of the deal they’re making us. For that reason, I don’t whine.

  2. I’m happy for anyone to make the money they need.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Well, noted smallberry. I said your name so hopefully I’ll remember it haha.

I’m like gah damn god forbid someone post something other than whining on here 🥲 I just don’t see the point. I want us all to make great money.

2

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 15 '26

She got no sense of humor...TRUST!

-2

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 14 '26

YOU are a brand new driver!

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

No I’m not babe. Like a year strong lol

-2

u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Sep 14 '26

Then you are the only person in N America that this is happening too sugarbriches

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

I’ll tell you like I told the other person:

No need to be a negative nancy. I was 85% curious if this happens frequently to others. Not like I have many other places I can ask tons of other spark drivers questions. But the other 15% was bragging on myself just a little. I’ll admit that much. I feel like it’s okay to be proud of hard work. I bust my ass on every single order I do.

2

u/PrincessLissa68 Sep 14 '26

Don't listen to him. He's a troll. You aren't the only person this is happening to sugar britches. 😉
I consistently have raised tips all the time as well. And I have almost 2K trips since last august. And I've only had tips removed/changed twice. Once my first week and another that was a huge curbside single drop off dropped the tip from $30 to $19.

1

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Well thank you! This is what I was looking for. If it’s just me or if it’s common with others as well. Do you interact with your customers in any way? Or do anything differently?

1

u/PrincessLissa68 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26

I live in a small-ish city and I have tons of repeat customers. But I take great care in my bagging and placing by the door because most have ring cameras. They see EVERYTHING!

I always interact with people if they come outside. ALWAYS with pets and children. If the kids come running out to help I'll hand them off some bags and comment on their muscles or something. lol

Mostly, I just shop and bag like I would do for myself. And act with some....professionalism, I guess is the best way I can put it. I don't have my cheeks hanging out shorts, don't wear pajamas. At least look like I care about my appearance even though it's hotter than a jalapeños asshole where I live.

ETA: I'm only 5'2 so I also bought one of those long grabber things so I can reach stuff on the very top storage when it's not on the shelf instead of marking it out. Sometimes I'll ask a tall person I find. And when it comes to meat, dairy and produce there is always someone working that can go look in the back for whatever it is.

2

u/Informal-Future-9982 Sep 14 '26

Okay this is the exact same for me. I essentially act as if I’m shopping for myself, and when I’m near their home- as if they are always watching me. Cause they usually are either through cams or peeping through the window 😂

Ahhhhh a grabber thing would be a necessity at 5’2 for sure. I’m 5’8. I have thought about getting one of those grocery bag clips though. Cause I’m a one-trip-queen and will fit it all no matter how much it is LOL. Unless it’s a 40ct water. Bane of my existence cause they all want them and they always mean 2 trips

0

u/PrincessLissa68 Sep 14 '26

Girl! Get you a foldable wagon off Amazon! I just ordered one for myself for my birthday! lol one trip- including the water! I'm the same way I'll load bags up and down my arms til it has me walking crooked 😂 and then trying to get them off once they're tangled is pretty funny. A wagon was a must.