A former driver for the Walmart delivery company Spark Driver said he was banned from driving after the results of a motor vehicle report revealed he had traffic tickets on his record.
In a Thursday post on the r/Sparkdriver subreddit, Redditor u/AdEnvironmental623 shared that he received the tickets before joining the Spark Driver platform.
Like other delivery driving services, such as DoorDash, Spark Driver boasts an ability for drivers to “be your own boss” by choosing their own working hours and conditions. The company operates in all 50 U.S. states and over 3,600 cities. “All you need to get started is a car and a smartphone,” its website assures.
On its enrollment help page, Spark Driver states that background checks, including motor vehicle records examinations, “may be conducted.” However, it does not specify how the results of these screenings may impact drivers’ eligibility.
Spark also has a page on appealing a deactivation, but it does not seem to have any information on what violations trigger a deactivation.
Some users suggested that u/AdEnvironmental623’s only hope for rejoining the platform was to go to court and try to get his traffic tickets reduced, especially if they were non-moving violations and he was not a repeat offender.
Fuck Walmart Spark 😒
byu/AdEnvironmental623 inSparkdriver
One user mentioned the possibility of entering an arbitration process with Spark, but another former driver was quick to shut down the idea.
“It’s a 5 minute phone call. No decision is made during the call,” they stated. “They take your details and your side of the story and 3-5 days later, they email you and tell you you’re still deactivated.”
Spark does not mention “arbitration” on its deactivation appeal page and does not seem to mention it elsewhere on its site.
One viewer called out the company for its seemingly arbitrary process of deciding what does and does not call for account deactivation.
“I got into an at fault car accident almost 2 years ago and they never deactivated me for that yet if I get a speeding ticket they’ll be quick with the deactivation,” u/Sipoteee, another Spark driver, observed. “It’s like that meme about the cop going after the weed head instead of the heroin addict lol.”
Other reasons for deactivation shared by delivery drivers in the thread included first-time non-moving violations, accusations of account sharing, and expired driver’s licenses—an unfortunate side effect of moving states for most.
Some users argued that u/AdEnvironmental623 dodged a bullet. “Consider yourself lucky. Pickup and deliver someone’s groceries for $3 is CRIMINAL,” u/ReliefVegetable1660 declared.
“Consider yourself free of the madness. Godspeed,” another Redditor wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to u/AdEnvironmental623 via Reddit direct message and to Walmart via its website.
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