Walmart Spark Driver Says Customer Followed Her After Berating Her During Delivery — Then Apologized And Handed Her $50

A Walmart Spark Driver says a tense grocery delivery took an unexpected turn when the customer she says had berated her followed her down the road. Tammy Tried says she grabbed her knife and pepper spray when the woman got out of her vehicle, expecting another confrontation, only for the customer to apologize and insist on giving her $50.

Tried, who delivers groceries through Walmart’s Spark Driver platform, shared her account of the encounter on Facebook after deciding to take the rest of the day off. She says the interaction began with the customer criticizing her while she unloaded the order and escalated when the woman followed her after she left.

Tried Says The Customer Was Angry About The Grocery Order

According to Tried, the customer began complaining while she was bringing the groceries to the house. Tried says the woman called Spark drivers “dumb mfs” and “stupid” and continued insulting her as she unloaded the order.

Tried says she initially let the customer vent before explaining that Spark drivers are independent contractors and that she takes the work seriously. She told the woman that delivering groceries helps support her family and that she handles each order the way she would want someone to handle her own.

She also says she had completed the order with only one substitution, packed the groceries properly and arrived within the delivery window. Tried believed the substitution was an issue with Walmart rather than something she should have been blamed for, but says the customer continued complaining.

Rather than continue the argument, Tried says she wished the woman a good day, got into her vehicle and drove away. She thought the interaction was over, but says the customer followed her down the road.

The Situation Changed When The Customer Followed Her

Tried says the woman began following her and honking as she drove away. When Tried reached a stop sign, she says she looked back and saw the customer getting out of her vehicle.

Tried says she grabbed her knife and pepper spray because she did not know what the woman intended to do. After being followed and then seeing the customer approach her vehicle, she says she believed the confrontation could escalate further.

Instead, Tried says the woman began apologizing. According to Tried, the customer explained what had been happening in her life and why she had become so frustrated during the delivery.

Tried did not identify the woman or share details about her personal circumstances, but said the customer appeared embarrassed by how she had behaved. The customer then offered Tried $50.

Spark’s Rules Give Drivers Specific Expectations For Customer Interactions

The encounter also took place within a delivery platform that has specific expectations for drivers interacting with customers. Walmart’s Spark Driver Terms of Use require drivers to behave professionally, maintain a reasonable standard of care and avoid rude comments, profanity, threatening language and complaints about a customer’s order.

The terms also state that drivers are responsible for taking reasonable precautions when interacting with customers and that Walmart is not responsible for a customer’s actions toward a driver while the driver is providing services. The rules don’t establish what customers must do, but they do provide context for the standards Walmart expects drivers to meet during deliveries.

Tried’s account shows how quickly a customer interaction can become more complicated than the original delivery itself. According to Tried, a disagreement over a grocery order escalated when the customer followed her after she left the home.

Tried Says The Encounter Made Her Reflect On Her Own Reaction

Tried says she initially attempted to refuse the $50 because she was simply doing her job and had already received a tip through the app. She did not think the customer needed to give her additional money after the interaction, but says the woman insisted, so she eventually accepted it.

Even after accepting the cash, Tried made clear that the gesture did not erase how the customer had treated her. At the same time, she believed the customer’s apology was genuine and agreed with a commenter who suggested the woman may have been carrying frustration from previous delivery experiences and needed someone to listen.

“I think we both needed the reminder today, just different perspectives,” Tried wrote.

After the encounter, Tried says she went home, showered and decided to spend the rest of the day with her children. She also began thinking about how differently she might have handled the confrontation a year earlier.

Tried says she could have responded in a way that might have cost her the job or potentially resulted in criminal charges. Instead, she says she walked away from the initial argument, which gave her an opportunity to recognize how much her approach to confrontation had changed.

Rather than focusing on the money, Tried says the encounter ultimately gave her something else to take away from it. After an interaction that she believed could have ended very differently, she left with an apology and a reminder of how much her own response to confrontation has changed.

The Mary Sue reached out to Tried for additional comment and will update this article if she responds.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.