On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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"If customers don’t tip, you don’t get minimum wage after gas costs," the Spark driver in Lafayette, Indiana told Motherboard. "There have been days when the store is running behind and I didn’t get bonuses and drove lots of miles and I didn’t make any money.""I’m fortunate that I can afford to not take unprofitable offers," he continued. "People doing this because they need the income to survive are forced into taking unprofitable trips because of fear of not making bonuses or not getting future offers."To encourage customers to tip more generously, the Spark driver in Spokane buys bags of candy from Walmart, and holographic thank-you cards and stickers from Amazon and tacks them on to her deliveries. "I noticed tips go up slightly…. so it's worth it," she said. Spark drivers also say the app is filled with glitches. Motherboard spoke to nine Spark drivers who said they'd lost orders they'd been offered because the app stalls so frequently. "It's very glitchy," the Spark driver in Evansville, Indiana told Motherboard. "Sometimes the Walmart icon just spins and spins and spins. By the time it stops, you've missed out on the order."Do you work for Walmart or Spark and have a tip to share with us? Please get in touch with Lauren, the reporter, via email Lauren.gurley@vice.com or Signal 201-897-2109.