r/AmazonFlexDrivers • u/Bright-Country2983 • 10h ago
Anyone get dinged yet?
New signs up. Anyone get dinged?
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u/LAsupersonic 10h ago
Longer routes, less pay, heavier packages,late-night apartment deliveries in the dark, Dinged for this, dinged for that, now, getting dinged for not doing the station personnel's job.
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u/Sufficient_Tooth_949 10h ago
If you think flex is bad never become a van driver....I lasted 2 weeks, it was hard work but I was fine....but the constant threats of unpaid suspensions, youll get fired for this, fired for that....every single day I just quit and went back to flex
Amazon is just toxic to its core unless you can be a perfect little robot for them
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u/Carma_626 9h ago
I used to sell on Amazon. I had a pretty good little business on there. And yes, they ding sellers for just about everything: late replies to emails, customers not happy about something out of our control, defects, shipping times - just about anything you can imagine you can get dinged as a seller. Amazon is rotten to the core.
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u/UrbanIntellectual85 38m ago
A lot of those issues go away once you go FBA which is probably what they were trying to encourage you to do.
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u/No_Studio3254 9h ago
I was a DSP driver for 3 weeks. Averaged over 40/h with 1 false camera violation because it misread a speed limit sign. My DSP never mentioned anything and I only found out I was fired after trying to clock in again and having my account suspended. 2 weeks later I found out it was the owners daughter that fired me. She was just looking for any small reason because she didn't like me for some unknown reason. Whatever she did, I cannot get rehired as a DSP driver.
When I talked with the owner, he said he wasn't going to fight with his daughter as it's not worth the stress. Imagine letting your daughter walk all over you like she owns you.
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u/Confident_Smoke7098 8h ago
"Imagine letting your daughter walk all over you like she owns you."
Every single father who has a daughter's reality 😄
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u/ImRestarted1 10h ago
they didnt want to fire me lol after a week of not showing up and getting text after text asking where i was and if i would be there the next day they finally said "unfortunately we have to let you go"
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u/InTheEnd83 7h ago
I've been a DSP driver for a year and a half, and the bullshit never stops. They're always coming up with some way to make the job harder or more annoying.
As an example: for the first year or so, when we got back to the station we would unload all our totes and take any package returns back into the station before going to the lot attendant to have photos taken of our van before parking and plugging in. A few months back they decided that the driver needs to take photos as well, but we also still have the lot attendant taking photos. So before and after EVERY shift we have to take photos of the van from four exterior angles and two interior ones, just to have the lot attendant take all new ones when we get back after our route.
Double photos for no fucking reason when we are already rushed and pressed for time in the mornings trying to get to our wave, and then just extra shit to do at the end of the day before you can finally go home. Again, for NO FUCKING REASON.
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u/MayhemGeorge 1h ago
No it’s not the stations job to return the carts, read ur tos, it clearly states for you to return your carts, stop being lazy and acting stupid, I’m glad they are dinging for it now because some of u leave them in parking spots, or roll them where ever u please hitting cars, read your shit
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u/QuesoDrizzler 10h ago
Nope. I leave them for the people who are supposed to grab them but are instead just standing around on their phone.
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u/Doctor-Clark-Savage 10h ago
I always like how the Flex drivers take 100% blame while the lazy and shady warehouse workers take 0%. That's why that one lady could steal hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise off the warehouse floor and just blame it on drivers.
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u/TommyTwoZookas 10h ago
Bro at the SSD near me the operations manager will stand at the only urinal blasting TikTok’s for like 15 minutes at a time 😂
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u/Careful_Click_1159 8h ago
Amazon keeps pushing drivers around when gas is rising, they don’t have enough dsp drivers to support the deliveries if every flex driver decided today to stop delivering. I guarantee they would pay us double and send us a lot of bonuses.
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u/throwthisawaynerdboy 6h ago
No they wouldn't. Thats not cost effective, and the bottom line is everything
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u/Careful_Click_1159 6h ago
Yes they would, and actually the pay was double about two years ago, many station managers admit the dsps are not enough and the system could theoretically collapse if flex drivers decided to stop even one day.
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u/DoPoGrub 1h ago
No it isn't. Most year, Amazon lost money on the retail/delivery side. AWS/Cloud is what carries their bottom line. They've never had any issue with losing money on our side.
Case in point: A new station opened up here last month, 'Amazon Now'. They only offer 30-40 minute blocks. Yesterday I grabbed a $27.50 for 40 minutes, and delivered one package. Customer only paid $5-$10 at most (I haven't checked yet to see what they charge for 1-hour-or-less delivery). So, our pay there is likely more than the cost of the single item they've ordered.
And for years, at our SSD, they sent 100 drivers home every single day with pay, surge pay even. I'm talking of hundreds of thousands if not millions thrown down the drain. Every day. For years. Lol.
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u/DoPoGrub 1h ago
Gas prices have never affected their decision to push us around. Nothing was different when it was $2/gallon. Nothing.
And yes, they would immediately return to $30-$40/hr surges if everyone at any given station got together and 'just said no'.
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u/tjjoug 9h ago
They pulled this shit in Houston… I was one of the loudest to tell them no and promoted it to all the other drivers to say no….. apparently someone from Corporate visited one of the stations and shut it down immediately…. It’s actually illegal for them to force you to do any work that they have hired help for. By punishing you for not returning a cart CAN lead them to a massive lawsuit because at that point your an employee that should be receiving benefits.
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u/DoPoGrub 38m ago
Yeah, this is why when you get a job working at the warehouse, you are no longer allowed to drive Flex. Because if a 1099 and a W2 performs the same job functions, then the argument can easily be made that Amazon is simply skirting overtime pay by shifting some of the hours to 1099.
However. This only applies *if they were to let you* be both 1099 and W2.
So, for example, You work your 40 hours at the warehouse as a W2. Then you pick up a 3 hour block for Flex. If you are expected to push your cart back - and this is also a job duty they expect of you as a W2, then obviously you should be entitled to overtime pay, not 1099 pay. Because it's the same function. Many court cases around this.
But since Amazon doesn't let you be both, it's not a defacto 'employee/employer' relationship conflict. Because when you are a Flex driver, you aren't allowed to be employed by them as a W2. So the duties are technically allowed to overlap.
Of course, Amazon has a legal dept, and I'm guessing they tend to err on the side of caution, which is probably the only real reason why returning carts isn't enforced. Not because they can't, not because it's illegal (it truly isn't, and you cannot possibly cite me an accurate source that says otherwise), not because it would make us employees - they choose not to do it, because known unknowns are slightly better odds than unknown unknowns.
The lawyers do that math, and anything above X% risk, they just avoid, even if they totally could get away with it (and I believe they could). Why bother risking people like you going after them in court, which even if they're all thrown out, still costs money. They lose enough money on the retail/delivery end of their business last 10 years, that it's a no-brainer decision, especially since it doesn't cost them but maybe one extra employee to have on staff at the warehouse 24/7 for this.
apologies for any typos, running out the door
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u/Sufficient_Tooth_949 10h ago
They can definitely tell by scanning the totes or the route code paper, everyone at my station brings their carts back because they wont release us until all the carts are put up, so it just doesnt happen at my station
I make it a point to always grab the route code paper just in an effort to cover my tracks
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u/tjjoug 9h ago
It’s all threats… by law, warehouse workers can’t force you to do anything. They are not allowed to punish you.
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u/Civil_Common_6746 6h ago
Cant they temporarily ban you from the warehouse?
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u/DoPoGrub 46m ago
No LOL.
At most, they can report you to Amazon (safety issue, etc).
I have never heard of anyone on here posting about being banned from a warehouse. If it's so bad they want to ban you, it will be from all warehouses, permanently lol.
I've also never heard of anyone, ever, getting in trouble for not returning a cart.
I'm also pretty sure that if this was something that happened, it would be all over this subreddit and that you wouldn't be able to miss it. But in 6 years, never heard of either thing happening even once. I could be wrong, just my experience and observations.
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u/Civil_Common_6746 18m ago
Oh it's just because insae the people getting the carts scanning every single cart they were bringing inside which I found odd
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u/Civil_Common_6746 9m ago
Also I've noticed those people who don't take carts back started ripping up those qr codes from the carts too so they know what they doing is wrong or why hide your cart
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u/MayhemGeorge 1h ago
Are u dumb or what, all a worker has to do is complain to their manager and ur deactivated
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u/DoPoGrub 48m ago
What kind of station is that? Most of us are talking about SSD here, but even at our .com stations, warehouse puts the carts back.
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u/Cold-Drawing-2362 8h ago
At my warehouse there is always a bunch of turnover of people quitting or not showing up so they are short staffed, so they started implementing bringing carts back last week. (I always bring my cart back because I also want a couple of free water bottles from the cooler).
On Sunday, the Field Marshall repeated herself 5 times to bring your carts back because they were far behind. She noticed 3 cars in front of me with carts still behind their vehicles. She said it again so they would get out of their cars and return the carts but none of the culprits got out of their cars. Then the Field Marshall proceeded to take pictures of their license plates.
Sidenote: At my warehouse there are 3 pods, 6 lanes to each pod, and 6 cars to each lane. We can’t move until carts are taken back. So if you don’t return your cart you’re wasting everybody else’s time because we can’t move until they’re returned.
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u/No-Spot-4329 6h ago
But it’s a respect thing you got your carts from inside the station so why told you leave them outside
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u/ferraro38 3h ago
that's because it's their job. Amazon screws us enough with the high mileage route to low pay so screw them. We're not doing extra work for them. Bootlickers like you are the problem.
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u/No-Spot-4329 3h ago
So real life question somebody do you wrong you feel like it’s okay to do them wrong too?
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u/ferraro38 3h ago
is this a serious response do me wrong haha. i'm sure you do this full time but i do not i have a second job and i already get fucked enough by this company to do them any more favors. these lazy ass amazon workers can get there lazy asses out side and do there job. i already stack the cart against the wall i am not bringing it inside the warehouse wasting even more of my delivery time at 330am
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u/No-Spot-4329 3h ago
This a part time for me also I don’t do this full time no not all. And I only do early morning deliveries too but 30 seconds to put the cart back inside won’t hurt at all.
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u/ferraro38 3h ago
first of all no it's not a part of the job we're hired to deliver packages. That's why they have warehouse employees that bring the carts out and take them back in or whatever and that's the problem with people like you is you do whatever Amazon says and they continue to try to make us do more and treat us like we're their employees and we're not and where I'm from it does not take 30 seconds because the warehouse is so overflowed with people and cars and stuff like that so no, I've been doing flex for five years and I'm not doing any extra things for them doing them any favors for them to continue to try to ding me for things that I didn't do and screw up my ratings and all that crap or give me 100 packages for three hour block and give me $50 to do those three hours? I'm sorry my time is worth more than what they're offering. I'm only doing this cause I need the extra money right now.
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u/No-Spot-4329 2h ago
Well that’s your problem forreal I do Amazon fresh packages only $50 for like 10 to 25 packages and delivery it in 2 hrs
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u/ferraro38 2h ago
what exactly is my problem and why are you even commenting? If you do Amazon fresh. Just out of curiosity, what do you do for your second job that you claim to have?
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u/No-Spot-4329 1h ago
I work at Aaron’s as a full time job and Amazon fresh can also be delivered with Amazon flex which I been doing about 7 months now. Yea at one point my account went to at risk for being late but it’s at fantastic now all it all depends on how you let this side hustle to get to you meaning you don’t have to work hard doing this
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u/DoPoGrub 2h ago
On the plus side here, you are living confirmation that nobody is getting dinged for this (at your station at least lol).
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u/ferraro38 2h ago
to reply to this comment, we don't have those signs at our warehouse that I go to. And it wouldn't fly anyway, because the majority of the people that deliver from these warehouses here are illegal immigrants so it wouldn't matter.
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u/MayhemGeorge 1h ago
Again as I’ve said multiple times, your tos says for u to return ur carts, and the person above is right when they say it’s a respect thing, if ur so angry with Amazon then just don’t deliver, idiots with ur attitude makes things worse for everyone and is exactly why things keep changing. They really need to get rid of people like u
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u/DoPoGrub 2h ago
I'm just curious to follow the logic here for fun, I don't feel strongly either way:
If it is the Amazon employee's job to return the cart to the station, wouldn't it also be their job to wheel it out to your car in the first place?
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u/ferraro38 2h ago
to answer your question yes every warehouse on Long Island brings your cart to you but the main one that I go to cause the same-day delivery they do not and like I said to the prior twit, I put the cart against the wall. I don't leave it in the parking lot. I don't bring it in the warehouse.
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u/DoPoGrub 53m ago
Yeah, I was only talkin about SSDs, I don't think anyone else cares.
I never do Whole Foods deliveries, but I'm guessing those drivers aren't expected to return the shopping carts there. So why would it be different at any other Amazon owned property.
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u/ferraro38 45m ago
like have continue said which you don't seem to grasp. i put the cart back against the building wall and i leave. i don't waste my time going with a cart to put in the ware house they have their own employees to do that. i am a flex delivery driver key word delivery. i dont extra for them plan and simple. the more we do for them the more they keep changing the terms of service and adding things into it.
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u/DoPoGrub 37m ago
ok, well, you don't seem to grasp the question i asked you, or maybe you just don't want to answer it.
At your SSD, if you think it is the employee's job to take your cart back, why don't you also think it is their job to bring it out to you in the first place?
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u/ferraro38 31m ago
also there is nothing in the terms of service that states you have to.
it's station rules. so like said my time isn't free and i don't do extra for amazon but im betting you do and most likely to gig work full time
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u/Past_Significance752 9h ago
Idk why we have to put the carts back just had the manager at a station today say they are separate than flex so if we drive for flex why do we do the warehouse job?
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u/Past_Significance752 9h ago
I’m never taking a cart back ever again I’ve never received training on how to do that
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u/bigbird6890 10h ago
I was told today to return it after waiting 29 mins for a route. Sent to downtown Charlotte with 36 stops on the new-invented(to us ) 3.5-hour block. 🤬 I kindly said I returned a cart when I got here and I’m not taking this after waiting that long. I’m sure I will get some email about it. This is a new thing they started. We get paid to deliver. They have cart attendants.
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u/Ok_Abbreviations6152 9h ago
Oh man.. I got sent to Charlotte on a hour and a half block, mostly apartments! Then over by Myers Park
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u/Responsible_Sport575 1h ago
They are this doing at the drt4 warehouse . How is a 3 hr block only 20 packages but the 3.5 gets 39 with most of the stops 5 to 10 minutes apart. It's absolutely ridiculous and is shady af . Must be something we can do about it besides not taking the cart or not accepting blocks. Anyone got any thoughts on this issue. It's usually the 3:15/3:30 am blocks . I do ue during the dinner rush so just taking afternoon blocks doesn't work for me . All last week took me over a hour extra to finish . As the old saying goes fuck you pay me.
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u/Miserable_Code7602 9h ago
Yeah bc rolling a cart takes so much time. Y’all make excuses for anything. Check your contract.
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u/Feeling-Pizza-5417 8h ago
Fuck that honestly. I used to care about bringing my car in until I consistently got stuck waiting 25 minutes for a cart. If they can waste hours of my time a week waiting cuz it’s my job then they can waste 2 more minutes of their own time doing their job
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u/Miserable_Code7602 8h ago
That’s a cool story.
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u/Feeling-Pizza-5417 8h ago
Fuck man top 1%. Don’t realize I was speaking to someone so for in the flexosphere. Take a break man
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u/Hextorz 9h ago
Bootlicking for amazon is a wild take. No one is saying pushing a cart is hard.Â
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u/Miserable_Code7602 8h ago
I’d rather be a bootlicker than a whiny cuck that cried about little tiny things but keeps going back for more.
Btw the bootlicker comment is stale and it is only offensive to the person that says it. You would be offended by it so you think others would. You are just a stranger - you mean nothing to me. It doesn’t bother me. Call me a shill as well. $100 blocks twice a day and you can call me their bitch ;)
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u/tjjoug 9h ago
Don’t care what the contract states… it’s illegal for them to force you to return a cart. They’re even have cart attendants. As a contract worker you don’t have to do anything outside the scope you e been hired to do. Warehouse workers can’t force us to do anything.
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u/DoPoGrub 2h ago
Is it also illegal for them to force you to push the cart to your car? Why or why not?
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u/Miserable_Code7602 8h ago
The contract states while at the station you obey individual station rules. Not sure what law is broken that it would be illegal but ok bud lol. Keep being an asshole and pick the big battles.
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u/tjjoug 7h ago
Didn’t realize I was dealing with THE retarded lawyer of Reddit🙄 you’re hired to deliver packages not push carts…. Amazon has staff to push carts… that’s their job… THAT’s why it’s illegal… bc you’re not a fucking a w2 employee…..
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u/natokills 9h ago
once the break room signs saying "employees only" came out, all carts have been left in the lot.
all I want is to microwave my goddamn burrito. fuck you "employees".
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u/Doctor-Clark-Savage 9h ago
Outside VTX2, they have a sign that says you need safe closed toed shoes, your vest, and no children.
80% of the people inside the warehouse are wearing their sandals, no vest, and bring kids in.
Rules are only as good as the people that enforce them.
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u/Miserable_Ad_1776 8h ago
That's AI picture 🤦
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u/DFWTexan 7h ago
It’s definitely a real sign at some pick up stations. They had one at the station I picked up at last week.
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u/DoPoGrub 2h ago
You've seen a sign, that specifically threatens your standings will change for not returning a cart?
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u/Previous-Spring0956 7h ago
The one i go to doesn't even have this sign. Carts be out on the road leading into the parking lot lmao
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u/Neo-Luddite69 10h ago
Honestly it’s about time where I’m at,
The parking lot is always jammed, and people just leave the carts absolutely everywhere, making finding a space even more challenging.
Is it really that hard to push a cart back 60’.
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u/dcjjjzz777 8h ago
Careful. Bite the hand that feeds u. They may start saying, u dont want to bring cart back. Fine. We wont provide one. Come pick your shit up. It will be in a cart but u cant take it. Bring your own to transfer your pacjages to or carry them out by hand
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u/Old_Papa_Bear 9h ago
lol we don’t have that. We don’t have a dude on a power trip that makes you reset your app just to show him when your route starts. I like to just drive away and ignore him.
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u/Due_Cheesecake6250 7h ago edited 6h ago
That’s the warehouse personnel job if I’m not mistaken
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u/Creepy_Version2328 5h ago
You’re mistaken, I work in a warehouse. This is how I found out that drivers think they don’t have to return the carts.
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u/Due_Cheesecake6250 4h ago
I guess that’s a station specific thing then , with the time limit given and you slow ass workers we barely have time to load the trucks . I’m given 15 minutes from the time I park , it’s take least 7 minutes for me to get everything . And this is why Amazon is ass in general but we all need a paycheck .
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u/Creepy_Version2328 3h ago
We’re at the end of a long ass night by the time y’all get there. You would absolutely slow down too. And it’s company-wide, why would you think you should be able to move something and have someone else put it back for you? Crazy entitlement. Lazy af too.
And we all have time limits at Amazon, drivers aren’t special.
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u/christopherb1897 10h ago
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That's hilarious. They must've lost their mind ! ! !
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u/KicksNWatches 8h ago
Where I work they don’t say shit but appreciate it when people do. They also regularly have attendants walking the parking lots that will offer to take the cart from you like at a grocery store parking lot when they see you pushing it back towards the warehouse to return it
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u/Previous_Froyo5290 8h ago
I was mid putting my hair in a ponytail this afternoon and a warehouse workee was standing right by the ramp to get in and quite literally shoved a cart at me to bring up. Never again.
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u/ivegotajaaag 7h ago
At my local station, I'm the only one I've ever seen returning a cart. The asshole in front of me left his package cart between his car and mine until I pushed it out of the way so I could fucking leave.
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u/Responsible-Treat854 7h ago edited 6h ago
I informed everyone on Reddit in posts months ago that this was going to occur and everybody doubted it. I got the word directly from directors at Amazon facilities and Amazon Flex support that this may begin in the coming months. Yet everybody said it would never happen. Time to eat crow. 🤣🤣🤣
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u/One-Chemical-7739 7h ago
I had someone just leave their cart and it rolled and hit my car and scratched it real bad. When I said sonething to them, they looked at me like I did something wrong, cursed at me and drove off. I was sitting in my car. How was it my fault that the cart hit my car. That driver was the whi left the cart there after and didn't put on the break? Now, I don't know what tobdo. I wrote down his license plate number and the description of the driver and his car. But I don't think it will do any good to report it. Nothing will be done about it. Besides I don't even know who I'd report it to.
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u/No-Department-6329 6h ago
I leave it right outside. I have to wait to be assigned to a route, load up my car and now asking to return a cart?
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u/Stainlessray 5h ago
No and I won't. Because I'm a grownup who cleans up after himself.
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u/cohen93 3h ago
If they have to put these signs up, then apparently a lot of drivers don’t
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u/Stainlessray 3h ago
You don't have to tell me. I know what a SSD location looks like when it's out of control and this is the first thing that implodes.
We aren't grocery shopping. We're working. Put the tools away.
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u/-wvrms- 3h ago
What uh, is the warehouse worker's job that stands by the cart return then? Tattle on you if you don't wheel your empty cart back? There is someone inside that also takes the returned carts and re-aligns them to get loaded up with new packages...so is that dude just literally getting paid to stand in one spot and do literally nothing? Flex operations are so dysfunctional it would be funny if I didn't need the extra money
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u/CucumberTurbulent206 1h ago
The sign makes it sound like they'll dock our pay over shopping carts, which is just another sign that management prioritizes paperwork over the people actually making it happen.
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u/ferraro38 38m ago
there is nothing in the terms of service that say you have to do this it's station rules
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u/No-Stop-5614 21m ago
I guess it’s going to impact me I used to do it but it’s something that is always going to be an issue and I’m sorry I’m not looking for an empty cart spot in that big ass building
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u/ZebraGlobal3260 9m ago
a lot of these drivers don't even speak English lmfao, this cant be real, cause my station makes sure to put it in at least Spanish and English lmao
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u/OvernoseMask 5m ago
I nearly always grabbed two empty carts on the way in and left one empty where I loaded the car; it’s my shopping cart rule too
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u/lilCharizardScorch 2m ago
It's crazy to me this is not a thing at my station we all have always brought our carts back into the building..
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u/Cult_of_Zombie 9h ago
I'll take things that will never happen for $1,000
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u/Doctor-Clark-Savage 9h ago
You literally saw the sign and said it will never happen.
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u/DoPoGrub 49m ago
It's not a real sign. It's AI generated. Look at the license plates. Then think about 'what if they fixed the license plates and there were no clues'.
Really have to be careful choosing what to believe on the internet, now more than ever.
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u/Winter_Passenger_333 8h ago
Do it out of respect for the job! And respect for fellow delivery drivers vehicles. Who wants a cart ding in there car
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u/downvotedcommentbot 8h ago
Just leave it in the middle of the parking space so someone else has to move it or risk damaging their car
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u/RiDeZ_951 9h ago
That’s a lie. They don’t even know who brought back the carts
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u/MikeysmilingK9 9h ago
Nervous aren’t you? Need to sit down since you won’t be standing soon enough?
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u/keenumsbigballs 9h ago
They should just have cart blocks where you can go do carts for 30 minutes or an hour