At about 8:30 last night, I dropped off a sizable Target order for a customer (quite a few bulky items). As it was quite dark out, I would have expected a porch light or something to at least let the shopper know they have the right house. But the lights were off, and I just about tripped and dropped a couple of items that certainly would not have been usable as there were a couple of steps leading up to the porch that were not easily visible in the darkness.

I contacted the client through the app and in as friendly manner as I could, I requested they turn on the light so I at least know I have the right house. They refused, saying that they had a child to take care of, and that there was a street lamp that provided plenty of light (there was a street light, but it did not provide any useful lighting).

I didn't say anything further, other than to have a good evening, but if the roles were reversed, I would have had the light on my front porch on, knowing full well that it's a night order, and if I somehow forgot to turn on the light, it would take me all of fifteen seconds to get up and flip the light for the shopper's benefit if they reached out. If my car is in the way (not that it would be as I have a garage, just an offhand example), or something might be blocking their path to the dropoff point, I'll gladly do what I can to make their delivery a little bit easier. If there is something they should know (i.e. drop off by the garage instead of front porch), I'll be sure to communicate that as well.

At this point, I kind of hope they give me a two-star rating and be done with it. Look, I empathize with you that you've got kids to take care of (I'm a parent myself) but basically saying "no, I'm not going to turn on the light, you just need to deal with it" to me screams "this customer just isn't worth it". I expect no tip and I've just taken them off my "preferred shopper" list on the app (I've shopped 3-4 orders for them in the past, and generally speaking they're crappy tippers anyway - $5 for $200 orders for example).

If I'm wrong for thinking this, then I'm wrong, but just like crappy shoppers, there's crappy customers out there too. They can be someone else's problem next time.