What's It Like To Be An Amazon Flex Delivery Partner?

My fourth anniversary as an Amazon Flex Delivery Partner would have been February 16, 2021, had my car not broke down on 12/25/20. I was unable to fix my car; I didn't have the money; working delivery jobs such as this one and being a ride-share driver, which I'll discuss in another piece I have yet to write; caused me to drive my 2015 Subaru Forester into the ground. I recently put $3,000 worth of work into that car, and a few months later it broke down again. I couldn't fix it. The car had 185,000 miles on it; I still owed $13,000. I just purchased it in September 2017, with 33,000 miles on it. These jobs were causing me to lose money, but as someone with C-PTSD, I needed something I could work on my own schedule, this forced me into gig work. This time I didn't have a choice; the only option I had left was to quit, allow my vehicle to be repossessed, and file bankruptcy; so that is what I did.

My time working for Amazon was not enjoyable; I hated that job, but it gave me the flexibility I needed, so I stayed. At first, it wasn't the worst job I had ever had, but that quickly changed. I said this would be an honest review, so let's begin with the pros. I feel we should get these out of the way first because this list will be much shorter than the list of the cons.

The Pros of Being An Amazon Flex Delivery Partner:

1. You can take your dog or your kids with you, providing you have enough room to fit all of your packages in the car. I took my dog with me to almost every shift.

2. You can dress however you want as long as you wear your Amazon vest for safety reasons while at the warehouse.

3. You select which shifts you want to work and don't have to work at all if you don't want to.

4. The shifts are short; anywhere from 2 - 5 hours, depending on if you are doing logistics, Prime, or Whole Foods.

5. You get tips for Prime and Whole Foods delivery shifts.

6. They pay you twice a week.

And that is where I am going to stop with the pros because these are really the only good aspects of working for this company.

The Cons of Being An Amazon Flex Delivery Partner:

1. They pay base pay of $54 for 3-hour logistics shifts; this is $18/hour, but they don't reimburse you for mileage; you are responsible for your own gas. If your shift runs over schedule, trying to get paid for that additional time was like pulling teeth. I often didn't get paid when I worked past my scheduled end time. In fact, you were only allowed to request a shift adjustment if you worked 30 minutes or more past the end of your shift.

2. If a customer didn't put access information to their secure building in the app and you were unable to get a hold of that customer via text or phone, you were required to return the packages to the warehouse. They would then hold you responsible for "unsuccessful delivery attempts" and they would lower your driver rating for this. If your driver standing got too low, you were at risk of being deactivated as a driver.

3. If there were problems at the warehouse that prevented you from getting your vehicle loaded and your packages delivered on time, your rating as a driver would be lowered, again putting you at risk of being deactivated if your rating gets too low. This was especially problematic while working Prime delivery shifts. The warehouse would often assign you orders that were already late. I didn't know my rating for late deliveries was being impacted when I was dispatched a route that was marked late until I was at risk of being deactivated as a driver. Once I realized this, I started emailing support to explain it was a problem on the warehouse's end and not my fault. Sometimes they would listen; often I would get a generic automated response saying "They take these things into consideration, but it may have no impact on my standing as a driver." Then my rating would be lowered anyway.

4. Their driver support reps were often unhelpful and rude.

5. They scheduled your deliveries so tight, there was no time to stop to use the restroom. I know male drivers that would tell me they would keep bottles in their vehicles to urinate in. As a female driver, I couldn't easily do that. Though if I stopped to use a restroom, I'd often be late with my deliveries. Then my delivery rating would be lowered. So I would hold it until after my shift, but as a woman with uterine fibroids pressing on my bladder, I would often be crying by the time I found a restroom. Things got even worse after covid because many public stores closed their restrooms to the public, and they wouldn't let you use them even if you had your Amazon vest on. There is a discussion regarding this going on now. Please see this Twitter link for further details: https://twitter.com/aoc/status/1375502593863073792?s=21

6. Shifts were hard to get. There were days I would refresh my app for hours and hours before I could finally accept a shift. Then I would have to drop whatever I was doing and rush to the warehouse to make it to the shift on time after accepting it. If you were more than 5 minutes late for a shift, they would cancel your route, and your driver rating would be lowered. There was one time I was so stressed about the possibility of missing my shift because I was at risk of being deactivated for late deliveries which were NOT my fault, that I chose to race a train. Yes, you read that correctly, I just said I raced a train. The train was coming, but if I stopped, I would've missed my shift. I floored it; I risked my life, but I made it to my shift in time and kept my job.

7. They gave Flex delivery associates NO equipment to use; often the boxes were heavy and located on top floor apartments with no elevators. I threw out my back and shoulders many times working this job, and the company doesn't offer us any kind of medical benefits because we are part-time independent contractors.

8. They would schedule you for downtown deliveries with no attention to the fact that there is no parking, they didn't reimburse you for parking. Deliveries were almost ALWAYS late when delivering downtown because you would have to park blocks away and walk to the delivery location. When this happened, your rating would be lowered for late deliveries.

9. If a customer reported a package as missing, your rating would be lowered for missing packages. It didn't matter if the package was stolen; you would be held responsible. We were required to take pictures of the packages we left at the customers' location, but if that package disappeared after you delivered it, they blame you.

10. They claim they don't allow drivers to use bots to grab shifts, but most drivers use bots to grab shifts. I did NOT use a bot, but it made getting shifts incredibly hard. So you have no work stability. For more information on these bots, please see this link: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/09/amazon-flex-drivers-use-bots-to-get-more-work.html

I'm going to stop here with the cons, but I could probably go on, and on, and on. I'm sure you get the picture by now.

I got so fed up with working for this company and their toxic, predatory, and illegal practices I contacted an attorney. I mainly complained about not getting paid when I worked additional hours. They listened to me and decided not to take my case. They did suggest I contact other attorneys regarding my case. Though before they declined to take my case, the woman I spoke to told me her office has sued Amazon multiple times. She said it happens so often, she would think they would make changes, but they don't. She told me she alone speaks to at least 15 - 20 Amazon employees a week.

I decided not to pursue the case. I wasn't after money, I wanted them to make changes and treat their employees better. If that wasn't going to happen, what is the point of the lawsuit? I decided to keep working for the company until I could figure out another way to make ends meet. I would regularly email Amazon to discuss these issues, when they found out I was talking to an attorney, they started working with me on the issues with pay, but as soon as I told them I decided not to pursue the case, my ratings began to drop and all of a sudden a customer "complained" about me, but they refused to tell me what I had done wrong. In almost 4 years as a driver, I had NEVER received a customer complaint. Ironic timing! I told them I feel they are retaliating against me and if I'm deactivated as a driver, I would be spilling the tea about their toxic and unfair practices. I was never deactivated, but I started spilling the tea anyway on social media.

I've been waiting to write this piece about what an absolutely terrible company Amazon is to work for, and when I saw the tweets about drivers peeing in bottles, I knew the time had come to spill the tea about what it is like to be a delivery associate for Amazon.

I am still technically an active driver, but I have NO intention of ever picking up a delivery shift with that company again, not even when I get another car. In fact, I dislike the company so much I try really hard not to even order from them. Sometimes I have to, but the happiest day of my life will be when I can afford to order from places other than Amazon, I'm still reliant on them for the free shipping at the moment, especially now that I no longer have a car.

My review: 2 stars and that is only for the flexible schedule; the 2 paydays a week, and the fact that I was able to take my dog. I do NOT recommend working for this company. If you are in a bind and need extra cash, it will give you some extra money, but I would NEVER advise trying to turn this into a full-time or long-term gig. I was more stressed and unhappy working for Amazon than I have ever been at any company I worked at prior.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this piece. I hoped it helped you to make a decision that will be best for you if you are considering becoming an Amazon Flex Delivery Associate. If you liked this article and would like to support me in some way, tips are always greatly appreciated.