Woman faces costly repairs after uninsured delivery driver hits parked car
FRISCO, Texas - A woman visiting North Texas for the Fourth of July holiday ended up with a 4-digit repair bill after a delivery driver hit her parked car.
The driver had no insurance or driver's license and the company behind the delivery didn't seem to be much help — that is until that woman got FOX 4 on her side.
On a recent visit to a quiet suburban street in Frisco, Elena Hollopeter says it was the kind of sound she instantly recognized.
"‘Screech!’ I was praying like please don’t let that be my car," she recalled. "I know that’s my car, but please don’t let it be my car."
Hollopeter’s car parked along the street was hit by a man making a delivery a few houses down.
The driver showed Hollopeter the order on his phone. It was a delivery from Walmart. But there was a problem.
"We realized that this driver did not have registration or driver's license, as well as he was uninsured," she said.
Hollopeter took a photo of his Venezuelan driver's license and his expired registration, and she called Frisco PD.
A bilingual officer responded and filed a police report so he could speak with Hollopeter and the Venezuelan driver.
"The police officer said that there really wasn't much else they could do to help," she said.
FOX 4 spoke with Hollopeter via Zoom from her home in Norman, Oklahoma. According to a body shop estimate, she says it would take more than $4,000 to fix her car.
While still in Frisco, Hollopeter says she headed to the Walmart on Stonebrook and 423 to try and find a solution.
"We spoke with one of the managers. She had to call in another manager, and this manager was starting to open up the case until they found out that this driver was a Spark driver," she recalled. "Once they found out it wasn’t a Walmart-operated vehicle, they shut everything down."
In spite of this, Hollopeter says as she waited in line at customer service, she spotted the man who had hit her car.
"The driver came right up to us. He seemed pretty happy," she said. "Shook my boyfriend's hand, shook my hand and then went on his way."
According to a Walmart spokesperson, Spark is Walmart's "delivery platform that provides opportunities for independent contractors across the country to make deliveries for Walmart and other merchants."
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The Walmart copyright and the Walmart logo show up on the Spark website, drive4spark.walmart.com.
In the frequently asked questions, it details all drivers must have a valid social security number, a U.S. driver's license and insurance.
But none of that seemed to matter. According to Hollopeter, she was denied.
"They pulled out their walkie-talkie and said, "It wasn't even a Walmart car. Shut it down," she said.
Hollopeter says she persisted and contacted Walmart corporate claims but says she didn’t get very far.
"They did not offer a case number," she said. "The first person that we had spoken with said that we’re going to expect to hear a call from Walmart Claims Services within 48 hours."
The 48 hours came and went, but nothing happened. So Hollopeter called again.
"They couldn't find the order number. They couldn’t find the name of the person who got the delivery. They couldn't find my name or his email or even the location in Frisco," she said.
Hollopeter detailed the crash incident again to Walmart and then to Spark directly.
"She told me, ‘Okay, so we're going to review this with my team, but I can't make any promises to you that we’re going to give you any compensation for this,’" she recalled.
Hollopeter says she even tried to reach a deal for damages with that uninsured driver. The tentative offer she says they discussed was $100 a week for nearly a year until the damage was paid off. But that seemed ridiculous to her.
"I expect Walmart should be doing this because it's under Walmart’s name," she said. "Walmart is representing Spark deliveries."
That's when Hollopeter got one final piece of advice.
"My boyfriend's father watches your channel a lot," she said. "So he knew to reach out to you saying, ‘Save Me Steve is this guy that speaks and advocates for people that are getting screwed over by massive companies like this.’"
Armed with all of the information Hollopeter gathered, FOX 4 contacted Walmart Corporate PR. Less than 24 hours later, she had a settlement offer in her hand: full payment for all damages.
According to a Walmart spokesperson, the driver who hit Hollopeter's car is not an authorized driver on the Spark platform, and it appears that an eligible vetted user on the app fraudulently allowed him to make deliveries for them under their account, which has been deactivated.
FOX 4 asked about Hollopeter’s account of store management recognizing the driver. However, the spokesperson had nothing more to add.