Instacart
reviews and complaints

I have not shopped on instacart as I have had a regular full-time job for a while now. This week I needed to access my account and simply wanted to update some information so I reached out by a email. I have been sent around in circles for the past I don't know it seems like 8 to 10 hours. I was told to hit a question mark in the top right corner of either their app or browser which obviously I can't sign into by( super smart) Harrish🤦🏾‍♀️. So where is the accurate and intelligible support for your shoppers that go out and help you conduct your business everyday? Why is it a game and why can't you just update my information if your emailing me back and forth and you represent a supposedly reputable company, ? I'm just curious it doesn't make sense to offer no real support for shoppers simply ignorant and unprofessional.

Latiya D was picking my order was the most disrespectful, unprofessional, mild mannered unladylike person I've ever met. The qualifications to work for your company has to be very low or the company has to be desperate to let any human like Latiya D work for them. She is below average and is ghetto. She needs to be fired immediately. She intentionally made sure I didn't get my order today. I hope this does not do this to anyone else in the future.

I had put in an order using Instacart to Price Chopper so I could pick it up on the way to work last night. When I got there at/around 7pm (Eastern time), the Runner came out with 1 bag. My completed cart said 2 and I expected 2. I opened up my trunk, heard her rustling around with a bag she supposedly said was mine, then hurriedly walked off. When I got to work almost an hour later, I discovered that it was not in my trunk. NOTHING I ordered was in my trunk. Either refund my money or alert Price Chopper on Ames Dr.. in Barre, VT that I get to have my order free.

Date: 10/16/2021
Time: close to 7pm Eastern time

I'm a fan of Instacart Costco; these shoppers are on top of things, kind, thoughtful - never an issue. Instacart Kroger's? Just makes my life harder, and quite possibly this is the last time I will use it.
Imagine an 80 degree day and coming home to find your ground round, frozen bread dough, milk, well, you get the idea - not on your porch, as the directions stated, but lying in the grass. Why?
I didn't receive a text saying my groceries were on the way, so the time ETA is just that. Did the shopper ring the bell, or knock? I wasn't home - so I can't say. But I can say that all of us should know not to put food on grass and dirt. I arrived two hours after delivery to find groceries that were supposed to be refrigerated lying in the grass, sweating in the heat. Had any of the things happened that happened with Costco - a bell ring, a door knock, a TEXT - I would be less upset.

My shopper today was very uncooperative. She argued with me about everything. She had poor customer service skills. She was making mistakes. I called customer support and they spoke with her which did not help at all. She was rude. I finally cancelled the order. They are going to be sure she does not shop for me again. But she should not be shopping for anyone. She needs to be retrained or FIRED! That would be the only acceptable resolution in my opinion.
CONVERSATION copied from messages during shopping):
1. Adukwei B started shopping.
2. Adukwei B replaced Hillshire Farm Ultra Thin Sliced Honey Ham Deli Meat with Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Honey Ham
3. Adukwei B refunded PICS 1% Low Fat Milk (Quart)
4. for milk I stated pick best match - there has to another 1% milk available
5. Avatar Uuum except they cost more than you're willing to pay but okay
6. I never put a price on it
7. Avatar Ok
8. Avatar Go back and change your order then
9. I can't change an order once you start shopping
10. Avatar Neither can I buy what's you didn't add to the cart .
11. you need tomake the substitute
12. Avatar Its saying it cost more than you're willing to pay as I stated
13. Avatar I cannot do that on the app .
14. that's impossible- there's is no such thing
15. Avatar Okay you can call customer service .
16. chech with a supervisor
17. That doesn't help while you are shopping
18. I can't read that
19. Avatar It says exactly what I repeated 3 times already
20. Avatar Click the picture
21. stop arguing with me and check with a supervisor
22. I did click the pic -nothing happened
23. I'm on a computer not text
24. You must have made an error when entering it or you have a different size milk
25. and yes you can buy something I add to the cart because I have done it many times
26. Adukwei B refunded Market 32 Apple Cider Cinnamon Sugar Donuts 6 Pack
27. the reason you are getting that price message is because you are trying to substitute a half gallon for a quart
28. Adukwei B refunded Nestle Raisinets
29. there was a replacement for the raisinetts too
30. Avatar Anything that cost more than you have stated it wont let me add ot replace!
31. if it is a replacement it should not have a problem. you may be picking bigger sizes
32. I do NOT choose the prices - they enter automatically when I order
33. Avatar The size you need is unavailable like I said
34. Avatar Hence why you are getting a refund .thank you
35. I think you need retraining and am going to cancel
36. Avatar Ok
37. Avatar I think you need to call customer service and have them repeat logic to you .have a good day
38. called twice already.
39. Avatar And here you are still harassing me
40. Avatar Do better
41. Avatar I'm sure they can educate you better
42. YOU need the education
43. Avatar You need a friend
44. and you need to learn about customer service
45. Avatar Hope you have a good day .
46. not now I won't

Instacart says they promise $7 a batch... But this doesn't count how many items you need to actually find.

I can't find reasonable batches. I found one that was $7 for 34 items. If you put in the time for finding products, it's not worth it for anyone and robbery for even people that are doing this for extra money.

All they told me was " we can't change the system" . Basically saying it is what it is.

I put a order in for 10 items. I received notice that my order was delivered but it had not been. I started a chat with agent finally she has the driver come back turns out she left my order at neighbors house so she got the bags and brought over to my house. I told her I wasn't accepting the cold items in mean time I'm still chatting with agent I go inside and the driver leaves with all bags. I agree with agent she can come drop off now cold items and another shopper would be bringing my cold items. So I go to door and get the bags and the eye lid wipes I ordered were not in the bags (now when I was outside with the driver earlier she brought bags from neighbors house and I seen eyelid wipes in the bag. All I can assume is she dropped in between putting bags back in her car leaving and then returning the bags. So at this point my chat with agent I had been dealing with for 45 mins or more ended so I had to start a new chat with different agent and she was making me repeat the whole situation again I said no I'll call customer service. When I called customer service she says I only had 1 lean ground beef and 1 garlic bread to be redelivered (now again when the driver had brought my bags from the neighbors house I clearly seen the 2 garlic breads and the 2 lean ground beefs in the bags) the customer service latent kept saying I only ordered one. Now again what I can assume is when the agent on I was on chat with reordered the cold items to be delivered from a new driver she only put 1 lean ground beef and 1 garlic bread. As you can image after now dealing with this for well over a hour I had it. I know what I ordered I know my address was correct because I use the same app with my address that I've been using for months, I also know what I seen the driver brought clearly in the bags and last but not least I know my total was $ 86.99 when I placed my order and then went down to $ 50.35 after the agent on chat reordered my cold items and if that doesn't show she messed up I don't know what would but the customer service agent I was on call with kept telling me I only ordered one of each. So I've been told I gave the wrong address I've been told I didn't order 2 quantity of each item, I've now had bags brought back from driver now missing a item, I've been dealing with this for 2 hours now and I want to know what's going to be done about how I was treated and I want a refund issued to my credit card and I will gladly give back the items the driver brought to me and I would never ever use this service again and will also recommend everyone I know not to use this service! I have been using this service for months and never had a problem like this and then to be made out like I did something wrong multiple times by 3 different agents! The picture shows my address 4089 arbor mill circle as my address the driver had 4085 for some reason next photo shows my total $86.99 that's with my 2 quantity of lean ground beef and 2 garlic breads, next photo shows were after speaking to agent and her reordering my cold items she obviously made them 1 quantity pic shows after speaking to her my total was now $50.35 next picture shows items brought back from driver missing the eyelid wipes. This should all be absolutely clear to what I'm reporting to you

sondre trager 128 Wellington G West Palm Beach Florida 33417 I have tried for 3 days please help

My past several experiences with the shoppers is when substituting an item, they don't let you know what the replacement is or give you an option to accept or decline. This has been with Kroger and replacement items are not what I would have decided to accept. When Kroger originally did the shopping back when covid first hit, the shopper would let you know what they wanted to substitute and you could say yes or no. Instacart does not do that and I'm stuck with whatever they choose for me. That leads to phone calls to the store customer service, returning the incorrect items to the store, etc. One example is I ordered kleenex and was given a pack of napkins as a substitute. How do you screw that up?

Instacart deactivated my account for no reason and refuses to address the issue after 10 weeks of me sending in information, appeals and etc. The company responds with emails that they will get back with me in 24 hours due to high volume etc. Instacart is not listening to issues and I need help.

My friend and I both use this service, I'm writing about an issue that happened while I was visiting her. We placed a beer order with Kroger through Instacart. When the delivery person arrived I brought my friend's license to the door as she had placed the order. The delivery person then said she needed to see my friend which was perfectly fine and expected. She poked her head inside the door and my friend said hello and waved to her.
The delivery person took her head back outside the door and told me she could not leave the beer because my friend was intoxicated.
First, how could this person have made such determination by just looking inside the door. And more importantly, I should not have to explain to a delivery person about my friends MS and how it affects her. This delivery policy is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We are both in our 60s and felt insulted that someone younger than my grandchildren treated us that way. My friend is very upset and is now afraid of retaliation if your company finds out who she is. This has made her MS even more difficult to deal with, and has left her distraught. It never should have happened.

I was doing a delivery at Aldi September 8th in Kernersville, NC deliverd to Oak Ridge, NC Aldi does not take Apple Pay and I didn't have Physical card. I was canceling the batch. Instacart support ask if I could use my personal Card and do a reimbursement request afterwards. I told him specifically that I don't have that amount in my debit card but I do on my ebt card. I ask him if I could use that and he said YES. I understand NOW that you cannot be reimburse by using ebt because it's government funded, but I did use my PERSONAL card that took 117.81 from me that I can not get back from being told that I could still use it. And it's unfair because I was just gonna cancel on my end . I was only ended up with the batch pay.. that's not fair! I've been in touch with them since it happen. Like I said I completely understand what the rules is, but the worker knew exactly what card I was using because I told him and ge didn't let me know. And I was left without anything! Me against Instacart. And it's not fair!

I placed an order on 08-30-21 for over $200, I received a message that it was delivered along with a photo of the groceries. I was at home waiting on the delivery, I saw the photo and realized they left it at the wrong house. I reached out to the shopper via text immediately and they did not respond. I then went to the Instacart app communication center where they told me they also could not reach the shopper and they would give a refund. They told me 5-10 business days and I told them that seemed too long, after some correspondence they told me they were able to do the refund and I would have it next day. It did not come next day so I reached out 5 days later on the app, I did not receive a response. When 10 days hit and I still did not have the refund I called them. They told me the refund had not even started. I asked them to check our correspondence from the 30th and he said he did see it and that the rep failed to issue the refund. I asked him why they did not respond to my text through the app that I sent 5 days ago and he said "I don't know". He set up the refund and told me to wait an additional 5-10 days. I asked to speak to someone else because at this point they are just holding my money and he said there is no one else. He told me his name was Eddie, and that is all the info he could give, I asked him for the contact number for the corporate office and he put me on hold for a while then came back and said someone would call me back, which never happened.

While I was doing an order the customer (who I thought was a customer) phished me for my cell number. When I completed shopping for the order and was in the parking lot, a person posing as an Instacart employee called me and said that the person to whom I was about to deliver the order was scamming Instacart and that I was not to deliver the order and I was to uninstall Instacart from my phone and wait 30 minutes and start shopping again. I had no idea it wasn't an Instacart employee because I've gotten phone calls from IC employees while shopping before. While the app was uninstalled the scammer hijacked my account and emptied my earnings of $350. I called IC and reported this, and they told me to fill out a fraud form. The next day I was notified that my account is deactivated because I didn't deliver the order thus violating my contract with them.

Instacart grocery is a disaster in deliverfing groceries. The last four deliveries from Instacart in Cincinnati were all wrong and cost me hours in dealing with their errors by the company or delivery persons. The first disaster was the delivery persoin delivered the groceries to the wrong house or apartment, and I had to reorder all producvts again from a competnent, Meijer. The second diaster came the next time I went against my own device and used Instacart again, and the delivery person charged me but did not deliver 9 items out of 21. Tokk me hours to gt the rest of ther order from another person. The thided time, the company connected me to a Kroger store that did not deliver, and I had to redo the order all over again. The fourth disaster was two days ago when the delivery person shorted me 10 items out of 22. Took me another few hours to get the remainder of the groceries. I should have known better that to continue to use Instacart and will never do it again, and I advise all of you to avoid my mistakes and use another company.

9/6/21
I placed an order through CVS for 3 items.
First delivery was scheduled for no later than 10:30 I got a call saying my shopper had an emergency and the delay would be no later than 1130. At 11:25 I was texted that generic tylenol pm had no sub. I find that to be a complete lie. I called CVS and they confirmed they had the product. I then got another call and text stating it was going to be late again because my new shopper had an emergency! Same lie as my 1030 call/text delay excuses. This is terrible business and instacart should be ashamed of themselves for lying to customers who are paying them to make a delivery. I am utterly disgusted and I will be notifying CVS as well.

ALL instant cart staff are Rude with grocery staff, they are ALL Unprofessional, they Do NOT know anything or any product in grocery stores. They always shove there phones in your face wanting the grocery store employees to do ALL there shopping. They don't even look for products. Some of them even tell grocery staff to F*** O** when grocery employees do not know what or where the item is and they give you dirty looks This is very UN-professional. Train them properly with customer and staff manners and how to do there jobs.

I tried Instacart for the first time as a convenient way to send my son the makings of a steak dinner for him and his roommates for his birthday, even included a birthday cake. The whole experience has been horrendous! The shopper claimed they were out of stock on the main ingredients even the cake at Kroger. I call [censored]. They even switched out the steaks for organic steaks, then claimed they were out of stock. They delivered corn and milk for my son's Birthday. When I called customer service they blamed me saying I clicked NO Substitutions which was a lie since the shopper substituted the steaks. Then I rated the service and the replies I received offered free shipping and credit towards an account I WILL NEVER use again. I was told a supervisor would call me to discuss the situation, which never happened!

One of your delivery drivers is supposed to be under quarantine due to the fact that her entire family that she lives with has covid-19. Her name is joy christina smallwood, and she is still doing deliveries. She needs to stop delivering, she also refuses to get vaccinated! She is risking others health, and this is very unsafe! Some of the people she delivers to are elderly, and immune deficient. She could spread this real easily.

I ordered food that was supposed to be delivered by 5 p.m. Then the delivery person tells me that the bar code or something similar won't work and nobody at Kroger support will help. I call Instacart who calls my delivery person and i hear the delivery person saying that she's getting help, But she can't stay on the phone with instacart because she lost her ID and her phone is about to die. WTH what kind of company is this? Now i guess i just sit and wait until they get it all straightened out and decide to bring my food. Well im over it. I pay ten dollars delivery and a ten dollar tip for a huge mess. Now I don't have dinner until it shows up.