Instacart
reviews and complaints

The email coupon contradicts itself between minimum $20 and $50 dollars in purchases.. And the code for meijer meijer 20 doesn't work on the app... It states it must be your first order when the email states next order. If your not going to accept the $20 discount then dont offer it and please make sure the email states the correct minimum amount of purchase. I tried both $20 and $50 and neither would accept the coupon/discount.

This is the first time we used this service due to being quarantined. Although we did not get all the items we ordered from the Website, those items substituted were not exactly what we ordered. In addition, the receipt we received from the store was for $ 148.00. The amount charged to our card was over $ 185.00? When I called to inquire about the difference, I was informed I was charged a "surcharge" on and above what I thought I was spending at our store! I should mention I did tip the driver $ 10.00 which was added to my bill however I feel this Surcharge was hidden on the Website and not explained to a first time user. This is the LAST TIME I will ever use this service and I will make sure all my Friends, Realatives, and Associates are aware of this company and its policies. BUYER BE WARE!

Instacart will debit up to 80% more than the price of your groceries from your bank account. It claims to "hold"
10-15% more just in case there are substitutions, but it took $55 for a $40 bill (that's with fees and a 20% tip) from my bank account despite the fact that I attempted to pay with $50 ApplePay, the service it requested that I use. Instacart plundered my bank account instead (I don't know how it had access). While Instacart eventually returned the stolen $15 (an extra 40% to the total bill, 80% more than the cost of groceries), my account is overdrawn due to Instacart's fraud.

I have called twice, chatted at least three times and sent an email. I don't feel that as a shopper of two years that I'm being supported as I feel I should be. Don't get me wrong I love working for you guys and I love supporting my customers. However customers can review us and submit fraud and unreasonable reviews and we don't get the support we need. There needs to he a better system in place for shoppers regarding customers basically being able to put reviews on us, and submit fraud against us. However when this happens and we follow all the guidelines we get out off continuously saying it will be looked at but in the meantime we wait and our problem is then we don't get better access to orders. It's not good that customers can report against us and affect our ratings and we don't get to get the same rights and feel supported by Instaacart we get out off and in the meantime it hurts us. I take pride in being the best shopper I can be and delivering great customer service and getting all items available to my customers.

I was shopping with my Downs Syndrome son on Monday at Shaw's on 300 Main St., Nashua NH 03060! At approximately 1:00pm EST! While going through the the check out line. I stayed back around 15 ft and then I proceeded to put my items on the conveyor belt! Her stuff was all dishoveled so I told her that I would organize so that our stuff would not get mixed up she said ok and thank you! I was doing that when all of the sudden an altercation ensued and it ended up with her tearing into a package of hamburger which I nearly wore. I gave her a shoulder check to tell her to back off to no avail. I ended up going to the ER for injuries and to make sure that I wasn't having a heart attack. You have not reached out to me over the phone so I am writing you. Please call me at [protected]! NOBODY has the right to put their hands on anyone else under ANY circumstances period! I will be waiting for your call to resolve this matter quickly and quietly! I am requesting that all of my medical expenses be paid and money for loss of consortium, pain and suffering!

Extremely sad
Sherri Levesque

12-2-2020. Placed an order sometime around four PM, was told it would be here within 2 hours. About an hour later, was told it would be here at 7 PM. Around 6:40 PM, am notified the order was cancelled, with no reason given. Attempting to contact the company via their support page leads to being on hold for two minutes and the call ending without having any opportunity to speak with a live operator.

I've been using this service since April 2020, but will likely not be using it again. If the order is cancelled by someone other than the client, there needs to be an explanation given. Unprofessional, nonexistent customer support, and an extreme inconvenience for a disabled person living in a rural area in the middle of a global pandemic.

Well, I am using your web site to try to pass a message.
As the pandemic continue to run across the USA, a lot of people like me find a way to still make money by becoming a Instacart shopper.
Instacart has "hired" over 700, 000 independent shopper across the US since the beginning of this pandemic.

But there is a problem with that.
Instacart has created the slavery 2.0. Meaning, you can use a slave until he is inefficient. That is the full idea of slavery.
Instacart is doing the same with some unfair algorithms inside their system.
They claim that the customers run the company, but without shoppers, you don't have customers (and vice versa of course). But still, shoppers are literally a big part of this company.
But there is a big problem : ratings
The customers can rate the shopper of the effectiveness of his work.
Of course, some customers are really picky and don't understand some of the replacement that a shopper can do.

Reason : because the app show to the customer what the store have in their inventory listing. NOT the current listing. This list is just a corporate listing, and doesn't match all the time the real/current/available inventory in the local store. Because each store has a different size and then can not have all the products than a bigger store. Just logic.

Rating : base on the 5 stars rating, a shopper who is doing a great job, great normally 5 stars. But some people doesn't rate the shopper.
But if a customer, for some good or bad reason rate the shopper 4 or 3 stars, then the average rating go down.
So you will think that on 100 ratings, you get three 3 stars, it's not so bad.
WRONG! it's really bad, because your rating goes down to 4.94 and then you DO NOT GET anymore batches, or at least just few during the day.

I am a shopper in Chicago area, in a good area.
Because a customer doesn't stay and keep a look of what I did, and it's about a replacement of a light bulb. My rating went down to 4.93. And it did happen in September.

At that point, the Instacart system rate me as "inefficient slave", and the system discard me.
Even if I have a lot of 5 stars, a lot of really good comments. Doesn't matter, I am discarded, loosing at least 60% of my revenue instantly.
That in the profit of new shoppers, who are doing this since 3 weeks or so, when I am doing that for almost one year, full time.
Instacart is using the leverage of their turnover as a weapon. Because technically, until the pandemic is over, there will be a lot of people who is going to subscribe to shop.

Instacart is literally using the shoppers as disposable people. Because they know, a lot of people during this pandemic are looking to make money. So doesn't matter for them.
They keep having a good service with new people, discarding the shopper who are doing a really good job for a long time, and make that thing invisible.

This is slavery 2.0.
I understand my position as an independent contractor, and I am ok with it.
But please have some respect of our work.
I should not be discarded because of two 3 stars rating on 100.

I have no idea if that complain will have an impact or a result. But at least I pass the message.
Thank you for your time

Best Regards

Would not honor $20.00 off offer for next 3 orders in Instacart email or a $15.00 offer off next 3 orders. Reason given was that I already had used a credit. Credit was $2.80 that I was overcharged on a previous order and I could not use more than one credit per order. What a bunch of BS. I'll go to the store from no on, nothing but a bait and switch from a lying cheating company.

On October 24, 2020, I ordered groceries from instacart. I live in a gated community and the driver needs a pass to get into my community. I called in a pass and advised the driver that he needs to pick up the pass at the main entrance with his license and registration. I get a call from the driver stating that he got stopped by the security officer stating that he didn't know he should have picked up a pass. I told him I sent him a text with the information and don't understand why he didn't. He dropped off my groceries and left. I get a letter in the mail a few days after from my community stating that the person "ran" through the gate, he had no license, registration, or insurance. Because I called him in a pass I am responsible for the ticket. I got a $200 ticket because of the irresponsible driver from instacart did not have proper documentation AND ran the gate. I have reached out to instacart on Nov 2nd, Nov 4, Nov 11, Nov 16, 17, 18, and today 19th. The customer service stated that "Trust and Security" will reach out to me in 24-48 hours, it's been 18 days, and not heard from anyone. I should not be responsible for this ticket and I feel instacart is ignoring me. Is there a number to headquarters and the name of the CEO or anyone else that can give attention to this matter. I would really appreciate any help you can provide, thank you!

Luisa Gioffre Hughes
[protected]@gmail.com

On November 12, 2020 I put in an order for $181.84 but when the order arrived I discovered that 24 rolls of toilet paper were missing from the order and the shopper failed to read the label on a bag of chips. I assume the toilet paper was delivered to another customer.
When I sent in the information to RCSS they offered me a rebate of about $13. I accepted this resolution.
On Sunday evening I went to pay my Visa and discovered that Superstore had taken an addition $225 (item 8882467822) from my Visa account without authorization.
When I called RCSS. The young lady told me this was a "dispute settlement" charge which they were authorized to charge without my authorization on any order. I demanded the funds be returned immediately. I will no longer order from RCSS

I have been doing this for months. If a change was needed I always got a call or some communication regarding an item

Today's I got only one question which I approved

At 1 o'clock because the delivery was supposed to be somewhere between 11 and 1- I am asking where she was and could she call me!

I then at 1:05 am told that she said it was an incorrect address and she returned the entire order to the store!

Even when people had issues they all called me and I waited for them-

They tried if they were coming from another direction - easy because they actually used their phone to call me? And today of all days I needed this

I will never use this again
Awful!

My acct was deactivated today. I went to see if any batches were available only to find it deactivated. When I checked my email, it stated that a customer said a delivery was not made. First of all I do not steal from anyone. Secondly, the email stated send in any supporting content I my have to support the fact that I delivered the order. When I asked them to inform me of the order they were referring to, the only response I got was after carefully reviewing the information we decided to keep you acct. inactive. What information they reviewed when I have not had the opportunity to present anything from my end, I done many batches so I need to know which one they referring to. Thirdly I work 2 jobs and I don't need to nor do I steal from anyone. Instacart do not operate with any integrity. They are only thinking about a few cents and losing great contracted workers over liars. I hope it is worth it because I do not like being unheard or wrongfully accused, so this is just the beginning of the platforms that I plan on informing people of how this company operates. This is not the first incident. A few days ago, the customer cancelled the batch and they gave me a cancellation point. When I contact them about it they still did not rectify the problem. All I say is, I am on to the next platform to tell everyone about the one sided, unprofessionalism of this so called company.

Re: Food Lion Instacart Virginia

The site says no groceries are available upon checkout and empties my cart. After calling the store I found out the groceries were available and this happens all the time.

Poor web service!

I placed a grocery order w/Ralph's and my email receipt net total for groceries was 70.21. However, there was a Ralphs register receipt inside for a total of 55.42. Clearly the difference was from in store promotions on the items. So the difference is considerable- 14.79. Who got this savings? And if it is Instacart, why wasn't I alerted to this and why are you still charging service Fee?!

I placed an order on a friday night for the first available slot (10a-12p) saturday morning. The order got delayed about 5 times and around 2:30 I got a message saying it wouldn't come until 5 pm. I called to find out what was happening and was told there were no shoppers so they were going to cancel my order. They suggested trying to order from a different store. Sunday morning I place another order at 2 different stores (bc no one store had everything I needed from the original order). One part arrives (later than promised but at least the same day). The other part of the order just got delayed until tomorrow (wednesday). It's been delayed for over two days. When I called again they asked to schedule my order for another time slot (even later than the last update). This is crazy. I've been trying to complete this order since friday afternoon.

Kevin of Instacart unilaterally canceled my order with King Soopers because I would not allow substitutes. The order number with King Soopers is 1202557098268149504. This poor customer service happened on 09/11/2020.

I will never use your service again and I will inform all friends of the terrible treatment I received.

ORDER TOTALS
Items Subtotal $33.98
Checkout Bag Tax or Fee $0.10
Delivery Fee $8.49
Sales Tax $2.63
Tip $2.00
Alcohol Service Fee $2.00
Total $49.20
ending in 5124 CHARGES
Original Charge $ 49.20
Your card was temporarily authorized for $60.00. Your statement will reflect a final charge of $49.20 within 7 business days of order completion.
Learn more
Total Charged $ 49.20
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I ordered a delivery to my home on 8/30/2020 which showed to be delivered on my doorstep at 10am (CST) per my request. There was nothing at my home come 10:45am. I phoned to inquire as to where my order was and was told again 'it was delivered'. Upon asking for clarity as to where the driver's GPS showed she last was - the customer agent gave some evasive answer such as '7017...something something...'. I asked for clarity and said '7017 Deer Ridge' and he said yes and that it was left directly across the street. I the proceeded to go across the street to my neighbors who had not received anything. I also then went to another street with a similar name to see if per chance it was there - it wasn't. I called him back and stated I wanted my $132 refunded immediately and he hung up on me. Very angry.

Instacart was a great opportunity for drivers before. I don't why, maybe because now they have so much drivers or because they growing up, they scamming me as a driver. It's totally impossible to get the money I make at the end of the day. There's always a $5, 10, and more cut off my earnings. I try many times complaining about thet with the chat support they always telling me [censored]. Now I'm getting tired working hard ta make this company rich while I'm working for them and still broke. Even customers know who rhey are. I have many customers telling me that they give $10, $20, $30 as tip in the app "Make sure you get it"... but at the end of rhe day it always cut off. That's when I realize the tips changing policy they made is all about taking money from driver while they telling you the customer edit the tip amount. This company is a real scammer and if somebody could help sue them, I will. I'm tired and sick of them.

8/22/2020: I first contacted instacart about a full refund on 7/22/2020, the same day the order was placed, and they finally responded today that it was "too late." the reason for the full refund is based on an emotionally abusive encounter with the driver over items the driver picked to replace items that were out of stock. The substitutions were unauthorized and the driver refused to take them back. (the driver probably thought she could get away with it because the customer is an elder/senior citizen.) the driver was mean and intimidating and showed a lack of respect or deference to the customer. The customer refused delivery on the entire order, but the driver refused to take it back. Also, although all of the text conversations were documented on instacart's order page, they were not considered by instacart, and the full refund was refused.