Instacart

I'm 80 yr old cancer patient. They messed up canceled my order but took 275 dollars. Won't correct it

I decided to try the service today hoping it would save me time from having to go to the grocery store and pick all the items needed for a week or two of cooking. While at work I received notifications that several items were out of stock and would be refunded. I logged on and was able to select similar items rather than be reimbursed. The person doing my shopping was very polite and informed me that they would go to a second store in search of my items, however upon checking out at that second store I was contacted that their payment method wouldn't work. This was my first time using this service and had already paid online for my items so I told my shopper that I wasn't sure what I could do. He decided to pay out of pocket and hope to be reimbursed later. Despite all that frustration of constantly having to check on items, I was feeling pretty good. I was still at work, and my delivery was scheduled between 5 and 6 p.m. My fiance was at home when the order arrived, and called me shortly after. It was then that we learned that both the salmon and chicken on my list were missing. This seems strange because the chicken was one of the items that had no problems and was added to the section on the website of found items. The salmon had been placed under the section of replaced items, and my shopper had assured me that he had found a similar item. So I'm not sure if those two items were left at the grocery store or in the delivery van but I have canceled my 14 day free membership and will never use this service again. Horrible experience. Saved me no time and actually increased the trouble and stress than if I had just gone myself. Also horrible business model to have a tipping service just for the delivery person, since if an order was messed up by the shopper person and the client is pissed, I doubt they'll leave a tip (even if all errors made had nothing to do with delivery person).

Under minded, deceiving company. NO FORM OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.
I placed an order for an item I have been keeping an eye out for thinking it was COSTCO! Instacart made me think it was COSTCO when I placed the order. One of the items (a sealed non-parishable product x3 purchased) was found to be spoiled. I was not able to return to COSTCO. They had no record of my purchase so I was not even eligible to receive year-end points, They told me they are not affliliated with Instacart and therefore could not return items INSTACART purchased from them. They suggested to call Instacart. What a joke Instacart is. Instacart refused to take the item back, give a credit, or work with me in any way. I spoke with 3 people at Instacart and basically they said 'too bad'. They told me over the phone I had 7 days to make a return. This was never disclosed when I ordered my items. Never disclosed when I signed for Instacart (thinking it was COSTCO). Just because they have people shopping for you doesn't mean these people have good common sense to see if an item is spoiled, broken, or otherwise. I fail to see any benefit of this company. I feel they are advertising under false pretenses.
DO NOT SIGN UP FOR INSTACART-IT'S A RIP OFF!

I used Instacart once only. It was for grocery delivery from Sprouts. One of the things I liked about it was the way you can decide on substitutions. At the close of your order it shows a handful of choices for you to choose from in the event that your item won't be available. You simply click on one, or you can click "refund this item in the event it is out of stock". No more (like Walmart who has their own shoppers) surprise substitutions like you choose Jordan almonds (a candy) and your grocer substitutes with a jar of mixed nuts…or You need tongs for the holiday…there out of that brand but there are other brands…but they send you a ladle instead…or you order steaks and they send pork chops as a substitution. Nope. You are in the drivers seat and there is not the necessity for your delivery person (like Shipts) to send you a slew of texts that you must respond to for every other item that is out of stock as if you even know what your other choices are in the store off the top of your head. You also (unlike Walmart) know during the shopping experience as opposed to once you receive your order…what is and isn't available.

As a matter of fact, you see each item as your shopper gets them and how much more the have to go. Even when they need to go with one of your substitution choices, they send an in app or in website instant message for you to put Y to indicate you still want that substitution in lieu of a refund. And I LOVE the in app or in the website messenger instead of rifling through my texts on my phone. The whole experience was like I was shopping myself without the crowds, waiting in lines, having to get dress, searching for items, or the traffic. Plus, and I don't know if this lies with Instacart or with Sprouts, there was no padding the price for each item. And the fees were reasonable ($3.99).

If all this wasn't enough they have an 800 number for the sixty and older crowd to help you maneuver the system if you need it. Friendly and efficient.

This is the second time i've tried this service after being a loyal shipt user for 3 years. I tried this instacart service twice because i needed items that i couldn't get with shipt. I've been a shipt shopper for 3 years without an issue, today was the second time i tried your service and it was a complete nightmare. First the shopper picked a store to shop at that was not my preferred store so products i ordered were not for sale at the store he chose. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a supervisor and i was told it was resolved and the shopper would be stopping at the correct store on his way to pick up the items that were missed from the wrong store. I check my account an hour later to see that my order was canceled without a text or email so i wasted 3 hours of my life dealing with a bunch of incompetent employees.
They made me re enter my order and start again so of course you deduct the $127 for a second time out of my account, i'm told i'm getting a $40 credit on the order after waiting 22:40 minutes on the phone to speak to instacart who then looped kroger into the call. I call back because it looks like my order was getting cancelled again so i call AGAIN and speak to another incompetent supervisor who tells me he's looking for another shopper and tells me i don't have a credit for $40 on my account when i asked him to verify it would be used on this order. So we have to call kroger YET AGAIN, and finally was taken care of ONLY after i made the supervisor email me that i would be getting this credit.
I WILL NEVER use you terrible service again... two horrible experiences is enough for me. This shopping experience took 6 hours today... that is absolutely ridiculous. No wonder Whole Foods dropped you, your entire company is a $#*! show.

I had been using Instacart for months and been moderately happy. Why I felt it was rather expensive, clearly the convenience of having someone do the shopping locally was a boon. Also, in the past, I found my shoppers to be excellent. Very aware of changes, very accommodating and following Instacart's promise of contacting the buyer and making sure any replacements were ok. That's what one is tipping 20% for, no? My penultimate order was already a little shaky. The shopper was trying to buy something completely different from what was on my list (ground pork) and which I knew they had at Fairway. There were replacements for "duh" items that I knew they had in the store. And then came yesterday. The shopper, Joy W., half did my order. She didn't do any of the listed replacements, claiming that a bag of popcorn couldn't be replaced (uh huh). She did the same with four other items on a ten item list. She then presented the changes as a fait accompli and when asked to actually replace items, she LIED- yes, lied- and said she was handling it and did not. After she hadn't gotten back to me, I inquired as to what was going on. She first ignored me, and then proceeded to inform me in all caps that she was done with my order. I finally blew and used profanity. Sorry- not good. But in the course of the discourse pretty understandable, and was at home sick and with a sick kid. The upshot- Jen W. In customer service suspended my account, ignored all of my questions, and had to be engaged via email to even deal with any of my concerns. While there is a 1800 number that you can call and the customer service people are lovely, apparently this Jen. W. can make arbitrary decisions, ignore customers, and lie on behalf of employees. The kicker? I can't review Joy for her bad service. Every time I try to click on submit nothing happens. Nice job controlling your ratings, Instacart. The basic line- NOT WORTH THE MONEY. USE FRESHDIRECT. Fresh direct has awesome customer service and amazing workers. Instacart blows.

This company charged me $149 after the free 7 day trial on July 19th. So I simply clicked on the link in the app to cancel membership. Then, they took it back out July 20th. So I called and spoke with the worst customer service girl who assured me, I was wrong and the money was refunded... WELL I CAN CLEARLY SEE $149 has been removed from my account. I waited patiently to see if it was taking a bit longer to hit my account. After it had not, I called and filed a claim with my bank on August 9th. They refunded my money. THEN $149 is taken out AGAIN on August 29th. They continue to tell me they can't see any charges after the 19th and that I need to speak to account transaction team? So I'm waiting for a call. Guy says it could
Take 72 hours (guy I spoke with is a 'manager') I NEVER HEAR ANYTHING! Call back 5 days later and I am told I was supposed to email them?!? What? Would have been nice if SOMEONE told me! SO I SEND THIS P. O. S. Company SCREEN shots of my bank account and every time they pulled $149 out of my account. Every time it's refunded... STILL, NOTHING! Absolutely bull$#*! and the only thing I want is my money and to let everyone know how much of a nightmare this stupid application has been to deal with. GIVE ME MY F****** MONEY YOU CONTINUOUSLY STEAL FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT!

Yes instacart is a great way to make money as long as the customer service helps you the correct way. But if they don't help you and you lose money and run out of gas they will not help you they will just tell you they don't care. They'll threaten you to make sure that you get their stuff back to the store and not care about your family or your income. I was trying to make money to put gas in my car to feed my daughter and the customer service deleted my order would not give me the addresses to take the items to the customers made me late to an appointment. And then blamed it all on me kept telling me to hurry up and get the stuff back to the store rather than apologizing for me being stranded at my daughter's school with no gas. I bamegged and pleaded for them to please help me and they told me no. I asked for an higher up manager and they told me they have no customer service to help people that ran out of gas cuz that's not their problem. But they are the ones that caused the problem I've never had an issue because I've always been able to make money. When you're app doesn't work that's your fault not mine. But their customer service not once apologize at the fact that me and my daughter had to walk home because I could not make money the way that I normally make money. The worst customer service I've ever had the worst situation experience 8 hours of taking and speaking to them to help you suffer they made my day and my daughter's day the worst day we ever had. And they had no remorse. All they said the whole time was make sure you get the stuff back to the store. They wanted me to walk the stuff back to the store. 7 Miles. I that stuff is still n the back of my car but has no gas in it because they messed up. Yeah go ahead and use Instacart but don't have any issues cuz they won't help you.

This is my second time using Insta cart and I am totally disappointed my bill with Instacart was 157 and some pennies my actual bill with Kroger was 137 including a savings of my rewards of $10.65 I found out from the representative that they dont honor rewards on line which is not stated in their disclaimer I also found out from the representative that the online grocery store prices are more than in-store prices which is not listed I am aware of the service fee and the delivery fees if youre not in Express shop or with Instacart however those hidden fees are a total farce suffo I also found out from the representative that the online grocery store prices are more than in-store prices which is not listed I am aware of the service fee and the delivery fees if youre not in Express shopper with Instacart however those hidden fees Are not compliant with GDRP standards online so they are cheating the public by not letting us know there is a hike in grocery pricing. I cannot paste screenshots here or Id show you the proof but if I were you I would not use this company they are getting over on us

I am a cashier at the Costa Mesa smart and final. I have never before ever posted a complaint online anywhere. Instacart people have always been positive courtious helpful and kind. Until June 30 2020 at 6:30 pm. I watched an instacart shopper park her cart past our registers and go back to this lesson repeatedly for more stuff ( you don't do that) on a much less busy day she would have been asked to move the card to the shopping area. She took advantage of how busy we were and the fact that management was also a cashier. When she completed her order she pushed her cart to my register. She said she was next and these people took her spot. No they didn't. They waited in a very long line that wrapped around almost the entire store and waited to be prompted by our machine. I thought she had already paid and wanted to buy ice so I told her she had to wait till I finished thier order. She said no it's her turn and she had a large insta cart order. They knew she was lyng but apologized. She got very rude and went to the next register, an assistant manager that did not see what she did and was helped. She said she waited in line. She did not. She said they took he spot in line, they did not. This community of blue color workers wait politely in line every night after very long shifts at work. They never complain and are polite and patient in difficult times as covid. I was disscusted with this woman to manipulate an already chaotic situation and blame me and rule abiding customers because she didn't feel she should also wait in line. Like I said before. I have never ever had a problem with instacart. They are a joy and happy to be employed. His woman makes your company look very bad. I can't speak for management but I've seen him excuse people from the store for this kind of behavior before. What an entitled little brat. Old enough to know better and should be embarrassed of herself but showed no sign of it. Hope your company doesn't encourage this to make quick sales and deliveries.

DO NOT USE! I used instacart last year between November 2022-January 2023. I assumed when I used it I was charged a small fee for that day. I'm not sure what made me check but I looked to see if I had an account, it said member since November 2022. I decided to call, they said said I was a member. I asked them to cancel the account, they said they would cancel the renewal. My account was just renewed June 29, today is July 18 2023. I had no idea what it was just renewed and I have not used Instacart since January 2023. She said that the account was good for a whole year, I explained I did not want this membership and asked to be reimbursed since it was just renewed 19 days ago. They said there is only a 15 day grace period. The First Lady I spoke to was super nice, she then transferred me and the Second Lady was rude, she said I would get an email that it was canceled ( I never did) she then told me I could not talk to a manager and hung up on me. I waited an hour and called back, the lady that answered again was super nice and instantly transferred me to a mama her, he was nice and said nk problem my membership would be canceled and I would be reimbursed. When I was transferred the lady said my membership was canceled and I would receive and email (still no email) and that she could not reimburse me (even though the manager just told me that she would). She said the manager did not have authority and this was a different department. I asked to speak to a manager in her department she said no one was available only a supervisor. Then she went on to tell me that the supervisor would not be able to issue it either. I asked to speak to whoever was high enough up to help with the problem, she then started speaking over me and would not let me talk, said have a great day and hung up again! I am SUPER DISAPPOINTED in how instacart customer service works! I will NEVER use them again and will definitely tell others how rude they are!

I ordered for on Christmas eve for dinner on Christmas day and after 6 hours they canceled my order and moved it 2 days later like wtf. $#*!s

INSTACART is simply the worst company

INSTACART is simply the worst company I've ever dealt with. The overcharged and double billed me... twice. Then they refused to do the work to fix the issue... they expect you the customer to do the leg work. I had even emailed them the receipts for them to see it was their error. They refused to even do the work of comparing the receipts... they told me I had to do that for them. Then they intentionally took weeks replying to requests for assistance... then when they finally saw that they had made the errors in billing... said I had taken too long in requesting the refund... so they wouldn't refund my credit card... they would only refund my Instacart account to put it towards my next purchase. I explained to them that the inital request was within 2 weeks of the purchase, but their customer service agents intentionally kept ignoring my email requests for help on the matter. THEY SLOW WALKED resolution to my problem ON PURPOSE to hold MY MONEY HOSTAGE to make me buy again. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING THROUGH INSTACART! Also. They have no phone customer support so you are held hostage to their company policy of evading the customer and issuing refunds. This is their policy... not an accident. I sent daily email requests during those 2 weeks which they willfuly ignored. I will NEVER USE INSTACART AGAIN!

I placed an order yesterday through Instacart and had a horrible experience. The shopper not only stole our items, but the company suspended my account due to a false accusation of aggressive behavior towards shopper. Mind you, we never receieved the items and the shopper accused us of being aggressive. In addition, we never received a refund for the items since they suspended our account. We called customer service and they couldn't access our account because it was blocked due to the complaint. I would not ever trust this service again. Not only does this shopper have our grocery items and we lost money, but now they have our home address and we do not feel safe. If this person stole from us, does this mean that Instacard does not even do background checks on who they hire? We trusted Instacart with our groceries and they matched us with a shopper who not only stole our groceries, but now has our home address and our information.

I am extremely dissapointed on how this situation is being handled. First one of their shoppers steals our items, questioning the safety of Instacart; specifically my home address and financial information. In addition, they place the blame on the customer who has been loyal for months with no grounds and then suspend our account. I hope they realize that their shopper was a fraud and on top of that Instacart proceeds to instead of helping the victim, you assist the thief. What would Instacart do in a situation of an emergency? What if items were in extreme neccesity? I want to remind you that their shopper started shopping on April 2020, we have been loyal longer than that.

Also want to note that I sent them pictures of the chat where I was desperately asking for my items just to be ignored and secondly, the map of the person "dropping off" items in a completely different city.

Horrible. My address changed between the Kroger and Insacart systen. Instacart refused to deliver my food. Rude, rude, rude, rude,

Instacart is a TOTAL SCAM and WASTE OF TIME!
3:07PM PT: Online order placed
3:08PM PT: Instacart confirms order, processes auth. Hold on my credit card (SIXTY SECONDS AFTER ORDER PLACED) and provides 3:45-3:55PM PT delivery time ETA for the whopping cost of SEVENTEEN DOLLARS!
3:24PM PT: Receive Instacart email that order delayed...new delivery ETA is 4:45PM PT (ONE HOUR AND THIRTY-SEVEN MINS. AFTER ORDERING!)
3:37PM PT: Luah (shopper) begins shopping
4:19PM PT: Receive text that shopping complete
4:41PM PT: Instacart app/text messaging that ANOTHER shopper has begun shopping! WHAT?!
Called Instacart (unfortunately got the WORST agent EVER - David) and, basically, informed that the people that they entrust with your shopping needs are allowed to just STOP shopping with NO EXPLANATION!
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN!

During the pandemic, I've been using InstacCRAP because 1) I do not want to get COVID, and 2) I have heart failure, which puts me in the vulnerable category regarding health issues. In the year since I started with Instacrap, I'd had nothing but problems with them. The customer service is horrible. I've both called them and used their text helpline on their website. I swear that 90% of the CSRs I've dealt with either don't fully understand English or they just don't give a damn. I've had to repeat my question/problem SEVERAL times each time and they act like they don't know what I'm talking or texting about! It feels like all I do is keep repeating the problem in as many ways as I can to make it easier for the CSR to understand what the problem is and then they still don't get it! I have literally been on the phone or texting with CSRs for HOURS over various problems that I'm seeking an answer for. Literally HOURS! Instacrap should be paying ME to use their stupid company. But a better idea is that Instacrap should be investigated by the Commerce Commission/Department of Commerce in Washington. If the pandemic wasn't going on and if I had gotten my vax already, I would never use Instacrap again and will NEVER recommend Instacrap to anyone.

It's true that Instacart charges more, often a lot more, for items than the grocery stores do, but I was WILLING to accept the costs in exchange for the convenience. That premium, however, should also mean that if SOMETHING IS WRONG, that the customer should have the confidence to know that Instacart will make it right. THEY DON'T, THEY WON'T, AND THEY REALLY DON'T CARE. You mean NOTHING to them. NOTHING.

I recently purchased two one pound containers of crab meat from Wegman's using Instacart. I was heading out on a week long vacation and didn't have time to do the shopping, so I was glad to have a service like Instacart to help me out. I was heading to a very rural area without cell service and wifi, and my parents had asked me if I'd bring some crab meat since they can't get it where they live.

After arriving, I unpacked the crab meat from the cooler and noticed that the expiration date on the bottom was APRIL 2019, and it was already late October of 2019, so the meat was SIX MONTHS EXPIRED! Each tub, at Instacart prices was $30, so we're talking $60 worth of expired crab meat. Clearly, the Instacart shopper didn't check the date, and by the time I did, I was 500 miles from home with no way to remedy the situation.

Upon returning home 9 days later, I went to the store to make a return. I was told that since it was Instacart, I'd have to contact them and do the return through them. I immediately contacted Instacart and explained the situation. THEY REFUSED TO REFUND THE COST OF THE EXPIRED PRODUCT BECAUSE, "IT HAD BEEN MORE THAN SEVEN DAYS SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED."

So, it didn't matter that their shopper delivered expired product to me. It didn't matter that the product was SIX MONTHS past its expiration date. It didn't matter that I was unable to attend to the matter while I was away. It didn't matter that I was a loyal customer that got grocery deliveries every week. It didn't matter that my elderly parents could have gotten seriously ill from the expired product their shopper delivered. NONE OF THAT MATTERED AT ALL.

So beware. If you need a grocery delivery service, then honestly, I'd look at a different source. Instacart is not worth the risk if they are unwilling to consider legitimate customer complaints.