Instacart

The man who was getting my groceries was non responsive and then brought me the wrong groceries, one of which was mushy avocados that had gone bad. I called Instacart to go get my money back and was waiting for over 2 hours to speak with them, only to have them disconnect the line before I could speak with anyone.

On a $91 cash register bill, Instacart adds $14-$15 more dollars onto their subtotal, by inflating the prices of the items you see on your internet bill. Then they add on a $7.95 "service" charge on top of that.

Calling Instacart they say that they posted that they inflate store charges on their site and so it's legal. They say they don't need to do anything else. Tough luck if you didn't read it.

Well, gave in to pressure from my family to not go to the grocery store and it has NOT been a good experience. Ordered quite a lot from Costco, expensive olive oil, cheeses, etc. They delivered someone else's order and of course you can't contact the actual driver. Gave a bad review on their website and indicated all the items that I did not get. Also started a live chat, which is a joke because it's been 4 hours and I still have not gotten a response. Got the typical automated email response from the reported problem and and have not heard back from that either. Tried calling and the message I got was that they are not answering calls! Guess I'll have to contact my credit card company and have them dispute the charge. I guess the good news is that somebody got a really great deal on a bunch of expensive food when they received my order!

My first instacart delivery was excellent and my second instacart was terrible. I don't have confidence in their support a they don't really care about what they're buying for you and as an elderly person with special needs, I need what I say I want. There are no guarantees with Instacart, you may get a good shopper and then again you may get one who doesn't give a care. I don't trust them, and I'm over a barrel because I cannot shop on my own with spinal stenosis. I miss Peapod who instacart forced to leave Illinois. :(

They are a startup who already could care less about their employees. The pay set is an insult to the drivers. The Star rating is set up to make drivers fail. The price mark up for groceries is so high that customers THINK that the drivers are making WAY more than they are. It takes 43 hours a week most of the time to clear $9 an hour after gas, insurance, and maintenance of your car. They ALWAYS side with the customer even when the customer is breaking the law, or putting the driver in danger. Impossible to move from driver up the company... so low ceiling. Unreasonable expectations regarding routes, and times.

I used instacart once because I was told I would get a free delivery. My total was only $61. Well, instacart charges $80 (sort of like a hold on your account) to make sure the grocery bill goes through. They told me the $20 would be refunded right away, as soon as the shopper was finished. It has been well over a WEEK now and that $80 charge on my account is still there! I have been on and off the phone with customer service. No one will help me. They continue to tell me it will take 3-5 business days for the payment to be reversed. I would highly recommend NEVER using this worthless service. Terrible customer service. Scams.

I was excited to see that Publix was bringing back delivery... but their partner in this endeavor is not up to par. There was about a 20% mark up on many of the items I ordered. Additionally, I had an introductory promo code for free delivery, but was still charged a 10% delivery fee and given tip guidelines (10,15 or 20 %). Overall, I paid $35 more (on an order of $85) than I would have paid had I shopped at the store. I won't do this again.

My card was charged a $149.00 yearly service fee completely out of the blue, with no prior notice of any kind. Fortunately dealing with customer service was OK, and they said they would reverse the charge.
The next morning I see my card was charged $14.99 from Instacart before the refund they've supposedly issued has hit my account. I can't even remove my payment information on the site to avoid being charged more because of this.
Not to mention, the service was sub-par half the time anyways.

Don't order eggs. Evidently the shoppers don't checked for cracked eggs. Ad says prices are same as store prices. Not true. When I asked why I'm being charged more than what the receipt shows, they admitted there is a markup on store prices. Instead of offering me a refund for items I did not receive but was charged for, they gave me a credit for future purchases which does me no good because I don't plan on using this service again.

For the second time in my 3 months of using instacart they have way overcharged me and delivered nothing. Even worse I can't get anyone to respond to my inquiries, so I am left calling my bank to secure my money. I ordered 38 dollars of groceries got no groceries and my account was charged 238 dollars. I also shopped for instacart and I know there is no communication with shoppers they leave shoppers hanging. Just an all around bad company.

I would give this business ZERO stars if I could.

It was my first time using Instacart.
I submitted my order and it was picked up and delivered except more than half the items were missing.
I was charged for my original order which I assumed would be adjusted for the items actually purchased. I still went ahead and 'contacted' support on my order several times. I never heard back only to follow up and find out there is a live chat option. After spending hours on the chat with four different agents, I was told they can't do anything because 14 days had past. The business probably ignores customer complaints for 14 days only to slap their policy back at them. I never got my $67 refund. I have never come across such ridiculous customer service / policy.

Please be aware of being OVER CHARGED by this business.

I am generally a relaxed, understanding and compliant person who rarely complains, but my experience with Instacart has left me fuming. I am partially disabled and house bound, so I have to rely on others. My first experience with Instacart was good. Prompt, efficient and courteous. Total mark up was about 15% with all the hidden fees. Second time the mark up above store price was about 18%. It was steep but acceptable. Then when they thought they had me hooked the mark up jumped to a whopping 50%. The store receipt was $59 and Instacart charged me $89. That is nothing short of price gouging and of taking cruel advantage of an elderly house bound person. My polite query was answered by a form letter. I am warning all my friends and contacts to stay away from Instacart.

InstaCart offers "free" delivery and then they charge around 20% more for each item than the in-store cost. So it ends up costing you a lot more in the end. Also they charge a "service" charge, which may really be the "Free Delivery" charge. Either Way I'll never use them again.

So I thought I'd try ordering groceries on-line from FOODLION for a total of $58.18. They deduct from my bank account plus under a separate charge $52.11. I called them and they said it was a credit "hold." Went on to say it would be credited back. Never did and now I need to file a complaint with my bank. So why do they need to take additional money from my account when they already instantly got the $58.18? Complained on-line to Foodlion with no response and it's been 5 days!