LAURA J.

I placed my first order with Instacart and was lied to from the very start. First, they did tell me there was an "authorization fee which confirms your account is legit which is a percentage of the entire order. Why they cant charge $1 like every other company in America to confirm an acct is legit? I asked more than one rep when this fee would be put back into my account and I was told by each one it would be reversed immediately after check out and they have an actual cost of groceries. What they dont tell you is that theres an assistant and a driver fee you will pay if you dont catch it before check out and cancel it. The assistant fee is 10% and I think driver fee is 4% or $4. Fortunately I caught them. But wait, theres more! They also dont tell you that if the store doesnt have items on your list, YOU ARE STILL CHARGED for those items and they issue a refund instead of simply not charging for what you didnt get. Nor do they tell you the assistant and the driver are more than likely the same person as was in my case. It gets worse. This assistant/driver delivered the groceries, did not knock, text, email or even attempt to notify me that my food on my doorstep. If someone hadnt been visiting that day, Id have never known the food was there. The temp was very high that day (over 100 degrees) and all perishables had begun to deteriorate by the time the food was discovered. I immediately called Instacart and they could see in their records no attempt had been made to contact me by this person. In the meantime, Instacart had already hit my bank for almost $200. I discovered in a conversation with their rep that I'd been lied to about when the fees and refund would be put back into my account. It was not instant as quoted but its 3-5 business days before you get your money back (if you ever get it back). Now, Im angry beyond belief because these people are wasting my time with their lies. In fact, Instacart did actually refund the fee that day and then reversed the refund overnight! When I called Instacart, they said it was my bank. I called my bank, they saw what Id seen. Instacart had indeed refunded the fees and then reversed the refund. By now, Im at five calls and its the next day. I know this for a fact because I saw it on my account. I contacted Instacart again and informed them what they'd done and demanded a refund of the entire order because I felt lied too, the food was unsafe and I was terribly inconvenienced and they'd tied up funds I desperately needed due to several lies and omissions. See, I believe Instacart knows if they inform ppl of the following: 1. They're not refunding these fees immediately, 2. There are fees you can pay to driver and assistant 3. That the assistant and driver are the same person and you could potentially give the same person two tips and 4 (I don't think the assistant actually gets that assistant's fee though. It goes to Instacart if memory serves me correctly). They charge you for items you the store didnt have and then issue refunds, people would run for the hills.