Instacart

I have been using instacart regularly for the past few years. Since I am primary care for my 96 year old mother, have been ordering food on her behalf for all this time. Though I fully understand a businesses need to change process, enlightened businesses understand the need for escalating valid issues to second tier support. Unfortunately Instacart does not do this. They now force both a validation of ID & Credit Card and lock your account each and every time. This makes a complete mockery of their Senior only helpdesk - not truly understanding what seniors need. Basically I don't know too many elderly that are computer literate enough to order from their own account. My mother has no internet, email or computer. Have canceled my subscription since they basically don't care to learn. Food delivery is a big deal for our elderly parents!

I waited a week and paid extra delivery charge to get toilet paper. Then, hours before scheduled delivery, was asked by text if napkins would be an acceptable alternative. I wouldn't wipe my $#*! with this delivery service again.

Like some others, we waited until 11:00 p.m. for a grocery delivery that never came, ordered a week before. (The store closed at 9:00 p.m. but the app kept updating the times.) Instead of keeping essentially my place in line and rescheduling for the following day, I was somehow rescheduled for a week later.

Of course, they don't respond to emails and I'm not willing to wait 156 minutes on the phone. Do they ever answer? Now, I have zero confidence that I'll ever receive the order.

Further, the schedule that is visible before placing an order is different from the one that pops up (usually "unavailable") after you've spent time shopping.

I understand this is an unusual situation, but this software needs to be fixed! We might be forced to use this company right now, but I suspect they will go out of business once we are no longer in a pandemic situation because they are soooo bad!

It is unacceptable to me that a company would maintain ridiculous fees during this Coronavirus crisis. People are at the mercy of delivery services and charging outrageous fees seems predatory at best.

Nothing is ordinary right now, but Instacart is responding with the corporate version of throwing their hands in the air and run screaming. The customer service phone number has a recording saying, basically, we don't take calls any longer. My chat is still waiting for a response 26 hours later. The website instructs to click on "Report a problem." I think they've removed that section of the website. My order from 4 days ago was just canceled because it had been too long and they would not be able to fill it. They did tell me I could reorder, and get back in at the end of the line, taking my chances that my order might get filled in the next five days.

Used this twice for MetMarket. The drivers don't read the notes where you specify what to buy. They replaced items I had ordered in from the deli in lbs (serving a family) with one packaged dinner, then charged me the original estimate price, basically stealing. Contact through email never gets a reply and they won't do refunds.

Below is what they sent, however I was charged 26.97 for when the meal cost 8.99. They said they refunded my account but it never shows any type of refund or promo.

This happened two days in a row, I would never use the service again. And stores that are branding with them shouldn't affiliate themselves with this brand.

Was a new user. 2nd order: "shopper" DIDN'T care at ALL about my delivery. Got wrong items, got expired bread, he didn't follow delivery instructions about calling me upon arrival (instead he just put all my groceries in front of my apartment building for anyone to take), and was talking on his Bluetooth the whole time to someone when I walked out on him stacking my food outside & he basically ignored me. Customer support said they would refund the expired bread cost but never did. Crap company. Lying Customer Service agents and negligent shoppers.

First and last time I ever use Publix on-line delivery service. Their default policy around allowing substitutions without customer authorization is downright criminal. Half my order was substituted. Order a cheese pizza and get a meat lovers pizza. Sorry if you're a vegetarian, Publix was out of cheese but still wanted to ensure they get your money. Oh, one more thing, meat lovers pizza wasn't on sale. Sorry customer, you should've specified no substitution on each item you ordered from us. I'll never set foot in another Publix's store as long as I live!

Instacart does NOT have its act together. You don't get one single delivery, but as many as five separate deliveries if that's the total number of stores you ordered from. Very inconvenient. Book keeping is screwy. They put a hold on your account in the form of an actual deduction, and in my case, a refund was not made requiring numerous calls to my bank and Instacart to get things straightened out. Frozen items were insufficiently cooled and insulated and were delivered in ordinary grocery bags. Going back to AmazonFresh.

There are only so many ways I can describe my infuriating experiences with customer care. There is no phone number available to speak with anyone to uphold what I have earned. Long story short, if you are referred by a shopper and complete 30 batches in 30 days only one person (the referral) will get a bonus. The second part of the referral programs explicitly states "THE'LL MAKE …. AS WELL." I was expecting a $600 bonus but I can see how that can be a too good to be true deal. I put in the work but that's fine if Instacart wants to change what a deal means. In my understanding of the English language and policies stated in the "Terms Apply" section, I am lead to believe both the referred and referral get a bonus. Alas, two emails, 6 shopper support convos and no phone number to call later… my conclusion is Instacart are crooks. Yes I totally have screenshots of what I am talking about.

Ordered some shoprite instacart groceries which was regrettable. Was given a rotting decaying head of lettuce, perishables not contained in a cooler with ice cream delivered melted all over the place, cheese soft and mushy, several purchased items 'unavailable', given the incorrect size of an item. Only partially refunded with the remainder given as a stupid coupon: for my next shopping order". Right. The instacart for keyfood falls into the same league. Pitiful deception against consumers. Never again.

These people hire drivers with NO CLUE. There app converts my address to a different place so I have had to call and make sure there are notes to give proper directions. Twice I never received my groceries because the drivers just return them when they cant figure it out (I live in a quadrant neighborhood, not hard to figure out NSEW). They just keep telling me they will put notes for the future. One guy told me if it were him he would stop using the service. Lol. Two hours after my scheduled delivery time, with the first driver returning my groceries, still no groceries. What type of convenience is this?

This branch in Eugene has displayed a disappointing and dysfunctional delivery system. They are always late, the delivery is always incomplete or in poor quality. I contacted the supervisor in Eugene named Tyree and unfortunately, he was extremely rude, condescending, unable to offer logical solutions to compensate for their lack of efficiency and basically hung up the phone on me!
I then contacted the team lead, Sean, whom I found very supportive and helpful. Had it not been for Sean's excellent customer service, I would have entirely stopped using Instacart.
In result, The Eugene area needs to work on it's quality-performance and customer service etiquette.

Thank you,
Bay Area company owner

My in-laws were eager to get needed supplies from Costco.com and found the option to use Instacart. Without doing research on the Instacart review site (this one) they elected to use the service.

The delivery driver (Edson) asked to see my mother-in-laws drivers license (which she assumed was to verify the correct order) but when he took a photo of both the front and back her concerns and red flags went up.

I've now been on-hold for over 60 mins to try and better understand if this taking photos of drivers licenses is standard practice or if the driver (Edson) is up to something else.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior? My wife and I have never used this service so again we are trying assess if the concern and red flag is real.

I'd love to give this service a negative star rating as it would be highly appropriate. I was supposed receive an order today from Costco. This was my first time trying this service. According to their tracking it was left on my front porch. I've been in my home office right next to the front porch all day long and no such delivery was ever made. Clearly, their shopper / driver delivered my order to someone else's residence. Someone just got a nice load of items for free thanks to the cretin who shipped it there. Now I'm going to have to monitor my credit card closely to see if they really do refund me the full amount as I am now forced to be skeptical and untrusting of their business practices.

Placed 1st order. Some items were not available so I either had to cancel or replace. No problem. When I received my items with receipt it was a total of $184.51. Now instacart is charging me before all their ridiculous fees $197.09. What is the extra $12.58 for. I contacted them & they told me instacart app charges different than the store. So basically upcharging you for items which should be illegal. They charge $3.99 for delivery BUT also a service charge in my case was $9.53 plus you of course need to include a tip. So I basically paid $36 to get food delivered from around the corner. I would've never used them if they are allowed to price items the way they want. I have the receipt from the store, it's a shane that this upcharging on an app is being allowed.

Driver delivered to wrong address. No follow up from driver or instacart in the past 48 hours of my consistent reaching out. Could have been solved simply by returning and redelivering to correct address. Driver was aware of mistake within after his departure. Instacart's lack of ownership of the issue has led the elderly waiting another week for their grocery delivering during this worldwide pandemic.

Took my money on the flex delivery then three days later cancelled at 8pm on Easter Saturday, screwing my family for Easter Sunday. Scam, no way to complain, phone lines dont work and noone emails back. Avoid dont use put them out of business!

You delivered a banana, but no heel cream. So I am charged $3+ for a single banana? WTF? BTW, banana was only to get over threshold of free delivery! Thanks for being another service we will Never use again in the Tucson area!

When you fill out the application form online the monthly/annual membership option is designed to look like you're signing up for $14.99 per month, billed monthly. I too got a charge of $149.00 annually. I immediately contacted them, canceled and they refunded my credit card. They need to make their membership page a lot easier to navigate.

A girl driver, in a dark blue civic, with dyed hair, and a babyseat in the back?... Flicked a lit joint in my car window after I accidentally cut her off. She actually delivered down the street from me after that. Are they really hiring people without drug testing them? I don't know how Instacart works, but this can't be right. Utterly shocked me.

I recently received a charge of $103.95 on my credit card. They said it was because I recently purchased a grocery order from Real Canadian Superstore, which I've done a number of times. They said they automatically sign you up based on your order history and then charge you after 15 days without any knowledge of it happening. This just WRONG... even criminal!

Today I signed up for a 14-day free trial for FREE delivery. I needed some cat food from PetSmart and didn't feel like going out. After selecting my items and checking out, delivery was NOT free. The "active" order page showed the delivery fee crossed out, with $0 delivery. But at checkout, I was charged a delivery and service fee. Also, please beware of the fine print that states you will be charged a reoccurring $99 membership fee! I was thankful that I caught the deception before giving any payment information. Last, they don't make it easy to cancel your account. Their site states that it takes 30-days, but is vague on the process. I found a CS number on Google, *******822. The CSR said I'd receive an email in 20-minutes with instructions. Of course I am still waiting for it. With all the bad reviews written online about this company I can't help but wonder how they stay in business!