Instacart

Really disappointed. 5.99 for delivery sounds great. My $44 order ended up being $59 after all of the fees. You don't know that until you go to checkout. The website is deceptive about how the whole process works.
I gladly added a tip for the shopper/delivery person.
I would have had a better experience if instacart just advertised the true cost of the service.
Also got 2 items wrong. There was no way to communicate with the shopper so that I could tell them not to replace my items with the ones that they chose.
Unfortunately Instacart sucks! Sorry. Won't use again.

I have been using Instacart in the Dallas area for 2 years and almost all orders, especially from Whole Foods have problems. It's convenient but I'm tired of over charges and problems. It looks like items are not scanned. I was charged for a 42 oz item and received a 16 oz. How is that possible? No common sense at all is packing groceries either. 3 pound bags of apples stacked on soft fruit, etc

Instacart is getting worst day by day! They don't care about customer anymore! Their shopper cheat by saying "out of stock" and forcing us to buy expensive items! My order was late and perishables were destroyed in scorching sun! When asked for refund they threatened to disable my account! Kept explaining everything but they dont listen. It's just rising demand they are sitting in the top! But they don't realize treating like this, will shut their company down soon! Hope some great companies emerge soon so we have choice! M filing a claim with my paypal for this! Cause it's ridiculous!

I've been charged a whopping $78 for tri-tip that was not included in my delivery. I made complaint on 'order problems' 5 days ago without any responses. The website complaints and concerns button circles around, hard to find a clear complaint section, no phone numbers, no chat room. That's a lot of money for no product.

They delivery randomly no matter the time frame that you picked. So rude management as well.They let the fresh food on the sun,in the floor.it stayed there for an hour and half,83 degrees day, when I complaint about it they told me to throw it away, because they would refund me for the inconvenience. But then they decide to chance their mind! Unbelievable...sorry you guy will be break down very soon, horrible service,horrible everything!

They have a promo for $10 off your first order plus free delivery. You can send this offer to friends. NO WHERE on the email does it state that you must buy $35 in groceries to get the promo first time buyer discount of $10.

At the very end, in TEENY TINY script, in a place that people are unlikely to notice it reads

All offers subject to Instacart terms of service

That's where the $35 rule is. It has been effectively hidden. It's not anywhere else.

Great.

I would have had further use for this service as the items I would have been buying on a regular basis are only available at one store in an area inconvenient for me.

But no. This is the end. Clean up your act, people. You lost two customers pulling this crap.

Every time they call to ask questions. I just want to place order & receive what I order! Orders always wrong & frozen food is never even kept cold! Also automatically inserts service fee that you cannot remove on app. Ill stick with peapod!

I'm terribly disappointed that I can't trust this service to charge me correctly, and their customer service is clueless and appalling. I was overcharged AFTER my delivery for amounts that they refuse to explain. When I called everyone I spoke to was unable to answer any simple and direct questions about the billing without putting me on hold to consult with someone else, and still could not answer directly. I gave up and tried email.

I had to send 8 emails exchanged with two different agents before someone grudgingly agreed to refund me an amount less than I was overcharged. I will consider myself lucky I'm getting anything back. It's too bad, my order was exactly what I asked for my shopper/driver could not have been nicer.

I won't use this service again.

Placed my first order, so far looked ok There was a service fee of $6.00 that I thought was strange since I have already paid a monthly subscription fee of $15.00.
The day of the delivery checked it online. My order was very different! Many items simply missing ( pre-packaged cold cuts?), others replaced with much more expensive, and mainly inadequate items. Like gluten free replaced by regular bread, beef replaced with pork etc
Contacted instacart: There was nothing better they could offer except charging me an additional $15.00 fee for refusing the order...
The end of the story. Never again, but this lesson cost $36.00

This is particularly bad for those whose only access to groceries is having grocery delivery services, such as those with disabilities and those without transportation to and from the grocery store.

No matter how customer service works with the customer it will never make the situation right because policies prohibit spoiled, wrong, accidentally given to other customers, left out items at the customers have paid for to be replaced. This can include needed over the counter medications, staple foods that sustain life, and for many there's no way they can replace it on their own either for financial or logistic reasons.

They will also not waive the minimum purchase requirement of $35 therefore they still profit off of the mistakes their shoppers make.

They will refund the price of the item but if you don't have the means to place yet another $35 minimum order you're out of luck.

No other business would be allowed to get away with that except for shopping apps such as instacart.

Completely clueless customer help, claiming they could not find my account?!? They would not look up my order with my confirmation number. I received crushed bread loaves, a 12 oz. Bag instead of 48 oz, bag of $9.50 frozen fruit, only one box of two cereals, and a missing gallon of orange juice. Totaling nearly $20. I feel stolen from. This is a smaller shopping list of 24 items. The shopper did not ring the doorbell as requested thus leaving milk, eggs, and cheese out in the sun. I lost a generous tip I trustingly added the the incompetent shopper. I'll NEVER USE INSTACART AGAIN!

Grocery delivery. Not only were items completely missing but I had items I did not even order. The response I got from them was " oh well they must have been shopping for 2 different people at the same time".
Not with it at all. Never again. Even with the price increase you would expect you are paying a premium to get the correct order. Nope. Stuff was just thrown in a carriage and I doubt they even looked at my list. Just awful. They should be shut down. Also filing complaint with our Attorney General's office.

2 times I've attempted to use this overrated, overpriced, app along with its unreliable people. So I suggest if you're reading this to delete and shop for yourself. Also instacart should not be charging any accounts until the food is delivered. Super unsatisfied and completely trash app, and service.

I am disabled and my mom is 92 years. I would get an email from Instacart for free delivery. Not true. I have been charged for one box being slightly heavier than the rest. After many calls to San Fran (home office), I was assured that the offers sent to me were valid. NOPE! I paid $ 49.00 extra for an $83.00 order. I am 0-3 in success with the PROMISE over the phone, the delivery is free they kept telling me. Last order a tip of 30 dollars was suggested and it took days to put back a "deposit' they took out of my bank for security. It is so crooked all together and if I was not disabled I would have NEVER subjected myself or any friend. Helpful customer service is not on their "script" they read to you, Time to diet mom!

I wish I had read Jennifer K. Review below before we put our trust in #instacart and #safeway to deliver. We are in Colorado and basically had the same experience.
They just don't deliver. I don't mind them not showing up but why take our money and waste our time.
Very disappointed that a good firm like Safeway #*******@safeway affiliates with this type of fly by night organization.
Simple message... stay away.

I had been complaining about Instacart's poor service, mostly the fact that more than 1/2 of the deliveries did not show up on time, as well as some very questionable substitutions, when I discovered that my account had been locked so that any complaint would have to go through a special review process. When I asked what I had done wrong, they would not answer. Not one word, not one email, not one phone call. They just referred me to a generic set of customer guidelines, which were completely useless. They have obviously chosen a high volume / low service model. Buyer beware. It is obvious why Instacart is 53rd on this site with a 1.27 rating. They choose profits over customer satisfaction.

These people act like they want to help all the while hiding their intentions if you use a debit card to pay for your groceries plan on Instacart charging you that once- a- year membership without your knowledge or consent! Total bull totally unreliable service to handle a person's financial information. Never again will I use Instacart at all and would strongly advise anyone who does to be super careful.

Delivery person seemed to have difficulty deciding which order is ours. Then left things that belonged to someone else. Spent several hours trying to rectify the problem. Email went unanswered. 2 hour Hold on telephone before being disconnected, and so on. Their call back got disconnected before I could talk to anyone. Total mess.

It is almost equal to cheating. They rip the customer utilize this pandemic situation.
This service is a rip off they mark up the prices by 25%.
I purchased grocery at Costco from $342 (including tax and exclude tips) order in that actual price is 284(include tax) was their mark up. Almost 60$ more for one order i did 3 order till now. I would have payed Walmart or Amazon prime paying 12.99 and get may other benefit along with the proper items. I don't how Costco allow these kind of fraud company.

I placed my first order through Costco. I saw the blurb at the top saying prices will be slightly higher so I went to look at their website. The website says they charge 5%. I would have been okay with that. I received my order 5 days later and was charged 20% over the total on the Costco receipt! $305 for $241 worth of groceries, of course you can't contact anyone because their site is experiencing "higher than usual" traffic. Probably a lot of angry, soon to be ex-customers. I will NEVER use this service again. How do they get away with this? Such blatant misrepresentation.

Incredibly, Instacart charged me over $95, associated with CA, but no store listed, for groceries I never purchased. I live in Ohio and have not traveled anywhere near California for years. Now, in the middle of this pandemic, as I am tight on funds, they're reviewing my case and will get back to me. Be warned! It may take me up to a week to see my money again! I won't use Instacart again! If you do, keep a careful eye on your bank account!

-I paid $57.22 and spent over an hour in "chat" time for $34.71 worth of groceries.
-"Chat" Customer Service was a huge, inefficient waste of time that did not resolve my problem.
-Too many photos of problems
-Wish I'd looked up reviews before hand.

This is an absolutely awful company that doesn't care about anything except their own bottom line. They charged my bank account over $1500 in one night. I woke up to an overdrawn account. Lucky my bank had experience with them doing this to customers before. When they treat customers this way, I can only imagine how they treat their employees. I will get the money back, they promise, in 5-10 business days. Don't do this to yourself. Instacart is terrible. If you are high risk health-wise, don't rely on these ppl. There's no way to contact them once they take your money. Repugnant. I will remember exactly how this made me feel for a very, very, very long time.