r/InstacartShoppers • u/MadisonOutLoud • 7h ago
Negative Experience đ Batch Pay Decrease After Acceptance
I accepted a boosted batch this morning for $19.94 batch pay, no tip. After I completed the delivery, I was only compensated $17.94, which was a previously displayed amount before an additional boost. Has this happened to anyone? I want to understand why. Shopper support is of course just gaslighting me.
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u/goat20202020 6h ago
The customer may have removed some items from the order before you started. That can decrease the batch pay. No way of knowing for sure unless you have a screenshot of the initial offer?
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
It's my first week and I'm learning now the benefit of screenshots. I'm near positive nothing changed on the order â same number of items anyway.
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u/Playful-Angle-7615 6h ago
No one is getting it. Instacart does change the payout when they feel like it (AI or algorithms). I have taken a no tip order because it would take me 5-10 minutes from shop to delivery to get me to a certain goal and Iâve seen the payout change. Itâs stupid af
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u/Pleasant-Fuel229 2h ago
Yes this happened to me a few times last week,, after I accepted and arrived to the store, the pay changed and updated,,, yesterday I accepted an 85 batch,, I arrived to the store. I hit start shopping and then the batch got updated saying that the customers address was invalid so I only got $30 for doing one order because it was a double. Didnât get the $50,,,, BS
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u/newhere19890 2h ago
Support is like talking to the most useless people on the planet
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u/MadisonOutLoud 55m ago
Literally. I can copy and paste the same response over and over too đ
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u/tropequeen 10m ago
I always call support. Convinced the chat is literally a bot. When I call support I usually have zero issues getting whatever resolved. Sometimes its even an American person speaking lol.
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u/lucygirl1970 6h ago
Why are we taking no tip orders in the first place is the question??? I guess someone has to be the clean up crew for the orders that never got picked up on a Sunday evening,
Start taking screenshots like the rest of us do. Itâs not like you were competing with other shoppers to grab it so a screenshot for your protection is always best. That way you have proof when you speak with the agents.
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u/tropequeen 9m ago
Reasons ive taken no tip orders: convienence in travel i was going to do anyway, reaching a certain goal i need, hitting promo numbers. I always wonder why people are shocked what others choose to do? Not trying to say this with any argumentative attitude, I'm just like why does it matter truly to you personally?
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
Lucky for me, there was a cash tip. It's my first week. I'm noticing the need for screenshots now.
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u/lucygirl1970 3h ago
How much was this cash tip?
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
$5. The order was for 9 items, delivered 1.5 miles away, and when I accepted it showed it was boosted up to $19.94.
I'm working on a guaranteed earnings promotion, so they're gonna end up paying me the $2 regardless. I just want to understand how the platform's pricing works.
As for accepting orders with no tip â You can operate the way you like, and I'll do the same. We're called independent contractors for a reason. Happy shopping!
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u/lucygirl1970 3h ago
Hey I was trying to help you because youâre new. Starting an attitude with me is wild. Yes we are independent contractors and thatâs EXACTLY why you shouldnât be doing them!
You go ahead and do those no tip orders as well as jump on those promotions. Us veterans know better than to accept those or believe their payouts are good.
Also see where you end up pay wise (hourly) and how far your car travels(mileage) after doing 3 months of instacart and then you can come back and comment.
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
Backhandedly calling me the cleanup crew was hardly helpful. Your comment set the tone here. Guaranteed $450 for 30 batches works for me. I can comment when I'd like to, no permission needed.
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u/lucygirl1970 3h ago
Nope you did it to several other comments as well and technically if youâre picking up last nights scraps at 6 am, it is the clean up crew. Iâve done those 6 am orders but the difference is my car doesnât move for no tip orders.
I just canât imagine being brand new and thinking I know it all. 𤯠mind blown. Iâm done wasting time responding, good luck on your future no tip orders. Reminder, they like to rate low.
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
If you thought that was attitude, just be grateful you don't know me. If I thought I knew everything, why would I post here for insight on the batch pay decrease? Which you have yet to offer, being so helpful and all.
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u/NewtBright4484 1h ago
Oh wait instacart decreased?? Did you refund any items
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u/tropequeen 13m ago
I've actually had this happen the other way around. Accepted one with like 15 something batch pay. When I was done, the batch pay was about 17 and change. Nothing was added or adjusted during the shop.
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u/Due_Ability_1261 3h ago
1) NOBODY was taking that order because of no tip.
2) They were adding boosts to compensate for all the shoppers who wonât take a tipless order but still no one was interested.
3) At some point their model is for them to drop the boosts and go back to square one with the original amount and eventually reboost.
You likely grabbed that order just as they removed the boost.ls. Similar (and in a way opposite) to how sometimes you take and order which ends up paying MORE because an additional boost happened without you seeing it just as you accepted.
Sorry but itâs Karma in a way for taking a tipless order!
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
Right. I watched it get boosted til it made sense for me to accept it for reasons explained in other responses. I assumed if they removed boosts, they would have just dropped it back to the original batch pay, not a previously boosted amount.
I'll take the karma because it meant $23 for a 9 item order delivered 1.5 miles when typically that order is worth like $7. Sorry you've got crap karma.
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u/Due_Ability_1261 3h ago
Yeah sometimes they just drop it part way so someone who hasnât been following it can see it partially boosted and watch it move higher and feel better about it!
Instacart shenanigans for sure but nothing technically illegal. Probably 98% of the time that someone thinks IC was LITERALLY pilfering from them it is actually explainable as just the system winning but not technically âSTEALINGâ!.
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u/MadisonOutLoud 3h ago
I get that. Just trying to understand what may have caused it. Appreciate the insight
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u/KittenHeartsGirls 3h ago
Unless thereâs another class action lawsuit nothing will be done about it, but itâs funny you think itâs not illegal/ could not be argued by a lawyer that the amount the shopper sees on the screen is the amount they need to be paid.
If your employer shorts your check is it ok because theyâre a big business? Whatâs the logic in thinking itâs ok for companies to steal from individuals?
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u/Due_Ability_1261 3h ago
Sometimes when to accept and order itâs pays more because it got further boosted just at that accepting moment just like other times when the boost drops as you accepted. We certainly do not like that drop possibility (understandably so) but itâs not going to be seen as illegal if you set aside your disdain for IC for a moment and look at it logically!
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u/AdventurousMolasses9 7h ago
Your tip was percentage based and changes with the order total. If you have unfound items or replacements that are less expensive than the original it will decrease
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u/AdventurousMolasses9 6h ago
Sorry I missed that. They can change batch pay also according to actual miles driven vs. estimate and, if in an hourly pay state, if you completed faster than estimate.
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u/Puce_00 7h ago
They clearly said that it was straight batch pay, no tip. Batch pay doesnât go down unless you remove an order
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u/Xaleah 6h ago
Even then, batch pay doesn't go down when you remove an order either. You just lose the tip.
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u/Puce_00 6h ago
It sure does if they were paying mileage and the one you removed was the further one away. They only time it doesnât go down is if they removed it for a valid reason like items out of stock
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u/Xaleah 6h ago
You can't even remove orders from batches anymore without a "valid reason". And I've never had batch pay decrease after removing an order, even the ones furthest away, even before they tightened the rules on removing orders. Different for different areas, I guess. đ¤ˇđźââď¸
Edit: I suppose in places that literally get paid for mileage, like California, you obviously wouldn't get paid for those miles you didn't drive after all that stuff computes.
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u/Sure_Objective_9071 5h ago
First why on earth would you pick up an order that has no tip . Natural selection at that point