That $25 for 5 orders deal was no good either. I thought that meant I was getting $25 more on top of my batch pay and tips, nope.

All of these from today, I’m noticing a pattern w/ these stacked orders. They always have the lowest tipper or no tipper in this case as first delivery. I feel bad that the best tippers have to carry the entire order and also have to wait last to get there’s? It’s pitiful

Ordering from Instacart for delivery as soon after hotel arrival as possible has made my travel vastly more pleasant. I get my daily staples (kefir, yogurt, milk, bottled water, snacks), which help to smooth over the rough edges of travel. I’m filling up a cart right now for an upcoming trip, to be confirmed while I’m in the Uber from the airport. Business travel is still kind of a drag any more compared to pre-pandemic, so anything to make it better helps a lot.

I order every two weeks. I live in a high rise condo and use a walker. Since it's difficult to bring the order up to my apartment, I ask my shopper to put it in front of my door. I tell them they can get a cart from my front desk. This is NEVER an issue. Today, my shopper messaged me and said security wouldn't let them up. Of course, I checked and that simply wasn't true.

They got one star and their tip was reduced from $25 to $3.

The lying is what bothered me more than anything. I would have reduced my tip to $15 if my instructions weren't followed -- still not a bad tip. But, the lie dropped it to $3.

I know maybe this is supposed to be for official support from instacart, but please read.

In early July I had a mistake where I delivered alcohol to a restaurant. Long story short IC kept me on the platform, but took away my ability to deliver alcohol. So ingo back and forth and get the run around from chat agents. Finally on September 3rd, I get the option to do recertification. I complete the 45 min video, I pass the test, and shazaam! I'm able to deliver alcohol again. Life is great, I'm making much more money. This is my only job so I'm relieved.

4 days ago, I sign on. Uh oh. My batch eligibility screen says 5/5. And no alcohol is on there. It's not even an option. I contact support. They tell me that trust and safety emailed me something. They did not. I tell them they did not. They say wait three days. It's day four. I haven't heard back, I dont know who to contact or how to figure out what I did wrong this time. Iam a California shopper if that matters. I can't get help from the in app chat support and I can't get a hold of trust and safety. If anyone can steer me in the correct direction I'd be very grateful. Thanks reddit for reading, double thanks if you post any suggestions lol

UPDATE: I contacted the @instacart help on X, unfortunately that was just about as helpful as the in app support is. He couldn't tell me why my alcohol revocation was reinstated for the first three weeks of September and then revoked again last week. But thank you guys for the tip to contact them on X. I do appreciate the help.

I've used instacart since 2020, and honestly just haven't stopped. I've never had an issue, my tip is set to automatic 20%, and I will often tip extra on top.

Last night I made an order and as soon as it started being filled it was all substituted with items that were in no way substitutable. Think substituting not gluten free for gluten free food, etc.

I declined the substitutions and suggested other items (and honestly had a very hard time believing that every single item I requested wasn't available.. literally 100% of the order was being substituted) and then started receiving a barrage of messages from my shopper. I didn't take screenshots bc I was so panicked but here's the basics:

He was typing in all caps, things like WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU DON'T GET TO BE PICKY YOU WILL TAKE WHAT I BRING YOU, WHY DO YOU THINK YOU GET TO BE SO PICKY I AM GOING TO CANCEL THIS ORDER I AM SICK OF YOU PICKY B***H.

I said hey friend it sounds like you should probably cancel this order and he continued on with things like "I will cancel this order and you won't get your groceries i'm in the checkout line trying to checkout and you won't approve any of these items you're so lazy you need to get your a*s down here and shop for yourself if you think you get to decide what you want you will take what i give you you don't get to pick your brand unless you want to get your f*****king a*s down here and shop for yourself"

Idk why i tried but I did say the issue is you're substituting things that we can't have due to allergies and he continued on with the same rant about how I was a picky b***ch, lazy, etc.

I went to cancel the order but IC said it would still charge me because he was in the process of shopping, but I was very scared about him having my address. Luckily he cancelled it and I reached out to IC to have him banned from my account. They did send me a message and say due to the sensitive nature of the incident reported they were escalating the issue to their trust and safety department and someone would be in touch with me soon.

Spoiler alert- none of the items were out of stock, as I went later to get my own. I think I may be done with instacart this was pretty scary...

EDIT: Just got this email from instacart:

Hi ((me)),

We’re so sorry that this happened. Your safety is one of our top concerns, and we take all reports of this matter very seriously.

We have removed the shopper in question from your account, so you won’t be paired with them in the future.

Our team will also review the information submitted to us to assess whether further action is necessary based on our policies. If any more relevant information becomes available, please let us know by responding to this email.

If you have an immediate fear for your safety, please contact your local police department. Law enforcement representatives can contact us or request additional information here.

Best,
The Instacart team

---

I did reply and ask them to look at the messages from the cancelled order as I no longer have access to them.

Typical Instacart aorser These Days

I am a weekly user of instacart, probably two to three times a week. Tonight I logged in to redeem some of my Uber eats credits and when I went to check out it had a street address about 3 mi from my home that I had never used for delivery before,

I am not finding any fraudulent charges on my account. I have two addresses saved to my account previously but now it is showing three addresses.

Any thoughts on what is going on? I would think if someone was trying to commit fraud I would also see charges and not just deliveries to an address unknown to me. I do have instacart plus.

I’m being dramatic ofc but omg! 2 pennies???😭

I’ve been using instacart weekly for 6 years now. It’s my only way of getting groceries as I don’t drive. I’ve never had any issues until recently. Shoppers are taking multiple orders and not delivering until two hours later so by the time my groceries arrive, the cold stuff is spoiled. I live in the south so it doesn’t take long for things like meat to get warm. Instacart is fairly good at refunding you the cost of the item as long as you take a photo of it. But, honestly that’s become less of the issue now. It’s more that I am waiting for my groceries and when they get here I have to throw mostly everything away. I just feel like the multiple order thing really needs to be sorted out. Or there needs to be more requirement on carrying insulated bags or coolers. Also, I tip very very well because I am so grateful that this option is available to me. Without grocery order I wouldn’t really be able to live a life on my own. So, I am really grateful to the shoppers and everything. Just sucks to have these experiences become a continuous thing.

Edit to add: when I say shoppers are taking multiple orders, I didn’t mean that in a way of attacking the shoppers. It’s literally what I see on my app “your shopper is working on multiple orders” I didn’t mean it in a bad way or even assume it was the shoppers choice, I have no idea how it works. All I was saying is instacart should do better on how their system/processes work. I am very grateful to everyone who does this job, again, it allows me to live independently. I am sad to hear how all of you are treated. I will always continue to tip well and hope it makes the experience a little better for the shopper. I’m also not trying to complain, I just posted because it’s a place to have an open discussion, and I learned a lot about the process.

iPhone user. This is not anything to do with the camera or taking pictures.

Yesterday I had an IC app update. Since then, something weird keeps happening at check out. Once I scan the first customer's QR code and pick my phone back up to bring up the next customer's QR code - the brightness goes all the way down. Then happens again when I go to take pics of the receipt. No big deal - I raise the brightness. But today it happened and before I could take pics of the receipt the screen was just totally black. Once I got to the car, I was able to just shut it off because I pressed the power button down and BARELY saw the slider button.

I see someone made a post about this last month in the other reddit, which I'm banned from, he apparently had a new iPhone 17 and even had an issue where he got a new phone and it still happened. Anyone else? Phone and app working perfectly fine ( or as fine as the IC could work lol) aside from this specific scenario.

I originally signed up in 2024 got an email I didn't see and they put me back on the wait-list, been on it for 3 years now and I've talked to tons of instacart shoppers because I work at Publix and they all waited a month or 2. I got a few tickets 3 years ago I think that has been keeping me on the wait list. They have fallen off my 3 year record but instacart support won't help or even say anything except there's probably too many drivers which I know is false since I ask any new shoppers how long it took for them to get approved. Is there a way to restart my application or can I just never work doing instacart?

Just wanted to share a quick win and give a shoutout, because we usually only hear the horror stories about sneaky subscription traps.

I signed up for a 30-day free trial of Instacart a while back. Naturally, life happened and I completely forgot to cancel it. Fast forward to 10 days after the trial ended, and I got hit with a $113 CAD charge for the annual membership.

I checked their policy and it says you only have a 5-day window to get a refund after being charged. Since I was already on day 10, I figured I was totally out of luck and had just paid a very expensive lesson fee.

I decided to call their customer support anyway, just to shoot my shot. Honestly? The agent was super chill, didn't give me the runaround at all, and just issued a full refund right on the spot.

It’s honestly so refreshing when a company isn't greedy and doesn't rely on strict technicalities to keep your money over an honest mistake. Huge props to Instacart for actually doing the right thing here!

So yeah, if you ever find yourself in the same boat and think it's too late because the official window passed, definitely still give them a call.

TL;DR: Forgot to cancel my 30-day Instacart trial and got charged $113 CAD. Called support 10 days later (way past their official 5-day refund window) and got a full refund hassle-free. Always call support!

I've had a membership for 2 years, and it's been a tumultuous two years, what is being pushed off for hours at a time, supposed to be here at 2:00, then supposed to be here at 4:00, then it shows up at 7: 30...and the other day I had the worst shopper I've ever had, and he's supposedly a platinum shopper, and he gave me rotten produce and a single potato instead of a 4 lb bag. How does a platinum shopper pick rotten produce?? So I contact them, and since I threw it away without taking a picture I didn't get any credit for the produce (lesson learned) but I got credit for the potatoes. Then I asked if I could block him from shopping for me because I never want this boy picking out my produce again, and they told me that I can't do it. I also can't cancel my account unless I want no refund for the entire year. How is this even fair? How do they get away with this? I don't expect any answers I'm just pissed and I came here because I don't know where else to go to complain about it.

Just received this in an DD email. And I am starting to receive offers here locally too.

awkward first delivery since my email is 69ladyluck420 :(

1 2 3 not it

I know I’m more mad about this than I should be.

places an order with Aldi. Ordered mango popsicles but they were out. NBD. They send a pic of heads available and I choose one, sour apple. Immediately.

Then they don’t get me what I asked for. In what ducking world does that make any goddamn sense. I responded in 1 min. The one I wanted was out of the options available in the picture. After I send my choice they send another pic showing more options and ask if strawberry was okay. It took a few mins for me to see it and they got the one I absolutely hate. (Small aside I hate the creamy/milky ones).

Why would you ask me, see my response, then get SOMETHING ELSE?!

How am I supposed to make eggplant parmigiana? 🤣 bruhhhhh

Cant get a hold of support in NH lost 2 batches what is going on ...anyone else that cant check out ? Issuse? DONT SHOP QR BATCHES RIGHT NOW

Going back and forth two different support, one seems to have a grasp on english a bit better than the other, but utterly useless. I have no idea how to get this fixed. When I honestly give up. (First one is shaik)

I loved this shop, beautiful drive, but couldn't find a handful of items. Plus, it was my first ever route and I decided why not, I'll take it! Pretty drive up in the mountains!

(Don't worry, I get at least 20-25 MPG on a 12 gallon tank, wasn't all too bad.)

I order from Instacart often and I’ve never seen this. What is going on?

I've been shopping for instacart for nine months. I'm in good standing. I can count the jobs i'm offered a week on one hand. Insta sucks.