InstacartReviews 2,486

This company has terrible customer service (both through email and chat). The company also lies and makes false statements to customers.

I have ordered 15 times through instacart the last few by far than the worst poor communication skills rude shoppers total disregard for anything you say when they're asking you something and you reply it's like talking to a brick wall I'm done with instacart. I've had items not delivered I've had items purchased that I've never even added to my cart or received. I am disabled I asked them to leave it on the side porch most do but lately they don't do it even though I give them a tip.

I ordered my groceries with the excepted delivery at 3:30. My shopper claimed he couldn't find most items. He left the store at 4:30 and then never delivered my groceries! After two phone calls to instacart, they informed me that they had to send a new shopper. What's funny is that my new shopper found every single item and didn't half $#*! it like the previous shopper who vanished with my order. My groceries arrived at almost 8pm. What a carry on. The people working at the call centre were no help at all and couldn't give me an explanation at all. Get your $#*! together.

I use Instacart for sometime. I'm also a member. However I will not be renewing because I do not find it worth it. Delivery times are always changing. And I am not blaming the drivers. I understand it's a pretty tough job.
With that said I just want to let you drivers know why most people do not tip.
It's not because your service is bad. Actually it's greatly appreciated! The problem is Instacart charges up the butt for everything.

For example I am a member. I will not be renewing because I do not see anything useful about it. Yes I get free delivery over $35. However I am nailed with a lot of unnecessary charges.
First there is a service fee. Then we are taxed on the service fee. Service fee is generally two dollars. But then I am taxed on that so it's around $2.30

Then in my case because I'm a very small girl and my husband generally works very late I have to order heavy items such as kitty litter and cases of water. I do not drive. And these are things I cannot carry.
So then on top of the service fee I am also charged a heavy lifting fee of $4. Which ends up almost being $5 dollars because then I'm taxed on that as well.

Like for example today my order was $36. Yes delivery was free. But I ended up paying $43 because of all these extra charges Instacart charges us.

If they would stop overcharging us. Especially overcharging members, then I would gladly tip my driver! I would be more happy if the money went to my driver who actually did the bleeping work then
Go to Instacart to sit on their butts.

Sorry for the rant. I just wanted to let you drivers know you really are appreciated!
But yes as I mentioned before will not be renewing member fee. It's not worth it. It's cheaper just to have your order over $50 and get free delivery anyways

I ordered last time and got exactly what I asked for. My husband ordered sushi today and it was suppose to be made a certain way. There was three kinds of rolls and one roll had nothing spicy for me and when it was delivered by rose the container was shaken up and spicy mayo everywhere which I can't eat with health issues. And with further inspection theres spicy mayo on all of it. I was very unhappy with this delivery

Doing whatever they can to take your money. I tried out Instacart since I saw an advertisement from them saying they now deliver from Kroger, and to use a promo code for $20 off your first order of $30 or more. So I did just that, signed up, ordered my groceries and submitted the promo code which then said "promo code applied successfully". The code did not apply, the money never came off. And when i contacted them about it they stated my purchase did not meet requirements and reiterated the rules. First order. 30 dollar minimum. Participating stores. I did just that. How is that okay? That is false advertisement and theft.

Shoppers pick bruised produce and fruit. They also charge for items but they are not delivered in the bags. Things are not refrigerated because ice crean arrives melted. Then, when you want to ask for a refund they do it for a while, but after you complain several times they flag your account and you have to appeal and send emails and pictures which is tedious. I shouldn't be burden with all that process when it is the shoppers fault. I have asked many times to speak to a supervisor but nobody has called me and they have not given me any number to call either. Very poor customer service and items are much more expensive. I have gone back to my regular grocery store.

Apparently the store decided to charge me an extra $60 for my groceries, I guess since that's what their support kept telling me in the 3 separate emails I received from 3 separate employees all with the same exact copy pasted message. However, that is incorrect. I was charged $63.98 for $15.70 worth of meat and support was utterly worthless. The order arrived and my physical receipt stated a total of $53. The digital receipt was $110 before tip. How is there a difference of nearly $60? That is absolutely unacceptable, and the customer support couldn't have been MORE worthless. You can see in the photo's that the receipt shows the beef being $15.70 in total. However their 'digital receipt' on the app shows it costing $63.98.

SCAM.

They ask for your rewards/bonus card number but don't pass on all the savings to you. On my last order, I got a few savings but the best deals they kept the savings for themselves. Reps keep telling me they can't give me an Instacart credit because of policy. When I suggested they escalate to someone who could, they stopped answering. I understand that they're overcharging for items to make money and didn't asked for that amount back but I can't believe that when caught pocketing my loyalty card savings, they just outright refuse to do the ethical thing and give it back to me. They did offer a lot of apologies though... lol.

They totally screw by short changing virtually every order payment they offered you at the beginning. They will tell you 2 miles and it ends being 15 or 20. How does a company get away with being so dishonest?

At first glance Instacart seems like a great idea; time saving and easy. On second thought though…. What is the health of the person doing your shopping? Do you really want them choosing your produce?. What is the cleanliness level of their personal vehicle? Does your order get placed into a filthy car? On top of a dirty child's car seat? Euwwww!. What is the intelligence level of the person picking your items? Think about it? ( although probably quite low doing this job). Think about it… your groceries, that you pay BIG money for, are knocking around in someone's personal vehicle in NON-refrigerated conditions. Here is the desert that's a big concern. Sometimes your order is the third or fourth one the shopper has in their vehicle! That's a long time for food to be sitting. Unhealthy and very concerning too!

Think about it people. Support services that use properly refrigerated vans.
Give Instacart a miss!

Also got tired of the attitude some of the Insta shoppers have too. They expect a tip no matter.

Ordered items around 5 pm and the delivery was supposed to be by 9 pm. They updated after 9 pm that the items will arrive by 1030 pm. Got messages on app about half of stuck not in stock and delivery time changed to 1130 pm. What a joke.

Highly recommend to stay away from these crooks.

The last time I used Instacart, the experience was so horrible, I called customer service, forced them to delete my account (they were very resistant and I had to ask firmly three times before they complied) and uninstalled the app from my phone. Then time passed, and my head told me my experience was so horrible that if that was the status quo of how Instacart treated their customers, they wouldn't be in business anymore, so what I experienced had to have been an anomaly. In a moment of weakness (I just wanted some Diet Coke without having to put on real pants for the love of God), my husband used his account to place an order and the Exact. Same. Horrible. Customer. Service. Happened. We're talking exact. Both times, the shopper made off-the-wall substitutions without reaching out via the chat feature. Both times, I caught the issue and reached out to the shopper via the chat feature to come up with a different solution. Both times, the shopper responded with a question, then left the chat without waiting for an answer--and I was not taking five minutes to reply, we're talking less than a minute passing between the time they asked the question and I answered. Both times we called Instacart Customer Service as the shopper was checking out to say what had happened and to ask that the order not be delivered and that we receive a refund instead. Both times Customer Service could not have cared less and said something along the lines of "this thing just happens." Both times we have had to go to the store--the very thing we were using Instacart to avoid--to shop for items that their employee was to inept to shop for. Both times we were just fuming, because there is NO WAY we would have used Instacart and paid all of the fees if we'd have known we'd just end up having to go to the store ourselves anyway. I have no idea how they are still in business when they treat their customers this way, but it is no longer my problem, because we've been fooled twice now, and it won't happen a third time.

I used Instacart once only. It was for grocery delivery from Sprouts. One of the things I liked about it was the way you can decide on substitutions. At the close of your order it shows a handful of choices for you to choose from in the event that your item won't be available. You simply click on one, or you can click "refund this item in the event it is out of stock". No more (like Walmart who has their own shoppers) surprise substitutions like you choose Jordan almonds (a candy) and your grocer substitutes with a jar of mixed nuts…or You need tongs for the holiday…there out of that brand but there are other brands…but they send you a ladle instead…or you order steaks and they send pork chops as a substitution. Nope. You are in the drivers seat and there is not the necessity for your delivery person (like Shipts) to send you a slew of texts that you must respond to for every other item that is out of stock as if you even know what your other choices are in the store off the top of your head. You also (unlike Walmart) know during the shopping experience as opposed to once you receive your order…what is and isn't available.

As a matter of fact, you see each item as your shopper gets them and how much more the have to go. Even when they need to go with one of your substitution choices, they send an in app or in website instant message for you to put Y to indicate you still want that substitution in lieu of a refund. And I LOVE the in app or in the website messenger instead of rifling through my texts on my phone. The whole experience was like I was shopping myself without the crowds, waiting in lines, having to get dress, searching for items, or the traffic. Plus, and I don't know if this lies with Instacart or with Sprouts, there was no padding the price for each item. And the fees were reasonable ($3.99).

If all this wasn't enough they have an 800 number for the sixty and older crowd to help you maneuver the system if you need it. Friendly and efficient.

After placing an order and getting a confirmation email of the successful order my order was canceled saying I needed to verify my account although I have used the service in the past. I verified the account through my email and placed the order again and again the same thing happened. I spoke to two customer service reps that gave me wrong information that locked me out of my account. I then had a chat session with a representative on the app that said it will take 24 to 48 hours to unlock my account although they had all the items requested to verify my identity. They sent multiple emails that were contradictory to what I was being told and instead of fixing the problem after I verified my identity and payment method I was told it will take 24 to 48 hours to unlock my account. This is very poor customer relations and very poor customer service by representatives who were unknowable and gave wrong information that caused a great inconvenience to me who has used their service for convenience during this busy world we live in. This type of service will effect the money the drivers make because of the loss of customers because of the incompetence of the company. The way they handled the issue makes them a very untrustworthy company to deal with.

Order placed and paid for. Driver made decision to turn around and not deliver due to road conditions but would not respond to questions via text. Called instacart who would not change the order back to a pickup so we could actually get our order and thier refund policy is 7-10 days. They would not discuss or help.

Will never use this service again.

I was very pleased and shocked of how fast Monee(The shopper) was at getting my mothers groceries. My mom is 70 yrs old and she lives in Oklahoma i live in texas and was unable to help her physically get to any stores she had no food or nothing. She was literally shut down. I didnt know what to do so i got online which i usually dont do. I found the instacart app and immediately started checking out food. I figured it take 2 or 3 days like amazon to get to her. Was upset about that but this app got it to my moms apt in 1 hour. I was so suprised and thankful for these people they definately made my moms night. Thanks yall...