InstacartReviews 2,486

I used to love Instacart, I used them all the time so I had the year membership. But they took over 300 dollars from me. They just decided to start charging my card random $140.00 transactions when I haven't used it in weeks. When I call to try to get help to why I'm getting so many transactions charged to my card they always say it's a membership fee even though I argued about how the membership isn't even that high. So they got the $110.00 for my membership the first time around plus three charges of over $120.00. Make sense of that. And then on top of that they had the audacity to cancel my membership I already paid for. Shoppers were great. But the company is fraud. The worst part was because I used this service I couldn't even call my bank to stop their fraudulent charges because I gave consent prior. It's a smart way to scam people for sure.

If I could give them 0 I would. Forget ordering any meat or canned beverages through their service they will find a way to screw it up. If you order anything heavy, the store will always be "out of stock" of it or they say they got it and show up with nothing. Very stressful situation for me today and I didn't need it right now I'm in no shape to be stressed right now which is what this service is supposed to be for to help people in need. This is the exact reason why I don't tip ahead of time until my order is delivered because 9/10 there's always something MAJORLY wrong with the order and it will always be the one thing I really needed. None of them look at the instructions under the products. Ground beef you'll order 2lbs fresh ground beef they will deliver that rolled up frozen thing that's about the size of your palm that's another thing that gets me. Just horrible horrible service. They must just hire anyone and pay just be extremely low, maybe if their service was better people would tip but I have not yet had a reason to tip with these people. You can literally spell it out and they won't get it right. One time I ordered a "bundle of bananas about 4-5" the person shows up with 1 banana... I could've died what am I going to do with that?

I would leave a no stars if this was an option. Shopper was texting me that she had replaced items with things not even remotely similar. Example: Salisbury Steaks with Gramdmas Chicken vegetables and rice bake. WTH?! When attempting to communicate my concerns with this shopper, she rudely text me and said she did not speak English. I used this service due to being ill, but it has been more headache and hassle to deal with this rude shopper and the awful customer service reps that I called 3 times and still did not get my issue resolved.

It appears that some shoppers are illiterate. I have had food delivered that I never ordered. It went straight from my porch to the trash. Not a good use of my money.

Now that Prop. 22 has passed, these people who get it wrong will be getting benefits and higher wages. That translates into consumers paying even more for bad service.

I am going to hire kids working their way through school (any kind) and pay them cash. Then my money will go for food and a trusted person -- not for overhead to a corporation. Instacart is no longer a valuable service for me.

I order from COSTCO every Monday, STEW LEONARD'S on Tuesdays, and from STOP N' SHOP on Thursdays via Instacart.
There are mostly sweet delivery people, doing their best, with virtually no training and who, often, can read English.
At least twice a week, I get items that are flat out rotten, stale or both. They literally send out blackened bananas and rotten tomotoes on a regular basis. I've received bread, milk, and carrots that were dated and arrived well past their printed expiration dates. This is a health hazard, illegal, and extremely time-consuming to report to Instacart customer service. Not to mention the fact that there must be tons of wasted food each week.
Today, after purchasing a huge bag of carrots from Costco, which was delivered 10 days past the suggested date of "purchase by," I tried to call Instacart's corporate office. The number, in SF, was the same number for CT. I imagine that their CEO is hiding under his desk. Tomorrow, I'm calling the Dept. of Health and the DCP's Food & Standards division.
The prices are exorbitant, the delivery people are risking their lives for a 5-star rating, and what it, I'm pretty sure, is minimum wage. Is this rotten food delivery intentional or just carelessness. And, why is this food on the store shelves or in the warehouses to begin with?! (Nobody wants to get food poisoning, especially during a pandemic!) P.S. Did I mention that these stores are very often out of the organic produce and other foods they claim to have in stock?

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.

I am better off going to the store myself. Instacart promises fast delivery and once I place my order they send me an email noting that the time has been pushed back (not by minutes but by hours). The items you request are not always delivered and sometimes I get items I didn't request. I've read other reviews about the way they run their employees and they don't give them enough time to shop a $100 grocery trip which is why the delivery is so bad. I would pay extra for faster and better service from a delivery company. Maybe someone will get this idea and name it concierge service.

They do not keep their word.
At first, when you place an order it tells you you will receive your orders within 2 hours.
It's a complete lie. I kept waiting now over 3 hours, and it was already changed for another hour later than before. So, now it would be 4 hours.
I had to call customer service, otherwise who knows when I would receive the order.
Then, the shopper forgot one of the items on the list, which I really needed. Uggh

I TRIED OUT FOR THE 1ST TIME TODAY. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!
I ORDERED 5 LAVAZZA COFFEE AND A LARGE CAN OF OLIVE OIL. WHEN THE BAG ARRIVED, THERE ARE ONLY 2 COFFEE, NOT 5! THEN I EMAILED INSTACART N CALLED IN. AN INDIAN GUY CAME ON THE PHONE AND HUNG UP ON ME!.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED! CALLED IN AND AN INDIAN SOUNDING GUY ANSWERED THE PHONE. HE SAID HE PLACED ANOTHER ORDER. SO I ASKED WHEN THEY ARE COMING. I ALSO ADDED THAT IF THE SOTRE HAD THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE DELIVERED. THEN I ASKED WHEN THEY RARE COMING. HE SAID ASAP. I SAID WHA'T ASAP? TIME FRAME. HE SAID 11AM TO 2PM! I AM IN NYC N NOW 215PM. SO I SAID HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. HE HUNG UP ON ME!

UPDATE: SURE ENOUGH I HAD ANOTHER EMAIL SAYING THAT MY ORDER HAS BEEN CANCELLED! I TOLD THE GUY, IF THEY DID NOT SHIP THEM, THEN THEY WOULD NOT HAVE IT IN STOCK! WAS I RIGHT, OR WAS I RIGHT! HORRIBLE!

The Costco home delivery through instacart is terrible. They may say there is no delivery charge, but Instacart jacks up all the prices of goods. I've gotten the Costco receipt and compared to the Instacart order. Deliver ends up being about $12 - $15 more than buying at Costco, depending on what you order. The InstaCart shoppers are terrible. They do not look for or ask where items are. The shopper tells me all the time that something is out of stock and when I call the Costco that the order was placed at, they have the items in stock. Hopefully Costco realizes they would make a LOT more money if they hired their own delivery people and didn't use Instacart. The price gouging is crazy with Instacart. The service is terrible.

I've been using this service for over a year now. I will NEVER use them again. Today after my delivery, I noticed for the first time that a paper receipt was in my grocery bag. My total came to $128.31. Instacart emailed me my final receipt after delivery and I was charged $167.41. I went back and added up my delivery fee, service fee and my tip to my driver. The total should have been $154.37. Where did the extra $13.04 go? Good question. So I reached out to Instacart help line directly. Here's what they said. Nothing. I asked over 6 times where the extra money went. Who got it? The retailer? The driver? Instacart? I was passed from one person to another and not one of the people would answer this question. Now I understand that some grocers inflate the price a little for groceries through this service. I'm fine with that. But when my paper receipt shows an amount, that's what the retailer charged. Otherwise, my receipt would show differently. Now I'm wondering exactly how much I have overpaid in the last year with this "fluff" that no one at Instacart seems to know where it goes? This is fraud. Their site mentions a possible overage for items based on the store, but the store regulates that, not Instacart. Now I know why they tell their drivers to NEVER leave a paper receipt with the delivery. So beware! On top of delivery fee, service fee, and tip, they are somehow adding "fluff" and seem to be at a loss when I ask them where that money went. After much arguing and telling the lady that she was refusing to answer my question, she agreed to refund me the $13.04. I did tell her I was going to expose them now. Today they just got caught.

We had a horrible experience with Instacart and their prices are deceptive. My husband was recently injured and I work full time so grocery delivery is not something we frequently use. I ordered $275 worth of groceries and they only delivered $205. They picked out terrible cuts of meat and produce. I was charged $257... the $52 was in extra charges on top of our groceries! Service fee, delivery fee, heavy order fee, premium and then I gave a tip as well. I was not aware of all of these fees and they were extremely rude and would not refund any of them. They are taking advantage of people during a pandemic. I will never use Instacart again!