Instacart was founded in 2012 in San Francisco, California, by former Amazon employee Apoorva Mehta. Mehta wanted to create a delivery service similar to Amazon, but one that delivered fresh produce and groceries to customers from their local stores within hours after being ordered. 
The company offers a delivery service of items purchased from a wide variety of grocery stores, as well as other types of stores, including Ralph’s, Market Basket, Petco, Costco, and Target, to name a few. Forbes magazine listed Instacart as “the most promising company in America” in January of 2015
Instacart mainly operates via its smartphone app, but it can be used on laptops, tablets, or desktop computers. Customers pay online as well via Apple Pay or Android Pay. 
Instacart has approximately 500 employees, operates out of 15 major cities, including Denver and Los Angeles, and offers delivery from 24 stores, with more being added. In December of 2015, Instacart raised their prices by 50 percent, while cutting their payment to couriers by 50 percent in some areas.
In September of 2016, the company announced an expansion to their North Chicago area and in October of 2016, Instacart expanded their Orange County and Minneapolis coverage areas. 
As of March 2017, Instacart services 36 markets, composed of 1,200 cities in 25 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
Also in March of 2017, Instacart agreed to pay a $4.6 million class action settlement stemming from the misclassification of its shopping employees as independent contractors. The suit alleged 18 violations, including improper tip pooling and failure to reimburse workers for business expenses.
The company has also been plagued with hackers and bots.
On September 3rd, 2020, the company added 7-Eleven to Instacarts list of available stores.
Headquarters for the company are located in San Francisco, California. 
Instacart was founded in 2012 in San Francisco, California, by former Amazon employee Apoorva Mehta. Mehta wanted to create a delivery service similar to Amazon, but one that delivered fresh produce and groceries to customers from their local stores within hours after being ordered.
The company offers a delivery service of items purchased from a wide variety of grocery stores, as well as other types of stores, including Ralph’s, Market Basket, Petco, Costco, and Target, to name a few. Forbes magazine listed Instacart as “the most promising company in America” in January of 2015
History
Instacart mainly operates via its smartphone app, but it can be used on laptops, tablets, or desktop computers. Customers pay online as well via Apple Pay or Android Pay.
Instacart has approximately 500 employees, operates out of 15 major cities, including Denver and Los Angeles, and offers delivery from 24 stores, with more being added. In December of 2015, Instacart raised their prices by 50 percent, while cutting their payment to couriers by 50 percent in some areas.
In September of 2016, the company announced an expansion to their North Chicago area and in October of 2016, Instacart expanded their Orange County and Minneapolis coverage areas.
As of March 2017, Instacart services 36 markets, composed of 1,200 cities in 25 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
Also in March of 2017, Instacart agreed to pay a $4.6 million class action settlement stemming from the misclassification of its shopping employees as independent contractors. The suit alleged 18 violations, including improper tip pooling and failure to reimburse workers for business expenses.
The company has also been plagued with hackers and bots.
On September 3rd, 2020, the company added 7-Eleven to Instacarts list of available stores.
Headquarters for the company are located in San Francisco, California.
Dear Madam or Sir.
Let me introduce myself: I am an inventor from Russian Federation – Timur Zakirov. I am happy to send this letter with a proposal of possible cooperation.
I would like to present you with the system of smart grocery carts that is covered by a patent in the USA. It was created by me and my partner. The USA patent is US10,383,461B2. Our invention may help your company to become more protected in the field of intellectual property rights.
The patent covers the process of buying goods in a store without cashiers. The customer simply puts the necessary purchases in the grocery cart and pays on his own.
You can find a presentation about our systems attached to this letter. I will be glad to receive a response from you.
If you need any further or additional information, please let me know.
Best regards,
Timur Zakirov smartgroccerycarts@ gmail.com telefon +79653202264
I worked as a shopper and I am missing entire direct deposit earning which includes reimbursement it’s been a month now and nobody has been able to resolve that upon chatting with support almost everyday since November.
I was in Instacart shopper in Las Vegas, I started shopping so I can better take care of my son who is autistic and epileptic. He has had four brain surgeries and is at high risk of sudden death of epilepsy. So when he would have a seizure or behavioral episode because becomes harmful to himself I would have to cancel batches to respond to my son. I was told by an Instacart employee for Customer Care and shopper support that if I just message them and have it reassigned it will not count against me so that’s what I did and it still count it against me the company Does not care about the community or the employees. I was always told by my Clients that they wish they could just have me assigned to them to do the shopping. Me and my son wish we could lead a normal life like majority of society. Unfortunately, we have to take every day as a blessing and be Thankful we have another day together. Are used to think this company was good until I saw they’re only out for themselves not for their employees or the customer. How am IBeing a single mother supposed to make a living and support my family. I forgot until you’re in my shoes you don’t care. I pray no one else to deal with what I go through with my son goes through and the fears that we live with.
I am concerned and trying to contact someone higher up than CSR. I made an order that did not deduct from my account. I tried paying it. I had originally changed the card payment at that order, it still deducted it from the old card. I chatted CS and was told they would deduct the monies from the new card. They have not. I then had another chat as well as phone call to CS and they said it could not be paid because it was “Past two weeks now” I don’t even know what that means. I’m just trying to pay my bill of more than a month ago. I was told if I made another order the old food bill amount would be deducted. I made another order, it was not deducted. I’m really getting frustrated, it’s like they don’t want their money. Not everyone would still try to pay, by the way! Please someone help me get this paid. This is no way to run this business when you can’t accept payment? I reiterate I changed the card to the new card at the time of the original order and the money was deducted from the wrong card. It denied twice. Now they say it’s too late to deduct it. How in the world am I supposed to pay for my services?!
I placed a order from Wegman’s for pickup. My pick up window was May 1, 11am-12pm. Order was ready and on-time with only a couple of subsititutions. On May 2 account showed a charge of $68.94, Not a bad experience so far.
Today i checked my checking account to see what has posted. I had 2 additional charges: $56.27 on 5/4 and $43.67 on 5/5. I chatted online with a customer service rep, Wilne.
Wilne could not grasp the concept that 2 of the 3 charges were erroneous and kept telling they were charges for orders placed. Interesting since my Instacart account only shows the one order. I told Wilne that I wanted to 2 erroneous charges refunded. Wilne’s response: problems with the refund platform and to call the team leaders in the morning. I think I’ll call my financial institution instead.
I am writing because I am a disabled veteran. I ordered food 14 hours ago
and my delivery time has been changed 9 times! It’s a new day and I still don’t have my food! The representative named Chastity was uncaring and an overall moron! This is unacceptable on so many levels!
I ordered food and chose 5 hrs delivery time and 15mins later i got a notification that my meals are delivered. in addition to that the meat and frozen food had no way of keeping them cool. i had to leave work early to put my food in the fridge/freezer so they wont spoil. this is not acceptable, i have never had any issues with your company till now, if this continues to be an issue i will cancel my membership and will encourage anyone i know to not do any business with you.
Horrible Instacart experience. I placed an order on 3/30/20 to be delivered on 4/4/20. I never received my order nor any explanation. The company doesn’t answer on chat…or DM/PM…or email. If you call their 800 number, you are told they are no longer taking any calls. What kind of customer service is that? I did report the company to the AG of CA (their headquarters) as well as the FTC and BBB. I honestly think this company will be shut down within a year. In the meantime, I would like to encourage people to report the company.
I shopped Costco through Instacart. I understood I would pay a 5% service fee ($27.93) and a tip ($27.93) Nowhere was I told that Instacart could charge anything they wanted over retail price. I ordered 2 gift cards that I knew were $79. The were billed at $97.59 each. That is $18.59 each or $37.28 total. Costco stated they had no control over Instacart pricing and could only refund $79 each. I only used the service because of Covid-19. I believe that is the definition of Covid-19 price gouging. If I don’t receive a refund I will be lodging a complaint with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection.
I ordered groceries a few days ago for the first time and was given a date for delivery. I never received my order. I checked on the website and they showed a guy who supposedly delivered groceries and a picture of the house it was delivered to. The problem was that it was NOT my house! I tried to call Instacart and could not get a working number. Now I am emailing, but will probably have to contact my credit card company to get my money back. Terrible!
I had the same problem yesterday with no picture. He said he delivered my bag at 1 pm and I was home all day. Never got them, and I agree their help line is no help, can’t call or chat with a person. Can’t email really. I have one email but it goes no where I think haha
Call your local Governments A.G’ s office and file a complaint
Like many others, I attempted to contact your twice. Put on hold , kept phone by my side while working.
After 4 hours, got disconnected each time.
My grocery order, due for delivery tomorrow, showed we owed approximately $178.00. Debit card is being billed $210.00. That is reason why I am calling. I will let play out after Saturday delivery and see how I am ultimately billed.
Your customer help line system is not Working! I have been trying to call for 3 days. 3-4 Hr wait times then I scheduled a call back only time available was 5:15 this Morning. They calledand woke me up and said please hold. Then the call was cut off. Called back….. 3 hour wait time waited the 3 hours and it disconnected again. My order shoull have been here Monday…..its Thursday now
I ordered groceries from Sprouts through Instacart Saturday at about 3:50 PM. I saw totals of about a $100, $130, and $150 flash on the screen as the ordering process unfolded. A nice young lady appeared at about 5:30 with my groceries. She left as I was puting them away. It soon became apparent that I was missing 2 six-packs of cola, six cartons of chocolate ice cream, and a bottle of melatonin pills. I don’t know what else was missing because I’m 80 years old, my memory’s slipping, and Instacart never sent me a list of the things I had ordered. There was no receipt from Sprouts. I checked to see how much my debit card had been debited and fount that I had been charged $170+ for my brief shopping spree. I called Sprouts and they gave me a number for Instacart. The Instacart wait time was 108 minutes. I called again a few minutes later and the wait was 122 minutes. Lord only knows what it is now. I looked for a long time to find a way to send Instacart an email and finally stumbled onto this forum. I have little hope that this will help because there are hundreds of complaints ahead of mine. I believe that I was cheated out of about $50. I am going to send this message to everyone I know and forget about it. Russell Farris
I ordered groceries on line 3/22/20, Sunday evening. I was told they would be delivered Monday between 3 and 5. Still no delivery. Have tried and tried to get in touch with Instacart through email, phone…to no avail. Mind you, my bank card has been debited for the cost of the groceries. Terrible customer service.
I ordered 3/24 and they Took my money off so no delivery and no updates wow
Complain about these M F’s to your local Governments A.G’s Office, Consumer Affairs and The Better Business Bureau
Try getting through by the customer service number. That’s a nice scam. Have an unmanned number so you can say you have one where others don’t but have it auto disconnect after a certain amount of time never answering those customers that call with a real expectation of speaking to a live person. Bravo on the balls to pull that one off.
Problem in search of a solution here: For the past 2 wks I have had my VERY valid credit card denied on the Costco/Instacart site……..No problem with the same card on Costco or anywhere else. Spoke to reps 3 times, no help there, 2 emails detailing problem…NO RESPONSE! THIS NOT A CARD ISSUE, it’s your IT issue. The courtesy of a reply is too much? FIX THIS!
My VERY valid credit card denied on their site. Error Message. Charges went through on my bank account then refunded. Spoke to customer service reps 8 times, no help. They keep telling me will escalate and receive an email. No email from them. Only a “Prepare to be Amazed” welcome email. THIS NOT A CARD ISSUE, it’s your IT issue. The courtesy of a reply is too much? FIX THIS! DITTO DITTO
Company headquarters phone number is not working. They are issuing bogus escalate ticket numbers which no one responds to and customer reps can’t find.
I really wanted this to work but it’s a timer waster and doesn’t work in the real world.
I’m disappointed in this company who delivers for a store I’ve gone to and been pleased with for many years. Kroger has never given any kind of bad services until they partnership with Instacart. I made an order for home delivery on or about September 1st, 2019. That first order was cancelled but they took my $215.00. Reordered and got the second order. Have at least called 3-4 times and emails confirming my refund of $215.00. I’ve stayed in contact with my bank for the refund $215.00 to be refunded back on my Visa debit card. They seem to have 100 different dates for my refund. I’m a disabled senior and this company has caused me to borrow bill money from family that has to be paid back. I’ve got to now decide either to file a small claims or get my son a federal prosecutor involved because I’m not just going to let this unprofessional company just steal my money. I will fight them until as always I have victories. Enough is enough.
Debra A. Mitchell
My daughter and three children moved into a new apartment today so I wanted to stock her fridge. I live in Maryland and she lives in Washington DC. The order was 348.38. A few minutes after placing the order I received an email from a Michael R. In trust and safety saying they canceled my order due to possible fraud, I responded with the details of my order asking if that was the order he was reffing to. Within a couple of minutes Michael R. responds back asking for a picture of my drivers license and the credit card I used for the purchase covering the first 12 digits. I sent him the pictures taken from my cell phone. He responds back asking that I send them in jpeg or jpgs. I asked how do I do that from my cell phone. No Response. 45 minutes later I sent another email trying to get an answer.. Still no response. I called the Instacart support desk and long story short, she could not help me. I asked her to cancel my $348.38 order and to close my account because of the non-communication from their trust and safety department. Immediately after hanging up from the support desk I received an email from Michael R. Saying the situation has been resolved and my account was reactivated and my order placed. I responded to him saying that due to the ridiculous amount of time I had to wait for him to get back to me I want my order canceled and my account with Instacart closed because I will never use them again. I received an email from Michael R. Saying that he has canceled my order and my account remains close. Good! There are too many delivery services available to have to tolerate this horrible customer service from Michael R. In the trust and safety department. Instacart just lost a valued customer!
Serva
Did you ever figure out that maybe Michael had another order he had to fill?
Why don’t you give them another chance. After all it was a small problem that
you should not have gotten upset over and it was fixed but you had to hurry and cancel the account so I will always use them for delivery service. I feel Instacart is the best out there!!
Im a full service shopper in Salt Lake City and work full time for for Instacart. I absolutely love working for them and hopefully one day I can be involved with their operations in the various cities they operate in. If I was an employee I would want to see a program put in place that travels from city to city and educates and listens to the shoppers in the field. I would call it “INSTACART CUSTOMER SERVICE UNIVERSITY” in which the purpose would be to lead shoppers to fully understand the importance of our customers and give them skills interact with the customers in order to answer questions, resolve support issues, establish credibility, and nurture relationships for the successful growth and future expansion and operations of Instacart. I think the problem with our shopper network is they don’t see the big picture. The shopper has power to either make it or break it and ruin it. One bad experience with a shopper will cost us not only one customer but many. A lost customer will at lest tell 5 other people wether it be friends, family or business associates what their experience was like and those people will tell others and so on. The negative publicity that Instacart may be getting in the news is a two sided story and I can tell you right now Instacart would not ever do anything to ruin their reputation. So for everyone out there that has a cpmplaint or issue you need to look at the big picture and you need to examine yourself from another persons perspective. If you don’t work with Instacart anymore its because you did it to yourself and no one else. Everyone has a complaint but its all about how you present yourself. I know a lot of shoppers that I say to myself “Why don’t you do yourself a favor” and find a side gig. If its that bad leave cause your tainting others and the negativity is gross. Instacart has given you the opportunity to do something for yourself that you have never been able to do. Instacart Customer Service University!
I have been an instacart full service shopper since October of 2018 and my account got suspended for no reason at all. All risk management ops told me through email is that a customer reported that i entered their home without permission and i demanded a tip from them. I would never enter anyones home without their permission that alone demand anything from a customer. I am a 51 year old man. I am not a teenage kid. So tell me what i can do about this i am a highly rated dedicated full time shopper and have worked alot of nights over my shift not getting paid any extra for the over time and then they so this to me because one customer reported something that never happened because they wanted rheir services for free.
Then the customers account should be closed and they can’t open another one for atleast a year or can’t get any other grocery services for a year. Karma plays both ways
My mother had a broken leg and I ordered grocery for her and instacart deactivated my account and will not give me explanation for it.
She ordered 170.00 dollar alcohol and the driver never delivered it. When she contacted instacart thy claimed she had put in the wrong address which was impossible because she was a regular and the address was saved. Also what didn’t make sense is that the drivers are suppose to scan the Drivers license and instacart could not show any proof. They blocked her address and who ever tries to order for her Instacart deactivates their account and refuses to give explanation. Beyond disappointing customer service.
If you are a resident of The Great State of Arizona this may be of interest.
Intracart if charging a fee for bottled water. I noticed a charge of $4.00 on my last order. This is the reply to my query:
“.Instacart charges bottle deposits and bag fees following local city and state laws, wherever applicable.”
Arizona has preempted this law. There is NO bottle and bag law. This is the link to Arizona Law.
azleg.gov/ars/9/00500-38.htm
It is a waste of my time to pursue this matter with Instacart Support. A letter to the Arizona Attorney General will put a stop to this unlawful charge,
I was a shopper for three weeks I found out their app and other issues with online grocery shopping to be very frustrating many items were not in the store the app costly timed out they had a funny way of doing your pay which did not up to me nobody would explain this I complain quite a bit as of today February 21, 2019 they tell me my account is deactivated and no one will Give me an explanation I have emailed I have called and I have chatted but these cowards keep referring me back to email so they can remain anonymous well I will be having my attorney write them a letter to get an explanation if I don’t get one I will file a multi million dollar discrimination suit against the company see if that gets their attention don’t deal with Instacart and I will tell everyone I know to not shop with these people they rip you off they rip the shop is off
I was a shopper full service for a year and two months I worked everyday from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm sometimes 10pm trying to save money to move and one day I was doing a delivery and my account stop working out of nowhere I call instacart and they told me to send them an email and I came and I went to the office they have here in Broadway Manhattan and the guy that spoke to me ask me if I received and email at that moment I didn’t had received no email he ask me for my name and number and told me to check my email again and there was an email stating that my account was been deactivated because of some missing deliveries I was stunned I could believe what I was reading I told the guy that was impossible I always did all my deliveries he told me to send them an email with my proof I told him every building in Manhattan have cameras send somebody or call the customers and you will see I did all my deliveries and this people never answer none of my emails. They deactivated my account for no reason after all the hours I worked and all the tickets a got . They didn’t care they don’t care about how hard you worked
Lee
exactly what I posted. I am with you.
I didn’t know that using Instacart put me at risk for a lawsuit. I used the service for about a year then I had to refer a shopper’s slip and fall threat of a lawsuit to my homeowner’s insurance. My insurance settled with the shopper for a relatively minor event. It was frightening for my husband and me since we had never been threatened with this kind of thing before. After receiving the shopper’s threat letter, I called Instacart. They said they’d get back in touch with me but they never did. Use this service at considerable risk.
Since I haven’t been able to find a corporate contact address regarding this matter, I’ll address it here. Found out today when talking to another grocery delivery service they had never heard of this kind of thing happening. I was going to let it go but I think BBB really needs to post this occurrence regarding your company.
Apparently, I am one of the many who have been ripped off by this company. My account was charged twice by them in the same day, 2 hours apart. When I brought this to their attention, I was told it was my problem and that I would have to dispute this charge with my bank. My bank explained that it can help me with this problem, but due to the fact it is a disputed charge, there will need to be an investigation. I need to complete paperwork, the bank then contacts the vendor; and, a decision is made as to whether the charge is valid. The bank indicated to me that a reputable vendor would reverse the duplicate charge and not put the burden to correct their mistake on the customer. I was told that the dispute process can take up to 45 days to resolve. During which time Instacart holds my money, in its account, accruing interest along with whoever else is trying to get their refunds back. I have filed a consumer complaint with our state authority. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE, THEY ARE NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY!
you are totally wrong!!!!
I’m at a loss I had tried in the past eight months to have somebody help me with putting me in touch with somebody like this to me with what I would love to do and some of the plans I have and I’m constantly told that nobody has an email there is no number and I get the same automated response most of the time I live and work in the shoot weekend and I would like to speak to somebody about becoming a part of that other than just a shopper can somebody I had tried in the past eight months to have somebody help me with putting me in touch with somebody like this to me with what I would love to Galen some of the plans I have and I’m constantly told that nobody has an email there is no number and I get the same automated response most of the time I live and work in the shoot weekend and I would like to speak to somebody about becoming a part of that other than just a shopper can somebody please Contact me? I just have such a hard time digesting the information given by shopper happiness when they say they do not have emails unlike you not have called and they close we all know that is not the caseio contact me? I just have such a hard time digesting the fact
That I am told there is absolutely no emails nor any phone calls able to be mean to anybody other than customer service and the shopper happiness and that there is not Phone number nor email other than customer service… I’m pretty sure there is a major of San Diego whichever and I love several others I would really like to please speak to somebody who actually
hey love did anyone call you back about becoming a full service shoper
WARNING ⚠️
DO NOT USE #InstaCart Shopping!!!!
Nothing but problems when ordering. Latest was an order NEVER received but was notified it was delivered and my card was charged. Monitored driver via the app/map and they were around the area but NEVER came to my apt. Called and the driver never even answered their customer service number. Then was told I would have to go on another 2 hour wait after just waiting and it was Saturday. They would not expedite delivery and I demanded a supervisor who was even of less help. I requested refund of my yearly membership that I just used 1 time since renewal and was told I would lose $50 from what I paid since I used the membership(1TIME)!!!!
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY-YOU PAY MORE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT ABOUT HELPING THE CUSTOMER!!!
Ththe corporate tel number is no good and is in south carolina!!!!,, there is No tel number for their headquarters in san francisco, how do you get ahold of their executive branch for issues their cust svc cannot resolve?….is this a legitimate company what gives……
.
Thanks for letting us know the site was out of date. We have updated the info
Spend about $1000 per month via Instacart between Safeway and PetCo. $450 order tonight, wanted to add two items from Safeway before shopping commenced but the method described in “help” is not viable. So shopping started and I sent the woman a text, which she never answered. So then I called customer service and spoke with a young woman, told her my issue, she put me on hold to look at my inbasket with the two additional items. She came back on the phone and assured me she informed the shopper of the additional two items (one was olive leaf extract because my dog has an abscess on his tooth and the Rocklin Ranch Vet prescribed an antibiotic they didn’t carry and per my previous experience human pharmacies don’t carry it either as it is a vet strength and they refused to give him half a dose from the same antibiotic that was 2x in milligrams while we were there??????) so I very much needed that oil!!! Of course the shopper shows up without the two additional items as her phone wasn’t on!!!! Not only that but she sat her insulated bags down in the door for me to unzip and unload myself???
So I call customer service again and some young guy tells me since the order was already delivered they wouldn’t waive the fee, supposed manager same script. Told him I had an order pending with PetCo for over $200 right then and how much money I spent on them per month and if I have to waste my time calling the customer service number and am assured my issue is taken care of and it isn’t and I have to call back again and am treated with such disrespect, they won’t have my business anymore and he didn’t give a…… Cancelled PetCo order and am deleting Instacart app. I am through putting up with rude incompetent asses. Certainly am not going to pay increased prices for items purchased, delivery costs and if warranted a tip when the corporation running the mess treats customers like they are expendable. I can go to a nice grocery store and order from Chewy.com in the same time it takes to deal with this mess and save thousands per year. C-YA Instacart!
I would leave comments, but I don’t want Sammie to yell at me!
Shoppers-if you want a tip, please take pride in your work. This is my money you are spending, and my groceries. I don[‘t think you care or even look at what you are buying!
This is my email to Instacart Customer Service:
Gentlemen,
I am incredibly unhappy with my order on 12/3/17: instacart.com/orders/h6xCC/receipt?token=upCTAYi5cHFpNhKz3Cpk&full=true#see-all
Firstly, the woman that delivered my order was not the woman that was in the photo. Danyale has delivered to me before, and this was not her, which I find to be a bit unnerving.
Secondly, my order was minus three items. I had to call customer service and spend a great deal of time on the phone to have those items refunded. Also, upon reviewing my order further today, it was noted that I was refunded for 4 Slim Jim packs, but there is no dollar amount for that refund.
Additionally, I had signed up for the two-week free delivery trial, and I was still charged for delivery. Customer service adjusted that for me. That dollar amount has not posted to my bank account, so I’m uncertain if it will actually be refunded. There is also an unexplained “adjustment charge” on my receipt for $10.47.
At this point, I am unable to figure out what I was finally charged, and I doubt I will use Instacart again.
This has been annoyingly unnecessary and time-consuming. I hope your tagline rings true:
Your happiness is our #1 priority.
We really mean that.
——
No one ever followed up – I had to contact them today, two weeks later. Their response? “You’ve been refunded for all the missing items”. I have to admit, I was expecting much more this – this IS NOT customer service nor care.
I will NEVER use Instacart nor recommend them again.
I started working for instacart in October of 2017. I worked for the company for three weeks and then they fired me because of a nonviolent felony on my record. They have told me that if I submitted referrals from previous employers and current then it might be possible that I can be rehired. I have done that and have not heard back from them yet. There is no number to call corporate on and they have blocked my number from calling. If I dial *67 then I am connected. I think it is unfair to fire someone if they have been working for three weeks and their offense has nothing to do with the job they were hired for.
The shopper started to change the quantity on my order and the item on my order, even for items I indicated “do not replace”. When I noticed it and obtained his phone number from Instacart. His attitude was terrible. He stated there were a couple of things out of stock and that this market does not have organic items which is not true. After I got off the phone, I pushed a rolling cart by my door and was ready for his delivery. When I opened the Instacart app to take another look, I was shocked to see he had canceled my order! How can Instacart hire this kind of contractor who is all about money and has no work ethics and respect for customers?!
This is the second order in two days because the first order was not shopped properly due to the incompetency of The first shopper. When I phoned in to make a compliant, a customer service rep named “Chami” defended the shopper even after reading my email and listening my version over the phone. I am severely disabled with a lot of physical damages and currently do not have a Caregiver. I’m relying on your online service for grocery delivery.
Her supervisor, Greg, according to him, was one of the floor supervisors at the time, did not apologize for the series of bad experience which caused waste of my time and energy. I suggested to him that shoppers shall not have the option to cancel an order because it will create a situation like mine continuously in the future. Since the shopper realized the two replacements were also out of stock, there were too few items to get on the list. So there’s not enough money to make for him. He then canceled it without my knowledge or consent. Of course my suggestion was not taken seriously.
When I asked besides the notes entered under this shoppers account, Will there be any other actions taken against his unethical and dishonest behavior? This “so called “ supervisor Greg started to belittle me by saying that this is internal information which I have NO RIGHT to know and that this is NOT my business. I think consumers having been manipulated and caught up in a series of terrible experiences and being treated badly by the shopper and had to file a complaint has every right to know whether the complaint has been followed through. I did not even get my grocery and the truth was twisted, so of course it is my business to know whether this shopper will receive disciplinary action or not
I am very upset at customer service rep Charmi as well as Greg supervisor in particular . They apparently have no sense of what customer service is and have no intention to provide it. Greg stated The corporate office does not accept regular mail for complaints and I had toemail to the regular customer service email address and ask to be forwarded to corporate office which I did but I never heard back. After listening to the phone records, I hope you can get back to me with a more professional answer.
Thank you
Did you ever hear back? No wait, let me guess….
Good evening,
I came to help take care of my sister who is currently in of the Sellitti. I remembered her telling me about her wonderful experience with your company so I called to open my own account.
That was the first problem. There was a wonderful coupon on Retailmenot. They refused to apply the coupon because I was temporarily staying with my sister and have not rented my own apartment. Of course, they wouldn’t apply the coupon to my sisters account because she was an existing customer.
Then I had a horrible experience with the dropper. There were missing items items that came that I had not ordered things that were substituted without my input and the shopper would not communicate with me at all. I know that I said up to five hours, however The gentleman started shopping my order at 2 o’clock and walked in the door at 6:30 sharp which was The deadline.
I spoke to an agent at the helpline then I talk to a supervisor. Let me not omit that the regular service people disconnected me on two occasions so I had to call back and start all over again.
A supervisor named Jenny suggested that I send her in a screenshot of the offer on retail me not. I sent it into the help email which was her instruction. I requested that the gentleman who responded to my email that he call me because typing is very hard on my eyes. She stated no that was not possible.
I asked to speak with or get the number for the person who runs their call center and that was a declined request as was the request for the phone number for the corporate office.
By the way the corporate Phone number is not found anywhere on the Internet. To say that I am disappointed and aggravated is an understatement of the decade.
I wonder if anyone actually reads these and takes any action to solve the problem.
Emmajean Smith
Any results?
Instacart charged my card $17 for food more than the receipt provided by the driver. This $17 is not the charge for the delivery fee or the tip or the service charge. The customer service rep was so rude and condescending. Unbelievable that they are still in business. I hope that another company comes up with a delivery service that is not a scam. Do not use Instacart!
You are an idiot of you think there isn’t charges for home delivery. How can they pay for the it all? $17 seems like a good deal to me for groceries delivered to your house. Go to the grocery store yourself then complainer.
Are you on payroll to send all these nasty replies that have nothing to do with you?
Yes Sammie is def on the payrolll, instacart sucks. I use to use weekly not anymore other choices. 🙂
Any luck?
As mentioned in my previous communications, there was a glitch on the app. It indicated that there was an error and I had to do my order (didn’t go through). So, I continued.
I did NOT know there were TWO orders until I was contacted by your shopper (the second one).
I did NOT authorize nor want TWO orders. The items added were merely with the thought that since YOUR APP had an error that my original order did not go through.
As I have indicated MANY times, we expect a FULL REFUND by TODAY, 10/6/17.
We are VERY busy people and do not have time to continue to go over and over this.
FULL REFUND EXPECTED:
PUBLIX VIA INSTACART PUBLIX.CO CA 10/01 Debit card transaction −$129.66
PUBLIX VIA INSTACART PUBLIX.CO CA 10/01 Debit card transaction −$185.22
Should these transactions NOT be refunded, we will be pursuing a BBB compliant on 10/7/17.
Thank you.
Wow, you are irrational. I bet all your hot air got you no where.
Any results?
What is happening is that Instacart is no longer allowing customers to purchase items for the sale prices as currently in the Publix stores. So when I buy an item from Publix that is on sale 2 for 1, I get charged for 2 while Instacart pockets the money for the second.
I do all my shopping from the Publix web site, including bringing up my Instacart shopping login, after reviewing the weekly ads and determining my weekly purchase. Sometimes the prices don’t match up on the Instacart site and I’ve always made notes for the shopper when this is the case, allowing me to not have the item purchased if the sale price is not being honored.
I’ve been a happy customer for about ½ a year and was actually about to upgrade my Instacart membership just before this incident. This time, customer service was not helpful at all, I was put on hold and ignored (had to hang up and recall), I was put on hold and then told they couldn’t “hear” me and had to recall again. I can’t believe that Publix would want to be associated with the type of service, price gouging and poor customer service being experienced during my last transaction.
Publix Pork Loin Rib Chops, Center Cut (~ 1.03 lbs)
1.15 lb × $3.89 0.46
Hillshire Farm Beef Polska Kielbasa Sausage (12 oz)
3 × $4.19 1.57
Mountain Dew Diet Soda (12 x 12 x 12 fl oz)
6 × $5.89 11.78
CuXXXXbers (each)
2 × $0.59 0.18
Publix Premium Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (4 lb or more pkg), USDA Grade A, 97% Fat Free ,Vegetable Fed (~ 3.75 lbs)
7.47 lb × $5.19 19.38
Total owed to customer: $33.37
No one owes you anything, sounds lile you have enough time to shop on your own. Or is ot the fact you dont get your way then either so you have to us a service to blame. So sad.
Please let me know when a person will be able to use food stamps on instacart when ordering from a grocery store. This person is disabled & it is needed as soon as absolutely possible. Anything that can be done to hasten this would be greatly appreciated.Thank you
Pathetic attempt at ineptness.
I have been working for 3 months and recently no shifts are available in my area for me I emailed several times about this nothing is being done please instacart get it together before the company shuts down
Have been working for Instacart for four weeks and had been loving . Fits perfectly into family/ work balance. There are some major pitfalls with this company. Many times as I’ve contacted with tech glitches they keep passing me off and saying someone is looking into it. But I never hear any real answers. And as far as hours I went from making 16 hours a week down to zero. Overnight that the hours were all gone in the areas in which I had designated to shop. Very frustrating! I understand that I am I am an independent contractor and there will be lean weeks. I take pride in my work and delivered to each of my customers what I would do for my own family. Apologize to all those shoppers out there have been screwed over by delivery people who don’t care. That is not the majority of us.
Dear Instacart Corporate HeadQuarters Staff,
My hope is for our company to improve. I use the word our because I am currently part of a contracted company stationed in Mesa,AZ that provides customer service on behalf of Instacart.
In the span of one month, I have become increasingly concerned that the ever-increasing scale of the company is causing us to lose sight of the most important dynamics of success: service.
I speak not only of the importance to provide each customer with a stellar experience, especially those who have eagerly signed up with us to devote their time to things such as family, work, etc. This also applies to the many contracted drivers, in-store shoppers, and full-service shoppers as well.
As a team, each person plays a role in the success of the process, however, that is where there appears to be a disconnect.
After personally reviewing the workings of your customer and shopper apps and applying for a position with your company directly, it has become an increasing concern that, while our company is growing in number, it is weakening in its strength to provide true customer service.
I have witnessed firsthand the app problems that our customers and applicants have experienced (all in the name of educating myself thoroughly to give the best customer service).
It is necessary to find the easiest and most readily accessible methods to assist our clients with purchasing groceries, our shoppers with finding those groceries, the drivers delivering those groceries, and your support staff rectifying any issues in between.
If continuous system errors and app failures, coupled with inaccurate links provided to customers and staff (e.g. : the link shoppers at instacart.com sent instead of instacart.shoppers.com to lead an applicant to continue their application process) become the norm, the integrity of our ever-expanding company will become increasingly tarnished.
It is not my goal to become another person standing in line to bad-mouth or belittle our company; I see the success of Instacart as a personal success.
Becoming a supportive member of our Instacart family in Mesa, AZ is something I value. Our company offers a great service to families, students, the disabled and older residents that I haven’t seen in other companies. We have a pretty jazzy logo, too!
Again, I use the words our and we, not as a way of garnering any accolades for the work that went into starting the company, but as a way to bring attention and focus back to what matters: service. All the profits in the world mean nothing in business if the company itself cannot be trusted.
Sincerely,
Hazel L.
Mesa, AZ
I am not even sure why I’m bothering with this. I’ve been on the phone with your sorry excuse for customer service 3 times only to be lied to about a credit and told that my ruined dinner party was my problem, not yours.
First time user and was so excited. Now upset and disappointed. Received less than 1/3 of my groceries, 4 hours late and I had to throw the meat away, it was HOT when it got here. Wonder if I was less aware of food health and ate that and got sick? Who would have had the liability for that? Why don’t your delivery people have coolers and ice to keep stuff hot? And there was a hot rotisserie chicken in the bag with my 3 pounds of raw burger (which wasn’t even my chicken, btw).
Supervisor Diana refused to let me talk to anyone else above her, just so you know.
Unbelievable. I am upset enough that I intend to make sure that everyone I know hears about how terrible your company is. I can accept and understand that things happen, but I cannot and will not accept a company that doesn’t give a damn about an unhappy customer or make an effort to at least act like they give a damn.
Big mistake on your part.
I have been a full service shophopper with instacart for approximately one month. I have not had a problem until this past week. I did not get paid last week for my hours worked July 10-July 16. I have been sending emails to both email addresses I have and using The
I worked 3 weeks IN THE MONTH OF MAY and have not receive any pay. I was finally contacted via email in 6/18 and advised I would have my pay in 3-4 days….I was assured of this …as of 7/5 over two weeks later, I have not received anything. I have sent over 10 emails with the one reply and no action. I feel like I was robbed and used. My account bounced as I had the crazy thought I would get paid for working. I will never say anything nice about a company that robs their employees. FURTHER I will never recommend for employment or delivery services. I bet whoever is in corporate received their payment for their work. This is the worst company I ever seen and yet they are able to stay in business however the don’t pay their workers.
So I’m not th o my one who’s not trying any responses as to why I’m not getting paid. This is ridiculous!!! No one should have to wait for over a month to receive pay..
How can we get corporate or upper management or even the CEO’s email or how can we get a hold of them to talk about our experience working for instacart and issues that we have because when we email The Shopper happiness nothing ever gets done and all day today I’ve been looking for emails to reach upper management and nothing not one CEO CFO anybody that means anything there’s literally no way to get ahold of them so does that even mean that they even care about their workers let alone their business.
I’m having the same problems. Trying to get my questions answered and just no reply from anyone. I call and it says they have a high volume of caller and to email instead but they never answer emails. They just ignore all my emails.
This is my first time ordering and it will be my last I was told I am.being charged a hold for 220.00 until my order is complete well my order is complete i. Was charged 185.82 but on the receipt the delivery person gave me says 162.35 and its because of mark ups or marl downs from the prices the online site charges that’s crazy and the lady I spoke with is saying they don’t even see the receipt I have so they have to go by what’s in the computer. I can email the receipt but why charge me more then what it actually is and the they tel me the hold for 220 would be off because the amount I paid has already went thru if not I had to call my bank to see if they can uplift the hold they don’t even see the total for 185.88 on there this is the first and last time I’ve never had this issue with the other company I’ve used and I said I’ll try wegmans out I hear good things but never again I like my money to come out for the right amount every time not no hold this ain’t a hotel but lesson learned you’ve lost a customer and the lady who delivered had her daughter she wasn’t dressed professionally shorts look like underware
Your receipt does not include your per item commission given to your shopper and delivery driver. This is why there is a difference. There may be other charges as well. Personal shopping is expensive. I do the personal shopping and I can tell you that for the amount of time we spend shopping an order and then using our own gas to deliver that order the money we receive is not a whole lot. Instacart aims to make personal shopping affordable except it just isn’t affordable. The person shopping your order needs to be compensated for their time and effort and then needs to make enough to cover the cost of driving to the store and then to your location. Orders often take over an hour. Sometimes total drive times to complete an order are roughly 60 minutes. That’s an hour of shopping, an hour of driving and depending on the day and location we are paid roughly $8-11 an order plus 20-40 cents an item. It still only works out to be about $10 an hour minus your gas charges and vehicle wear and tear.
I do not represent instacart. I simply have experience with personal shopping. Anytime you choose to have someone do your shopping and also deliver it you should expect to pay approximately $20-30 more than you would pay if you went to the store and shopped yourself. The shoppers that shop your order are still not making very much unless you also choose to tip on top of all of that.
Think of it this way. If you hired someone to do your shopping and drop it off at your house and it took that person 2 hours and their own gas to do that what do you think would be fair compensation? We don’t receive an hourly wage. Our wages come from your orders. Then there is instacart, and being a company they have to make a profit as well. So you are paying the company, and you are also paying the person who works for the company (actually an independent contractor).
I’m really not trying to be rude but….having someone do work for you is expensive. Of course you are charged more than the receipt from the store. If there were no additional charges this service wouldn’t exist.
Great response!
Today my delivery person left my gate open and my dogs got out. They were missing for over an hour. The delivery biotch had delivered before. I had knee surgery. Anyways how do I make sure I never have this oerson help me again. She knows I have dogs. They bark the whole time she is bringing the groceries. I want my tio back too.
If this happens again I will join Amazon Prime.
Did you just call your delivery person a b***ch? I’m a delivery person. If you are having something delivered to your house and you had dogs in your yard she very well could have refused to deliver the order until the dogs were put away. Leaving your dog’s out when you know someone is coming to deliver something is pretty rude and not to mention there is always a chance they might get out……probably shouldnt trust just anyone with your dog’s. Maybe there is a lesson here. If you have something being delivered it’s safer both for your dogs and for the delivery person if your dog’s are not in the yard. Your mail person won’t deliver if you have dogs in your yard….And any delivery person can refuse to deliver if there are dogs in the yard. Personally I would have refused delivery until the dog’s were put away. I’m not risking being bitten by a strange dog for $11 an hour.
I have not had an incident with pay until the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, it took forever for my deposit to hit (I normally receive it on Tuesdays). This past week (June 19th-25th) I have not received pay. The email account gives me generic answers and the 800 number claim they can’t discuss pay. Who do I discuss pay with then?! I did not open myself to sit and wait for batch opportunities and not get paid for my inconvenience, especially on “peak days.” If I do not receive a formal answer, I will stop using this delivery service as an IC, give bad reports to people that ask me about instacart (shoppers and customers), and report to BBB. This is ridiculous. Yes, I understand start ups have their issues, but you do not play with people’s money.
I am so, so disappointed. I had been using Instacart for over a year. I have 2 separate accounts (personal and business). I pay the yearly fee for each of them. In 2016, 3 of my orders were charged to a CC not listed in my account. I called the Happiness Team, had them review my account and they could not find the card listed. The person who owned that CC filed a complaint with their bank because Instacart wouldn’t credit her card and charge the appropriate card. So, now… I have been without access to both of my Instacart accounts for 5 MONTHS (even though, I did nothing wrong, have been compliant and pd for the yearly services). The happiness team is refusing to prorate or reimburse me the 5 months (about $100) worth of fees I have pd. The happiness won’t respond to me in a timely fashion. The happiness team is the most unhappy team I have EVER dealt with. I too am in customer service. I would be appalled if my staff team treated customers the way the happiness team treats customers. Spread the word…. DON’T USE INSTACART. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.
Things just don’t seem right any more. After working for this company for over a year the payouts are becoming less for the same service. I’ll receive orders when I’m not in the zone because they need me to do that order and then there are moments when in the zone an I’ll get a text stating that I’m not in the zone. You can pick your hours but they dictate when you’ll get work so they’ve manipulated the system to create a schedule that fits them and not you. I talked with other shoppers who were receiving orders but I was told the zone was slow because they would rather me work later than early so they sent a message to get off shift because it was slow but also sent a message asking me to work extended hours. How does that make sense for me? It takes at least 30 mins before anyone answers in customer service and somehow when they want to stick you with an order you won’t get anything else and they will end your shift if you don’t accept. This has happen to me at least three times. I’ll be sent an order that’s not beneficial to me so I’ll take a 20 min break that takes me out the system and be sent the same order when I’m back on shift then I’ll just not accept it and be kick off shift no problem. I’ll wait 10 mins later to get back on shift and guess what I’ll be sent that same order after 40 mins has already passed. Thought you all should know how bogus this company has become.
Good morning,
I worked 4 hours on 5/27/17 (3:00-7:00 PM) and was not paid for the hours. The hours do appear on my Past Hours screen in the app. I have emailed Customer Happiness 5 times with no response. (I receive an initial automated email stating that my email was received.)
I enjoy working for Instacart and would love to continue working, but I am hesitant to accept a shift until this issue is addressed.
I appreciate your consideration in addressing this issue.
Kind regards,
~Rhonda Beaty
(770) 351-XXXXX – cell
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Oshinique Foster and I’m a former instacart employee. My account was deactivated in August of 2016 for reliability issues and I was told by someone named Kevin that I could reapply in 6 months. Six months came and the same person Mr. Kevin now says you will never be able to reapply because you missed to many days within a short period of time which is just not true. A friend of mines was let go around the same time as me and in 6 months she was able to get hired again. Kevin in the Chicago region is very rude and nasty to people. I’m asking for another opportunity to work for instacart because I really loved the job and unfortunately because of health issues with a family member I was let go. Thank you oshiniquefoster at yahoo.com
I can see this is going to be a waste of time, BUT I have a problem with your newly launched Rochester NEW YORK zone. Customer service, happiness team have a lot to be desired. The Rochester ny zone is completely too large-I will not and know of anyone who would travel over 20 miles one way just to get to the chosen store. My shift was ended due to reliability issues because I did not acknowledge a batch at asinine distance. Further, before leaving started I was told it was my discretion what I wanted to accept with no advising of the daily limit, reliability issues or being completed kicked off shift. Guaranteed you will not make it here especially when I’m done complaining to Wegmans Food Market. I’m sure when amazon takes over your company they will do a much greater job by the shoppers/delivery contractors.
I have emailed Sarah b. Several emails as well as called with no response. I have had ticket written to complain about my account being placed on hold for no reason.
I just spoke to Jenny it is 2/24 8:15pm eastern time. She refused to give me her last name or I’d number or allowed me to speak to a manager.
I do not know what else to do than to report your company to the better business bureau. I have never been treated so poorly.
Thanks
Lorelys campos
This company is sure to fail. Their minds are obviously on maximizing profit e.g. cutting 50% of delivery people while increasing their cost to customers by 50%. That is not smart, it fact it is highly risky. Instacart does not pay attention to the foundational details of their business. They have an extremely frustrating and non-responsive customer service department. Frustrated customers erode brand equity. The problem with servicing affluent markets and charging a lot to do it is that customers demand the best and will hold you to it. It is such a small “circle of influence” that once you get a bad name, you will have a very difficult time recapturing the market –especially when your customer service is non-responsive. Instacart has no consistency. Some of their shoppers are great, others are not. When you need to pay a for a service and then end up throwing away items that are not what you ordered –When there are tricks built in to the website that require customers to take a great deal of time to go through an entire long list of groceries to make sure instructions are followed for substitutions, when you fail to resolve an issue after more than a month and instead send canned responses –and when you make radical changes with your shoppers that cause them to feel insecure about their jobs —All of these things reflect negatively on a your reputation. It is too bad because Instacart is a very good and streamlined idea –but the devil is in the details and it appears that no one at Instacart is focused upon those details.