Instacart
Reviews and Complaints

My wife placed an order, we used EBT and placed the order for over $100 from Publix including two subs and was assigned a shopper. The shopper had instacart send a message that an item, lettuce was out of stock and didn't give us enough time to respond. We received a message saying the order was on the way, the time for delivery came and passed with no order. My wife called customer service and they said the driver was lost, after talking to customer service for sometime was informed that the driver canceled the order with no contact letting us know. So because of his

lack of professionalism food was wasted and and instacart didn't seem to care.

I took out a membership for 1 year and my membership does not expire until March of next year. On Friday, October 21, 2022 I placed an order with Instacart and for no apparent reason, my order was cancelled and my account was locked. I received an email requesting a copy of my ID and a copy of my credit card on file; I sent this information to Instacart of Friday October 21, 2022. I was told that it would take 24 to 48 hours to investigate the issue and someone would contact me via email. I waited until Monday of the next week (October 24, 2022) and had no response from Instacart. I contacted them again on Monday, October 24, 2022 and was told the exact same thing; someone would get in touch with me within 24 to 48 hours. It is now Saturday, October 29, 2022 and I have not heard a word from Instacart. I asked for a refund for the months of December, January, February and March and I was not able to get a refund the months that I cannot use the service. This is scandalous; all I can say is "let the buyer beware", they are collecting money under false pretenses!

First, I wanted Sprouted grain English muffins and the system, only showed me Whole Grain so I, reluctantly, chose them and Original English Muffins is what I ended up with. It was a substitute for the substitute. I couldn't refuse to take them because the delivery driver rang the bell and left. I was upset but felt like there was nothing I could do. After some thought I got a refund online. I didn't realize that the Sprouted Grain ones were, not only, more expensive but the refund had nothing to do with the delivery fee and tip. Even though I got a refund (credit to my account). I still received a product that I didn't want and I had to pay. I have made plenty of orders and NEVER filed a complaint. I always thought that things would get better but nope. Now I'm here and wondering if I should trust Instacart ever again. I take responsibility for not complaining about the other orders but refuse to let this one go. I may not be a big customer but I HATE feeling like I am not a customer but a bother. I'm in a wheelchair and can't drive but Instacart has been more of a chore than a help.

My wife has been an Insta Cart member for a long time now. During this time, she has had to call and complain about wrong items being delivered, and go throught the process of getting a refund. Apparently, if you complain too much, they put you on a list and wont allow anymore refunds no matter if they deliver the wrong items. For instance, my would order gallon containers of water, and gallon containers of milk would come. It got soo bad that just about every delivery was wrong. Insta Cart corporate told my wife that they stand behind their decision to Black List her. We are considering calling the new agencies here in LA like CBS, who have a reporter who goes after these types of stories and confronts the companies.

I ordered a delivery. They charged my card and delivery was supposed to be estimated at 4:30. It’s now 8:48 My order is not here so their shopper stole almost $150 dollars from my account! And when trying to get resolution I received no help they just stated the shopper couldn’t be reached and we will have a manager call you. Still have not received a call and I’m still without my order. I have 25 people to feed tomorrow without the food I ordered

Customer service I received an email saying that I will no longer be allowed to return anything. The email says I have returned far too many things. What kind of customer service is that? It’s horrible! What am I supposed to do with rotten fruit or the wrong item or an item missing am I supposed to just smile and say “that’s OK“ we work hard for our money and we expect to get what we paid for. You may call me at [protected] or text me and I will call you back I think I at least should get a chance to explain the returns I have an explanation for all of them my most recent order had rotten graves that tasted like mold. I ordered four chores of Skippy reduced fat peanut butter and received three jars of Skippy reduced fat pita putter and one regular peanut butter. I don’t eat rotten grapes and I don’t eat regular peanut butter what am I supposed to do just keep it and eat it anyway? Seriously I really want to know the answer to that. Maybe the store or stores don’t have the best fruit. Even if I went shopping myself I would return the item. The peanut butter is not my mistake it’s the shoppers mistake. I am penalized for the stores mistake and the shoppers for sake correct? This is making me very very angry I need to speak with some one In charge ASAP

My name is Joseph Henson and I am complaining on how hard it is for me to get reactivated. I've talked to several of your virtual agents and your security and safety team and so far I cannot seem to get reactivated. I was constantly to go to my app and try to correct it from there. But if the account is deactivated how can anything be done. In order to correct the information in the account it has to be activated. I followed all the instructions and talked to your support team but it seems like no one understands the problem. All I am asking for is for someone to call me or at least give me some advice or help to get reactivated.

At Approximately 3:30pm, Pacific Time, a man, dark hair, glasses, about 5'4", 110lbs, speed into our adult care facility, parked in a tow zone, came inside without a mask, did not sign in, when I advised him he needed to wear a mask he dropped the delivery on the steps and walked out, flipping me off as he left. We do not want him back here again. He was rude, disrespectful and left the delivery where a resident could fall over it. The delivery was for a P. Sellers.

If he comes back again, he will be arrested for endangering our residents and staff.

Thank you for your time,

Shelley R.

Mallard Landing Assisted Living Facility

I order from instacart often. However the last few orders i made have been a wallet eater. shoppers will grab any item sometimes way over priced if your item wasnt available even if you ask please refund it if my replacement choice was also not available. These drivers will drive your cost up by check out by replacing items on their own instead of issuing a refund. I am a single person ordering for a single person. when you substitute with food thats for a family not only do you waste my money but also food that could of went to someone else instead of my trash can. They are driven by tip, not whats best for customer. the amount of items checked out is what makes them more money. I will go back to shipt after this. I kept messaging my shopper during her mistakes giving her chances to return items, she ignored all messages even when i asked to cancel. She still rung out items I begged her not to. that came out of my pocket. I also gave a 20 percent tip so its not as if i low blowed her, it was the max option in the selection. Its deceitful and the company clearly doesnt pay well if shoppers are all getting together and doing this and blaming the company for why the ignore customer requests. Im paying for a service the company isnt providing. Enough said.

My name is Renee Hester. I live at 7600 Nankin ct apt 1001 Westland Mi 48185. I have put in a grocery order at the store Aldi from instacart. I was to receive my order from Aldi grocery store between 1 and 2 p.m. When 2:30 rolled around, i still did not get my orde, I called instacart and they said that it was delivered. But the stupid person left it at someone elses address. So I asked to reorder they 2:30, they said that i would get it by 5:10 p.m. and they sent me a text and told me I would get it by seven, so I said that i want to cancell my order. And that i want a refund. They have the audacity to still take money from my account. Not only was i treated with badly, by the representative, I was treated badly with them for a long time. I feel that this should be investigated because there is no telling how many other times they did this to other people.

I filed two complaints Sems like Instacary doesn't want to give a [censored].

Two issues

1. The person delivering did not match the picture

2. they are skimming money from us customers.

3. I don't want these skim rates t from delivering again

4. A refund on the tree items that I was charged for but not delivered

5. Instacart may need their people regardless of what they steal from customers.

6. I will call my bank and put a freeze on the nearly $200 I spent

I am in Disney World and placed an order 9/27 about 5:00 p.m. for delivery by 7:00. I called Instacart as to where my order was and was told the driver tried contacting me as I need to sign for the wine which I knew. I never received a call or text. They canceled my order instead of bringing everything except the wine. I then spent almost an hour with a women who ended up getting a manager as Disney was shutting down the next 2 days and we have a baby and a 3 year old.

The manager was no help, she just said to re-order to next day which I did. Why be a manager if she/he can't make decisions. Next day order didn't come, I called Instacart again and was told it was coming. I called at 10:15 when it still wasn't here and was told it was coming on the 29th, 2 days after my order and she said there is nothing they can do about it. This is horrible customer service as now I have to try and find an uber driver who will take me to a close by grocery store as our baby and toddler need food and as I said Disney is shutting down.

All I get is, "we apologize". This did not help me at all and again why give my cell number if I am not contacted. Very disappointing and horrible customer service.

Elaine D.

I'm constantly having problems with my earnings and when I finally get to speak to a customer service rep they're very rude and unhelpful and hang up on us all the time I don't get anything resolved. I've been on hold for a little over 20 minutes now with a customer service rep that put me on hold and has never returned. I previously to this one I was hung up on by the other customer service rep which is named Ivan. The one I'm dealing with right now is name ranu. If this is how instacart runs their business I don't think that it will last very long in the business. You can't cheat people out of their earnings and think that it's okay. This isn't the first time this is constant. There's no telling how many other people have not realized that they're not getting paid correctly.

I ordered $200 of groceries from Aldi to be delivered by 3:30 on Sunday 09/18/22. I quickly replied to all replacements or refunded items. Then, I informed my shopper that the main street to get to my building is blocked off and provided her an alternate route. I then proceeded to message them 5 times because I saw she was driving in circles. I also provided my phone number to call her. She then cancelled the order.

My delivery driver was disconnected from me about 100 feet from my apartment as we were talking about how to find me. I told him I don't want to walk out to get my order. I used to have notes describing pretty specifically how to find me. They were not showing at this delivery for some reason but have used the same notes for a couple years. I was told if I cancel I would pay fifteen dollars if I didn't want to tell the driver a third time how to walk around my sidewalk to deliver at door. I was either hung up on or accidentally disconnected from the driver ealier and never got my delivery. I told the first rep how we stayed on the phone so I could explain how to turn around and walk 1oo feet. Whether he read the notes or they were showing or not, I explained how to get to me. I said I would pay the cancellation fee but realized how unfair that is. Not trying to complain about the delivery driver but the situation itself.

I have received several orders with rotten fruit in June and July. I was told that there would be a resolution by August. It is now September and nothing has been resolved. My most recent order of today was a mess. There were 3 incorrect items. I want a refund or credit within 48 hours. I shouldn’t need to send photos, as the descriptions are well outlined on the receipt and in your information/website. Please respond.

These raggedy bats make mistake after mistake. I order from them almost daily because I am on a cane and cannot get around a store to do my own shopping. They pick up rotten fruit and items, disregard the details and special requests I've made. Then half the time my bananas are bruised because some dipstick doesn't know how to bag delicate items. You don't put bananas in the bag with drinks and large bags of oranges like they've done mine. I opened my fruit and picked up a strawberry and it literally gushed in my hand because it was rotten. My oranges were rotten (see below pic). They've recently decided they will no longer give me a credit, refund items, or give any discounts or free delivery because I've had too many complaints. OK so train your stupid staff better. Better yet it's even worse to have to try to explain to people who barely speak freaking English. One lady asked for my phone number and I gave the last 4 digits as "96 hundred". This idiot repeated my number and said "[protected]" then got mad and hung up because I said "What? How is that possible? That's too many numbers. You don't know what 9600 is?" They are idiots and should be better trained to work with the public. American public that is. Today my order was delivered late. I was originally told it would arrive at 5pm. See attachedvscreenshots of time. It took the girl over an hour to finish shopping because she was shopping for others as well. She didn't arrive until 5:30 and I called Instacart and the lady said she would give me a $10 credit. I never saw it come through so I called back. The next idiot said they only give $5 credits for late delivery, but I won't be getting that because my account is under review. Sge said they could listen to the recorded call to see what I was told and that's what I want to happen. How in the devil is it my fault they make mistakes almost every time? Yeah yall need the government to put some fire under yall's behinds. Better yet a lawyer.

Yesterday, I tied to use my EBT food stamp card to buy groceries, and ALL the instacart stores, who accept EBT, would not accept my EBT card. I called a case manager who works at the SNAP/EBT government headquarters office, downstate, in Marion, IN. She, Felicia, said my card was good and the problem must be on Instacart's end. Instacart then admitted they are having trouble with SNAP cards and the issue with my card should be resolved in 48 hours. Such a damn inconvenience because I am below poverty level and need SNAP to buy all my food. Also, I am on 24/7 oxygen, without a car, and cannot get to any stores. I do not know what I'll do, since they are the only food delivery I have in this area.

Instacart is a bad choice for replacing Shipt. First, they cancelled my delivery order because the shopper couldn't figure out how to check out my order. So I reordered and the shopper said they were out of several items, but forgot one of my items, so I had to go to two stores to find the items that were out of stock at Harris Teeter, but when the groceries were finally delivered, I had to go to Harris Teeter to pick up the item myself, and out of curiosity, I looked for the so-called out of stock items, and sure enough, both items were on the shelf. This was very frustrating and upsetting. I spent several hours going to stores for out of stock items that weren't really out of stock. The shopper just couldn't find them. This was an awful experience. I'm giving Instacart one more chance before I cancel my yearly subscription to Harris Teeter.

Teri Smith

[protected]@ti-law.com

Charlotte, NC

I placed an order for groceries from my local Kroger, to be delivered by Instacart earlier today 8/30/22 with a 2 hour delivery window. I watched on the app as the shopper, Ashley T. listed items for substitution for my approval and also items out of stock that she refunded.

When I got my final receipt for $193 I instantly knew something was wrong because my original quote was more like $154 and she refunded 6 items. When I looked at the detail of my receipt, I saw Ashlee added a curling iron, ground beef, hawaiian punch, microwave meals, snacks and other items not even initially on my order and listed them as substitutions. They were clearly items she purchased and kept for herself. She also kept a box of snack chips that I did order and was charged for. The total she got over on me for was $53.06.

I reported to Kroger and Instcart. Kroger refunded my money and they both asked if I wanted to block Ashlee from being allowed to handle my orders. I asked them both if they were still going to allow her to shop for other people in the future. They only said they would escalate the issue but it seems to me they think I should be satisfied with my refund and they plan to allow Ashlee to continue to shop for them and scam other hardworking grocery shoppers out of their money - especially those that don't notice or forget to look at their final receipt. She needs to be held accountable and fired.

Ashlee has proven to be untrustworthy and should not be allowed to shop for any more customers. In any profession, including mine (attorney), stealing from a customer/client is unacceptable and automatic grounds for termination. Attorneys can even lose their license to practice. I don't think Kroger/Instacart should treat it's employees any differently.