Instacart
Reviews and Complaints

I placed an order through Instacart on May 14, 2020 from my local Publix supermarket. I was charged a service fee of $4.38 and then an additional alcohol service fee of $2.00. When you place the order, you have the option of declining acceptance of a service fee but I have no objection to paying a service fee. However, I was not advised of an additional fee for delivery of an alcoholic product. Had I known this, I would not have ordered the product through Instacart. I only ordered a 6 pack of beer I use for making chili. I can order alcoholic products through other means and not pay an additional service fee.

My complaint is that I contacted their help desk through online chat wherein I was met by rudeness, delaying tactics and completely wrong information, refusing to transfer me to a supervisor and then via email wherein all I got was a lot of nonsense from this company who kept changing the name of the person emailing me and not addressing my issue what so ever. They quoted nonexistent order numbers and changed this based on who was now emailing me. I never received an email from the same person as a follow up. It just kept going round and round and round over several days with Instacart refusing to address the issue and really came across as harassing tactics with no intent to be of any service. They also delivered an incorrect product and claimed it would be refunded and I have still not received a refund. When I realized contacting Instacart's customer service was not going to work, I tried calling their corporate headquarters and only got a recording claiming "No Routes Found." I called the number again in case I mis-dialed and got the same recorded message.

They charge premium prices above what you would pay in a supermarket, service fees, delivery charge, tip and I have no way of knowing if the delivery person ever gets the tip. I always increase it above the 5% and give 15%. I would expect Instacart to have reliable customer service, be willing to assist consumers courteously and honestly and they just give you the run around and offer no resolution. Something is very wrong with this picture. I also order from Walmart. I am charged a reasonable delivery fee and that is it. I can pay a tip by choice. I have wine delivered by Walmart and I have not been charged any additional fees. I had a product issue and was able to actually speak to their customer service and the matter was immediately resolved. There is no excuse for Instacart's unprofessional behavior, their harassment via email and their dishonesty.

I went on line and discovered there are many complaints lodged against the dishonest tactics of Instacart, not only from consumers but their employees.

I just wish to register my very poor experience with Instacart and I would not recommend using Instacart to anyone ever again. A trustworthy organization would not behave in this way. And while I do not know this with certainty, it appears their customer service dept. is outsourced to a call center in a foreign country given the misuse of the English language in their chat and email communications and customer service reps names like Sahil, Mohammed, Padmajda, Mahesh, Lakshmi, Shavani, Betsaida, Luz, Marielle, Jeffrey Cabahog, etc. By the way, I did not receive just emails from the 10 names above but quite a few more all over the additional fee being charged of $2 and none of them ever addressing the issue. Clearly it was intended to harass me.

At at time in life when the whole world is experiencing such a frightening uncertainty about our futures, the only thing that can be said to such a disreputable company like Instacart is

SHAME ON YOU! May Karma hold you accountable!

I ordered 36 items feom Stater Bros. grocery. When you place an order you are given the opportunity to request a substitute if your item is not available. I always give my choice of a substitute for each item. This time I had 8 items delivered incorrectly. One of the worst is the pork chops. I ordered sirloin pork chops @ .99 per pound. They picked pork chops @ $4.99 per pound as such I paid 14.99 for chops instead of 4.99. along with a number of other errors on items ordered. I also have a note on my orders to knock hard and please wait until I get to my door. I am handicap and 79 years old. I gat a call advising that there was a bunch of groceries outside of my door, and 3 cases of water at the bottom of the stairs. I can't get ddown stairs by myself. Someone should make them pay when they make careless mistakes or are just careless.

I have been employed by instacart for 3 1/2 weeks I have had multiple issues and they never seem to help. I accept a batch and due to Easter Aldi was closed. I drive to the store but they never compensated me. All day they had batched and multiple shoppers went to store to find it closed Instacart never took those batches off their site. I had another issue where I had to stand in line for 30 minutes before being able to start a batch and again was told they would compensate me but never did. I had a batch for Hmart and they didnt accepted the instacart payment card so I used my card and since April 12, 2020 instacart keeps giving me the run around in regards to my reimbursement. I submitted my receipt several times but the system says it cant read it. I have had support look at the receipt which they said its clear and they would escalate it. I still haven't gotten that refund. Today they had a glitch in there system and it effect several shoppers because the time we spent in store shopping for items to then being told their system is not work. Ralphs said they could accept the payment card for the orders. Everytime they tei3d scanning the barcode it locked up Ralphs system . I have emailed them 10 times and still thwy send me a scripted message. I didn't get compensated for that. This is a bad employer and I need to have all my money back and the time I spent on shopping for 33 items.

Kindly,
Cortlyn Bridges
[protected]

I understand these are challenging times. However, when a company makes a commitment they should adhere to that commitment. I ordered some groceries with a delivery date of between April 24-26. I get to the 26th and there are now several different dates showing April 26 still and May 1.

I therefore chatted with Instagram, apparently the only way to get to someone. The woman said she was showing delivery between April 26-29 that is all she had. But if it did not happen to contact them (via chat) and they would investigate!

Woke up this morning and checked again and it is showing May 2!

I am 68 and my wife is 72, we are trying to stay at home, but Instacart is making this impossible

I was feeling desperate about getting groceries delivered with everything going on right now, and amazon prime not being available due to so many bookings, so I was thrilled to find Instacart had available delivery windows open. I have been disputing the amount they charged to my card (a debit card, so asking the cc company to refund is not an option for me), but the only way to communicate is through their chat system. I've gotten no where. I was charged $249.99, but it should have been more like $210. I understand they upcharge a certain amount on each item, have a service fee, and a delivery fee, but I got items in smaller quantities, sizes, etc., and was literally double charged on multiple items. I did not get what I ordered. I don't want to shortchange the delivery person, and I don't think he should be punished by me taking away his tip... but I don't know how to get a refund. I've gotten nowhere with their lack of customer support. I will never use this service again.

The delivery man brought my food in a non refrigerated cardboard box and the salmon made me very sick to my stomach after cooking it thoroughly. I am not sure if it was because of this non refrigeration that caused this or Aldi not keeping fish refrigerated properly. I am also concerned that I didn't order two packages of salmon but the delivery person brought me two packages of salmon. It should've been a package of tilapia and a package salmon. I am very disappointed and will not be shopping here again.

I was contacted by my credit union FRAUD department of 2 pending charges of $300.00 On 4/5/20 I made a purchase of $313.43 which was delivered and charged to my credit card on 4/7/20. On 4/17/20 I have a store receipt of $203.75, but the Instacart amount shows I will be charged $224.66 for the same grocery list. I understand they have a lot of additional fees, but these 2 different amounts are both after adjustments and before all their fees and tips.
I should only have one $300 pending charge now as the first 4/5/20 bill has already been paid and they need to adjust the amount being taken out of the 4/17/20 charge to $203.75 to match my Publix receipt. I've tried to chat with Instacart through their app as required, but I keep getting disconnected. I did notify them as "problem with orders, but I'm afraid that will get me nowhere.

Tried to place an order April 11, 2020 but two hours later they cancelled. Tried to reorder on April 13, 2020 but two days later instacart cancelled. Looked on my account and it said the order would be delivered between April 14, 2020 and April 18, 2020. Because I was confused I CANCELLED the order on my account page. The instruction I placed in the comments section of my account stated for the shopper to call my cell phone upon arrival. I received an email on April 16, 2020 stating they were about to start my order. So I chatted with the shopper and explained Instacart cancelled my order and subsequently I cancelled the order as well. She stated to me that "I have no idea how to cancel anything. I'm shopping for multiple people, so hopefully you can change it in the app, but on my part, I have to get what's on the list." I received a phone call from an out-of-town number which immediately became disconnected. Then it said my order was delivered but there were NO ITEMS AT MY DOOR.

when trying to log in they Offer all this help on line and still can't get anything done correctly. You keep reaching a deadend with a search bar that can work on technical issues. The website is a joke when it comes to editing your order, confirming your order and keeping hooked up to you establised pickup time. There is no help for your account.
The only real option is to cancel your order (hopefully) you can, then again start a new order for another time.

Can't add to order, can't get to my order and help is just not there from anywhere: phone no, online no, email no.

Delivery is a nightmare so if you want anything change to ask pickup if you can and check the whole thing against a receipt. No receipt no owe. When asking for a refund you can't email enough. Squeeky wheel...

I ordered groceries and they were delivered, but 2 minutes later another drive came with the same exact items. I sent the items back with the driver, but I was charged twice still. I try to use customer service... But there is no customer service. Asking for help in the website is an endless loop with no actual contact. Service number says, sorry not available.

Jim Swindon, if this is you are associated with this company it is a shameful disgrace how lacking in customer service you are. Do to the hickup in your service you pretty much stole 85$ from me.

Recently I placed an Instacart order that totaled $111.00. Instacart instructed my bank to put a hold on $160.00 in my account to cover that order. So basically $50.00 of my money that I desperately needed was held hostage by Instacart. I still do not have access to it.

This practice of Instacart of putting a hold on an amount of funds in your bank that greatly exceeds the amount of the order you place is outrageous at any time, but particularly during this pandemic. First of all, they very well know that during this pandemic you generally get about half the things you order, which means your final order total will be much less than the original order you placed. So there is no reason for Instacart to instruct your bank to hold back additional funds.

Second, Instacart must be aware that every penny counts right now, and that by causing you to go days with no access to money THEY OWE YOU they are creating a serious economic hardship for their customers. Most businesses are trying to help consumers during this crisis. Instead, Instacart is making things more difficult.

When you complain to Instacart, they try and blame your bank for not releasing the extra money right away. But Instacart is the source of the problem. They are the ones who instruct your bank in the first place to put a hold on more money then necessary to cover your order.

Walmart was doing this also, until I complained about it, and they stopped holding extra money exceeding my order total. Instacart should do the same. It's bad enough that Instacart ups the in store prices for items you order to make more profit, but paying more for food to get Instacart's fast delivery is actually worth it for me. But instructing my bank to hold back an amount that exceeds my original order is NOT, especially when they know that during this pandemic the final amount of my order will definitely be less, not more.
karen.[protected]@gmail.com

I placed an order at Wegmans Corning NY on Apri l 7th I thought I would receive it for Easter. To date I have not got any word. What happened to my order? Instacart claims to deliver the same day I know they deliver at night Which is very hard for me as I go to bed by 8:00 pm due to my health.. I am writing this late as I cannot sleep. Please find out for me what happened to my order.

I placed an order on April 10th, it said free delivery and if you would like fast delivery it's extra $7.99 witch I paid extra and placed the order, the delivery never arrived on April 10th and not on the April 11, and not on the 12 I'm still waiting for my order. Plus the order show they charge on top of the $7.99 again $3.99 for delivery plus service charge $2.00 I tried to call customer service and they don't take any calls,
I just want my order. But I see they have too many complaints.

Ordered grocery from costco and instacart was supposed to deliver. Never received grocery. Link showed a picture of my grocery at the door of wrong house address.
Requested for resolve on their website and waited for 7 days, no response.
After sending several emails and found it did not get any attention.
Filed a dispute claim to my credit card company.
Will never use instacart again.

I placed an order March 19th to be delivered March 24th, 9 am - 11 am when I was back in town. Instacart shopper tried to deliver my order just 2 hours after I placed (miracle!), when I was not home yet. I could not communicate with Instacart when I received the text alerting me the shopper was buying my order. Instacart Customer Service never answered the phone. I was charged for that order no matter what and I have not been able to talk to anyone in Customer Service to solve this issue. I also sent an email in your app "help" section back in March 19th but NOBODY has answer or tried to solve this issue. What a shame. I want my money back, Instacart messed up and now they don't even have a Customer Service -by phone or online - to solve issues like this. This company is a shame.

I placed my first order, followed via text, when text stated delivery complete at 6:43pm, I was shocked, I never received any delivery, was looking out window the whole time. What happened, my bank has a $75.00 charge pending, yet I have no delivery. Is this a FRAUD or what? I need someone to contact me ASAP. I have called, tried text, email to no avail. Help number given me by my bank was [protected], no one answered.

I was charged for an item, taxes, delivery fee, and a tip and have never received ANY ITEMS-from Instacart!
I attempted my first order through Publix Instacart on 3/28/2020. I was contacted by Nicholas, my shopper. He began to fill my order but several items were not available or needed to be substituted, so I asked that the entire order be canceled. He apologized and stated it was due to COVID 19. I thanked him for his time and he asked if I wanted any of the items. I told him no and asked again that he cancel the entire order. He told me he could not and complained that he " had spent 30 to 40 minutes on my order". When I asked for a manager, he stated" he does not have one" and that the local Publix that he was in in Snellville GA has no jurisdiction over him.
The items began to be removed from my cart but while he has finally removing the items, I got a notification that one item had been delivered.
NO ITEMS WHERE EVER DELIVERED!

I have called and texted and emailed Instacart and Publix. There phone wait is well over 100 mins long. The apps and emails have gotten me no where in almost 2 weeks.

I am obviously not important to Publix nor Instacart. The poor customer service by Nicholas is only made worse by the canned emails from customer service for almost 2 weeks now With no resolution.

I use to be a loyal Publix shopper for over the last 20 plus years. Why? Because of the friendly faces and GREAT customer service.

I know we are all facing hard times now. But to take money for no products or services is HORRIBLE! Your lack of resolving this over the past week or so is the opposite of why I use to shop at Publix. I am dissatisfied and disappointed in Publix and its leadership.

Do not make the mistake I made. Do not trust the Publix team.

My items wasn't delivered the driver approached my unit but did not leave the items on the front door as I checked the option nor ring the door bell he did not even try to contact me and left. I filed issue from the website they auto replied the email but that's all. Trying to chat with them on hold with query line and estimated time but never get connected tried 3 times, i'll just ask refund from credit card, never use it again