Let's be an Instacart / Uber Shopper doing your grocery run!

I can smell your cunt from here, Tammy.

If the store is out of the diet version of a product, I’ll substitute the full calorie, full sugar version for it, because they are similar.

I used Instacart yesterday and got every store brand in my order. I normally do.

These people work hard and Instacart treats them like shit.

Pick on somebody else.

I can see using them for canned, boxed, or other packaged goods.

I would NEVER use them to purchase anything requiring refrigeration, as they don't handle those items with care and food poisoning is a danger, fresh fruits or vegetables, or anything where poor packing, like baked goods, would leave them smashed.

I’m the 4’9”, 89 lbs Thai woman who can handle and carry five bags of groceries simultaneously that many gays could or would not handle.

I’m the dented can and ripped open package that in-store Customers won’t touch but the Instacart shopper helps the store get rid of.

There's a pubic hair on my Coke*

My Whole Foods shopper always texts me if an item I ordered is unavailable.

R5 - you have that so right! My dad has been getting groceries delivered since a bit before Covid. He always marvels at how strong the delivery women (for him it’s always been young women) are.

Or, you could just get off your lazy fat ass and go to the store your damn self, thus avoiding getting all pissed off at Instacart or Uber Shopping for making unsolicited substitutions, not to mention the money you'll save by DIY.

I use them all the time and never really had any major problems but I usually choose the "no substitutions" option. If I want something like steaks, seafood or specialty items I will go myself. Ioathe shopping.

R5, why are you here? Take your shit stirring homophobia cunt elsewhere.

Same, R11.

Or I pick one alternative in Instacart and then say very clearly in notes: If both these options are unavailable, please refund this item.

It works 98 percent of the time. Every once in a while you get a dummkopf who just can't reason through the basics. But most orders go well for me.

I learned early on (started using these services during the pandemic) never to let a shopper determine what might be a good substitute. The categories are so broad that they could take "cereal" and pretty much justify literally anything you could eat for breakfast as a valid substitution. Of course even the smartest person wouldn't know what I wanted out of hundreds/thousands of choices, I wouldn't expect them to make it for me.

Most of the Instacart shoppers do a good job, but a few of them have been awful.

I ordered 2 chicken breasts, and the shopper bought about $32 worth of super spicy "Nashville Hot" chicken breasts. They were so bad, they were inedible, and I threw them all away.

And she also did that with several other items to increase the costs of the total order and increase her tip.

The straight women who post on DL want everyone to know that they are happy with Instacart and commiserate with the shoppers, or are Instacart shoppers themselves.

Gays can't use those services R15?

Any time anyone has varied from my stated list of items that dramatically, I've had Instacart refund it to me. Fuck that. I'm not paying for $30 of chicken because Debbie can't fucking read.

What R3 said. OP is a classist, entitled cunt.

I’m your shopper. I’m inside the store and I’ve left the cart abandoned in a crowded isle. I don’t care it’s in everyone’s way while I wander the store going back and forth. I don’t ever shop for myself. I have no idea where anything is. After I drop off your order you’ll notice I forgot to give you your liquor.

[quote] My Whole Foods shopper always texts me if an item I ordered is unavailable.

WF stopped doing delivery orders for everyone except for Prime members. Fuck that shit. Jeff Bezos can suck my nads. It was bad enough when they started charging $10 a delivery even if you DID have Prime.

I'm LaKeesha. I'm not paying any attention to what I'm throwing in the carriage for your order. I'm too busy taking selfies wearing my new janky weave and doing Tik Tok videos of me twerking in the aisles and pissing everyone off. I don't give a damn if you got 'the diabetes' and can't have sugar - I ain't reading no labels. You're gonna take what I get you, bitch, and you better make sure your white ass tips me.

R21 is angry her "king" didn't bring her fresh Popeye's last night.

R22 He didn't buy the diapers for his baby girl either. He was too busy with some ho.

I'm R21's racism, the real reason OP started this thread.

R24 Welcome to the conversation ! We've missed you.

Wypipo are the problem, always.

I used UberEats and Instacart then when I had bunion surgery. Very good here in Jersey City. I was only was pissed 1x when the guy replaced by 1/2 and 1/2 with the nasty lactose free version. But that was my fault for not saying no substitutions. Very convenient, but a lot more expensive. Glad I can go for myself again.

[quote]My Whole Foods shopper always texts me if an item I ordered is unavailable.

Whole Foods is far less reliable than any Instacart grocery shopping experience when it comes to being out of stock on items I've ordered.

I've got free GrubHub+ from Amazon Prime, $15 in monthly Ubereats credits from Amex, free DoorDash from my World Mastercard and free (although limited) grocery delivery from Walmart+ (free from Amex)

I just started a free month long trial of Panera Bread deliveries and free beverages via their "Sip Club", I'm using them for ice coffee and bread deliveries.

I've gained almost 20 pounds; I may have to actually leave the house to go to the gym.

R28, Then I must be their most fortunate customer. I have had about 30 orders delivered from Whole Foods over the past two years and have never been disappointed.

Only twice has an item I ordered been out of stock, they almost always deliver before my requested time and the packaging is excellent.

Plus, some of the delivery drivers are quite hot.

I'm 2020 when Instacart was a thing.

Whole Foods is a shell of its former self. I wish someone could rescue it from Bezos's clutches but I guess he intends to run it into the ground.

^ Much like the way Musk is burning Twitter down

R32, Their “365” store brand food items are as good and often better than name brands.

Aren't these delivery services for all those 600 pound behemoths who can't get out of the front door of their double wide and have been banned from the local Piggly Wiggly for breaking down all of the mobility scooters?

I'm a full time delivery driver and I make the best money on Instacart, it's still going strong where Doordash and Ubereats have slowed down significantly since the end of 2022. Most of the other drivers I see are obvious junkies, but that's probably because they're the only ones who stand out. I can tell by the way a lot of customers are that they've had very bad experiences. A lot of people who are doing it are junkies who need the same day payout or immigrants/felons who buy or are given new accounts when they get deactivated.

What R15 said. The incessant frau/angry lesbians lurking here like R18 are deranged and tend not to read. They all somehow missed the part about “pointless butchery”. But, Datalounge is a place that originated by and for gay men so of course they have to infest it and make sure they make everyone miserable. Especially the men.

If Instacart is anything like Whole Foods, the alt items are already pre selected. Tammy has likely been set up to unwittingly upsell. She’s ethical except for using your breadstick as a butt scratcher.

I'm the text message "I'm not used to shopping here!!!" at the busiest supermarket in a small town and 5000 pictures of entire shelves so you van pick a replacement for the item they can't find that is also included in the picture 50% of the time.

I'm also the single red pepper subbed for the four pack that you actually ordered that is somehow even more expensive.

I'm the English language, eluding over half of the shoppers who have ever been assigned to me, causing most of the problems.

I'm the customer's in-app text message that stays on delivered, never read.

I'm the shopper who is rubbing every item I've shopped for OP, onto my dripping cunt, because that is what OP is, a nasty cunt.

I'm the shopper who actually has made the effort to go to the supermarket. I have to weave around these virtual app shoppers as they stop in the middle of the aisles and read from a list to see what items they need to pick up. They are needlessly slow and tend to stop smack, dab in the middle of the aisle and people have to maneuver around them. Did it ever occur to them to pull over closer to the shelves? ☹☹

The people who haven’t been giving you tips, r42, have been doing the right thing.

I'm the vial of 5 bedbugs that is dumped into R44's bag 15 seconds before delivery.

I'm the fat lazy proles who can't afford competent full time household staff so they abuse gig workers, complaining about them and stiffing them tips, while swanning about like Blanche Dubois, lady of the manor.

I'm the wrong address four blocks away from your house, where your shopper left your bags of groceries and frozen foods. I'm on the front steps of the wrong house, sitting in the hot sun. The owners of that house are on vacation this week.

I'm the your shopper driving in your neighborhood with my flashers on, going 5 MPH on a busy street, looking for your side street. I know it's here somewhere, but can't follow Waze or Google Maps because my Bluetooth is out. So I'll just drive slowly and sing along to my iPod, and ignore the parade of cars behind me honking their horns.

R47 - I’m the coyotes who became accustomed to food being left on the steps of suburban neighborhoods.

I am the handsome, well-built guy who delivers to you, and will take all my clothes off if you ask me to.

This happened to me last night. 12 items. 7 were substituted with substitutions I chose. 2 with subs I did not choose. One they I said if they didn’t have it, refund it. 1 item I chose was available. 1 was out of stock as were the substitutions.

I got 1 of 12 things I chose, 7 that were a second choice, 2 that weren’t, 1 I didn’t want, and 1 not at all.

WAIT! I forgot. 1 of the 2 things that I ordered that was available wasn’t in the bags that I got so actually I only got 1 out of 12.

And the 1 that was completely unavailable was the only reason I placed the order. I had a really awful day and I decided I was going to have bagel bites for dinner and watch trash tv and try to make myself feel better. But I couldn’t.

Oh, by the way, who uses all those Fleet enemas?

R51, I place my Whole Foods orders early in the morning and have them delivered as early as 6:00 AM.

By having early deliveries, you’re more apt to find items available and not out of stock.

I’m Sami, a new immigrant from Nigeria who was dumped off in this town by Catholic Charities who uses my people as a way to get public funding to help people come to America. They never bothered to help me find a home or show me how to use American toilets but it’s OK, I’m gradually figuring it out. I speak almost no English and will replace your oranges for mangos. The bread you have chosen doesn’t appear to be available here in the pasta aisle so I got you naan. I cannot find your milk but I’m sure you can use this quart of heavy whipping cream instead. I’ve been in America barely three Months but somehow, Instacart shows me as having “2,984 shops” with a five star review. I’m very proud of my badges for “Smart Bagging” and “Excellent Replacement Choices”.

My Instacart order was delivered an hour or so ago. My shopper picked a few of the substitutions I chose, they're all fine. There was nothing subbed that I didn't specify. My order arrived on time, appropriately bagged. No dings, no dents, no hassles.

I have had ONE instance where the shopper tried to fuck me over on an item by substituting a much higher priced item that I hadn't specified and I had it refunded by Instacart. Other than that I've never had a problem with them.

I go grocery shopping once in a while but not that often anymore. I always hated it and it's worth it to me to pay someone else to do it for me. I don't mind stopping at the local fishmongers, butchers and farmer's market. I can live without grocery store trips.

Apparently the fraus have mistaken this thread as a “let’s talk about the Instacart service!” discussion.

How does InstaCart price out jobs ? How do the workers make their money ?

I'm the person who actually brings the groceries to your door.

At least half the time, maybe more often, I am not the person in the photo. Not even close.

Sometimes it means the boyfriend/girlfriend/sibling etc. is delivering for them. Sometimes it's a shared account, a fact that Instacart probably does not know. Sometimes I think our local Instacart handlers hire whatever ex con or schlub that they can find and then you wonder why, instead of sweet little Denise as pictured on your order, you're seeing some ex con dude with teardrop tattoos.

I’ve had door dash delivered by a guy in a stolen rent bike. I saw him out the window high and wandering back and forth a while then they left it across the street. I deleted their app immediately after getting a refund. Their deliveries were always a mess. I’ve had Insta deliver once and keep the liquor.

I'm R55. I am a whizz at using Google Translate.

I'm a right wing troll on DL thinking I'm creative when I'm actually basic as fuck. "Look, an Instacart thread! I know just the tired old racial stereotypes to trot out, soon as I brush off these cobwebs..."

What? Too on the nose?

Looks like this thread "hit a nerve" with Miss R62. Take your pills Mary!

Girls! Girls! You're ALL cunts!

Get up off your lazy asses and drive to the store yourself if you don't like it. Such entitlement.

I'm the concierge at the luxury apartment building where every Millennial and Zoomer resident gets their groceries delivered from the nearby Whole Foods and Trader Joe's on Sunday afternoons.

Even though every tenant instructs the drivers to bring their groceries into the lobby (where there are designated tables clearly marked for grocery drop-offs) , I watch as the drivers leave the groceries out on the front lawn - whether in pouring rain, six inches of snow or 98 degree heat in the blazing sun (with frozen foods and perishables in the bags).

I then need to remind the frustrated Millennials and Zoomers who come down to the lobby not to take their anger out on me - I didn't deliver their groceries to the front lawn. Take it out on your delivery person.

Instacart hires absolute criminals and con artists. I order the groceries from Kroger for an old friend of mine who is elderly and unable to go to the market on her own. We used to use Instacart until Kroger started their own delivery service. When we were using Instacart every order was full of errors. Then one day an Instacart driver called her as she was on the way to deliver a $120.00 order. She proceeded to tell my friend that when she tried to check out at Kroger the credit card my friend always used was rejected. The Instacart clown told my friend that rather than cancel the order she just went ahead and paid for it out of her own pocket and she wanted a check for the groceries made out to her. Now my friend new this was a lie because she had just gotten a confirmation from the credit card company online that the charge had been approved. She then called me and I told her to tell the Instacart driver the charge did go through on her credit card so she was not going to write her a check for anything. The driver didn't put up a huge fight but eventually left. I immediately called Instacart corporate, told them what had transpired, and instead of saying they would investigate that driver immediately and if the incident was proven true they would fire her, I was told they would just mark my friend's account to make sure that driver was never paired with her account again.

The screw ups with Kroger delivery have been fewer, but she still has weird things going on. Like delivering items we didn't even order, at least one instance of an entire $100.00+ order showing as delivered but it wasn't delivered to her. Or multiple items on an order marked as fulfilled and billed that were not in the bags. Thankfully Kroger makes it very east to just mark each item in dispute and Kroger immediately credits her card for the items, not even asking for the return of items she didn't order. She once got a $35.00 ham for free because she didn't order it. Apparently the order pullers/drivers fuck up orders all the time and put items for one order in the bins for other orders.

A lady at Kroger corporate told me a few months back that Kroger was probably going to purchase Instacart. Don't know whatever happened with that.

I can't tell you how many times I get grocery deliveries to my home (usually from Whole Foods) and I don't ever shop InstaCart or any other grocery delivery service. I shop in person every Monday afternoon. Usually, at least twice a month.

None of these deliveries have a name, or even a receipt with them to identify the buyer. In the beginning (during the pandemic) I used to call Whole Foods to tell them I got someone's delivery - all I had were code numbers, no names or addresses. They always told me to 'keep the order'. I would donate it to a food pantry. Now, I don't even bother calling them any longer. The next day I deliver it to the food pantry (I never need any of the stuff in the order).

I start in the freezer aisle so your frozen sits in the cart defrosting while I shop the rest of your order

In my bag was a small empty tuna can with a plastic spoon I assume it was the shopper’s lunch. Gag.

I'm standing here cursing you and your order of multiple bags of cat litter, bottled water pallets and soda 12-packs.

15%? PLEASE!

And if you have organic produce in your order you're getting conventional and I'm not adjusting a THING.

I learned from somebody on here to tip them 10% and then you can add more after the delivery. I was tipping them 20% to start and then I felt ripped off when I had bad service.

Out of all the choices on the shelf, picks you the rotten produce, and old meat. Doesn't even know what half the things are on the list. Wipes their face with their hands and then touches your food. Need I go on...?

(Seriously though, over the years I have run into so many of these folks in the stores, especially during the pandemic. 95% of them were absolutely clueless about the most basic of things in a market, especially meat and produce. Good god. They just grab and go. Don't bag properly. Pick the rotten stuff. Etc. I just couldn't believe so many adults knew nothing about the basics of grocery shopping, which are as basic as life skills get).

I always check the date on milk, bread, etc. and will reach in back to get the newest. I hated when I had to use a delivery service. They would just grab and not check and would give me stuff that was almost out of date already.

[quote]I always check the date on milk, bread, etc. and will reach in back to get the newest.

BE CAREFUL !

I have found over the past twenty years or so this system doesn't always work. I have seen employees restock the dairy case, and never ever rotate the 'old' products from the back and bring them to the front - and put the newest items in back. Now they just fill the front of the racks with 'new product'. Same with bakery items - they do not pull the older items out front to grab first - they just fill the empty fronts with new product.

These workers today just want to get it done and go back to texting their friends. They're not that involved in making sure they're doing the job correctly.

I never take the most upfront product on a shelf, dairy case or freezer, especially if it’s a perishable item.

It could be a “return” that was placed there by an employee after a customer decided they didn’t want it or couldn’t afford it and it might have been sitting somewhere for hours.

R76 Good point - never thought of that before. I will keep that in mind !

R76, I was going to write the same thing. I always reach behind and not take the product at the front, for the same reason. Force of habit, I tend to do it with non-perishables too, although there’s no reason to do that with them.

It's so gross to walk around one of the 'discount stores' (in my area, we have "Price Rite") and see a gallon of milk or a package of chicken breasts sitting on the shelf next to the canned beans. If you don't want it - leave it in your cart and bring it to the register - then let them put it aside and take care of the items. OR be responsible and return it to the refrigerated cases where you found them.

Question for you all who are complaining about getting substitution items that are insufficient-

I know there's a place where you can designate what you would like as a substitution if the item is out (and sometimes I fill it out, sometimes I don't), but my question is- Do you not follow along while your shopper is in the store? I don't mean that you're glued to your phone watching every item being checked off, but when I use Instacart, I keep my phone nearby and if there's an issue, my shopper usually notifies me, a chime goes off, and I can see what the store is out of, what they are proposing to substitute, and if I want that or a refund (or something else). I will admit it's a (very) minor inconvenience, but it's less inconvenient than going out to the store. I make sure I always answer them quickly and don't leave them hanging.

Every once in a while, I will get an situation where they don't ask, they just substitute (i.e. one guy got me almond milk with sugar instead of unsweetened) and if it's something I didn't request and they didn't ask, I report it to Instacart and they give me a credit for the next order.

I do find it irritating that so many items are out of stock, but I don't know that that's necessarily the shopper's fault for not being able to find it. A lot of times they will take a photo of the rack where the item should be and say- they're out of your item. Is there anything similar in this photo you'd like as a substitute?

What I think would be more helpful is if Instacart and the stores could find a way to keep up with what's in stock and what isn't. I know with Amazon Fresh, once you place the order, they hold your item even if it's not arriving for a couple days. And with Instacart, you can place your order for up to a week in advance and who knows what the store will have at that point. But it would be great if there could be some way before the shopper gets there that the app could say- hey, Ralph's no longer has xxx in stock. Do you want to sub something, or take it off your order before your shopper starts shopping or take your chances?

I have only had the "substitute something three times the price" thing happen a small number of times. I'm usually there to catch it and say no. But if they insist on doing it to up their tip, I report it to Instacart. For the most part, I have usually had decent shoppers and will tip them accordingly. I used to use Amazon Fresh for all my deliveries, but during the pandemic, they started running out of everything and it's stayed that way. You often cannot find the most basic of items in stock with them. And now with their service fees being ridiculous for Prime members, I use them very sparingly.

On my Whole Foods order, I always specify that it be delivered by their hottest driver available.

I’m looking at you, Luis, and your delectable ass.

I haven't used grocery delivery services since the height of the pandemic. I only used Instacart for Aldi. (I did lots of curbside pickup at Walmart, Whole Foods, and regular supermarkets, but my Aldi doesn't offer that.)

I always added a tip when I placed the order, and I also usually left $5 in an envelope (labeled appropriately) on my porch for the delivery person. Half the time, the driver never picked up the additional tip.

I'm the posters above who don't realize that we're talking about less than an hour, maybe even a half hour, if even, per order.

“Fuckin, OP, with his goddamn Lima beans!”

r81 I have used Shipt because it's through my grocery store and takes their coupons, with Shipt you can't see when they are shopping on your phone/computer like Instacart so you are really at their mercy.

Instacart was a nightmare but I’ve never had an issue using the grocery stores own delivery service

Instacart usually gets the order right in my experience, but they just leave the (flimsy plastic) bags at my door without a knock or text. Never order ice cream - it's guaranteed to be half melted when you get it.

I'm the driver who places all the bags NEXT to the large Rubbermaid bin at the front door rather than IN the bin.