Instacart

We got back from a vacation late last night and my groceries were delivered before dinnertime today! All from my desktop. They shopped while I sorted through the mail. Thank you, Instacart! p. s. I am in the San Francisco Area and have been using Instacart for nearly a year!

Had to change update my rating because their customer service is so great – I have to thank them for doing their best to fix any errors, you just have to double check everything and let them know if there are any issues… kind of a pain, but in hindsight, for SURE better than fighting the WF lines and SF traffic myself.

So, the manfriend was sick. I offered to bring him some get well food, but being stubborn, he opted to suffer in silence. Until he got worse.
Unfortunately, I got his SOS when I had already gotten to work and had a day full of meetings. Worried that he was dehydrated and in no condition to go to the store, I created an Instacart account and put together a care package. In almost no time, I had a text from him thanking me for the supplies.
Overall, my experience was positive. My shopper was fast an efficient, my order was correct, etc. The biggest headache was the website; the search function kind of blows, especially when you’re searching for OTC meds and there can be a bunch of different brands, forms, and sizes.
Yes, you will pay more for the convenience of having someone shop for you and bring it to your door ASAP. It wouldn’t be something I’d do with any regularity, I like being able to browse the aisles, but in a pinch, it’s pretty handy.

They make mistakes but they fix them
Sometime shoppers are good, sometimes they are clueless.
But they fix mistakes when they make them, you just have to catch the mistakes.
I have not had an issue with billing, on issues are with not recieving products although the system said I did or recieving the wrong products (usually flavor or being organic) but the system shows I received what I ordered.
They always redeliver or credit me. Always check your bags to make sure you received all that you ordered.

I used them a couple times but I won’t use them again. The last time I got groceries every apple they gave me had giant scratches like with your fingernail, they gave me grapes that had a big moldy gross looking one in the middle and I got those drumstick ice creams those came melted. I didn’t realize the ice cream until I went to open the box and have one the next day, every single cone had ice cream frozen in big spilled spots in the bag. Then I complained via email about it and the woman asked for pictures so I sent her pictures and never heard anything again. Oh and did I mention my order had like 10 items or so? So the fruit and ice cream was a good portion of it. They need to do a better job at hiring people. This is in Miami, FL. I wasn’t sure where else to leave my complaint.

I have used 3 times, Berkeley Bowl, Safeway, and Whole Foods. Each time I was given and charged for much more than I ordered. ½ lb. does not mean 2 lbs. Lox does not mean compressed salmon costing a fortune. Each time my order was supposed to be under 90.00 and ended up to be $ 140.00. The runners are stupid and either know thing about shopping or they are trying to pad the bill so there is more money for themselves.
I caution you to ask the runner to stay in your home with you so you can check and then return the errors they have made. I would say I am out around $ 40.00 on each store. do not use this service; get UBER and go yourself to the stores. Then you can select the best and not have these 19 year old kids who know nothing about food work you.

As a business, Instacart needs to get it together.
I’ve placed 3 orders before my 4^th and each time they forgot items. On the 4^th, they wasted my time. They cancelled my order & deactivated the account so I could not track it without giving me any type of notice. AND they charged my card. What type of legitimate business does that?

Because this is a service and not per se just a business site, I’m going to give my tips for use prior to my experience with them:
Tip One: Order within 2 hours. The best service I receive is when I order and within 2 hours it’s delivered. If you order in advance they could be shopping for it at any time prior to delivery, and then everything sits in a bag in a fridge onsite for a few hours until they deliver it. Which brings me to…
Tip Two: Use the notes section RELIGIOUSLY. I have notes for each item I purchase. I list any other options I am okay with and if there are none I list to refund if that item isn’t available. The notes are even saved with the items under the ‘items I have purchased before’ category. This lets me not have to follow up with the shopper so often and it makes their job easier. But just in case you get a shopper that overthinks it…
Tip Three: Order within two hours because then you can keep track of what they’re picking up as they do it. I sometimes get shoppers who don’t read the ‘no replacements’ note (rare) or like to randomly choose a replacement in the orbit of similar (one specifically) and if I have a shorter window I can keep it open and glance at it every 5 – 10 minutes to see how they’re doing. I’ll catch any weird additions or if I really wanted something, chat with them online to see if we can pick up something else that will work.
So yes. End of tips.
My experience with them has been almost entirely positive. We are a single car family, and as such would have to coordinate grocery trips after work, or on weekends. It was frustrating and I found myself using DoorDash twice as much because the Safeway deli case is only open until 8pm and sometimes we couldn’t make it by then.
I’ve liked almost 98% of our shoppers. One is a bit creepy, and one (mentioned above) is my least favorite shopper, but on the whole it’s a really fantastic service and saves us the 30 – 45 minute trip once or so a week. To us, the upsell is worth it once a week, especially now since we use express and are only chipping in for the tips.
I will say that part of the reason we’ve been so happy with Instacart is that we don’t order fresh anything (beyond carrots and celery) and beyond emergency items like an ice pack, nasal wash, or bandaids — we don’t buy anything but food from them.
Any upsell on the canned goods, bread, or meat is minimal and doesn’t bother us because we don’t ever shop with specific food sales in mind anyway. I tend to use coupons and shop sales on bath and personal items, but I go specifically to the store for that.
We went into using Instacart knowing we were going to pay more, and tip for the ability to not have to go to the store, on top of the surcharge for free delivery. For us, it works because I’d be using Doordash anyway, and it’s healthier and cheaper for me not to.
We’ve been happy with Instacart, but it’s definitely because of our circumstances and it’s probably not perfect for everyone.

A-​ok. I originally thought this was a godsend. Grocery shopping is not convenient in the city, which in my case is Washington DC. I had probably used this service two dozen times until I noticed a few times that their prices were not the same as in the store.
They state outright that they charge 15% more for Costco products but they also claimed that for Whole Foods, prices were the same as in store. They are not. Sale prices on many items are not passed onto Instacart customers, and I noticed outright that Instacart was charging double for my favorite yogurt recently. I’ve caught a few other items in which they charged me more, things like lamb loin and Chocolove chocolate. And yes, I checked the store the same day. I often go to Whole Foods for lunch, and sometimes I browse around and look for my items to see if they are on sale. Or I get ambitious and think, I’ll pick up a few things. but after a minute, I think … «Nah I don’t want to carry these around all day. I’ll just order on Instacart later» only to discover higher prices on the Instacart app late.
They also play tricks where they charge you the full price of an item you put in your cart even though you didn’t receive it. As an example — last night I ordered 1.3 lb of avocado at a price of $ 3.25. I received 1 small avocado which I weighed on a bathroom scale and it came in at less than 0.5 lb. I googled that a typical Hass avocado weighs about 8 oz. So for the price I paid, I should have gotten maybe 2 more. I suspect they’ve done this in the past with other items I’ve ordered like fresh ginger. I will concede that they’re quick to refund when you complain about things, but I’d rather that they just give me the correct amount or charge me the right price. Now I’ll have to check every single item by weight to make sure I’m not being cheated. My guess is that this is a way they pad their bottom line.
Oh and finally — They are often late.

Our first go-​round with Instacart went pretty smoothly. I didn’t experience anything too terrible; only a couple items were substituted and they reached out to us before the order was finalized to assure we were aware of the substitutions. They came within the delivery window and everything was packaged nicely in double paper bags that were organized well. Everything was fresh and cold and reasonably priced, not more than I’d spend on a regular grocery trip.
I definitely recommend trying out Instacart if you’re in a pinch! It was a godsend after I had surgery, couldn’t drive, and needed groceries.

This is based off of my very first Instacart experience, which was great! I ordered from three different stores (Bi-​Rite, Whole Foods, and Safeway.) I made sure I ordered the bulk of my items from Whole Foods and Bi-​Rite because they were the same price as in store. I ordered smaller non-​expensive items from Safeway, assuming they had a small markup. The ability to shop at all three stores virtually and compare products was amazing!
Honestly, this service was quick, seemless, and easy — everything that it should be! I loved the visibility as to where the shoppers were in the process. Two of my shoppers sent me photos of substitutions, which I really appreciated. All of the produce was in good shape and my ice cream was not melted as many other reviews state could happen.
I tipped about $ 10, but definitely feel that cost was worth it for the convenience. I also got free delivery since it was my first time. Definitely recommend especially with free shipping!

I’ll join in on all the negative reviews here.
Melted ice cream, missing/​wrong items, no phone number to call for issues — you must e-​mail them… WTF?, Horrible customer service and lots of shopper errors.
This is yet another example of a company that is getting funded by VC’s with a business model that clearly doesn’t work. Why? Because they don’t hire the right people (so they must lose a ton of money on mistakes/​returns after reading many of the reviews here) and they don’t use delivery trucks that have fridges or freezers. Orders just sit in hot cars. This could easily lead to food poisoning and rotten food on hot days.
Hopefully these guys won’t be around in another year once the current tech bubble bursts.
To top it off, the driver that delivered my order (with wrong/​missing items and melted ice cream) said they treat their people «like dirt» and that they removed the tips from those that work in the stores. Where do the tips go? All to the driver? I asked and she didn’t know. So it now makes sense why there were wrong/​missing items as some of the shoppers probably don’t give a sh**. I actually don’t blame the shoppers/​drivers and my driver was sweet in a strange sort of way – it’s a core company issue.
After I went through the order with the driver and saw how bad everything was (she said she didn’t «shop it»), I had her return it all and went shopping myself. It’s actually not so bad :)
Enough said. Good Luck.

Will never use this service again. I ordered a fairly small order at 6:50PM (chips and dip, juice, artichoke heart) and was told that it would arrive at 7:30PM. I got a text around 7:10PM that my order was delivered (which it was not, there’s no way to get into my building without me going downstairs or buzzing them in) and it’s now 8PM and I have yet to be contacted by either the shopper or the company (whom I’ve emailed twice). At least Bank of America can be reached at 8 PM…
I have used this service multiple times and it was usually always great (besides the occasional missing items).
The «convenience» is not worth the price markup and this ordeal.

Instacart is a great concept, that has one fault — the shoppers don’t quite care too much. I’ve ordered from Instacart about 10x. Here are some examples of mishaps:
1) Avocados were selected that were as hard as rocks
2) A can opener was substituted for a bottle opener
3) Sour cream was substitute for yogurt
4) Banana were picked that could not be more green
5) Rump roast was substituted for filet mignon
However, for the basics (cereal, spaghetti, etc.) there’s not much the shoppers can do wrong. Its a handy service that still has the bugs being worked out.

A human being can bring every flavor of Bi-​Rite ice cream to your door. I want you to pause while you consider what that means.
That’s right: there is no reason to wait in that line-​up ever again!
OK, I recognize that there are other reasons to use Instacart. After all, even we used it to order produce (from Whole Foods) and basic groceries (from Smart & Final). Since it was our first order, delivery was free, so the fact that we were ordering from three different stores kept our bill from being TOO insane — though tipping on a multi-​hundred-​dollar grocery bill is not a small commitment.
On a week-​to-​week basis, I think I’d find shopping at Instacart to be a fairly steep indulgence — paying $ 9 in tip + delivery on a $ 35 grocery bill feels non-​trivial. Then again, it’s not hard to run up $ 20-​$ 30 in babysitting while I do the grocery shopping, or to spend an extra $ 50 in groceries at Whole Foods because I don’t have the time to make a second stop for basics at Safeway… so I can see a universe in which this would make financial sense. If I lived in SF I would definitely do a couple of test weeks to compare the cost of Instacart with the TRUE cost of shopping myself (including impulse purchases + my time).
But you can’t put a price on a freezer full of Bi-​Rite ice cream and a cupboard full of Bi-​Rite granola and cookies. Oh, wait: you CAN put a price on it: $ 80. Worth every penny. Hell, I’d pay that for another spoonful of Bi-​Rite salted caramel ice cream RIGHT NOW.

Instacart, how I love thee.
Okay, so, can I bare my soul to you? I can? Cool.
I live in San Francisco, but I am not what anyone would call a city person. I have 4,347,891 (approx.) stair steps to get from the street to my apartment. Parking. Putting on pants. It’s all too much.
That being said, I have, on occasion, utilized a grocery delivery service. Twice I used Safeway, and a handful of times I’ve used Instacart. One nice thing about Instacart is that most deliveries can be had in about an hour. So, if you need something to eat, but don’t want take out… Instacart. The accuracy has been somewhat hit-​and-​miss. It seems as though substitutions are more the rule than the exception — especially with certain shoppers. But, hey, I don’t have to put on pants, so, HECK YEAH, I will take the avocado substituted for the Wheat Bread I ordered!
It was also nice that I could tip ahead of time and on my card. Plus, Whole Paycheck, Rainbow Grocery and some other fancy ass stores are on their list to choose from.

I ordered from Safeway during a lazy day. First order was free delivery, so why not?! I didn’t order everthing below, but here’s a price comparison of some of the stuff I looked up.
*Primo taglio pan roasted turkey (per lb) — Instacart: $ 8.99 (+$ 1), Safeway: $ 7.99
*Sargento natural sharp cheddar cheese sliced (8oz) — Instacart: $ 3.69 (-$ 0.70), Safeway: $ 4.39
*Sargento natural pepper jack slices (7.5oz) — Instacart: $ 4.99 (+$.060), Safeway: $ 4.39
*Owoweat double fiber bread (24oz) — Instacart: $ 3.39 (-$ 1.60), Safeway: $ 4.99
*Romaine lettuce — Instacart: $ 2.49 each (+$ 0.30), Safeway: $ 2.19 each
*French’s classic yellow mustard (14oz) — Instacart: $ 3.19 (+$ 0.20), Safeway: $ 2.99
*Best foods real mayonnaise (11.5oz) — Instacart: $ 5.79 (+$ 1.10), Safeway: $ 4.69
*Safeway avocados (4ct) — Instacart: $ 6.19 (+$ 0.59), Safeway: $ 5.60
*Garden highway celery sticks (14oz) — Instacart: $ 4.99 (+$ 0.60), Safeway: $ 4.39
*Sabra hummus supremely spicy (10oz) — Instacart: $ 3.39 (-$ 2.10), Safeway: $ 5.49
*Wasa multigrain crispbread (9.7oz) — Instacart: $ 2.49, Safeway: couldn’t find
I believe Safeway’s first delivery order is free as well, but I found Instacart easier to search when looking for items. Plus, none of the stuff I wanted was at a discount with the Safeway club card, so in all there wasn’t much of a price difference between Instacart and Safeway. And I wanted the Wasa crackers.
Not sure if Safeway has an area for tip, but Instacart does. The tip area defaults to 10%, but I tipped a little more than that. Glad I did as I also ordered some medicine that the shopper/​driver couldn’t find at the Safeway she was at. She offered to go to another Safeway to find it which was really sweet of her. That was above and beyond which was great customer service.

Well, after using this service every week for the last 6 months, I officially move on. They overcharge shamelessly, not even trying to hide blatant issues. Or maybe they are poor at math… Nonetheless, I am tired of sending them emails with itemized issues, my calculations, and requests for refunds. Today was sort of the last straw. 12.74 + 13.40 does not equal 41. I refuse to believe that a technology startup lacks in basic ability to add and subtracts.
Go back to 3^rd grade instacart and let me know when you are legit.

For a company that has received a whole lot of funding, it is pretty mediocre. From what I’ve read in these reviews their setup is really not efficient. When I was in college I temporarily shopped for them and then I decided it was a terrible company to offer my time to. Since then it looks like they’ve gone downhill.
For the longest time now (1.5 years) they do not offer delivery service to my zip code, even though when I was a shopper with them I delivered something less than five minutes away. The reason (I think) — my neighborhood is not gentrified enough (Portola). It’s pretty working class/​mid-​low income families. I know they deliver to Bernal Heights which is only 5 blocks from me! Oh and I live in a food desert so I’d really benefit from this service.
I use it from time/​time at work when I really need something. I was billed for an item that I never received and then they could not redeliver the same day. And as other’s have mentioned they don’t have a phone number –_​– I wish there was other grocery delivery companies. Google would be great but they do not deliver perishables.

This is my new favorite service. I tried hard to resist, told myself I really loved my Trader Joe’s trips– that whole foods and the other grocery store options on Instacart were too expensive. Turns out the whole foods prices are the same as in store, and not having to shlep my groceries home on the bus is fantastic. Saving two hours is also pretty magical, and it allows me to budget better.
Minus one star for semi-​unreliable service but pretty good customer service. I placed an order on a Sunday night for delivery between 7−8pm that ended up getting to me at 10PM. They gave me free delivery and some Instacart coupons and were nice/​sorry about it. Ordered again and had no problems. Will continue to use this service!