I did Instacart once during the pandemic. I had a really positive experience. My shopper contacted me every time an item I wanted was not available about a substitution. Sometimes she even suggested one. For instance I had a bag of Vanilla Starbucks coffee on my order and they were out. She texted me āhow about their caramel - Iāve had it and it smells and tastes amazingā. She was right!
I placed the order and had the bags at my door in about an hour and a half. I was shocked it was so fast.
Iāve managed to get to the store since then limiting trips and stores. Everyone has different reasons/circumstances for NOT wanting to go in a store and I understand that.
I used instacart once but likely wonāt do it again. I sensed the shopper did try but they were out of half of the things I ordered. The one funniest mistake is that I ordered 2 potatoes and ended up with 2 five pound bags of potatoes ā my neighbors were the lucky recipients of the second bag of potatoes!
Iāve been going to a small store in town once a week ā it is overpriced but is kept very clean, has not been crowded, and everyone has been good about keeping social distancing. Iām definitely spending more than normal on food (H and S who came home are here for 3 meals/week) but weāre not going out so I figure it is fine.
I have used Instacart several times now for Costco delivery. I always go in and indicate acceptable substitute or no substitute. Order is always good if what I want is there. Sometimes what I want is not available and they just skip it if I told them to. I had one really nice shopper check with me via text to see if a different sub was good or if there was anything else I wanted. I use our farmers market for most of my fresh vegetables now.
I havenāt done instacart, but we always do grocery pickup since the start of COVID. Last week I specifically told the guy when he called to go over what they had and didnāt have that I needed cran raspberry JUICE.
I got a can of cranberry sauce.
Today I couldnāt take the call when they were checking to see if substitutes were OK, but they were all at least acceptable. We got a Lot of steak Bc they didnāt have what we wanted and he assumed more was better than none, we got store brand muffins, another brand of bag salad, That kind of thing.
Totally about the shopper you get.
I use instacart, but Iām always charged for what they get vs what I requested- and they always choose more expensive replacements. They also donāt ask questions when confused, because I once ordered hydrangeas and instead received cauliflower. Not even marked as a substitute. I get the similar shape if you have no clue what a hydrangea is, but that was frustrating. I actively engage with them while theyāre shopping since then.
I did an instacart order very early onā¦for toilet paper. It was in stock when I ordered. I did notice a drop down for substitutionsā¦and figured it was just a brand name substitution or something like that. The subs for toilet paper wereā¦aluminum foil and paper plates! Really? I checked no substitution and my order was cancelled!
As I mentioned above, I either mark an item with an exact substitute I am willing to take, or mark and item as no substitutes to avoid any confusion. For the produce and chicken/meat/fish, I add in the notes the amount, by either number of pieces and/or weight. If the shopper is going to ignore the notes section, then why have it?
Two weeks I ordered the 12 oz. can of tuna and marked no substitution; both shoppers selected the 5 oz cans. If the 12 oz was not available, then they I should have not received tuna; I didnāt need 5 oz cans that cost me more. I already pay above the storeās posted price for many items; add the tip to that, and groceries are not cheap.
Overall, I have been happy with my orders, but would still prefer to pick out my own groceries. Life is different now, so I am adapting. For now I will stick with Instacart, but working towards shopping myself, even if it means going at odd hours to avoid the masses. My husband and I have decided to hit Costco this week during senior hour as my list for there is long enough. Unfortunately, our fridge has a smaller freezer and we donāt have room at the townhouse for one in the garage; at the old house we had a second fridge/freezer in the basement. If we had the extra storage space, it would be so much easier to shop less often.
I second the motion RE Targetās pick up at service desk service. As mentioned, their own employees who are the ones who stock the shelves do the picking, so mistakes donāt happen. Once ready, show your ID, in and out of the store within minutes.
Before the pandemic we used Target for non-perishables anyway, so this isnāt very different.
Would consider trying Walmart except our closest Walmart doesnāt offer the service, and nearest one that does is a super-busy store that was total chaos before the pandemic.
Had a coupon code for BJās to waive the $14.99 delivery fee so we used them once. Plus is that we were able to get fruits, vegetables, dairy, etc that way. Must have lucked out and gotten a good picker, because she did well. Texted me as she shopped if something was out of stockāI could approve or reject the substitution.
We plan supermarket runs around times we have to be out anyway (prescription pick up, doctorās appt, etc). Keep using the same store so we know it well, in and out as quickly as possible.
I order from instacart weekly now during pandemic. I always select substitution and also communicate with shopper. So far my experience was good except for beets. They brought rutabaga instead of beets twice. One time shopper miscalculated weight and I got charged $27 for beef instead of $5. I took it with instacart and they refunded without any trouble.
I watched instacart shoppers stumble around Costco (they were let in during seniors shopping hour). Some of them looked very puzzled and definitely were shopping in the wrong orderā¦ Yo donāt get noodles and rice before getting produce. We quickly grabbed everything we needed for us and our kids and checked out. Our kids commented that we did much better than any of their instacart shoppers.
I signed up to be the instacart shopper. No requirements other than you have a driverās license.
I did exactly one order. First, the orders appear around the top of the hour, and they expect you to deliver within one hour. You have to āgrabā the order only knowing the number of items and the approx amount you will make. I think there were 22 different items and 35 or more total (doubles of some things). There were 5-6 produce items and those are hard to pick out even though I know what ginger root looks like (but a 22 year old may not). The store was very crowded and it took me an hour to shop and check out. I was new at it so didnāt really understand the check out and had to get help, but it worked. I then had to drive about 2.5 miles to deliver, haul it up about 20 stairs (2 trips). The grocery order was about $75. I only had to make 2 or three substitution which the person had to approve. It was heavy - 10 pounds of spaghetti and 10 pounds of rice.
My payment? $12. It was supposed to be $13 but I guess because the order had a few missing items I was docked. $12. That included the tip. When you accept the order, you donāt know if the estimate includes a tip or not, so you could take a batch that is $15 and then get a $10 tip at the door but no guarantees.
I wonāt do it again. I saw a batch recently that was $25 but there were over 100 items on the list. That would take 2 hours to shop and deliver and no guarantee of the $25.
While I was shopping, there were Kroger shoppers too. They are paid more than $12 per hour to slowly shop the store for the items on the pick up lists.
@twoinanddone thank you for explaining how hard the job is for not a lot of money. Idk but would Instacart say that you were paid $12 an hour because thatās what you made? It was a lot of work for $12 and the $25 for 100 items and 2 plus hours work is around the same hourly rate.
Iāve noticed shoppers in my local grocery store. It looks hard and the shoppers are moving. I have enough problems shopping with my own list, I canāt imagine how hard it has to be with someone elseās.
@twoinanddone I wasnāt aware how the shoppers received the orders; you message helped me to understand. I would be interested in hearing from shoppers that were shoppers prior to the Pandemic to see what their thoughts are over the last few months.
My son had an excellent shopper today that texted him a very lengthy explanation on why the store didnāt have a few items he requested. She mentioned she checked with the dairy manager, and the sliced cheddar cheese requested was not available, but listed what sliced cheeses were in store. If he would prefer, she could get a block of cheddar instead if he would like. They also wanted sour cream in the 16 oz carton, but only light was available in that size, so would they prefer 2 8 oz cartons, the light or none at all?
As we said above, it does depend on the shopper. I just wish, that if I am going to list a replacement, that the shopper would pay attention to that; most have.
For instance I had a bag of Vanilla Starbucks coffee on my order and they were out. She texted me āhow about their caramel - Iāve had it and it smells and tastes amazingā. She was right!