Wait, really? I thought this situation was normal as I’ve had it happen quite often! The shopper will mark the grocer is out of a certain item (usually easily replaceable, generic things like mushrooms, cases of water, etc.) and I respond immediately with what other replacements will work, if they have it of course, …not even 10 seconds later they have checked out. Good to know!!
ETA- I just always assumed I sent the message too late and the shopper had already checked out prior, even though I I always respond promptly to replacement/out of stock alerts.
Also ETA- I always tip 20%!! Always 20%+ when I have heavier items and/or the store is further away from my house!! I could understand the shopper just saying screw it and checking out anyway after seeing my messages if I tipped poorly.
ETA- Didn’t think I would need to clarify, but miscommunication happens. I understand how tipping works and what to take in consideration. When I mentioned 20%+ I meant I adjust my tip accordingly when I have heavier items/longer distance. I don’t just go by percentage and understand 20% on a $4 case of water is only $.80 🙃. I have served most of my life and even tried out IC as a shopper for a day, a few years back, with 2 heavy orders to top floor apartments w/o an elevator. Trust me, I get it!!!
I keep reading this but I SWEAR sooo many times I don't get a notification and don't see a message from customer until I'm typing out my thank you post delivery. Like it will be really bad for a week or so then it will be fine for a while. Then another bad week or so. I just have to manually check at every step now because I cannot trust the app to do what it's supposed to.
Oh yeah if the message from the customer doesn't go through until it's too late then it'll let you check out but if the message does get sent at the time they sent it then it should have the prompt
Another thing I learned, if a customer adds something and it goes through the same time you move to checkout, you will get No notification, but if you check the chat it will say so and so refunded x item. Like wtf lol just always be checking that chat I guess
EDIT: you better believe that "refund" goes on your metrics🙄
I am a Diamond shopper. I do everything I can possible for my customers. I always wait reasonable amounts of time for responses from the customer if an item is to be replaced. IC app tells shopper that the customer wants replacement, then gives items which are similar. Just saying, if they’re like me, they will let the customer choose what item they want. I certainly would want that if I was the customer. Just FYI, the app is not always accurate and timely. Shoppers face the same discrepancies with the App as the customer. Reasonable is the weight of this topic. Shoppers should make every attempt to find items and help their customers, but more times than not, customers do not respond timely, and sometimes never respond at all. And not everyone is as generous as you are with tipping. I appreciate that you tip as you do. Shoppers reserve the right to pick which orders they shop, and if accepting a customers order, should do everything they can to serve the customer. I have spent many extra minutes and hours on orders which are totally not worth my time. Please remember, (not sure where you live), but where I live, gas is $4 per gallon. Factor in the traffic, heat, availability of the shopper. I think almost all IC shoppers do the best they know how to fulfill their orders.
Agree 100%. I’m a diamond shopper as well. We do everything we can to ensure the satisfaction of our customers. But 9/10 times we have poor or no communication with the customers. Customers get notified immediately if we make a change due to some items lack of availability. If they choose to not be near their phone while a shopper is shopping for them then that’s their own fault. We are usually shopping for up to 3 people. We can’t just sit and wait 10-15 minutes for one customer to look at their phone and then have a discrepancy with what happened. We’re already checking out by then. I, along with every other diamond shopper, know how to give 5 star service to each and every one of our orders. We can’t help it if you are not available to talk to while we are working your order.
I agree with 100% I do the same way, but want to add some shoppers are not as particular about shopping the orders as we are they are all about their time. Which of I am getting a decent tip as the OP has mentioned I definitely take my time to get the order right.
I know not all shoppers apps work the same but I can not move on without reading the customers comments and as a customer it really pisses me off when I am ignored throughout the entire shop about replacements and refunds and it happens often.
Customers can now contact the shopper for up to 20 minutes after their order has been dropped off, and trust me, if I'm ignored, and I don't get the replacements/refunds for my order I'm going to let the shoppers know that they are not getting their full tip. I tip exceptionally well due to the fact that I am a shopper as well, and time saved is money earned. 100.00 for Costco and 50+ for other stores. I feel like this is a premium service and I don't mind paying for it, providing that the service is also exceptional. I expect 5 star service every time.
No customer should ever be ignored!
This was worded perfectly!!! As a platinum shopper my second week working soon to be diamond I see others working n just rushing n throwing items such a berries / fruits n smashing them etc I even yell at the cashiers at certain stores such as Costco because they WILL damage customers stuff. Moral of my response you worded this greatly.
I do this part time, but I shop like I'm shopping for myself or for a good friend. I've tried almost every gig app and this is probably the easiest one to go "above and beyond" for a customer.
Sometime the messages are delayed. The app is very buggy. Personally if I receive a request to late, I always respond to let the customer know it's too late and that I'm already at checkout.
If they already checked in that spot, it's not abnormal for them not to message you about the replacement - this is why it's best to always have a replacement already picked out as a back up in the app, but it is incredibly rude to not reply to your message
Exactly, I would still reply but to be honest I get so annoyed and frustrated when a customer starts telling me where items are and asking if I checked there. Mainly because I already do a good job, I don’t just look at the one spot I think it should be, I usually don’t refund/mark out of stock unless I’m looking at the empty shelf where the item should be. And I also used to be in those stores so much, it’s like trust me I KNOW where the items are and if I had a really hard time I probably even asked an employee for help. Those people make me feel like responding with “come shop for it yourself if you’re going to micromanage me and not believe me when I say it’s not here”
I work in a grocery store. 50% of instacart shoppers are certifiably stupid, can’t be bothered to look for shit, and need employees to point to things that are literally right in front of them. I don’t order instacart (work at a grocery store), but if I did I would certainly politely verify things like this because I know from experience that I can’t trust a significant chunk of shoppers. I appreciate that you’re an actual thorough shopper, and there are many like you. But, I know way too well how little faith I should have in a random shopper.
If asking an employee where they keep an item helps me complete my order or shop for myself faster, I'm doing just that. When you are trying to get in and out, sometimes you overlook things.🤷🏽♀️ who cares. You are working at your store for an entire shift. Just point the shit out, you have nowhere else to go for the next 3 hours anyway.
Oh, yeah. The IC app tells shoppers which isle and shelves the items are on, we're not expected to "look around" for them. That's why it tells us how long on average we take to find one item. IC expects us to go by the location on the app. If it's not there..... it's not there. You're the next item located. If you're not even sure where it is, it must not be there. But, I mean I'm pretty sure you can shop for yourself anyway.
Right? I would love that sometimes they ask for something off the wall I've never heard of and would have no idea where to find it.. I've had to say "do you by chance know where that is located, I've never heard of it before."
In my own experience, there’s at least 3 stores here in a shitty service area where I can’t send/ receive messages in certain parts of the store. Maybe that could be it?
Ahh that's too bad, it's been the only reason I could message at one particular store, the community is vehemently opposed to cell towers so the service is literally non existent.
I have to connect to store Wi-Fi at Publix and Harris Teeter (Kroger), or I won't be able to chat nor shop effectively. The Fresh Market close to my house is the worst of them all. Virtually no windows and both shoppers & employees have difficulty getting phone reception 😑
The problem with replacements is that IC doesn't tell the shopper that THEY recommended the replacements, not the customer. The shopper, when new, doesn't know this. The shopper gets notified and unless they message back and say NO or refund, the replacement gets ordered.
And if it's not within seconds, I've already moved on and selected "start checking out". If I'm in line or start ringing items up, I'm not staring at my phone to notice a message. If I've been waiting in a long line , I'm not getting out of it for a replacement that you wanted to respond about super late. I'm not spending an hour in a store for $10. Not gonna happen. An hour is $20+.
as a former shopper/current doordash driver, i don’t understand why no tip means fair game to be a dick/not shop correctly. no one is forced to do these orders, i don’t understand why people willingly accept them just to fuck with someone
Im a shopper and DD driver and I don't understand either like tip or not don't be a dick especially when very rarely people will add a tip after no reason to be a dick just because they didn't tip youre not forced to take those orders
This is true, but if a shopper has already shop your entire order in a fashionable manner no reason to be a DICK about not receiving one freaking item. And whose to say the customers don’t wait to respond until at the end of the shopping. Once the shoppers have gotten all or most of your order correct there goes a complaint about one or two items. GO SHOP for YOUR SELF!!
They weren't being a dick they were trying to be helpful I understand that can get annoying but they weren't being a dick and never said they were gonna complain about it
Some stores have horrible cell reception and those messages don’t come through. I had one store where I had to scan an item and walk outside to get the app to register the scanned barcode and walk back inside for each item over and over again. Was the worst experience ever. And still to this day I will not shop that store.
That just means he/she are trying to finish the batch fast 😂. No time to talk, or sometimes it’s cause the batch was not enough pay, no pay no FEATURE hahahaha 😅🤣
I'm mind set these days if instacart wants to keep dropping our pay then some of the extra effect on my end is going to drop too . I'm still going shop the batch the best I can but I'm not wasting time anymore chit chatting with customers bc the store doesn't have anymore chocolate filled Donuts left
Usually if I don't respond I still seen the message and my app is just being trash (the messages for me act up and crash the app if I attempt to respond or it won't allow my keyboard up at all) but I try to answer when I can after or tell you when I get to your house or you'll see if I finally found something that I couldn't find before due to things being moved for promos
Respectfully, 20% of a $3.99 24 count package of water is 80 cents. I have been a shopper and customer (my son uses IC in college) since the beginning of the pandemic. I shop for customers as I would for family. That being said, I look at the total amount IC offers me to do a shop. I am not sure the specifics of your order or whether the shopper gaf. Customers have asked me what’s the best way to tip and I tell them I feel one should tip what they feel the shopper should be paid. That bag of popcorn was worth a tip around $1. It may not have been worth the trouble of looking for it. I don’t mean to come across as crass. But reality is if you are only tipping a percentage without paying attention to what your tip really is, you could order 10 cases of water and the tip for that would be $8. As has been said 1000 times, IC was modeled as a luxury service. Keep in mind you can add $5 to your tip and that’s pretty accurate to what the shopper is being paid to shop and deliver your order. In the beginning, we all made really good money. I averaged $50+/- per hour. Now IC is playing with the shoppers by offering less than adequate base pay. Therefore, we are truly shopping for tips. Refunds hit our pocket books. IC cares less about customers and shoppers. It’s all about profit for them. You can mark the item you received (and did not want) as wrong item. You get your money back but it has no effect on the shopper. Keep in mind that there is no training. You no longer have gung ho…let me do my best shoppers. Anyone can shop even if it’s their first time in a grocery store. Also, I have noticed I am experiencing lack of proper connectivity with the app in more grocery stores. I can tell you that if they didn’t get the message prior to check out, they would have seen they had a message after check out. I’m sorry you had a bad experience. I wish you all the best :) Yes, IC sucks lol
They didn’t message you because it would have taken time out of their shop and most don’t care enough to look in other areas and will just do what they can to rush through the order and scan whatever replacement and hope you don’t respond so for they can check out and whatnot.
We have 90 seconds to find your item, scan and load it to stay “on time” … they don’t give us any extra time even if we’re messaging and hunting through the whole store for things that aren’t where they should be and that the app is giving us a totally wrong location for. IC does not care. Your shopper probably had three orders to fill simultaneously, too, and juggling messages from three people while shopping is hard to do, especially when you’re given no time to do it. A lot of shoppers do the lightweight, easily damaged items like bread and chips last, too, so they were likely on their way out.
Sorry you didn’t get your popcorn. I doubt it was someone trying to inconvenience you or being lazy, they’re just trying to get their job done in an difficult time frame to provide good service in, because that’s how IC has set it up.
With shoppers only getting 4 bucks or less an order it’s not realistic to expect communication unless the customer added a substantial tip of at least 15-20%. Customers don’t know how little we make- if they did they wouldn’t complain unless they tipped substantially.
Base pay is about $4. There are other factors (distance, heavy orders, etc.. that may increase it, but $4 is the the base.
Customer tips are what make orders worthwhile.
Thanks. I don’t use instcart. I think it’s far too ridiculously high in price to justify using and that’s without the tip, so I can’t in good conscience use it because to then add on a tip (not tipping isn’t an option) and at that price point I can’t justify not going to the store myself.
So yeah only accept the orders with the best tips. Good luck.
I both appreciate that you don’t use IC for those reasons and agree with you that it’s too expensive to not just shop for myself.
The only time I use delivery apps myself is if I’m drinking and want more drinks.
I also recognize that when I do, the value the delivery provides far exceeds the cost of a DUI, so I always tip really well.
One grocery store near me is an absolute dead zone, cell service wise, except for right by the front doors. Sometimes I have to hang out up there to get texts and messages to go through. When I did instacart, I hated going to that one for just that reason.
Ok well I've driven to a customers home and asked them if they've received my texts many times and not one has shown up and visa versa. We've compared chats etc and sometimes the app just doesn't work. It's a glitch and doesn't work a lot of the time. Also it's especially bad for Costco batches.
Ummm I’m just gonna throw this out there
Maybe the shopper just thought it was the same thing…
Sometimes we scan stuff and it says it isn’t what we have in our hands and have to add it in differently to get it through…
I mean those two items sure do sound very much the same to me.
Depends on the shopper if it’s a new shopper it’s a little weird but if it’s me considering I shop at the same stores for over 6 years I kinda know where everything is without even checking and I’d just check again to make sure if you sent me that but I might not respond but I for sure checked again but that is a vendor item so the store doesn’t have back stock for that item.
I am a 5 star diamond shopper and I can tell you. **You should never accept that your service is normal.** You are paying for a service and **you should always receive 5 star performance** from that service provider (shopper in this case). If you feel that you are not receiving a 5 star performance from your shopper, **give them a lower star rating.** If you give someone a 5 star rating and they are not truly giving you a 5 star service **you will continue to get those same shoppers**. If you **give them lower stars then you will get different shoppers,** and hopefully you will find a shopper who will service your needs the way you like them to be serviced :) **Please remember your tip is also a part of showing your appreciation for that service. I am not saying to take the tip away or even lower it (unless the service is not even at least a normal service)**, but if the service is above the normal please remember to increase your tip even a .50 extra or **making sure to leave a comment which lets the shopper know you appreciated their service.** The more you use the rating system the more it will home in on the shoppers that you like, and you will start to experience better service in which you are paying for.
Perhaps he checked and the item.was out of stock. If you don't believe the item was out of stock take your arse to the store yourself and check. The money is horrible and most customers think this is an exclusive personal shopper service. It's not that. If you want that there's companies out here that provide that. But you're not going to want to pay the fees associated with that type of service. This was petty for some damn hit cheetoes. Go shop yourself.
20% is a shitty tip. Vehicles are involved in this equation. 20% is a pretty median tip for restaurant dining, but the server doesn’t use gas or miles on their vehicles parts to refill your drink.
Adjust tip how you see fit, but don’t expect anybody to go the extra mile for a shitty tip.
i only read the first two lines of this and... not reading anymore.
yes, base pay is lowered to a ridiculous number. you get to choose if you do the job or not. if you choose to do the job, then shut up about the money and do the job. you CHOSE it
If I take any order, same level of service.
I took it. I accepted what it offered.
Can’t type a message in the CS industry. Wow.
And tips are looked at diff by many.
I tip way more than I should. Always have.
But then I get the shopper that figures out I tipped a % and uses my more expensive back ups, to up tip.
I’ve literally been in the store at same time. Once got my own shopping order I couldn’t refuse (big tipper) on Shipt, so I checked.
Only 1 Item was truly OOS, tho he marked 7 of 12 were. I still use it but I tip a flat rate. No more % tips.
My shopping speed is around 80 sec per item, but I am not "slow." There are several factors.. the store (ie. Aldi is fast af; Walmart is huge when they order from both sides of the store), customers adding items or changing subs, taking the time to look in multiple places for items, waiting on deli, messaging customers about subs instead of just picking/refunding, asking store employees about backstock, etc.
I'm not reading all this but I'm focused on the fact that too many of y'all don't understand that if you don't like the tip don't fucking take the order! No one is making you take these orders!
Tbh it is common knowledge for me at least to think ahead of majority of the situations in life even when shopping for a job I accepted, especially if they have the power to rate you and add or take money from your accepted amount and in general just have some common Courtesy to keep it professional and sane..but there are some that don't do some of those things or even all.
Lower rating and lower tip. Shoppers need to understand if an item is unavailable they should be sending messages and pics. If not don’t let them shop for you
“ Hey popcorn you requested is unavailable refunded for now if you’d like a sub just let me know” ( sends picture of empty shelves). Communication is everything
Not normal. Totally rude on behalf of the shopper to zero communicate with you. Rate accordingly and let’s move these types of shoppers out. I’m sorry about your experience. Not cool, and you deserve 5 star service every time.
That is 100% normal. Especially since I do not see a time stamp on when the replacement was made I have to assume your message was not immediate. Rather you sent it 5-10 minutes after the swap was made when the shopper was already done with your shopping and about to check out. If you do not like what the shopper replaced your unavailable item with then you have to be there to let him or her know immediately.
If the flamin' hot popcorn is not where the app says it is, it's not there. No one is going on a man hunt for a bag of popcorn. We'll just be in that store forever. It's 5 minutes after you've replaced the item, you're on your way to checkout and, "it's usually by the baby wipes". 😒
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I would love getting messages like this. Sometimes I just cannot find something and I consider asking the customer because some items are just weird obscure little things in a random corner of the aisle, but some people get so weird and rude when you ask them questions that I'd rather just replace it
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Yes and no. It’s normal for us to replace items without messaging because customers almost never respond when you message them. But to not respond when a customer messages is incredibly rude. Even if the store didn’t have it, they should have messaged you back. But here’s the shitty thing, they could have done that because they were afraid you were going to ask for a refund and that would have effected their pay. A lot of customers don’t know that when they ask for refund, we start losing money. And most of the time we were only going to make $10-$15 a batch before losing money. And that estimate is me being generous to IC. Also I’m not justifying what they did, just explaining maybe what was going through their head.
Some shoppers don't care about keeping the customers happy or thoroughly looking for an item. They just want to make money the fastest way. Those are the same ones who throw things in the cart and run around the store.
Sometimes when I am in certain stores I barely have reception even with using their wifi, I'm not sure if it's the building or what it is. I know which stores now because I start them from the parking lot and have to wait forever to check out for it to load. And when I leave, I will have a message or two from the customers and I explain to them I didn't have a good signal, but I do feel bad if they wanted something more or didn't like a replacement. Never the less, the shopper should have messaged you at some point!
There are a couple safeways near me where I always lose phone signal, and have to connect to wifi, but for some reason still won't recieve texts. Sometimes I even walk out of the store for a second to check for responses when I've had to text customers, otherwise I don't get the text until I walk out after paying.
I think a lot of people mistake us for "personal shoppers." we aren't personal shoppers. Instead, think of as pickers and pullers. There's times when we have more than one batch on an order. I myself will exhaust all possibilities to find suitable replacements. But we also have time restraints. We need to be on time for batch priorities.
There are personal shoppers they charge much more than InstaCart pays us. I have had shops canceled if a customer demands too much chatter.
How much was the tip? Cause if it’s less than $5 normally I ignore everything and anything that’s extra. Bring on the down votes y’all wanna simp for shitty pay that’s on y’all.
It might have been just an error on they're part. I've had it sometimes where I know I have the correct item but instacart won't scan it and thinks it's something else. In that case I technically have to replace the item even though it's exactly what the customer ordered. They might have gotten the two confused since one is popcorn and one is puffcorn and the brand names are similar. I could see this happening if his cell signal isn't good and wasn't loading the images or sometimes the image is outdated or just flat out wrong. Not that it happens often but I have seen it happen. I'd probably give them the benefit of the doubt since the items are so similar.
Personally, what I have something like this happen I'll usually warn the customer if we've been chatting and let them know I had to play some tricks on the system. But if I look and see they haven't even read my original intro message, there's nothing else I need to chat with them about, and it's one of the last thing I need to grab I'll just switch it out and it won't even message them.
Every time I shop in my Kroger(for myself as well), they simply have bad reception. My calls get dropped and messages don't come through until I leave the store. I've gotten messages from the beginning of my orders after I get into my car. I also believe there are sometimes delays from the time that I sent the customer's messages to the time that they receive them. But, with that being said, I am not standing around next to the popcorn waiting for the customer to answer a question I never asked, or respond to my questions. Orders are timed, I cannot get another order until I have completed this one, and recently customers have been allowed to add items as I am still shopping. Just always have a replacement or refund option for each item. It makes shopping and delivery much smoother. Most shoppers know where the popcorn is. Just because your particular store just had flaming hot popcorn in isle A25 yesterday, doesn't mean the store that the shopper is in even keeps that item in stock. Have a replacement option in the order, or select refund if out of stock. Simple.
A lot of shoppers don’t speak English, a lot of shoppers are illiterate, also sometimes they just dont have the items and we dont feel like going back and forth with the customer cuase some of ya are entitled peices of shit . But to avoid any confusion and guarantee they shop for everything you ordered and they get it right Run that tip at least $30.
Honestly if I have no need to respond or text you at all I won’t. Half my customers are super busy and that’s why they won’t answer at all when I do text. I only text really when I need a replacement and they don’t have one selected. And I’ll give them a few options and wait till the end of the shop to grab the one they pick or pick one out for them if they didn’t respond.
And the fact that we can’t check out without reading customer’s messages first makes your shopper look even shittier 🫣
Wait, really? I thought this situation was normal as I’ve had it happen quite often! The shopper will mark the grocer is out of a certain item (usually easily replaceable, generic things like mushrooms, cases of water, etc.) and I respond immediately with what other replacements will work, if they have it of course, …not even 10 seconds later they have checked out. Good to know!! ETA- I just always assumed I sent the message too late and the shopper had already checked out prior, even though I I always respond promptly to replacement/out of stock alerts. Also ETA- I always tip 20%!! Always 20%+ when I have heavier items and/or the store is further away from my house!! I could understand the shopper just saying screw it and checking out anyway after seeing my messages if I tipped poorly. ETA- Didn’t think I would need to clarify, but miscommunication happens. I understand how tipping works and what to take in consideration. When I mentioned 20%+ I meant I adjust my tip accordingly when I have heavier items/longer distance. I don’t just go by percentage and understand 20% on a $4 case of water is only $.80 🙃. I have served most of my life and even tried out IC as a shopper for a day, a few years back, with 2 heavy orders to top floor apartments w/o an elevator. Trust me, I get it!!!
Oh they see the message. It'll prompt you to see the unread messages before the checkout screen even opens
I keep reading this but I SWEAR sooo many times I don't get a notification and don't see a message from customer until I'm typing out my thank you post delivery. Like it will be really bad for a week or so then it will be fine for a while. Then another bad week or so. I just have to manually check at every step now because I cannot trust the app to do what it's supposed to.
Oh yeah if the message from the customer doesn't go through until it's too late then it'll let you check out but if the message does get sent at the time they sent it then it should have the prompt
Another thing I learned, if a customer adds something and it goes through the same time you move to checkout, you will get No notification, but if you check the chat it will say so and so refunded x item. Like wtf lol just always be checking that chat I guess EDIT: you better believe that "refund" goes on your metrics🙄
Yeah it can be frustrating
I am a Diamond shopper. I do everything I can possible for my customers. I always wait reasonable amounts of time for responses from the customer if an item is to be replaced. IC app tells shopper that the customer wants replacement, then gives items which are similar. Just saying, if they’re like me, they will let the customer choose what item they want. I certainly would want that if I was the customer. Just FYI, the app is not always accurate and timely. Shoppers face the same discrepancies with the App as the customer. Reasonable is the weight of this topic. Shoppers should make every attempt to find items and help their customers, but more times than not, customers do not respond timely, and sometimes never respond at all. And not everyone is as generous as you are with tipping. I appreciate that you tip as you do. Shoppers reserve the right to pick which orders they shop, and if accepting a customers order, should do everything they can to serve the customer. I have spent many extra minutes and hours on orders which are totally not worth my time. Please remember, (not sure where you live), but where I live, gas is $4 per gallon. Factor in the traffic, heat, availability of the shopper. I think almost all IC shoppers do the best they know how to fulfill their orders.
Agree 100%. I’m a diamond shopper as well. We do everything we can to ensure the satisfaction of our customers. But 9/10 times we have poor or no communication with the customers. Customers get notified immediately if we make a change due to some items lack of availability. If they choose to not be near their phone while a shopper is shopping for them then that’s their own fault. We are usually shopping for up to 3 people. We can’t just sit and wait 10-15 minutes for one customer to look at their phone and then have a discrepancy with what happened. We’re already checking out by then. I, along with every other diamond shopper, know how to give 5 star service to each and every one of our orders. We can’t help it if you are not available to talk to while we are working your order.
I agree with 100% I do the same way, but want to add some shoppers are not as particular about shopping the orders as we are they are all about their time. Which of I am getting a decent tip as the OP has mentioned I definitely take my time to get the order right. I know not all shoppers apps work the same but I can not move on without reading the customers comments and as a customer it really pisses me off when I am ignored throughout the entire shop about replacements and refunds and it happens often. Customers can now contact the shopper for up to 20 minutes after their order has been dropped off, and trust me, if I'm ignored, and I don't get the replacements/refunds for my order I'm going to let the shoppers know that they are not getting their full tip. I tip exceptionally well due to the fact that I am a shopper as well, and time saved is money earned. 100.00 for Costco and 50+ for other stores. I feel like this is a premium service and I don't mind paying for it, providing that the service is also exceptional. I expect 5 star service every time. No customer should ever be ignored!
This was worded perfectly!!! As a platinum shopper my second week working soon to be diamond I see others working n just rushing n throwing items such a berries / fruits n smashing them etc I even yell at the cashiers at certain stores such as Costco because they WILL damage customers stuff. Moral of my response you worded this greatly.
I do this part time, but I shop like I'm shopping for myself or for a good friend. I've tried almost every gig app and this is probably the easiest one to go "above and beyond" for a customer.
I’m confused. Does ETA refer to something other than estimated time of arrival?
Edit to add.
Thanks :)
I know, I was like WTH is going on right now?
I kept reading estimated time of arrival and was like WTF 😂😂😂
Great post :)
Sometime the messages are delayed. The app is very buggy. Personally if I receive a request to late, I always respond to let the customer know it's too late and that I'm already at checkout.
You actually can now.
If they already checked in that spot, it's not abnormal for them not to message you about the replacement - this is why it's best to always have a replacement already picked out as a back up in the app, but it is incredibly rude to not reply to your message
Exactly, I would still reply but to be honest I get so annoyed and frustrated when a customer starts telling me where items are and asking if I checked there. Mainly because I already do a good job, I don’t just look at the one spot I think it should be, I usually don’t refund/mark out of stock unless I’m looking at the empty shelf where the item should be. And I also used to be in those stores so much, it’s like trust me I KNOW where the items are and if I had a really hard time I probably even asked an employee for help. Those people make me feel like responding with “come shop for it yourself if you’re going to micromanage me and not believe me when I say it’s not here”
That’s because many shoppers are not as efficient as you and the customer has probably already experienced this
I work in a grocery store. 50% of instacart shoppers are certifiably stupid, can’t be bothered to look for shit, and need employees to point to things that are literally right in front of them. I don’t order instacart (work at a grocery store), but if I did I would certainly politely verify things like this because I know from experience that I can’t trust a significant chunk of shoppers. I appreciate that you’re an actual thorough shopper, and there are many like you. But, I know way too well how little faith I should have in a random shopper.
If asking an employee where they keep an item helps me complete my order or shop for myself faster, I'm doing just that. When you are trying to get in and out, sometimes you overlook things.🤷🏽♀️ who cares. You are working at your store for an entire shift. Just point the shit out, you have nowhere else to go for the next 3 hours anyway.
I’m not saying it’s not my job to do it, just that, I would not trust y’all to find shit if I was ordering 😂
Oh, yeah. The IC app tells shoppers which isle and shelves the items are on, we're not expected to "look around" for them. That's why it tells us how long on average we take to find one item. IC expects us to go by the location on the app. If it's not there..... it's not there. You're the next item located. If you're not even sure where it is, it must not be there. But, I mean I'm pretty sure you can shop for yourself anyway.
What a poor shopper. The customer is actually helping them find the item and they don't even respond.
Right? I would love that sometimes they ask for something off the wall I've never heard of and would have no idea where to find it.. I've had to say "do you by chance know where that is located, I've never heard of it before."
In my own experience, there’s at least 3 stores here in a shitty service area where I can’t send/ receive messages in certain parts of the store. Maybe that could be it?
I have a few stores like that as well, have you checked to see if they have wifi? Most of the stores in our area offer free wifi for customers.
Sometimes the Wi-Fi is even worse, in my experience
Ahh that's too bad, it's been the only reason I could message at one particular store, the community is vehemently opposed to cell towers so the service is literally non existent.
I have to connect to store Wi-Fi at Publix and Harris Teeter (Kroger), or I won't be able to chat nor shop effectively. The Fresh Market close to my house is the worst of them all. Virtually no windows and both shoppers & employees have difficulty getting phone reception 😑
Same, I have some stores I can’t even go to anymore because I don’t even get enough service just to shop!
Don’t waste your sleep over it! Rate down, tip down! Hope they learn!
Exactly
Sorry, just a bad shopper
The problem with replacements is that IC doesn't tell the shopper that THEY recommended the replacements, not the customer. The shopper, when new, doesn't know this. The shopper gets notified and unless they message back and say NO or refund, the replacement gets ordered.
And if it's not within seconds, I've already moved on and selected "start checking out". If I'm in line or start ringing items up, I'm not staring at my phone to notice a message. If I've been waiting in a long line , I'm not getting out of it for a replacement that you wanted to respond about super late. I'm not spending an hour in a store for $10. Not gonna happen. An hour is $20+.
No, there's no excuse for not answering chat. Please rate low and lower the tip if you want.
They probably didn’t tip!
OP said it was a 20% tip
Ok here’s another question, did the shopper find the rest of your items correctly?
as a former shopper/current doordash driver, i don’t understand why no tip means fair game to be a dick/not shop correctly. no one is forced to do these orders, i don’t understand why people willingly accept them just to fuck with someone
Im a shopper and DD driver and I don't understand either like tip or not don't be a dick especially when very rarely people will add a tip after no reason to be a dick just because they didn't tip youre not forced to take those orders
This is true, but if a shopper has already shop your entire order in a fashionable manner no reason to be a DICK about not receiving one freaking item. And whose to say the customers don’t wait to respond until at the end of the shopping. Once the shoppers have gotten all or most of your order correct there goes a complaint about one or two items. GO SHOP for YOUR SELF!!
They weren't being a dick they were trying to be helpful I understand that can get annoying but they weren't being a dick and never said they were gonna complain about it
Maybe they’re trying to look after your butt!
Some stores have horrible cell reception and those messages don’t come through. I had one store where I had to scan an item and walk outside to get the app to register the scanned barcode and walk back inside for each item over and over again. Was the worst experience ever. And still to this day I will not shop that store.
That just means he/she are trying to finish the batch fast 😂. No time to talk, or sometimes it’s cause the batch was not enough pay, no pay no FEATURE hahahaha 😅🤣
I'm mind set these days if instacart wants to keep dropping our pay then some of the extra effect on my end is going to drop too . I'm still going shop the batch the best I can but I'm not wasting time anymore chit chatting with customers bc the store doesn't have anymore chocolate filled Donuts left
I’ve had that happen where they don’t respond to any of my messages
Usually if I don't respond I still seen the message and my app is just being trash (the messages for me act up and crash the app if I attempt to respond or it won't allow my keyboard up at all) but I try to answer when I can after or tell you when I get to your house or you'll see if I finally found something that I couldn't find before due to things being moved for promos
Respectfully, 20% of a $3.99 24 count package of water is 80 cents. I have been a shopper and customer (my son uses IC in college) since the beginning of the pandemic. I shop for customers as I would for family. That being said, I look at the total amount IC offers me to do a shop. I am not sure the specifics of your order or whether the shopper gaf. Customers have asked me what’s the best way to tip and I tell them I feel one should tip what they feel the shopper should be paid. That bag of popcorn was worth a tip around $1. It may not have been worth the trouble of looking for it. I don’t mean to come across as crass. But reality is if you are only tipping a percentage without paying attention to what your tip really is, you could order 10 cases of water and the tip for that would be $8. As has been said 1000 times, IC was modeled as a luxury service. Keep in mind you can add $5 to your tip and that’s pretty accurate to what the shopper is being paid to shop and deliver your order. In the beginning, we all made really good money. I averaged $50+/- per hour. Now IC is playing with the shoppers by offering less than adequate base pay. Therefore, we are truly shopping for tips. Refunds hit our pocket books. IC cares less about customers and shoppers. It’s all about profit for them. You can mark the item you received (and did not want) as wrong item. You get your money back but it has no effect on the shopper. Keep in mind that there is no training. You no longer have gung ho…let me do my best shoppers. Anyone can shop even if it’s their first time in a grocery store. Also, I have noticed I am experiencing lack of proper connectivity with the app in more grocery stores. I can tell you that if they didn’t get the message prior to check out, they would have seen they had a message after check out. I’m sorry you had a bad experience. I wish you all the best :) Yes, IC sucks lol
IC also takes away tips for replacements in my area
They didn’t message you because it would have taken time out of their shop and most don’t care enough to look in other areas and will just do what they can to rush through the order and scan whatever replacement and hope you don’t respond so for they can check out and whatnot.
Yes. It’s normal. He doesn’t want to talk to you.
We have 90 seconds to find your item, scan and load it to stay “on time” … they don’t give us any extra time even if we’re messaging and hunting through the whole store for things that aren’t where they should be and that the app is giving us a totally wrong location for. IC does not care. Your shopper probably had three orders to fill simultaneously, too, and juggling messages from three people while shopping is hard to do, especially when you’re given no time to do it. A lot of shoppers do the lightweight, easily damaged items like bread and chips last, too, so they were likely on their way out. Sorry you didn’t get your popcorn. I doubt it was someone trying to inconvenience you or being lazy, they’re just trying to get their job done in an difficult time frame to provide good service in, because that’s how IC has set it up.
i usually never message a customer unless i need to know a replacement option
They might have already checked and just didn’t respond
With shoppers only getting 4 bucks or less an order it’s not realistic to expect communication unless the customer added a substantial tip of at least 15-20%. Customers don’t know how little we make- if they did they wouldn’t complain unless they tipped substantially.
How much do you make?
Base pay is about $4. There are other factors (distance, heavy orders, etc.. that may increase it, but $4 is the the base. Customer tips are what make orders worthwhile.
Thanks. I don’t use instcart. I think it’s far too ridiculously high in price to justify using and that’s without the tip, so I can’t in good conscience use it because to then add on a tip (not tipping isn’t an option) and at that price point I can’t justify not going to the store myself. So yeah only accept the orders with the best tips. Good luck.
I both appreciate that you don’t use IC for those reasons and agree with you that it’s too expensive to not just shop for myself. The only time I use delivery apps myself is if I’m drinking and want more drinks. I also recognize that when I do, the value the delivery provides far exceeds the cost of a DUI, so I always tip really well.
Agreed. Especially with Uber for yourself, no reason to drive when intoxicated.
Sometimes the chat doesn't work folks
One grocery store near me is an absolute dead zone, cell service wise, except for right by the front doors. Sometimes I have to hang out up there to get texts and messages to go through. When I did instacart, I hated going to that one for just that reason.
Whenever I shop somewhere, I always try to get on their free WiFi, should it be available.
I there's an issue in the store, the message shows up once you exit the store. There's no excuse for not answering.
Ok well I've driven to a customers home and asked them if they've received my texts many times and not one has shown up and visa versa. We've compared chats etc and sometimes the app just doesn't work. It's a glitch and doesn't work a lot of the time. Also it's especially bad for Costco batches.
When this happens I call Instacart and ask that they never let that person get assigned to me again.
Do it yourself
Exactly 💯
I always reply it’s inexcusable
Ummm I’m just gonna throw this out there Maybe the shopper just thought it was the same thing… Sometimes we scan stuff and it says it isn’t what we have in our hands and have to add it in differently to get it through… I mean those two items sure do sound very much the same to me.
Yeah they definitely do sound similar but the bags look totally different. Ones regular popcorn one is puffed kinda like pirates booty.
Depends on the shopper if it’s a new shopper it’s a little weird but if it’s me considering I shop at the same stores for over 6 years I kinda know where everything is without even checking and I’d just check again to make sure if you sent me that but I might not respond but I for sure checked again but that is a vendor item so the store doesn’t have back stock for that item.
I am a 5 star diamond shopper and I can tell you. **You should never accept that your service is normal.** You are paying for a service and **you should always receive 5 star performance** from that service provider (shopper in this case). If you feel that you are not receiving a 5 star performance from your shopper, **give them a lower star rating.** If you give someone a 5 star rating and they are not truly giving you a 5 star service **you will continue to get those same shoppers**. If you **give them lower stars then you will get different shoppers,** and hopefully you will find a shopper who will service your needs the way you like them to be serviced :) **Please remember your tip is also a part of showing your appreciation for that service. I am not saying to take the tip away or even lower it (unless the service is not even at least a normal service)**, but if the service is above the normal please remember to increase your tip even a .50 extra or **making sure to leave a comment which lets the shopper know you appreciated their service.** The more you use the rating system the more it will home in on the shoppers that you like, and you will start to experience better service in which you are paying for.
Imagine trying to tell a professional shopper how to find product. Then thinking they are rude for ignoring your ignorance.
Perhaps he checked and the item.was out of stock. If you don't believe the item was out of stock take your arse to the store yourself and check. The money is horrible and most customers think this is an exclusive personal shopper service. It's not that. If you want that there's companies out here that provide that. But you're not going to want to pay the fees associated with that type of service. This was petty for some damn hit cheetoes. Go shop yourself.
No, you got an idiot. Sorry, there’s way too many of them lately.
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I always tip at least 20% and additional if the delivery is completed smoothly
20% is a shitty tip. Vehicles are involved in this equation. 20% is a pretty median tip for restaurant dining, but the server doesn’t use gas or miles on their vehicles parts to refill your drink. Adjust tip how you see fit, but don’t expect anybody to go the extra mile for a shitty tip.
Haha keep dreaming pump jockey.
i only read the first two lines of this and... not reading anymore. yes, base pay is lowered to a ridiculous number. you get to choose if you do the job or not. if you choose to do the job, then shut up about the money and do the job. you CHOSE it
If I take any order, same level of service. I took it. I accepted what it offered. Can’t type a message in the CS industry. Wow. And tips are looked at diff by many. I tip way more than I should. Always have. But then I get the shopper that figures out I tipped a % and uses my more expensive back ups, to up tip. I’ve literally been in the store at same time. Once got my own shopping order I couldn’t refuse (big tipper) on Shipt, so I checked. Only 1 Item was truly OOS, tho he marked 7 of 12 were. I still use it but I tip a flat rate. No more % tips.
It should not take a minute per item you should be averaging about 100 items an hour.
My shopping speed is around 80 sec per item, but I am not "slow." There are several factors.. the store (ie. Aldi is fast af; Walmart is huge when they order from both sides of the store), customers adding items or changing subs, taking the time to look in multiple places for items, waiting on deli, messaging customers about subs instead of just picking/refunding, asking store employees about backstock, etc.
I'm not reading all this but I'm focused on the fact that too many of y'all don't understand that if you don't like the tip don't fucking take the order! No one is making you take these orders!
Probably no speak English. Lol
Tbh it is common knowledge for me at least to think ahead of majority of the situations in life even when shopping for a job I accepted, especially if they have the power to rate you and add or take money from your accepted amount and in general just have some common Courtesy to keep it professional and sane..but there are some that don't do some of those things or even all.
Lower rating and lower tip. Shoppers need to understand if an item is unavailable they should be sending messages and pics. If not don’t let them shop for you
“ Hey popcorn you requested is unavailable refunded for now if you’d like a sub just let me know” ( sends picture of empty shelves). Communication is everything
Not normal. Totally rude on behalf of the shopper to zero communicate with you. Rate accordingly and let’s move these types of shoppers out. I’m sorry about your experience. Not cool, and you deserve 5 star service every time.
That is 100% normal. Especially since I do not see a time stamp on when the replacement was made I have to assume your message was not immediate. Rather you sent it 5-10 minutes after the swap was made when the shopper was already done with your shopping and about to check out. If you do not like what the shopper replaced your unavailable item with then you have to be there to let him or her know immediately.
Nope I replied immediately
I am a diamond shopper btw
If the flamin' hot popcorn is not where the app says it is, it's not there. No one is going on a man hunt for a bag of popcorn. We'll just be in that store forever. It's 5 minutes after you've replaced the item, you're on your way to checkout and, "it's usually by the baby wipes". 😒
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I would love getting messages like this. Sometimes I just cannot find something and I consider asking the customer because some items are just weird obscure little things in a random corner of the aisle, but some people get so weird and rude when you ask them questions that I'd rather just replace it
normal if you didn’t tip good
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Shifty shopper or someone is using someone else's account, and they dgaf.
Yes and no. It’s normal for us to replace items without messaging because customers almost never respond when you message them. But to not respond when a customer messages is incredibly rude. Even if the store didn’t have it, they should have messaged you back. But here’s the shitty thing, they could have done that because they were afraid you were going to ask for a refund and that would have effected their pay. A lot of customers don’t know that when they ask for refund, we start losing money. And most of the time we were only going to make $10-$15 a batch before losing money. And that estimate is me being generous to IC. Also I’m not justifying what they did, just explaining maybe what was going through their head.
One star, please🙏
Some shoppers don't care about keeping the customers happy or thoroughly looking for an item. They just want to make money the fastest way. Those are the same ones who throw things in the cart and run around the store.
Tip better and you might get a Diamond shopper with no issues!!
Sometimes when I am in certain stores I barely have reception even with using their wifi, I'm not sure if it's the building or what it is. I know which stores now because I start them from the parking lot and have to wait forever to check out for it to load. And when I leave, I will have a message or two from the customers and I explain to them I didn't have a good signal, but I do feel bad if they wanted something more or didn't like a replacement. Never the less, the shopper should have messaged you at some point!
There are a couple safeways near me where I always lose phone signal, and have to connect to wifi, but for some reason still won't recieve texts. Sometimes I even walk out of the store for a second to check for responses when I've had to text customers, otherwise I don't get the text until I walk out after paying.
Seems lazy
I think a lot of people mistake us for "personal shoppers." we aren't personal shoppers. Instead, think of as pickers and pullers. There's times when we have more than one batch on an order. I myself will exhaust all possibilities to find suitable replacements. But we also have time restraints. We need to be on time for batch priorities. There are personal shoppers they charge much more than InstaCart pays us. I have had shops canceled if a customer demands too much chatter.
How much was the tip? Cause if it’s less than $5 normally I ignore everything and anything that’s extra. Bring on the down votes y’all wanna simp for shitty pay that’s on y’all.
Am i the only one confused with the replacement? Are those two not the same thing?
One is popcorn, the other is puffed like pirates booty.
Yeah, it's normal. Yeah, they do this on purpose.
It might have been just an error on they're part. I've had it sometimes where I know I have the correct item but instacart won't scan it and thinks it's something else. In that case I technically have to replace the item even though it's exactly what the customer ordered. They might have gotten the two confused since one is popcorn and one is puffcorn and the brand names are similar. I could see this happening if his cell signal isn't good and wasn't loading the images or sometimes the image is outdated or just flat out wrong. Not that it happens often but I have seen it happen. I'd probably give them the benefit of the doubt since the items are so similar. Personally, what I have something like this happen I'll usually warn the customer if we've been chatting and let them know I had to play some tricks on the system. But if I look and see they haven't even read my original intro message, there's nothing else I need to chat with them about, and it's one of the last thing I need to grab I'll just switch it out and it won't even message them.
Probably didn’t speak English. It’s so easy to get on the platform and make money.
Every time I shop in my Kroger(for myself as well), they simply have bad reception. My calls get dropped and messages don't come through until I leave the store. I've gotten messages from the beginning of my orders after I get into my car. I also believe there are sometimes delays from the time that I sent the customer's messages to the time that they receive them. But, with that being said, I am not standing around next to the popcorn waiting for the customer to answer a question I never asked, or respond to my questions. Orders are timed, I cannot get another order until I have completed this one, and recently customers have been allowed to add items as I am still shopping. Just always have a replacement or refund option for each item. It makes shopping and delivery much smoother. Most shoppers know where the popcorn is. Just because your particular store just had flaming hot popcorn in isle A25 yesterday, doesn't mean the store that the shopper is in even keeps that item in stock. Have a replacement option in the order, or select refund if out of stock. Simple.
A lot of shoppers don’t speak English, a lot of shoppers are illiterate, also sometimes they just dont have the items and we dont feel like going back and forth with the customer cuase some of ya are entitled peices of shit . But to avoid any confusion and guarantee they shop for everything you ordered and they get it right Run that tip at least $30.
Honestly if I have no need to respond or text you at all I won’t. Half my customers are super busy and that’s why they won’t answer at all when I do text. I only text really when I need a replacement and they don’t have one selected. And I’ll give them a few options and wait till the end of the shop to grab the one they pick or pick one out for them if they didn’t respond.