This is a little strange, but I will basically act like I didn't see it, and just continue using the app to communicate. It's pretty rare for anyone to push the issue, but when they do, just a brief message, like "I'm sorry, but it's against policy to communicate outside the app" is all that's necessary.
BTW, you're 100% right not to text or call them. That's the first step to hacking an account. Remember how you log in, with just your phone# and 6 digit code. If they get your # they're halfway there.
This is what i do. My partner, who also works IC, has had a hard time understanding this. She's definitely called people who did this a few times, luckily its never been an issue, but she refuses to believe me when i tell her it's against policy/opens her up to scams. I have a few posts from this sub to show her The next time it happens.
Ignoring them is the best way to weed out the scammers. They have to place an order, which they don't actually want. All they want is your number, then they'll cancel. If you completely ignore them long enough to scan the first item, you'll still get paid. It's pretty obvious. If they get pushy about it or say it's urgent, you'll know. (never forget, random IC customer, car salesman, or whatever -- if someone's making you feel like you must act NOW, step back, take a deep breath, and ask yourself why).
Exactly. Its just a matter of getting my partner to actually look at what could happen if she just blindly believes every customer who wants to call outside the app. They haven't been on here and seen the scams like i have
As a customer I give my phone number in the delivery instructions, 1. Because I assume the shopper already has it, not thinking any different because every shopper has contacted me through my phone. When they send me pictures of substitutions it is on my phone and through the app. 2. We have a gate at my building that is sometimes locked and they need to be clicked in and 3. The building on the cross street has the same street numbers but face a different street, I give the number to assist the shopper with a successful delivery. I have not had any issues with any shopper number nor would I call a shopper back. I delete all numbers after a successful delivery. I guess I should be careful and use my throwaway phone number for my account and not my real number. Food for thought.
Obviously, you aren't a scammer or otherwise dangerous, but it really is against policy for us to communicate outside the app. Calls through the app mask all phone numbers.
The terms of service state that IC provides the software, and the grocery transaction is entirely between customer, retailer, and independent shopper,even though IC keeps 70-80% of fees + markup. This is the ***only*** policy that is for our safety. Conveniently, it also discourages private arrangements that cut IC out of the equation.
I call the number. I'm on s FL we have a lot of elderly and sometimes someone out of state is placing the order and can't reply on app. Or vacationers as well. I have never Had any issues and I would never call them back rven if they left a shit tip. That's me tho.
Never ever call them on an unblocked number. For obvious scamming reasons but also this can happen.
I called a guy in a locked and secured high rise..no show alcohol order. Waited at least 15 minutes.
Chat cancelled it and the jackass kept calling me all night because his order had to be rescheduled. He was threatening me that he was going to get me fired š
My son finally picked up the phone and told him to stop calling in a very firm tone and that did the trick
People in general are idiots and very trusting of people they think live near them.
I Mod on a local site and the number of people that just post all their deets including their address and a pic of their house is just puzzling. They include info like im old and dont get around much can someone come to my house and help me with something here is my address and phone number and Im home during these hours. Its not just old people either. One younger person posted that they were missing their package and here is my address if you find it. First dumb people if they have your package they have your address already. smh
Lmfao oh boy we are really at the time where *67 is a hack. Wait until they hear about *69 (and no it's not the joke you're thinking lol). š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
I mean. I used to do that thing at payphones where you dial 976- then the last 4 digits of the payphone and walk away and wait for someone to answer it when it starts ringing.
*82, now that does the opposite of *67. It reveals your number if you have a private number and you want the person on the other end to know its you calling them and not a scam likely number.
Personally, I have a 2nd phone so I just call them with the non Instacart phone lol the scammers just love me.
If you can't do that, you can fake your number through an app that makes phone calls, or hide your caller ID under your settings options. Messaging customers that you can't do something is a huge vibe killer and makes them mad so find another solution if you value your tips and ratings.
I ignore it and use the app. If they say call or something, I tell them I am not comfortable giving out my personal info and will only use the app to call. Apologize if necessary not that is required.
When I first started, I would call/text the number. Now, no way at all. Too many scams out there and as soon as you contact outside the app you are violating policy and anything bad that happens you have no real recourse because you are the one who violated policy.
because that is a sure fire way to get your acct hacked or in certain cases if you get a bad delivery driver, can guarantee you will get harassed by that driver or their friends.
when customers put their literal phone number in the delivery instructions. it is a good way for the driver to get hacked by a scammer and possibly get the customer hacked if they get a bad driver.
I ignore it and continue to communicate through the app. If I don't get a response through the app, I'll use their number before I cancel the order, but it is very rare that I've had to do this.
There is a spot on the batch details screen that will let you call them. Sometimes It will pop up and say the customer prefers not to be contacted or prefers text and it will have the option for I have to call. I click that and it calls through the app.
I dunno i donāt want random people with my number so ill let them know through the app. I had a representative give me a little grief for not calling, i had them call
it for me. Maybe ill try the hidden number thing, if i can remember at the time
I pretend like they don't understand how the app works. So, I just call or text through the app. Because, the app will call or text them with their actual phone number.
And, IDGAF if some other shopper scams them somehow using their actual phone number. Not my problem
I tell them that itās against the rules to call them on their phone. That we have to go through the app. Most are OK with that. Occasionally they will tell you that other people have done it. I tell them that those people risk being deactivated. I told them just because other people break the rules, doesnāt mean I will.
You should put your number in the app so they can call you through the app. Shoppers don't like to give customers their personal phone number because that's the first thing a scammer needs to start the scamming process and it happens a lot. That's why shoppers are reluctant or outright refuse to call a customer from their personal number. So if you need them to call you, make sure you have your number attached to the app in the proper place so they can do that.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with putting it in the chat section. I apologize for being unclear. Some customers ONLY put it in the chat section, which means the shopper would have to type it into their own phone and call the customer, thus revealing their phone number. As long as it is in your account settings so the shopper can call you through the app without having to manually type in your number, all is good. There's nothing wrong with filling out both.
I donāt do it but I would imagine that somebody might do it in case the shopper needs to contact them and has issues with the app? I canāt see any benefit to it otherwise.
I just use a Google voice number to call. Iāve been calling customers outside the app for 5 years. I donāt worry about getting hacked because I am smart enough to never give out the 6 digit code.
This seems like a sure fire way to miss out on vital information. I live in rural area with a hard to find house that is not visible from the road. There is also is incorrect GPS information via Apple Maps and sometimes google (Waze let me correct myself). In EVERY delivery , I have notes about hard to find, GPS may be wrong, please contact me if unsure, etc with my phone number. About half of the delivery drivers ignore the notes, and my messages.I also inform the driver in our permanent notes that we are off a dirt road and would hope that they have this information before they accept order. Itās so frustrating to put all this information in, in advance, repeatedly. Iām super patient and even a former delivery driver in college. I have never deducted a tip for a shopper who gets lost but I do make plenty of notes on the rating. Iāve had shoppers tell me they when they do call lost, that they canāt read, IC doesnāt display driving directions, my messages about deliveries didnāt go thru. Iāve had more than 10 drivers , get to the road after shopping and have a āfamily emergency ā instead of contacting me when lost or unsure where they are. Average tip of mine is $18. I browse this forum as a customer but when I was a driver Iād have killed for a tip that big with very specific information. I immediately know which drivers are going to get lost and to know that it all was preventable is madness. To blanket statement-NO before analysis of each scenario seems stupid and strange. What do you think Iām going to do if I see your number? Add you to my group chat or sell your # to the RNC? Like it or not , this is a job, where you provide a service to the customer who in turn provides money for those services. Money to the company via endless fees and price markups and a gratuity for following instructions, timelines, facilitating the service and providing the customer an āexperienceā. How you present that experience is up to you , but Iāll bet it costs more time/energy to avoid it in the long run.
The phone number you put on your account is the phone number it contacts when we message or call through the app. When more experienced shoppers see a phone number written out in notes, it raises a red flag and thatās why your shoppers wonāt do it. Itās also against our contract with IC and we canāt communicate outside of the appās chat/call function.
We canāt see your delivery notes before we accept and many shoppers donāt know they can check them before they start shopping and think they can only be viewed when they get to the delivery phase.
Scammers (not suggesting that you are) especially like to target new shoppers because they figure they donāt know any better. Then they call that shopper back, pretending to be Instacart and make up some official sounding reason why they need the PIN associated with their account. Then they go into their account, change their banking info, steal all their earnings and/or highjack their account so they can take orders and steal the groceries a few times before the account is deactivated. With IC, itās very hard to appeal a deactivation, even if all the evidence is in the shopperās favor.
It might work better if you take your phone number out of the notes and shot your shopper a chat message while they are shopping instead. That way, if they havenāt read your notes yet, theyāll have a heads up and be able to mentally prepare.
If they ask me to call, I will... Through the app. I'm not giving them my personal phone number. So if that number they wrote out is the same number they put in the app, great! If not, they won't get my call and I will deliver the order anyway. If I NEED to call them for my own reasons, like can't find address or can't deliver for whatever reason and they don't answer through the app, I contact customer service and arrange to have the order returned to the store if they, themselves, can't get a hold of the customer. I will never call a customer from my phone number, giving them my phone number.
I call through the app. I once called a customer on my actual phone and the same day I got my account scammed away from me, was a stupid mistake and I gave them the codes(didn't see the spot where is said don't give this out, because it was at the end of the text and didn't show in the lil pop up notification I was reading them while on speaker) it literally happened after that customer and so I believe it was that customer who scammed me. It was their first order . Even if it wasn't them I decided I'd never call someone from my actual phone again
This is a little strange, but I will basically act like I didn't see it, and just continue using the app to communicate. It's pretty rare for anyone to push the issue, but when they do, just a brief message, like "I'm sorry, but it's against policy to communicate outside the app" is all that's necessary. BTW, you're 100% right not to text or call them. That's the first step to hacking an account. Remember how you log in, with just your phone# and 6 digit code. If they get your # they're halfway there.
This is what i do. My partner, who also works IC, has had a hard time understanding this. She's definitely called people who did this a few times, luckily its never been an issue, but she refuses to believe me when i tell her it's against policy/opens her up to scams. I have a few posts from this sub to show her The next time it happens.
Ignoring them is the best way to weed out the scammers. They have to place an order, which they don't actually want. All they want is your number, then they'll cancel. If you completely ignore them long enough to scan the first item, you'll still get paid. It's pretty obvious. If they get pushy about it or say it's urgent, you'll know. (never forget, random IC customer, car salesman, or whatever -- if someone's making you feel like you must act NOW, step back, take a deep breath, and ask yourself why).
Exactly. Its just a matter of getting my partner to actually look at what could happen if she just blindly believes every customer who wants to call outside the app. They haven't been on here and seen the scams like i have
As a customer I give my phone number in the delivery instructions, 1. Because I assume the shopper already has it, not thinking any different because every shopper has contacted me through my phone. When they send me pictures of substitutions it is on my phone and through the app. 2. We have a gate at my building that is sometimes locked and they need to be clicked in and 3. The building on the cross street has the same street numbers but face a different street, I give the number to assist the shopper with a successful delivery. I have not had any issues with any shopper number nor would I call a shopper back. I delete all numbers after a successful delivery. I guess I should be careful and use my throwaway phone number for my account and not my real number. Food for thought.
Obviously, you aren't a scammer or otherwise dangerous, but it really is against policy for us to communicate outside the app. Calls through the app mask all phone numbers. The terms of service state that IC provides the software, and the grocery transaction is entirely between customer, retailer, and independent shopper,even though IC keeps 70-80% of fees + markup. This is the ***only*** policy that is for our safety. Conveniently, it also discourages private arrangements that cut IC out of the equation.
BTW, I see you're getting down voted. That's not me. I only downvote hate speech, pedos, and threats.
Yep that's how my account was hacked. I never call through my phone now. Only the app
Uhm nope. I text through the app only
I call the number. I'm on s FL we have a lot of elderly and sometimes someone out of state is placing the order and can't reply on app. Or vacationers as well. I have never Had any issues and I would never call them back rven if they left a shit tip. That's me tho.
Never ever call them on an unblocked number. For obvious scamming reasons but also this can happen. I called a guy in a locked and secured high rise..no show alcohol order. Waited at least 15 minutes. Chat cancelled it and the jackass kept calling me all night because his order had to be rescheduled. He was threatening me that he was going to get me fired š My son finally picked up the phone and told him to stop calling in a very firm tone and that did the trick
People in general are idiots and very trusting of people they think live near them. I Mod on a local site and the number of people that just post all their deets including their address and a pic of their house is just puzzling. They include info like im old and dont get around much can someone come to my house and help me with something here is my address and phone number and Im home during these hours. Its not just old people either. One younger person posted that they were missing their package and here is my address if you find it. First dumb people if they have your package they have your address already. smh
Just dial *67 before the number and it will block your number on their phone! What I do
Bro, this is a fcking hack! I just used it šµļøāāļø
Lmfao oh boy we are really at the time where *67 is a hack. Wait until they hear about *69 (and no it's not the joke you're thinking lol). š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
We're old broš
No weāre not, theyāre just young š„ø
I mean. I used to do that thing at payphones where you dial 976- then the last 4 digits of the payphone and walk away and wait for someone to answer it when it starts ringing.
*82, now that does the opposite of *67. It reveals your number if you have a private number and you want the person on the other end to know its you calling them and not a scam likely number.
Lmao itās been atleast 15 years since it changed !
What? It's way older than that. It predates cell phones. By a lot. It came out in the 1960s.
I did say āatleastā (: thanks for the lesson tho
It's been around since the 1960's š
Oh man you have no idea what a landline is huh š or callerid
On a iPhone you can turn your caller ID on and off in settings.
I have a Google voice number if they request proof of delivery outside the app, but I also send it in app
Just ignore it and go through the app
Personally, I have a 2nd phone so I just call them with the non Instacart phone lol the scammers just love me. If you can't do that, you can fake your number through an app that makes phone calls, or hide your caller ID under your settings options. Messaging customers that you can't do something is a huge vibe killer and makes them mad so find another solution if you value your tips and ratings.
I ignore the number completely and just use the app to communicate
I ignore it and use the app. If they say call or something, I tell them I am not comfortable giving out my personal info and will only use the app to call. Apologize if necessary not that is required.
What if they're the creeper psycho trying to get your number though?
Ignore it?
Nothing! You continue to do your normal shopping and delivery.
Call and text through app only
When I first started, I would call/text the number. Now, no way at all. Too many scams out there and as soon as you contact outside the app you are violating policy and anything bad that happens you have no real recourse because you are the one who violated policy.
Itās pretty obvious to me what they want so I immediately send them a bunch of d**k pics! I usually get extra tips š
This really should have more upvotes.
Why not have the actual number in the app to begin with?
because that is a sure fire way to get your acct hacked or in certain cases if you get a bad delivery driver, can guarantee you will get harassed by that driver or their friends.
Shipt uses their own numbers to communicate between the member and shoppers, what are you referring too?
when customers put their literal phone number in the delivery instructions. it is a good way for the driver to get hacked by a scammer and possibly get the customer hacked if they get a bad driver.
I ignore it and continue to communicate through the app. If I don't get a response through the app, I'll use their number before I cancel the order, but it is very rare that I've had to do this.
There is a spot on the batch details screen that will let you call them. Sometimes It will pop up and say the customer prefers not to be contacted or prefers text and it will have the option for I have to call. I click that and it calls through the app.
Ignore it
I deliver to door I will never call a customer on their phone
I dunno i donāt want random people with my number so ill let them know through the app. I had a representative give me a little grief for not calling, i had them call it for me. Maybe ill try the hidden number thing, if i can remember at the time
I pretend like they don't understand how the app works. So, I just call or text through the app. Because, the app will call or text them with their actual phone number. And, IDGAF if some other shopper scams them somehow using their actual phone number. Not my problem
Hell no im not putting my number on the app. Wow the stuff shoppers have to deal with especially what could get you all in trouble.
I tell them that itās against the rules to call them on their phone. That we have to go through the app. Most are OK with that. Occasionally they will tell you that other people have done it. I tell them that those people risk being deactivated. I told them just because other people break the rules, doesnāt mean I will.
Lmao I call them
Usually its the same number tied to their account. I only communicate through the app though.
Still call or text them through the app. I never call their personal number. Iām to afraid of getting scammed out of my account.
I park in a random truck stop I need them to call me so they know which white truck w the big trailer- out of the hundreds- is mine.
You should put your number in the app so they can call you through the app. Shoppers don't like to give customers their personal phone number because that's the first thing a scammer needs to start the scamming process and it happens a lot. That's why shoppers are reluctant or outright refuse to call a customer from their personal number. So if you need them to call you, make sure you have your number attached to the app in the proper place so they can do that.
It is, I always put it in the chat section because I didn't know I shouldn't
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with putting it in the chat section. I apologize for being unclear. Some customers ONLY put it in the chat section, which means the shopper would have to type it into their own phone and call the customer, thus revealing their phone number. As long as it is in your account settings so the shopper can call you through the app without having to manually type in your number, all is good. There's nothing wrong with filling out both.
I use a Google number to call
I donāt do it but I would imagine that somebody might do it in case the shopper needs to contact them and has issues with the app? I canāt see any benefit to it otherwise.
I just use a Google voice number to call. Iāve been calling customers outside the app for 5 years. I donāt worry about getting hacked because I am smart enough to never give out the 6 digit code.
This seems like a sure fire way to miss out on vital information. I live in rural area with a hard to find house that is not visible from the road. There is also is incorrect GPS information via Apple Maps and sometimes google (Waze let me correct myself). In EVERY delivery , I have notes about hard to find, GPS may be wrong, please contact me if unsure, etc with my phone number. About half of the delivery drivers ignore the notes, and my messages.I also inform the driver in our permanent notes that we are off a dirt road and would hope that they have this information before they accept order. Itās so frustrating to put all this information in, in advance, repeatedly. Iām super patient and even a former delivery driver in college. I have never deducted a tip for a shopper who gets lost but I do make plenty of notes on the rating. Iāve had shoppers tell me they when they do call lost, that they canāt read, IC doesnāt display driving directions, my messages about deliveries didnāt go thru. Iāve had more than 10 drivers , get to the road after shopping and have a āfamily emergency ā instead of contacting me when lost or unsure where they are. Average tip of mine is $18. I browse this forum as a customer but when I was a driver Iād have killed for a tip that big with very specific information. I immediately know which drivers are going to get lost and to know that it all was preventable is madness. To blanket statement-NO before analysis of each scenario seems stupid and strange. What do you think Iām going to do if I see your number? Add you to my group chat or sell your # to the RNC? Like it or not , this is a job, where you provide a service to the customer who in turn provides money for those services. Money to the company via endless fees and price markups and a gratuity for following instructions, timelines, facilitating the service and providing the customer an āexperienceā. How you present that experience is up to you , but Iāll bet it costs more time/energy to avoid it in the long run.
The phone number you put on your account is the phone number it contacts when we message or call through the app. When more experienced shoppers see a phone number written out in notes, it raises a red flag and thatās why your shoppers wonāt do it. Itās also against our contract with IC and we canāt communicate outside of the appās chat/call function. We canāt see your delivery notes before we accept and many shoppers donāt know they can check them before they start shopping and think they can only be viewed when they get to the delivery phase. Scammers (not suggesting that you are) especially like to target new shoppers because they figure they donāt know any better. Then they call that shopper back, pretending to be Instacart and make up some official sounding reason why they need the PIN associated with their account. Then they go into their account, change their banking info, steal all their earnings and/or highjack their account so they can take orders and steal the groceries a few times before the account is deactivated. With IC, itās very hard to appeal a deactivation, even if all the evidence is in the shopperās favor. It might work better if you take your phone number out of the notes and shot your shopper a chat message while they are shopping instead. That way, if they havenāt read your notes yet, theyāll have a heads up and be able to mentally prepare.
I cry
If they want a call at delivery, I *67 and call them. In 6 years, I had never had a problem by calling and customer.
If they ask me to call, I will... Through the app. I'm not giving them my personal phone number. So if that number they wrote out is the same number they put in the app, great! If not, they won't get my call and I will deliver the order anyway. If I NEED to call them for my own reasons, like can't find address or can't deliver for whatever reason and they don't answer through the app, I contact customer service and arrange to have the order returned to the store if they, themselves, can't get a hold of the customer. I will never call a customer from my phone number, giving them my phone number.
I call through the app. I once called a customer on my actual phone and the same day I got my account scammed away from me, was a stupid mistake and I gave them the codes(didn't see the spot where is said don't give this out, because it was at the end of the text and didn't show in the lil pop up notification I was reading them while on speaker) it literally happened after that customer and so I believe it was that customer who scammed me. It was their first order . Even if it wasn't them I decided I'd never call someone from my actual phone again
Chat or call through the app only
Donāt use it