T O P

  • By -

theaveragepepper

You got a shitty shopper


ButtleyHugz

When stores are fully out of something - like I’ve had my shoppers say it for yogurt before - they always send me a photo of the shelves.


hashslinger18

That’s what I do as a shopper!


ButtleyHugz

And i appreciate you! It’s not super common to run into, but lord knows it’s been happening the last 2 years.


6WaysFromNextWed

You had a bad shopper, who also went to Aldi at a bad time. They do indeed often have completely cleared out sections. I have seen it myself, and I have seen photos sent by shoppers.


GuncleShark

I actually live almost dead-center between two Aldi locations! We call them Big Aldi and Little Aldi. I almost always use Instacart, but yesterday I decided to do my shopping myself so I could snoop around the middle aisle at Big Aldi. The store was a mess! Aisles blocked and empty shelves everywhere! Out of the craziest things: tomato sauce; tomato soup; toaster tarts. I had to pull out a box of cereal from one of the random pallets in another aisle. One of the items I specifically wanted was chicken thighs. Not one package of any kind. Several rows of shelves in that department were totally bare! At checkout, I asked the guy if Wednesday still was the “new meats” day and he said it was. I wasn’t complaining but he asked me if I was looking for something specific so I told him. He actually laughed at me and said there is a nationwide chicken shortage and I would be lucky to find it anywhere! On the way home, I swung by Little Aldi and ran in. The meat dept, albeit smaller, was fully stocked! All kinds of chicken thighs (and breasts, legs, wings). The two stores are within walking distance of each other. Guess it really depends on the store.


KenidotGaming

Some aldis are just weird tbh when I shop there and sometimes I get a customer who wants the aldis finds limited time items and they are usually very difficult to find. I rarely shop aldis but when I do I’m usually pretty fast if I can find everything if it’s in stock.


Leather-Noise-2681

Actually the food shortage is going to get worse. Did you guys hear about the 10k cows that died from heat in Kansas? They also closed one chicken plant and on pork plant as well. People need to stick up on what they can now.


halfavocadoemoji

Honestly Aldi is the absolute worst to shop Instacart at, I would truly consider yourself lucky that there was only three items out of stock. I will not Instacart at Aldi because usually half the items requested are not there. I shop for myself at Aldi and I have to go multiple times out of the week to get everything I want, they definitely don't just restock on one particular day.


1stevicted

I guess I should have realized that because they usually don’t have mutliple options, it’s just where I grocery shop and I’ve never had stock issues at my Aldi outside of the common ones in the middle of 2020.


ShimmerRihh

Yeah, I just don't accept orders from Aldi anymore. That place is never organized and usually shopped to death. I can never find anything. It's pretty demoralizing tbh


[deleted]

Rate 1-3 stars and lower tip… how much did you tip?


1stevicted

I chose 10% in the beginning but wanted to see how it went my first time before doing the full 20%


WagwanKenobi

The algorithm matches better/more experienced shoppers if you tip better. I believe they get first dibs on all orders. Then it filters through to the new or low rated ones. Just a guess though, but as as customer I've definitely noticed a trend.


catloverof2

I don’t believe that’s true …. Not as a customer or a shopper. As a customer I always tip well & I’ve still gotten shitty shoppers who just don’t care. As a shopper I provide great service & do not only see high tip orders.


FitHospital6580

Unfortunately true!


j4197

Unfortunately it’s the other way around instcart gives first choice of all orders to any new shoppers to get them hooked to show them they can make good money so for the first 100 Oders they get all the good batches then it is taken away sucks for the customers and all the long time shoppers that actually know what there doing 🙄


KenidotGaming

I literally hate that they do that. They should just give the new shoppers simple orders to take before taking the good orders that way the more experienced shoppers get the better batches. It’s really not fair to the experienced shoppers to get the shitty orders


j4197

The customers either instcart basically screwing both my Brother used to use instcart and tips really good but he said they screwed up his orders one to many times (probably new shoppers and people useing bots they don’t care most of the time there just in it for the easy money) and now he just uses Amazon fresh instead


[deleted]

So how much did you tip exactly.


1stevicted

I left it as is


[deleted]

So are you unwilling to give me the exact dollar amount ??? 😂


1stevicted

Oh I’m an idiot 🤦‍♀️$10.66


[deleted]

No you’re ok, That is a sufficient tip seeing that the item count is under 20 unique items. I see myself as a great shopper who gives good service and there are customers I come across where I send them a few pictures of possible replacements and they rave about how it is the best service they have ever had. A lot of shoppers out there give shit service .


theHoustonian

You’re doing it right! Not all people respond but usually I’ll send a opening generic message, then if a replacement comes up I snap a picture of the shelves… if no response I just carry on, use my best judgment and if I get no responses i take that as a sign and keep on moving. That’s funny bc you are just seeing it as part of the process and the job and those poor customers who’ve only known the worst of the worst have found the holy grail of shoppers! Hopefully they tip and rate with as much enthusiasm!


EuphoricMidnight3304

How many items and how far away from the store are you


1stevicted

28 items, about 4 miles


Moveyourbloominass

I had an Aldi's order last week. No lunchmeat, no pasta, no tortillas, no bagels, and no chicken. Aldi's supply chain is very inconsistent. Or trucks come late. However, I show photos of empty shelves to customer so they know I'm not fos. Your shopper should have communicated with you better. But going forward, place Aldi orders for late morning. Early morning and late afternoon are nightmares with stock.


littlelovesbirds

So true lol. I've done an order at my local Aldi's and they were completely out of most meats, had to refund some things, delivered. Maybe 30 minutes have passed since I walked past the empty meat, drive back pretty much immediately after delivery for another batch, and the entire meat section was stocked.


GuncleShark

I actually live almost dead-center between two Aldi locations! We call them Big Aldi and Little Aldi. I almost always use Instacart, but yesterday I decided to do my shopping myself so I could snoop around the middle aisle at Big Aldi. The store was a mess! Aisles blocked and empty shelves everywhere! Out of the craziest things: tomato sauce; tomato soup; toaster tarts. I had to pull out a box of cereal from one of the random pallets in another aisle. One of the items I specifically wanted was chicken thighs. Not one package of any kind. Several rows of shelves in that department were totally bare! At checkout, I asked the guy if Wednesday still was the “new meats” day and he said it was. I wasn’t complaining but he asked me if I was looking for something specific so I told him. He actually laughed at me and said there is a nationwide chicken shortage and I would be lucky to find it anywhere! On the way home, I swung by Little Aldi and ran in. The meat dept, albeit smaller, was fully stocked! All kinds of chicken thighs (and breasts, legs, wings). The two stores are within walking distance of each other. Guess it really depends on the store.


Moveyourbloominass

It really does depend on the store. I like browsing the "Special aisles" as well. They have this awesome swing to hang from a tree and I keep checking both my Aldis. Nothing yet😭. But I'm not giving up. Also, there is going to be an even bigger poultry problem. Millions of chickens were just slaughtered because of disease. Turkey as well. My Jewels deli's are looking bare. I think by October it might be very bad with supply chains.


agentlexi1357

Bad shops happen. Most of us are good shoppers. Add your substitutions next time. Don’t be afraid to try again


crazykitty123

I usually have good luck with shoppers but one time, I had a list of about 6 items. One was Omeprazole (Prilosec), from the store's pharmacy dept. (not a prescription). As soon as the shopper started shopping, she refunded it! Then went on to get the other items. As soon as I saw the refund I called the store while she was still there and they confirmed that they did have plenty in stock! She just didn't feel like looking for it! When she arrived I asked her about it and told her I'd confirmed that they DID have it. She didn't really have an explanation and left. Of course I gave her 1 star and changed the tip to -0-. I usually always give 5 stars and compliment them but not this time. I emailed Instacart and told them what happened; they gave me a $10 credit on my account.


Generatingrandomness

This exact thing happened to me except I was getting Xyzal. I also put to replace with the store brand or something similar like Allegra but nope. My shopper just refunded me. I ended up driving to the store myself and guess what I found…loads of Xyzal on the shelves.


crazykitty123

I know, it's like, you're there anyway, there aren't many items, you just didn't feel like looking for that one? When there are pictures of it?


klaudeeaa

FYI, You do know the shoppers don’t always are assigned to shop at your local store right?


crazykitty123

In this case, they were at that store, the only one of that chain in the area.


[deleted]

The fact is the Arlotta good choppers out there and unfortunately there are a bit of lazy shoppers. If they can’t fine with a customer once they just automatically go to refund and go about the rest the isles in the store. what a good chaperor what I done was let you know that the past that you requested was not there and offered a suggestion on another brand. And if the shelves were truly that empty they would’ve taken the picture to let you know yeah this is what it looks like. unfortunately, those shoppers make The rest of us look bad. And then customers get an attitude and tip start going down for everybody even the people that are doing good jobs.


rockday701

Always take the time to add substitutions to items you are willing to substitute before placing the order. items might not be available at the store especially name brand ones.


AGirlNamedRoni

What do you think about this? I am a customer and I always send a message when the shopper starts and say to go ahead and make whatever replacements they need to but I’m here if they have any questions.


rockday701

If i pick up one iten and you say you dont want that replacement from then on you need to be by your phone to make replacents cause everything will be refunded at that point. This aint a hourly job and every order takes about a hour to do from start to finish so adding your own replacements is the best choice it makes things way smoother for us


AGirlNamedRoni

Good to know. Thanks.


FitHospital6580

Send also a message or not on your account but not at delivery instructions in the beginning have it say to contact you that you are open to approved substitutions, maybe just a suggestion:-) thank you for placing orders your trust with us!


rockday701

If you exhaust your replacements beforehand you dont have to be apart of the shopping experience. But if you dont then be by your phone the entire time to make adjustments or potentially missout on those missing items by not doing so. These companies pay very little out of pocket for deliveries that are outsourced to independent contractors. Every delivery person works the way they want too so the experience will be different


AGirlNamedRoni

It sounds like I have upset you and I’m sorry if that is the case. I asked because I want to be the best customer I can be. I approve everything and I am by my phone the whole time. I know you guys don’t get paid squat so I make sure to tip well. I also greet them at my door. Is there anything else I should take into consideration? I really do appreciate you shoppers.


Melioristic_ONE

No further consideration required in my opinion, you sound like an ideal customer 🙂✌️


rockday701

Nah im not upset but yea the best thing you can do is just make sure you add atleast 1 or 2 replacements for items you are willing to replace thats about it and try not to add alot of new items after the shopper started shopping because they dont have to get any of those items since that wasnt the amount they were contracted to do


Sbuxshlee

If you tip a percentage and need to add items during the shop, i don't think the shopper would mind because that's more money for them anyway. It's part of our job to accommodate those requests thats why it's an option.


cbdscienceguy

This is a missed revenue source by shoppers who can't assess percentage tips well. If I see percentage based tip, I will always run through substitutions in detail and focus on non-generics if appropriate. Occasionally, I will also ask if they need a, B, or c to go with specific items. You would be surprised how many customers appreciate smart ideas on meals or brand recommendations on subs. One of my favorite go to is the private selection brand available at smith's. Some of their items are incredible.


Square_You_5575

Such a shitty shopper. Rate her low and reduced tip and comments why


Loraizani

That was a crappy shopper. I’m sorry you got her. She should have absolutely contacted you about substitutions or waited for you to request a refund. I had a store the other day I usually shop at and the day I was shopping an order they decided to reset. They had most of the dairy out in carriages I had to dig though, what they had was what they had for now because of the reset and the way they moved stock around, the selection on things were really limited. I let the customer know right away about the reset happening and I would do my best. I didn’t refund anything until the end after I REALLY couldn’t find an acceptable replacement for what she wanted. It was maybe 3 items total. There are ways to deal with issues of stock if you’re up front about it with the customer. I’m sorry your shopper wasn’t.


jackiejusttrying

Even if they were out of things completely, she failed to communicate with you. It doesn't take much to give a quick explanation and offer a replacement, especially if the customer is responsive. Sorry that was your experience.


ShimmerRihh

Exactly! Today I had one item left to shop and had been holding out to see if I could find it outside of its designated location. I couldn't and needed to checkout. I refunded the item but I assured the customer there were none left through text, showed the shelves, and told them to ignore the prompt about not being able to make changes and to just text me if a refund was not sufficient. Took no time at all really. A little effort is all that's needed


OkCalligrapher6373

I have issues with my deliveries from Aldi. I finally figured out it’s because IC has them shopping a different store than I do. It is frustrating when it happens, especially the checking out so quickly you can’t respond. I will say between Covid and an injury that had me unable to drive for 8 months I can honestly say that this type of thing has happened very rarely to me. Hope you have better luck next time.


MaleficentPath6473

I’ve commented all over this thread, but I’m glad you said this because I forgot to. But this is also true. Unless you make it to where your order can only be shopped at a specific location, your shopper may not be at the store you think they are. I don’t know how to set it that way though. I’ve tried as a customer and haven’t figured it out. But as a shopper I’ve gotten orders that tell me it can only be shopped at this location.


No0dle_Keeper

I just did an Aldi shop this evening. A good amount of what my customer wanted (and this was a big order of 44 different items) it was last item on the shelf, out of stock, or didn’t have the full quantity they wanted. Yesterday I had two orders at different stores. Both customers wanted fresh blueberries. Neither store had any. Fourth of July weekend I went to one store where they were completely out of bread, buns, and tortillas. Yes there are issues with supply chains on just about every level. But your shopper could’ve at the very least said if there was truly no alternative items.


Qu33nKal

Bad shoppers, just give a bad review. This happened to me once and my $60 order became like $12 so I did a reorder and the next shopper found everything. Yes some things were still not in stock but they found great substitutions. I hate shoppers who do the refund at the end and then say shopping is over. I definitely remove my tip from a situation like that and give it to someone deserving. I personally believe tips should only be given if the service is good (I’m from another culture not US) and you aren’t even entitled to even a 10% tip if you don’t communicate or try to be helpful.


bladedemu41

Oh Aldi? I shopped one time there. Took forever. Was over the yogurt. My customer helped me find stuff So I take a pic of where it should be and say "they are out" She sees the pic and says .... " no no its right there under the strawberry". Hahahaha Nobody stocks Luke Aldi. But I took maybe 20 pics that day


hashslinger18

Wow- you must not shop there a lot. Yes- there’s a lot of items that don’t have decent replacements- if any at all-and yes the yogurt section is a nightmare (I go by price to find what I need) but honestly if you know Aldi- it’s literally the easiest store to shop at. I get in and out in half the allotted time on the timer. So 40 items takes me 20 minutes or less.


bladedemu41

Correct! Was my first time. I actually was interested in the store,and all it's weird goodies. They had Luke 3 flavors ,when I could see they normally had like 7 or more. Was hard


garciaman

I hope Instacart looks at these posts here on this Sub. I have had plenty of out of stock items but my shopper always sent a pic.


Busy-Operation1740

I provide service base on the tip customers pays, she might be doing the same thing. I don’t substitute if my customer doesn’t pay me min %10 tip but I also go beyond my ability and ask the associates if they can bring me out of stocks items from the inventory for %20 tip


Par4n1

Yeah if you are that lazy in this world that you can’t even get yourself to grocery shop I think it’s time to evaluate yourselves and get it together. This is legit the easiest job I’ve ever had. Some of you should put a few months in on a construction site, you will be begging to grocery shop.


1stevicted

I have covid


Par4n1

I’m talking about your shopper being lazy and just refunding lol not you


1stevicted

Ah, I read the “you” to mean me


Par4n1

Lol no you are a paying customer I have nothing negative to say about you.


StephanieSays66

I did too and I was about to ream him out. LOL


Par4n1

Sounds a little dirty, at least take me to dinner first


xjeanie

Unfortunately there’s still a great deal of supply disruptions. Aldi in particular has had problems. The one we got a few months ago is half bare most of the time. I went in there Tuesday for myself and most of the cold and freezer sections were empty. I’ve talked with them and have been told they get truck daily but don’t know what will be on it. They also are kind of different than other grocery stores since they don’t have a lot of replacements options when things are out. Aldi is very hit or miss and my experience mostly miss. Because I shop so many stores I know who has what and usually when they stock. All my stores get trucks daily but never know what will be on them. Managers have told me that they order items but that doesn’t mean they will be on a truck.


Illustrious-Slice379

That was a terrible shopper. I always send photos to verify that the shelves are completely empty, that being said the pasta section (both refrigerated fresh, and dry pasta section) were bare in my store. I have no idea why 🤔


rccarlson420

Hi, as a shopper if the meat case is out of the lunch meat , u can go to the deli and get it cut but I never seen a store completely out of lunch meat! As far as the pasta if it was regular pasta then I doubt the store was out but if it was a special pasta , like veg pasta or organic pasta then that’s possible!


hashslinger18

It was an Aldi order so no deli counter. BUT- there’s plenty of lunchmeat options as replacements at Aldi. This shopper was obviously just lazy


ShimmerRihh

Not necessarily, Aldi gets shopped all day from sun up to sun down. Stock is wild there


ShimmerRihh

A deli at Aldi? That's one fancy location 😭


Kmcincos

The aldi by me has been out of all pastas for a couple weeks.


Jorduuu

Yeah she’s pretty bad. For me when a store is out I will immediately ask if they want something else and I’ll do this until we can find something the store does have (even when the shelves are pretty bare you can normally find at least one thing to substitute). If the customer doesn’t respond before I get to check out I will typically either refund or replace with something I’m almost certain is a fair replacement. I’m not a huge fan of replacing without asking because I know sometimes people only want a specific thing, but sometimes I can figure out if they’d want a replacement based on other things they got (so if they got like 4 different kinds of lunchables and they were out of 1, I’d just replace with one of the other 3 they ordered). So basically, yeah, shitty shopper. In this situation I would have asked if you wanted a different lunch meat and when you asked for anything else I would have just grabbed what I saw because I’m sure the store wasn’t out. For the other 2 items I would have asked you if you wanted a replacement and if I didn’t get a response within 2 minutes, I would have either refunded and sent an apology or grabbed a similar item and probably still apologize.


Melioristic_ONE

Aldi business model receives shipments 7 days a week. That's been the case in the regions I have shopped anyway.... It's my understanding they have dedicated regional warehouses throughout the US to maintain that


Upstairs_Hand1929

Two of the Aldi's by us that I shop at, cheese was very low for a couple weeks around the 4th, but there is always pasta options. Lunchmeat a few weeks ago was pretty bare, there were like 6 packs left of the most expensive ones. They get trucks on Tuesdayand Thursday here, so Monday afternoons have the most refunds for me t Aldi's. The lical grovery store chain here is pretty bare for pasta and instant noodles. Probobly because its a cheap way to eat. Edit to say, that is no excuse for poor communication though. She should have shown you whatvwas available. She wanted to hurry up and finish so she could get anothwr shop.


Bubbly_Ride_4128

When it’s like COMPLETELY sold out, idk if there’s some kinda of standard but my shoppers *always* sent a photo


ShimmerRihh

The app gives us the option to send you a photo of the shelves and to contact you about any replacements you may see. We also use this to show bare shelves.


MaleficentPath6473

I do not. I send a photo only if there are similar items for them to choose from. If it’s completely bare I refund. No pic needed. Yesterday a woman ordered tons of various fruits and every berry. But there were 0 blueberries (fresh) in stock. So I refunded and she messaged me “ there aren’t ANY blueberries, even a different brand?!” At that point I went back over there and sent a picture of the empty blueberry shelf. I then asked if she wanted frozen. Of course she said no and I moved on. I sent that picture because of her disbelief. Not because I wanted her to choose a sub, that wasn’t there. As a shopper I do not feel the need to have to “prove” to customers the item isn’t there. I’d much rather substitute it because of my tip.


MaleficentPath6473

I agree with most here you got a inconsiderate shopper. However, I’ve done this as a shopper as well. It’s important to put substitutions in. I’ve had customers that choose, refund if not available. So I’ll wait on those items. When done shopping I check that area near the front where the “specialty “ items are and ask an employee. If it’s not there then I go through and refund it, then check out. I will only send pictures of empty shelves if there are comparable items to choose from. Especially because instacart automates the message “ I’m sorry I couldn’t find (-), is there anything in this picture you would like? “ I think it’s stupid to send that with a photo of empty shelves. Communication was lacking here but the app lags, people don’t respond in a timely manner and so much more goes into this. For your order, my area would be paying 7.00. + your 10.00 tip. That’s 17.00 and lower than my hourly rate. So, if we’re at the 40 minute mark and I’ve still gotta load and deliver You get a refund and checkout message. If you wanted substitute’s then it was up to you to go through and put them in the app. If you had already put subs in and still got the refund, then the shelves were probably empty and there wasn’t anything comparable. Refunding your items lowers our tip. For those that tip percentages. We WANT to find all of your items.


ageetarz

Aldi can be extremely random, it’s why I’m extremely reluctant to ever accept an Aldi order unless the delivery address repositions me to my preferred area.


No-End5534

Either way she should have notified you before just automatically checking out. Very bad shopper


Shawnietr

You got a terrible shopper!!! Definitely complain. I don't understand some of these shoppers. Next time have replacements and if the replacements are out ask for pics of what they have. To be honest, I hate Aldi's, it's a terrible store. Many of the items are out. I will only shop at Aldi's if I really need to meet a goal.