Employee Reviews

1.0

Employee

11.4.2024, Job Location: NJ

I wish I saw all the reviews AS EMPLOYEE before joining Instacart. Not only they employees are under paid for hard work because obviously if people order they will place the heavy products and want to pay little, economy is but I don't blame them I will do the same.

Also, The app is terrible, once you get a glitch or any verification they take forever to fix it and of course time is money so who loss here is the employee. And finally, if customer is not content and rate you less then 5 start then Instacart shopper will get the worse batches if any as punishment. In other words. HORRIBLE app to work.

1.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

14.11.2023, Job Location: Warner Robins, GA

Work when you want. Orders start at 6 am till about 8pm. Guaranted batch pay starts at $4 with bonuses for size of order and heavy items. Negative: Instacart assigns orders to batches with no concern for milage. Example 3 order batch, shop all 3 orders at a Publix store. First order stays at store for customer pickup or nearby delivery, second order delivers near a second Publix store, then deliver near a third Publix store. More milage with less pay meaning less profit to you the shopper.

My guide is milage less than tip. Many batches have milage more than total batch pay including tips.

Many instacart customers expect you to drive 12 miles for zero tip.

2.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

16.9.2023, Job Location: Cortland, NY

I've done instacart for almost 2 years. I have 1500 batches done.

I have a perfect five-star rating which is very hard to accomplish considering the amount of batches I've done. However, quite frequently I will receive no batch offers and then go into a store and see a bunch of new shoppers with orders. Instacart apparently does this so that they can pay less to the new shoppers and the people who excel lose out. It's a pretty messed up system.

Especially if you rely on it as a primary source of income and you watch all the noobs taking batches that were never even made available to you. If you try to talk to a representative about it, they just play dumb and act like it's your fault. So it would seem the best way to take advantage of their system is did not excel.

Used to be a good way to make money but now it's just a means for the corporation to make money off of their hard working employees. Not much different than most other places. Still better than DoorDash

1.0

Instacart Driver (Current Employee)

8.7.2023, Job Location: Torrance, CA

Costco shouldn’t allow Instacart to mingle at their locations at all their employees that isn’t correct.

Or actually Instacart shouldn’t allow it and they are working. Other than that shopping at other grocery stores is fun in and out of the store.

I can’t name names but some coworkers are just not trustworthy. Please Instacart do something about them being inside Costco locations it out a bad reputation not only in your company but also for Costco for employees of Instacart to be inside in groups talking being in the way of Costco customers and those who really want to work .

4.0

Groceries shoppers and delivery (Current Employee)

2.6.2023, Job Location: Delray Beach, FL

What is the best part of working at the company?
Flexibility. You work when you able to.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
App malfunction seemed to happened periodically but it because of the area where I live have very minimal cell phone towers.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
If you wait with the batch that just shopping only and customer come to pick up their own groceries at the store, you only get base pay from the company. Which isn’t much. Could be anywhere from $8-$10.

Customers don’t tip. Even though that batch could have 50 items. They don’t know that will tAke us an hour to fill their order . Who would want to work for $8 or $10 per hour in this economy. Most of the time, I don’t pick up that batch. Idk how much customer get charged. But it seemed customers don’t have any appreciation for us and seemed unkind to us.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Regular day could be slow in summer as the snowbirds in Florida leave. Once you have the order shown in the app, it could instantly disappear because the other worker pick up right away. Quiet competitive in summer. In winter time is a different story.

There are plenty of order’s available. But some of them are not a fair pay. For example, you could have one customer that get $8 base pay plus tip. And some orders have 3 customers , you still get vase pay $8 but get more tips. The company didn’t consider giving more base pay . Even when they charged customers individually for base pay. We only get more tip. Which is so unfair.

At lease we should get an increase $2-$4 for base pay if we have 3 customers orders to fulfill in the same batch.

3.0

Customer Service Representative (Former Employee)

10.5.2023, Job Location: Los Angeles, CA

One advantage of working for Instacart is the flexibility it offers. You can work as much or as little as you want, and you can choose when you want to work. This can be especially useful if you have other commitments or a busy schedule. Another advantage is the ability to earn extra income. Instacart shoppers can earn money by completing shopping and delivery orders, and they also have the opportunity to earn tips from satisfied customers.

However, there are also some potential downsides to working for Instacart. One is the lack of job security. As an independent contractor, you are not guaranteed a certain number of hours or a specific amount of income. Another potential issue is the physical demands of the job. Shopping for and delivering groceries can be physically demanding, and it may not be suitable for everyone.

Overall, working for Instacart can be a good option for those who want to earn extra income and have flexibility in their schedule. However, it's important to weigh the potential downsides as well before deciding if it's the right job for you.

1.0

Instacart Shopper (Former Employee)

28.4.2023, Job Location: Rockford, IL

I left right when the pandemic hit. It showed how much they cared about their workers. In order for any kind of extra compensation they said u had to work a certain amount of hours but yet they wouldn't allow you to work for those many hours so it was worthless.

1.0

Full Service Shopper (Former Employee)

8.4.2023, Job Location: Small town

I've been an IC shopper for years. I've had incidents where IC's app or system glitches or errors and it leaves me losing money!

Support does not care even when you go up the chain to report incidents which cause loss of promised income. I can no longer work for IC because I work to get paid, not to lose money. This billion dollar company does not care about its shoppers, even the top shoppers, like myself.

I do NOT recommend being an IC shopper. Never again for me.

1.0

Personal Shopper (Former Employee)

3.4.2023, Job Location: Georgia

I was making a pretty decent amount when I first started, but when the new CEO was hired the pay decreased big time.

The suggested tips they provide to the customers is a joke. There's no reimbursement for maintenance or gas. A lot of wear and tear on my car to shop and deliver to 3 residents that's 20 miles away and the batch pay is only $7.00.

1.0

Personal Shopper (Current Employee)

24.3.2023, Job Location: Remote

They pay you 7-10 dollars per order tips are usually horrible some don’t tip at all then they have you driving 30 minutes out of the way to deliver you get low tips for climbing stairs i had to deliver to a 3rd story apt and got paid 7 dollars for the trip and a 2 dollar tip not worth it unless you need a little side cash which usually goes into gas.

3.0

Delivery Driver (Current Employee)

12.3.2023, Job Location: Oakland, CA

Kind of wishy washy with the pay. When you first start they give amazing batches but after a month you get the regular batches. Sometimes it good sometimes its really bad days.

I think they should compensate better for the time spent in the store and in traffic, but it helps out with the bills when I wasnt able to work a regualr job for a year. out of the whole year that I work there was maybe two really terrible weeks where I barely made anything.

Great side hustle for the weekend or after a regular job for extra cash.

2.0

Full Service Shopper (Current Employee)

1.3.2023, Job Location: Newport News, VA

One of the worst places to work for. Independent contractor, you are on your own . Drive your car, use your gas, no compensation for either. 100% of your tips do not go to you.

3.0

Good money Personal Shopper (Former Employee)

1.3.2023, Job Location: Cleveland, OH

Well I have been a shoppper for 3 years. I really enjoyed it the pay was great until we no longer have heniens on our list to shop. I use to could pay my rent on what I was making at heniens. Now the batches are horrible especially for aldi it’s not even worth the money.

5.0

Delivery Driver (Current Employee)

22.2.2023, Job Location: Las Vegas, NV

As a delivery driver I can say this company is good as bad as the others I believe because they all pay pretty much similar in general. Base pay is a little bit lower then expected so most of us depends actually on tips and company policy is constantly changing as well so it's hard to keep up

3.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

16.2.2023, Job Location: Buffalo, NY

I actually really like being a full-service shopper for Instacart. You can do it when you want, you won’t have to deal with a boss, co workers, a dress code, or office. What’s not to like about that? You can start and stop at any time and shop for how long you want, and get paid soon after completing batches.

You can feel accomplishment and feel like it’s a rewarding job when you shop and drop off groceries for people who are can’t do it themselves due to a disability, and can enjoy the satisfaction of doing a good job when customers rate your work highly or give you a nice tip. I also enjoy working in certain grocery stores.

However, what Instacart hasn’t managed to figure out is how to not mess with experienced shoppers access to batches who will receive low ratings for absolutely no reason and not give any constructive criticism or feedback for said low ratings.

How a shopper can go from sitting at a perfect 5-star rating to getting multiple lower ratings in just a matter of weeks when the shopper isn’t doing anything wrong is beyond me.

This happened to me, and if anything, my shopping speed has decreased meaning I am managing to shop even faster than I have before and am getting three and four stars and I have absolutely no reason why. If Instacart figured out a way for customers to fairly rate shoppers who aren’t doing anything wrong, or even if they just found out a way to let the shopper know WHY they received a low rating, the job would be really great.

5.0

Delivery Driver (Current Employee)

4.2.2023, Job Location: Fort Worth, TX

You can work when you want. Not recommended for parents without childcare available. Great for those who want to go the extra mile for customers. Good for those with a economy car.

4.0

Full Service Personal Shopper (Current Employee)

2.2.2023, Job Location: Oklahoma City, OK

Started out FANTASTIC as a boutique service for customers that wanted and needed the service, they were also more than willing and able topay for it.

When COVID hit, they over contracted shoppers, flooded the market, and it turned into a service many people felt entitled to. There was tip baiting, no-tipping on extreme orders, you name it. This used to be a sustainable income. we had schedules and everything. Now, every "improvement" really seems to make things worse.

3.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

28.1.2023, Job Location: Buffalo, NY

Sometimes it’ll be like 10 dollars for a batch where you deliver 2 items from Walgreens. I love those batches. But for some reason wegmans batches are like you get $8 for delivering 20+ items. I swear when it started wegmans batches were fine but now I can’t afford to take those batches. If it isn’t worth the gas it isn’t worth it.

There’s no way as an employee to tell the company how you feel.

2.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

18.1.2023, Job Location: Las Vegas, NV

Instacart cares more about the customer than the shopper. Although the customer has their battles dealing with the inefficiencies of lazy shoppers.

This job is extremely underpaid and is dangerous depending on what area you are in. The wear and tear on your car plus the high amount of gas and stress is just not worth it.

3.0

Full-Service Shopper (Current Employee)

11.1.2023, Job Location: North Wilkesboro, NC

I was hired sometime in 2021. It was okay. I started to earn more money when I got more experience and knew how to deal with customers via chat. Now since it is over saturated with shoppers its harder to get orders and make money.

What really is frustating is when there is a new round of shoppers. They get first dibs of orders while the ones that have been doing it for a while we get put in the back burner and get the reminants of orders. Its like that for a week or two when there is no orders for the rest of us. Eventually when the new shoppers have hit 30 or 50 orders in they are bunched in with the rest of us and then its fair game again! I do enjoy working as many or few hours as I want. I am my own boss and I like getting paid that same day or week.

If there was more orders and it was fair for every shopper to be able to see the same orders as everyone else then yes I would definitely recommend instacart but now that inflation has hit customers. There aren't as many people ordering food through the app and the new shoppers also messing up customers orders also make it harder to make instacart appealing to customers to shop with the instacart app.

5.0

Instacart Shopper/Driver (Former Employee)

4.1.2023, Job Location: Los Angeles, CA

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working on your own.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Rating system seems misleading.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Busy but convenient

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get in the vehicle, add gas if needed, flip my Instacart button from offline to online, wait for a decent batch, select the batch, get to the selected store with the right address, shop for the selected items, contact the customers for out of stock items, select or refund out of stock items based on the customers wishes, check out at the register, safely load the groceries in the vehicle, head to the customers location, unload the groceries at the customers door, inform the customer based on their discretion that you have delivered their order, and finalize the completion of the order, and look or await for the next batch.

1.0

Personal Shopper (Current Employee)

1.1.2023, Job Location: Parkland, FL

What is the best part of working at the company?
This company executives should be tried and found guilty of high crimes or treason against the 1099 American public. This company has destroyed a huge working class only for aspirations of going public. Wiping income for some still active drivers by over 80% percent. Fidji somo is the main one responsible and should be held accountable.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Terrible and extremely bad.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Waiting in a parking lot 6 days our of the week for 8 hours or more to earn less than $50 USD in some cases. Nightmare

5.0

Delivery Driver (Current Employee)

1.1.2023, Job Location: Tucson, AZ

This company is awesome because you are your own boss. You can work anytime you want. It doesn’t impact your lifestyle. It’s great for teens to get started making money and also to save money.

5.0

Instacart Shopper (Current Employee)

29.12.2022, Job Location: Huntington, WV

Instacart truly allows you to be part of a rewarding platform to operate independently through personal shopping services. I love the ability to choose my batches without repercussion. That is hands down the best aspect. I also enjoy the freedom of choosing when and where I can work.

You can start & stop whenever you chose. I truly enjoy my regular customers & meeting new! :) The worst, they allow customers to not tip/ tip way to low for the order. It may be our choice if we take the orders or not, but we are here to flourish an independent business.

There are times you have no choice but to take the losses with the wins, as in life. I also feel there are too many shoppers allowed to onboard in each area. At times it is difficult to get batches, even at diamond level. The 3rd and final complaint, our service areas are to broad in some areas. I feel they need to look a bit more into that structure.

1.0

Instacart Shopper (Former Employee)

28.12.2022, Job Location: Minneapolis, MN

Instacart does what they want and does and gives you the run around because you can't talk too nobody. It's chat only for everything.

They make up scenarios too get you fired about customers not receiving groceries. I fought for my job twice too get it back. It's not worth it when it's always an issue. The app for Instacart works when it wants. It's quite frustrating.