CLEVELAND — So you go to pick up your Instacart order at your front door, only to find out your order has been canceled at the last minute.
What are you supposed to do?
There are plenty of grocery stores that are offering delivery service through Instacart. One of them is Aldi. In fact, if you shop there, you'll see the signs advertising the service, encouraging you to stay inside and let them do the heavy lifting.
But with more and more people relying on Instacart shoppers, there are more complaints of bad service.
Locally, Facebook users say their orders are often delayed multiple times before eventually being canceled. So what gives?
Instacart relies on shoppers who are essentially independent contractors, similar to how Uber operates. When you place your orders, shoppers can see your orders and choose to pick them up and deliver them. If your order isn't convenient for shoppers (if it's too big for example), or if there aren't enough shoppers working that day, your order gets canceled.
To entice a shopper to pick up your order, adding a tip doesn't hurt.
"The tips are huge guys," says Instacart shopper Melissa Blayton. "And if you appreciate what those of us that are out there doing this are doing to keep you from having to do it, share that.'
Blayton says tips on some days make up the bulk of her income as a shopper. But there are some people who are abusing the system, offering large tips to shoppers when they place orders, then modifying them to lower numbers after delivery. A bait and switch.
We've reached out to Instacart to see how they're protecting shoppers from tip-baiters, but they've yet to respond.
"There are real people on the other side of this that are dropping off groceries at your doorstep that are trying to keep you safe," Blayton adds.
With that safety should come patience, knowing your orders may not be filled as quickly as you'd like.
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