Want to hear my instacart story of the day?

[Excelsior! Academy]

For most of the year we have regularly used instacart.  Normally, I don't love shopping and with the pandemic I have disliked it even more.  Why go if I don't have to?

I scheduled an instacart delivery for early this afternoon.  The driver shopped for us, but delivered a very small order.  As you can see in my siggy, we don't normally order very small orders.  Fortunately, I was able to catch the driver before she drove off and alert her that this wasn't my order.  She apologized and said she had delivered my order to the wrong address.  The other family that she had shopped for had instructed her to place it inside their garage. She told me that she would go get it and redeliver to my address.  DD and DH both encouraged me to contact instacart to alert them to the mis-delivery.  I did and they (instacart) decided to have the delivery re-shopped and redelivered.  After completing the chat with customer service the original order arrived.  I recontacted customer service to alert them and left the groceries on my porch.  Instacart told me I could just keep the original order and they planned to cancel the reorder which they scheduled. When I inquired if it was against food safety laws to redeliver an already delivered grocery order they admitted it was.  I left the groceries on my porch assuming they would be picked up and asked customer service what to do. They suggested I donate or keep the items.  Now I have two of the same order, and I'm riddled with guilt.  I know it was the right thing to do to alert instacart, but I would feel absolutely awful if I found out our original shopper got into trouble.  I assured customer service that I would have no problem with the same shopper in the future and that it was likely just a mistake.  Please, gently, share your opinions on what you would do in this situation.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Excelsior! Academy

[Robin M]

Please don't feel guilty. They messed up and I'd just run with it and absorb the extra. At least you won't  have to shop for a while.  Did they charge you twice for the reorder? 

[BusyMom5]

I wouldn't have called at all.  If the driver was fixing the issue,  I would have just left it at that.   

A while back someone I know got their Walmart pickup and discovered once they got home it was the wrong order.  About that same time, WM called to let them know there was a mix-up.  They took it all back to the store and picked up their groceries and returned the wrong bags.  Mix-ups happen.   

[prairiewindmomma]

Instacart the company is making a killing this year. I wouldn’t feel guilty at all. Keep the food if you can use it, donate the rest to a food bank.

Accidents happen; great policies like this make for happy customers.

[Excelsior! Academy]

25 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Please don't feel guilty. They messed up and I'd just run with it and absorb the extra. At least you won't  have to shop for a while.  Did they charge you twice for the reorder? 

Just one charge.

[Excelsior! Academy]

25 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

I wouldn't have called at all.  If the driver was fixing the issue,  I would have just left it at that.   

A while back someone I know got their Walmart pickup and discovered once they got home it was the wrong order.  About that same time, WM called to let them know there was a mix-up.  They took it all back to the store and picked up their groceries and returned the wrong bags.  Mix-ups happen.   

That was my plan until I was encouraged otherwise, hence the guilt.  Thank you for your honest opinion.  I hope it doesn't happen again, because I'm not sure what I will do next time.  My first thought is ew someone's garage floor and possible contamination with covid, however I am having someone else shop and my groceries were set on my porch.  I don't know why someone else's dirt mentally bothers me more than my own.

[Bambam]

I would have done the same thing. I would not want an order that had been delivered and left somewhere else first. Just no. I'd donate the food to a local food bank - or if I knew someone who could use the food, I'll call and tell them the story and ask if they wanted the food. 

[caffeineandbooks]

Where I live it's a pretty normal policy that if they deliver the wrong thing, you keep it for free and they also deliver the things you actually paid for.  I think that's because, as someone pointed out, if they accept food back from a customer they can't certify that it's been kept cold or even that it hasn't been tampered with.  The price of a free grocery order is much less than the price of the publicity if someone gets food poisoning or worse.

Also, I would think if your shopper is in the habit of going into people's unattended garages with small packages and coming out with big ones, someone is bound to call the police sooner or later?!  😲

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, caffeineandbooks said:

Where I live it's a pretty normal policy that if they deliver the wrong thing, you keep it for free and they also deliver the things you actually paid for.  I think that's because, as someone pointed out, if they accept food back from a customer they can't certify that it's been kept cold or even that it hasn't been tampered with.  The price of a free grocery order is much less than the price of the publicity if someone gets food poisoning or worse.

Also, I would think if your shopper is in the habit of going into people's unattended garages with small packages and coming out with big ones, someone is bound to call the police sooner or later?!  😲

I don't use Instacart, but I would think this is how they would have to run everywhere. 

The driver shouldn't be going back and picking that order up, it could get the company in a lot of trouble on so many different levels.  Unless the food was pantry stuff, I wouldn't want it.  If it was frozen or fridge things, how do you know it was kept safely so you won't get ill ?

[hjffkj]

this same thing happened to a friend a couple months ago.  

Edited January 12, 2021 by hjffkj

[Toocrazy!!]

I would have called as well. I wouldn't want the food that had been delivered wrong. But I feel your guilt. While Instacart has done well this year, I'm not sure what their policy is for a shopper's mistake. But with food, I think you did what you needed to do. 

[katilac]

Telling them was the right thing to do. There are reasons for food safety laws. 

Also, not quite sure how the shopper failed to double-check an order and an address at not just one stop, but at least two. No, you don't want to get anyone in trouble, but it is a job that requires pretty close attention. 

[Farrar]

Did it hurt the shopper, do you think? I mean, everyone makes mistakes. Regardless, the policy makes sense and you did the right thing.

Enjoy the food as you can, donate the non-perishables if you get a chance.

[katilac]

7 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

I wouldn't have called at all.  If the driver was fixing the issue,  I would have just left it at that.   

A while back someone I know got their Walmart pickup and discovered once they got home it was the wrong order.  About that same time, WM called to let them know there was a mix-up.  They took it all back to the store and picked up their groceries and returned the wrong bags.  Mix-ups happen.   

I would accept my correct order of groceries that had been sitting in the store. I would not accept my correct order of groceries if someone else had picked them up, brought them home, then brought them back. My guess is that this person's original order never left the store, and that's why Walmart gave it to them. 

[footballmom]

I probably would have waited for the driver to fix their mistake before calling, tbh, as long as the groceries were delivered right before mine and had not been brought in to the other person’s house.  Mistakes happen and I think the Instacart shoppers do get preferred hours and better pay based on their efficiency etc.  

[Tap]

I would keep the food that didn't require refrigeration/freezer and toss the rest (unless they were delivered with frozen ice packs or at the appropriate temp). 

To me, throwing the food away compounds the food shortage problem and doesn't solve anything. The food is either safe for consumption or not. Period. If you would feel ok donating it, then just keep it and eat it. Your family is using Instacart and they made a mistake. No biggie. Just keep the reward and keep using them in the future to support thier business.

Groceries in someone's garage is no more dirty or clean than: a grocery store, a field workers hands picking the produce, the cannery putting them in cans, the crew putting groceries on store shelves, the customer's hands (who likely handled the groceries as they picked thier own items), the insta cart worker and thier car. 

Seriously, if it bugs you, just empty the bags from your porch and leave the bags there. Then put the bags directly into the trash. If you want to quarentine the non perishables for a week or so, go for it, but I wouldn't. COVID isn't transmitted that way. And a person's garage is actually safer than a grocery store that has hundreds of people each day!