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Think I've been to the grocery store once in the past year and a half. There's no reason to go there unless you're poor.Quote:
Originally Posted by lol wow
And no, Whole Foods is NOT a grocery store
There's actually a lot of reasons to go to the grocery store yourself if you're not poor.
In general I like doing things for myself, so I had never tried a grocery delivery service prior to the corona. Now that I have some experience with it, I can say that there's some good and some bad to these services (ignoring the corona issue).
The good is that it saves the time and the tedium of driving to the store, searching for things, walking around the store getting everything, standing in line, and checking out.
The bad is that there's all kinds of fail -- missing items, wrong items, substitutions you didn't want, inability to choose the best expiration date products, etc. You also can't just browse around and grab things you see and like. Online it's mostly just buying what you know. And in some cases like Instacart, there's a fairly big markup. Also you have people delivering the stuff who don't care, so your cold items won't always arrive cold.
I also question the time savings. Between submitting the online orders, occasional site issues, and correcting mistakes on the bill, I'm not sure I'm saving a lot of time. I'm saving some, but not as much as you'd think.
I will say that it's useful for days you need to be home all day, and also for ordering items like household products and canned goods, where expiration dates and keeping the items cold don't matter. A can of beans is a can of beans, and it's not a big deal if the can is slightly dented or it expires in July 2021 instead of November 2021.
When the corona passes, I will probably still do some online grocery delivery, but I'll also be returning to go myself for some things.
I will say that some situations apply to me which don't apply to some others though.
I have a family, and that requires a larger variety of items than a single dude living alone.
I have a need to correct all fuckups and get really irritated with myself if I get charged for something if I don't receive. Unless it's literally pennies, I can't just let it go.
In general, I don't place much value on being served or having things done for me. For example, I would much rather drag my own luggage up to the room than use the bellman (even if tips are already included), and would much rather self park than valet (again, even if the cost and tips are already included).
I remember on the big island of Hawaii in 1999, I stayed at Mauna Kea (a very nice hotel there -- at least back in the late '90s), and I asked them where the self parking was. They replied, "Sir, it's all valet, which is included, and our employees are not allowed to accept tips. Everything is included. Just leave your car with the valet." I answered, "Okay, so you're saying there's no self park?" They were very surprised to hear I still wanted to self park, and just told me to park it myself in the valet lot, which I did. This was obviously a rental car, so I wasn't even worried about damage or fucking with my stuff. I just don't like valet parking.
I don't really do grocery store delivery very often either. I eat about 90% of my meals from restaurants, or I do soylent. If I want to cook a meal at home I'll have a meal kit shipped to me.
But yeah, single guy
Haven't read the whole thread, but I'm confused why you don't do Whole Foods delivery. If you have Prime it's free, no service fees, and you don't have to tip. Same prices as in the store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonatineQuote:
Originally Posted by Sidewinder
now you got me wondering if they adjusted my orders or not. i get the feeling im in for rude surprises.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mers-tips.html
If there is any possible way to steal, these people will do it.
Imagine if the owners/managers of Ultimate Bet ran a grocery delivery site. It is impossible there is a worse (legal) e-commerce company anywhere now or in the history of the internet than this place.
Instacart does suck, and I stand by my original criticisms.
That "tip stealing" article is a bit misleading. Instacart isn't stealing tips. They are charging a service fee AND soliciting tips, with only the tips going to the driver, with the service fee being kept by Instacart. This has confused people, but it's not really stealing.
As I've suggested, you should NOT use Instacart unless you have no other choice.
Do not ever use them for grocery store delivery, as most major grocery stores have their own delivery service WITHOUT MARKUPS and WITHOUT TIPS (because it's well-paid union employees doing the deliveries).
I used Instacart for Vons before quickly realizing Vons had its own (far superior and cheaper) service.
I only use Instacart for Costco, but I don't pay service fees because I do it through sameday.costco.com, which accesses the same items with lesser markup and no service fees. However, you do need a Costco account to use sameday.costco.com, whereas the Instacart version does not require a membership.
good deal above
alright couple 2 things instacart is awesome i can order a custom sandwich from vons and add cucus
CUCUES baby also stock is through the the moon i dont want to support sonatines competing site that i literally havent gone to but through the moon
There is literally nothing awesome about Instacart. They will 100% fuck you ASAP and often. GLQuote:
Originally Posted by lol wow
I saw where Costco had grocery delivery... Are you saying they co-opt/outsourced the Gypsies at Instacart to do the delivery?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Going to the grocery store is for peasants and is the nut low in life.
It is awesome if you want to hear Desperado.
They don't have delivery. They've outsourced it to Instacart, yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by SidewinderI saw where Costco had grocery delivery... Are you saying they co-opt/outsourced the Gypsies at Instacart to do the delivery?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Going to the grocery store is for peasants and is the nut low in life.
It is awesome if you want to hear Desperado.
What's confusing is that there's 2 ways to do it:
1) Directly through Instacart. This has big markups and an obnoxious "service fee". This does NOT requires a Costco membership.
-or-
2) Through Costco, at sameday.costco.com. The markups are a little less, but more importantly the service fee is ZERO. However, it does require a Costco membership.
So if you have a Costco membership (or can borrow one from someone else), you'd be a fool to do it through Instacart directly.
This scam by Whole Foods delivery drivers who hang smart phones in trees near their stores and Amazon delivery stations just shows the endless ability of people to game almost any system.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...?sref=nOLch4DD
Bump.
I quit my job a couple months ago and have been doing side gigs since, including a little Instacart. I have actually never used it as a customer. So if anyone has any questions about the service from the driver/shopper side or wants the driver perspective, just shoot. I live in Eastern Los Angeles County/Orange County area FWIW.
Anyways, FWIW I don't know how much Instacart is raking off the top or how much the customer is paying. All I see is the payment I am going to receive, including the proposed tip (which can be modified later by the customer).
I will say without a good tip it is a completely unusable service IMO. With no tip you are probably lucky to make $10-15/hr. So I (and I presume a lot of other shoppers) just try to cherry-pick the rare order with a good tip. On the orders I actually take I probably make $20-25/hr, but it isn't very many. Instacart actually rewards delivery drivers/shoppers who do a lot of volume and get good ratings by giving them first dibs, which is fair. So unless there is a lot of volume at once I don't see the good orders. But I have other stuff going on so it isn't worth it to me to do a ton of shitty orders just to start seeing more good ones.
I will make a couple comments about replacements. The first thing to keep in perspective for the shopper/driver is that time is money. So the last thing you want to do is go down a rabbit hole and waste 30 minutes looking for a perfect replacement, because then you just took a big hourly pay cut and now you are going to be late on top. So you are trying to do your best as fast as you can. The second thing is that Instacart actually gives you suggestions in the app for replacements (which often aren't very good). You can over-ride their suggestions and go on your own, but it is a lot more work messing with the app, which is again time, which is money out of your pocket.
One other thing is that they often give us 2-3 orders at once, and you have to deliver them in the order the app tells you to, so if you are the 3rd customer and you have ice cream it is probably going to be melted some by the time it gets to you. It just is what it is, not the shopper/drivers fault.
What is your opinion of people who tip flat rate instead of by percentage of the order?
I do a flat $20 tip for Costco regardless of how expensive the stuff is that I buy. I think that's good enough, and since this isn't a restaurant, the value of the items purchased shouldn't matter. In fact, it's easier if you're carrying small, expensive items rather than a bunch of bulky items which cost $6 each.
You just want the tip to be big enough to make it worth your time. I actually have not really put that much thought into how it gets there, and the app doesn't tell you how it gets there. It just gives you the total. Also, like I said you are often doing 2-3 orders at once, so you aren't even sure who is doing the tipping (although you can look it up the next day because they give the customers a day to modify the tips before we get them).Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
I will say a $20 tip (I actually don't know how much of your $20 Instacart takes off the top before I see it) on a Costco order that will take less than 2 hrs total (including estimated driving time and time spent waiting in line) is pretty solid, and I would probably take that order, although I personally don't actually see very many orders like that presumably because the preferred shoppers have snagged them already.
Also I will say that especially for the people doing this full-time for a living ratings are VERY important, because having a good rating gives you early dibs so you can get the best orders. So if something goes wrong with the order and it might not be the drivers fault or might have been an honest mistake, I would suggest you show a little heart/perspective and give the driver a 5 rating anyways.
So what you're saying is they can't see how much I'm paying? Because I've seen the actual Costco receipt (prior to markup) appear in my stuff a few times, so I figured they were able to see all of that. I think it was accidentally left there, but whatever.
How many different stores do you shop for?
We are supposed to keep the paper receipts from the store, probably in case there is some sort of issue. However, I have no clue what you are actually paying. I personally don't have any idea because I haver never used the service as a customer. Maybe a shopper/driver who uses the service as a customer too has a feel for what is going on behind the curtain, but I personally don't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Also, you don't shop for specific stores. There is just a running list on the phone app of all the gigs that are open in your general area. It tells you the store including location, total number of items, total earnings for you (including proposed tip) and gives you a little map of the store and drop offs. AFAIK it is first come first serve (although I know they have VIP shoppers who see the orders first). The good orders disappear very fast, so if you see something that looks promising you have to process the relevant information very fast and make a decision.
Relevant information is location of the store and drop offs, total price (including tip) and number of items (which gives you an idea of how long it might take). So you try to process all of this in a second (literally) and decide if the order is worth the time/effort or not. Or at least that is how I do it. Like I said, if someone is just blinding clicking on all the orders offered, I would be surprised if they are making $15/hr at the end of the day.
In my area the main stores that are the bulk of the gigs are Stater Bros, Walmart, Costco, Sprouts, Aldi and the chain groceries.
All else being equal my favorite is Aldi, because they are small and there aren't a lot of options, so it is easy and fast to find items. And the lines aren't too long most of the time. If you are doing a Costco or Sams club order at a busy time, you can spend 15+ minutes going through line, which is again money.
How much time do you spend in the store vs in the car? Is there any mechanism where a customer can ask for a certain person if they've had them before? Or more simply, is there any way you can get repeat business, either within, or outside of, the app?
Most of the time the person's house is close to the market so not much time driving. Occasionally there is a long drive, normally if the person orders some alcohol from a specialty alcohol store.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly
AFAIK there is no mechanism to ask for a specific person. Most of the time I just go to the store, pick up the order, drop the package off on the porch and have no interaction with the person at all. I don't really know of any method to get repeat business, short of trying to hustle some myself by talking to the person and exchanging info. I know this is something some Uber drivers do a lot, but obviously when someone is sitting in your car for an extended period there is a lot more opportunity for interaction than when you are dropping off groceries on someone's porch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KalamMost of the time the person's house is close to the market so not much time driving. Occasionally there is a long drive, normally if the person orders some alcohol from a specialty alcohol store.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly
AFAIK there is no mechanism to ask for a specific person. Most of the time I just go to the store, pick up the order, drop the package off on the porch and have no interaction with the person at all. I don't really know of any method to get repeat business, short of trying to hustle some myself by talking to the person and exchanging info. I know this is something some Uber drivers do a lot, but obviously when someone is sitting in your car for an extended period there is a lot more opportunity for interaction than when you are dropping off groceries on someone's porch.
This is very interesting and everything you’ve contributed thus far does positively impact my attitude and the way I use / will use Instacart. Thank you.
Scumbag company going public.
The press release for their IPO is hilariously vague.
This company is faker than the news.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1826530...e-catch-covid/
Looks like you all better hide in your homes and order groceries. Seriously, the last couple weeks I have been doing Instacart pretty much exclusively. The traffic has picked up massively, so it is just a matter of picking off the good tipping orders. The only problem is that a lot of people do tips as a % of their total bill, and everyone is ordering massive rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that they dont get because these are out, so the tips are always significantly smaller than advertised.
If the market really is the most likely place to get Covid, with the amount of time I have spent in indoor markets the last few months, I really do wonder if I got Covid at some point and never noticed. But I have 5 people in my immediate household and none of them has gotten sick either (knock on wood), so seems unlikely we would all be asymptomatic, so probably just never got it.
Kalam, I'm still confused about something.
You said you don't know what people pay. Again, my last Costco order came with a receipt! Obviously the driver had this and gave it to us (or at least left it in one of the boxes).
When you go to the cashier at Costco and check out, how does it work? Do they charge some Instacart account? If so, how would you (or any driver) end up with my receipt? This has happened a bunch of times. Not every time, but a bunch of times. They also have the real Costco prices on the receipt, not the awful markup prices I must pay through Instacart.
Also, I agree with you that the percentage tip is idiotic. I realized that pretty quickly. This isn't a restaurant. If I order a few light, expensive items which cost $200, it's far easier for the shopper to carry than $100 worth of bulky cheap items.
I tip a flat rate based upon the difficulty of the order. However, I've decided to always tip $15 minimum, and usually $18-$20, because I don't live all that close to Costco.
For non-Costco shopping, I want to URGE everyone to check if your store has its own delivery service. The prices won't be marked up, and there's no tipping (because you're getting the delivery from union employees). Way cheaper that way. Costco has no such service, and they just contract with Instacart.
However, if you're a Costco member, never order through Instacart directory. You'll get the same Instacart experience but CHEAPER at sameday.costco.com (but this does require a Costco membership login).
Also regarding that Sun article, I realized this shit back in April. I knew the supermarket had to be dangerous, and I quit going permanently. Anyway, GL Kalam, hope you and your family stays COVID-free.
One of my little cousins does instacart as she was a waitress making half what she used to over by blake. I asked her all about it one day and she said she could basically get fired for giving the receipt. She gets the receipt, takes a pic of it and sends it to instacart as she has like a company credit card with which she pays, and then tosses the receipt. Like giving the customer the receipt is a cardinal sin according to her. At in least in eastern Pa.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
I downloaded it at the beginning of the pandemic so my dad wouldn’t go to store. Around me, literally the only grocery store affiliated was aldis, which he hates, so I just got him hooked up with curbside pickup.
So I’d guess Kalam could look at the receipt if he wanted? He probably doesn’t know what you pay instacart for groceries, but he gets a total and runs the credit card, takes a pic of receipt, and then tosses it. So he could hypothetically see what the normal prices are, just not what you’re paying on markup from my understanding. He can clarify. He knows what instacart is paying which is the same as anyone off the street. Not what you’re paying on your app when you order.
Yes. What BCR said. I pay for everything with a Instacart credit card.
The store gives us a paper receipt as if we were a normal customer. We keep that and I have no idea what you are actually paying.
I never really thought about it, but it seems the store charges instacart normal price and then instacart charges you separately with the markup. So they are a middle man.
Also, I have no objection in principle to receiving a % if the number is big enough. If someone wants to tip me 10% on a $500 order, then I am perfectly ok with this.
However, a drawback to the % method for us right now is if someone orders 6 things and half of it is stuff I have to cancel because out of stock seeing the tip drop by 50% does kinda suck.
But yeah. The way the math works on average I seem to make about 12-15/hr before tips, and my goal is cherry pick orders to double this. So if you tipped $20 flat on an order that would take less than 2 hrs (counting driving time) I would consider that good.
Tried Instacart for grocery shopping once back at the start of the pandemic....ONCE! The guy who delivered the groceries, wasn't wearing gloves or a mask, and did a shitty job of picking out produce. Plus, some of the cans and boxes of the items that were delivered were dented. I certainly would have not selected some of the produce items that were delivered. So, wifey and I decided to do our own grocery shopping, and I usually go early in the morning when there are less people in the store. The bonus on this is that the paper goods are in greater supply early in the morning.
In NOT using Instacart, there is one less person touching the grocery items. I actually think it is safer than having sloppy stranger touching your stuff. I keep my distance from others in stores and I change my clothes when I get home.
I've only read the first and last page, but I use the Walmart curbside pickup service.
You order online, select a pickup time, and then open the trunk when you arrive in your selected parking spot.
We have been using it for a few years and love it, I haven't been in Walmart in a long time.
Our Walmart is a super center with groceries.
Kroger also has this service but have never used it.
Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
Yeah ummm Walmart is fucking cringe and so are you for shopping there.
It's true that Walmart isn't a classy store, but they get their grocery food the same place other grocery stores do. Pilgrims Pride chicken and Diet Dr. Pepper are the same regardless of the grocery store one uses ;-)
Thanks, Tim
instacart is awesome and they just threw me a 15 dollar credit for my next order
also how does ur piece of shit dad hate aldis aldis has a legit great super weird frozen dumpling game and their red wine selection is super passable
lmfao aldis is fkn awful moron. My friend told me that he went there once and he had to PAY for a shopping cart, because they had locked up the carts presumably due to its trashy clientele