Review Insights · Google Play
Instacart Shopper: Earn money
Instacart · 176,973 ratings · ★ 4.2
4.2
★★★★★
176,973 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 62 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"support"
16 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "**itty Support. Customer service on this app is a jokkkeeeeee. Whenever you open the support chat, you have to wait 10 minutes between each message, only for them to tell you they can't do anything. My account got deactivated after 2 years,…" - Chase Reyes
2
"instacart"
14 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
3
"been"
14 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
4
"customer"
13 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "**itty Support. Customer service on this app is a jokkkeeeeee. Whenever you open the support chat, you have to wait 10 minutes between each message, only for them to tell you they can't do anything. My account got deactivated after 2 years,…" - Chase Reyes
5
"batches"
10 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app is getting worse by the week with more batches being pushed out as quads! Who the hell wants to shop for 4 people at once...3 is already too much with the high item count and longer distance. Instacart is so busy trying to save the…" - Ronda B
6
"issues"
9 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
7
"order"
9 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
8
"years"
9 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "**itty Support. Customer service on this app is a jokkkeeeeee. Whenever you open the support chat, you have to wait 10 minutes between each message, only for them to tell you they can't do anything. My account got deactivated after 2 years,…" - Chase Reyes
9
"orders"
8 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
10
"help"
8 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I'm new to instacart and already there's major issues using the app. I keep accepting orders and then all they just keep removing them as I arrive or start shopping for the order. and help center doesn't help at all and doesn't tell you wha…" - Natalie D'Lima
11
"people"
8 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app is getting worse by the week with more batches being pushed out as quads! Who the hell wants to shop for 4 people at once...3 is already too much with the high item count and longer distance. Instacart is so busy trying to save the…" - Ronda B
12
"while"
8 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app is getting worse by the week with more batches being pushed out as quads! Who the hell wants to shop for 4 people at once...3 is already too much with the high item count and longer distance. Instacart is so busy trying to save the…" - Ronda B
📋 All 62 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
terrible slave labor
This app is getting worse by the week with more batches being pushed out as quads! Who the hell wants to shop for 4 people at once...3 is already too much with the high item count and longer distance. Instacart is so busy trying to save themselves money while making shoppers almost be in the poor house trying to make anything. Gas prices is through the roof and instead of increasing the PAY, they want to give shoppers $5 for driving 125+ weekly. It's not worth it anymore! DELETE & I'LL READD IT
no respect for the drivers
**itty Support. Customer service on this app is a jokkkeeeeee. Whenever you open the support chat, you have to wait 10 minutes between each message, only for them to tell you they can't do anything. My account got deactivated after 2 years, because they couldn't "verify my identity"; I'm a transman, my current appearance does not look like the photo in my ID I submitted years ago. They have refused to update my ID or name to reflect that, and now I'm forced to lose all my progress and start over
Waitlisted for YEARS! I have been waiting for many years to get onboarded and no other gig app took this long. I have perfect ratings on every other app and would be an asset to Instacart. However I moved from my applied zone years ago and got married. I also have my email compromised by the Equifax security breach and no longer use it as my main one. Instacart will not onboard me with a perfect record nor let me update my info. Very disappointing app ! I also do not have social media to contact
horrible customer service. been waiting on chat and it disconnects everytime I'm about to get an agent. running out of time for promotion and can't get it fixed
Shoppers asking WHY THERE'S NO ORDERS if APP say batches in 1-5 or 15 -30 minutes??? WHY FOOL SHOPPERS TO WAIT AT STORES FOR HOURS THAT DON'T HAVE ORDERS with NO PAY??? Why pay $10 or less for large order & high mileage or take advantage of shopper's TIME & EFFORT? Certain rating shouldn't be allowed if it's not shopper's fault? System shouldn't complete undelivered orders, if there's a traffic problem or GPS gave incorrect city that took longer for deliveries. What happened to $20+tips????????
terrible app. The navigation button doesn't even work
ever since they switched to Indian workers its gotten worse. batches are also horrible in the payout part and apparently if you need help their new policy is they cant contact the customer. whats their job then? stay away unless they make changes again because its not worth it especially with gas prices as high as they are.
Shop Only Batch eligibility will not update. The path has been completed, but status remains not eligible. I have contactes technical support, they were unable to assist. I uninstall and reinstalled and it stll is not updating.
I've been a shopper for several years with a 5 star review. Instacart will not reimburse me for an order I had to pay for out-of-pocket. Shopper card was declined and was not providing QR Code for payment. Instacart was also having issues with support so I could not connect with a representative. I had already shopped the order and could not cancel as I need to connect with a representative which was unavailable so I paid cash. I kept receipt which matches the order and they refuse to reimburse!
long wait to enroll.deactivated me before account activated.there's no notifications while I try to get support and I close app.Hide chat and then it just goes inactive . update: dont tell you have to sign something extra background, then there is no extra form, then they say we dont know the timeline.Then you get no email.I don't know what they're doing ive never even got to use the app. useless. software hijacked by support team members confirmed documented
New rules force taking batches or ratings drop.If order has 1 position &it’s missing from shelf/backstock,they refuse Shopper Bump/reimbursement.I've proof from Ulta & Staples that such payments are possible,but agents & supervisors lie saying it's 'impossible' &end chats.Worse:you can't cancel it yourself.Waiting for support took 20m,while the timer kept running,ruining my speed stats &rating.System punishes you for their errors.You must take orders for rating but work for free if item is gone
don't bother getting cart star. makes no difference.
worse app ever. I wanted to start again after a couple years away. needed it for income in general. they still haven't fixed my account or called me or anything. its been 4 months of bs and nothing being done to fix my account. im done with this app for good. 2nd time this bs happened and this time is the worse one. worst service for drivers when it comes to the customer service for drivers. beyond disappointing and I will make sure no one i know uses it again.
the push for triple batches is absolutely ridiculous and is in no way saving money. its making customers and shoppers very angry. I love to shop for instacart but its getting more and more difficult when none of the orders I see would be making me money and would instead use all my money on gas.
huge waste of time!!... do shipt!!
no one to talk for cancel membership, no tel number, and not easy the app
i'm platinum, near diamond... garbage app... i just shopped for an hour and the app server crashed at the checkout 0$/h, nearly impossible to make more than minimum wage and i have an electric car, no gas. I haven't been able to contact support for the last 12h... and they changed the notification sound 2 days ago to some slow-mo annoying sound.
they never allow you on the platform 4 years on waiting list....
never get any offers
(Update: the service is down again. which seems to happen once a week. sometimes more.)Just sat in my car for six hours waiting for a delivery request. I didn't get a single one. I tried asking customer service for help. to see if something was wrong with my account and they are just bots. Trained to say certain phrases and end the conversation as soon as possible.
the supposed updates crash the system. I am currently still on hold going on 2 hours for help with a order, they will ignore it and then turn it and blame it on me saying it's my fault not the app issues. so I lose out on that batch and the batches I could have picked up will waiting for support. do better!
this app sucks. I worked this morning and can't even access my money or even see anymore offers the page is just white. literally nothing to even click on. they have had way too many issues lately. they're playing with people's income and its not ok.
Constantly signs me out and constantly ask for verification. Why I do have to keep doing almost daily on a weekly basis? it's a headache. Edit: 5/7/26 App still constantly for verification everytime I shop for someone and if theres an error 500, it's good luck getting ahold of a person, this is really unprofessional Instacart. It takes forever to speak with a person.
If Instacart has taught me one thing it is this: $11 will never ever be worth it to shop any order for any person. Every order is sub minimum wage, they are masters at dressing it up to appear otherwise. Have fun making Instacart rich while you provide top notch service to customers who could care less about you. Imagine a business model so irrevocably flawed that it pays less and less. They'll say that's a feature because they will have collected their stock bonuses and left before it implodes.
find another gig, instacart will lie cheat and steal from you, while making promises to pay you that never happens
Not a fan of this app. The fact that this company still allows tipping after all these years, is nuts. Doordash doesn't do that. Does no one realize that shoppers are using their own personal vehicle to deliver? So we pay for our own gas and wear and tear on our vehicle. We are not paid employees - we are living off tips. The app always constantly has issues too, glitching out and not loading properly, and sending you to the wrong location sometimes. Get it together - you've had plenty of time.
Got a new phone, & since switching, I can't log in. I have spent a week with different people in support, troubleshooting, reinstalling, checking for OS updates, updates in the Play Store, etc, but I still get an error message that says my phone number or password is incorrect. Yet my number is the same, and was verified as correct by support. Pasting in the code still gets me the error message, and the app won't let me sign in with anything but my phone number anymore. I'm completely stuck.
I can garuntee that you will make less than minimum wage. it should be classified as non-profit
The company offers a PROMO to get x $ by completing x batches by a certain date. However, they control the number of batches that are visible the closer you get to achieving the goal. This practice is so unfear. If the shopper will not be able to realistically reach to goal because of trickery, don't offer the PROMO. Normally 7 to 8 batches are visible to me most times, now only 2 batches are available at one time. SHAME
Not worth it, in 2021 I earned much more while doing instacart. I stopped because I never got refunded $80 that I was supposed to get back when I had used my debit card for a customer's groceries. Yesterday I earned $32 and drove 40 miles, that is insane. Instacart needs to start paying shoppers more. I only decided to do instarcart again because I'm desperate for work right now but I'm going to try door dash instead.
Android - The in-app link to start a return does not work. Also, pictures are difficult to upload in the customer service chat. Keep getting an error message of not being able to send a picture.
GrapheneOS is not supported for some reason, add support.
Absolutely a joke. I was a shopper for many years. always great reviews and never cheated out a customer. what do they do when a few customers "claim they never got their food" even though I sent a picture of the delivery to the customer through the chat even when it didn't require it. They deactivate your account just so they can screw over more people. It was a heavy part of my income. my life has changed quite a bit missing 100's of dollars every week here's a big F U -thank you.
Have been on the waitlist for years and everytime I ask about it, they just blatantly lie to my face about my zone being full even though I know people who have been accepted within a week. love the discrimination, wish they would just grow some and say exactly what the issue is.
it is one of the most buggiest deliver app I have used I have a pixel 9 and recently I stopped getting orders closer to me and I am always getting orders that are 20 to 30 mins away and when I do that orders I was getting warning mails for doing fraud but driving more distance and taking more time which it made me and there was no way to despute it some times the customer service doesn't even work properly and I won't be able to send any documents showing it it has been happening for a while
I'm glad I read the reviews here before I continued with the signing up process. I installed the Instacart app on my phone and provided the initial info requested. I was asked to get a code via phone so I could complete the process. Every time I requested a code, I placed the code and was told the code didn't work. That happened every time I tried. I waited a couple of hours and tried again...no way to sign in. This company provides zero human interaction if problems come up. Goodbye.
Update sucks December 7th 2022. January 8th 2022-for the past couple days app has not been loading and causing a lot of issues. Each update brings more issues and I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. I drive 4 miles to customer's house before it even loads up. November 30th 2024-now the worse it's ever been. Adding things that aren't needed and do nothing. I don't understand why they're making it harder for the good shoppers to do their job. each update is a concern
PAY IS WELL BELOW MINIMUM WAGE, JOBS ARE ROUTED TO WASTE YOUR TIME! $4 a single batch , $5 for a triple/QUAD order batch , almost every batch is 5-15 miles drop off. They really only want to pay about $1.75 a customer order, so all the orders are batched 3 orders, but customers only tip $1-3, a lot won't even tip ,even when it's like 3 cases of water to a apartment. Every order has to be shopped at a specific store now. u must cancel the entire batch and increase your cancellation rate.
My app keeps crashing and when I contact support they are no help. its been over a week and I haven't been able to do any batches.
Android user :: the link for costco returns doesn't work when you push it. does nothing, no error screen, doesn't even take you to another page. STILL DOES NOT WORK... IT SHOULDNT BE THIS COMPLICATED TO RETURN TO COSTCO
terrible app an they dont pay good. they rob us.
Don't Trust those robot specialists. All they do is copying and pasting. Disgusting
I cannot emphasize enough how unhelpful instacart is. I have continued to be on the waiting list for years even after being told to contact them. I haven't gotten a single email regarding open spots after years? Wish I could give yall a 0 stars at this point
They are now slowly requiring shoppers to shop and deliver 4 orders at a time, same page and sometimes lower. Pretty soon this will be the new standard!
"Why do you maintain such a large support staff if they don't just fail to help, but actively create problems - and this isn't one or two cases, it's happened over a hundred times."
no competent customer support. suspected ai chat bots.
for them to continue being the best...they need better business practices. Just randomly deactivating people is not going to help you gain traction again. There is a reason this company is fading into the back
The app is not allowing me login access. Every code I am sent rather it be email or SMS the code comes back invalid. Contacted support and I'm told my account looks fine. So why can't I accept my account.
+ 12 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
81%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
16%
Negative (1-2★)