Posted on 04/09/2020 5:07:39 PM PDT by grundle
In late March, Instacart worker Annaliisa Arambula accepted a grocery order that came with a big tip: $55. The store was just down the street, everything the customer wanted was available, and the order seemed to go off without a hitch.
But an hour later, Arambula checked her earnings on the Instacart app and the entire tip was gone, with a message saying the "customer modified the tip post-delivery." She ended up making just $8.95 from Instacart on the order.
"I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it," Arambula told CNN Business.
Demand for grocery delivery is surging amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and many customers are struggling to get the items they want or even a time slot for a delivery. Some people are dealing with that by offering big tips, as high as $50 or more, to entice Instacart workers to pick up their orders. But some of those people have turned the tactic into a bait-and-switch, offering up the big tip and then taking it away as soon as the person who risked their health to get them their groceries has made the delivery.
Before accepting a "batch" -- which can consist of one or a few orders from different customers -- workers can see the items requested, the store location, the payment Instacart provides workers for the job, and the tip being offered. Instacart allows customers to change a tip for up to three days. Some workers told CNN Business tips can make up half of their income or more.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Really stupid!
Best advice ever.
“Shouldn’t be able to change it at all. “
No matter the quality of service?
I would keep a record of these scum. Take their order and non-fill or substitute crazily. A couple of orders and they will get the message.
How would you stop bait and switch users?
Besides, you can give them the tip when they actually deliver the items.
I’ve used instacart at the local Wegman’s and when I picked up the order, I handed the guy who brought it out a tip and asked him to split it with the person who actually picked the order.
No kidding. What a crappy thing to do to someone.
I would substitute the store brand version of everything they ordered. If they are “Reynolds Wrap” people or “Philadelphia Cream Cheese” people or “Miracle Whip” people, they’d wished they’d tipped.
” I handed the guy who brought it out a tip and asked him to split it with the person who actually picked the order.”
Right!
Avoid the lobster bisque
Are we allowed to consider that the change may have been for poor service, or would that be racist?
THey just need a web site where they are allowed to post the clients who do this. Once the others know, those clients will never get anything delivered again.
This is seriously screwed up.
It’s great..You write the list ,,then have them do all the work,pay for it,you pick up and done....I can’t believe it took stores this long to come up with this concept....
Just make it so once the tip is in there,it’s there.....
No wonder my pizzas are always full and the mac and cheese is cheeeeeesy.....I’m a good tipper...I used to work retail, that’s why...
Dick move
That’s terrible. I always tip my Instacart people. I appreciate their service.
Can’t the delivery people leave a review of the customer? Usually reviews are a two-way street. I would think a customer would rip off a delivery person like that once, get a bad review, and no other delivery person would ever go to that address.
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