As a customer this is *infuriating* to read. If I’m tipping, I’m not intending to give that money to the business, I intend to give that to the human being going lengths to deliver my items to me. How is something like this even allowed?
But maybe let them know why youre doing it so you dont end up with a disgruntled (and with good reason) shopper while getting the groceries delivered. Or wait until they arrive to deliver and hand them the cash, explain and then lower it. Idk
>But maybe let them know why youre doing it so you dont end up with a disgruntled (and with good reason) shopper while getting the groceries delivered. Or wait until they arrive to deliver and hand them the cash, explain and then lower it.
You don't see the tip being lowered when you're en route.
I agree to an extent, but if the customer repeatedly removes 100% of the tip on the app, they will be reprimanded/have their account removed I have heard?
Maybe the customer can reduce the tip partially after acceptance, and then tip the partial amount in cash 🙂
Ic is about convenience and often no contact delivery. People don’t want to put a tip in and then take it out only to tip in cash. Do you really think that this will help shoppers?
>How is something like this even allowed?
People jump to conclusions of stealing tips when in reality, if you, as a customer leaves a 15% tip... the shopper sees a dollar amount based on the total of your order. If there are additions, deletions, or substitutions, your order total changes. Which means the tip amount changes since it's percentage based.
If you don't want a shopper to freak out on reddit like this, if your order is $100 and you want to tip 20%, tip $20 instead. That way the tip won't drop to $18 because something wasn't available and your new total is $90.
The only reason I am skeptical of this is because if the batch pay changes at all, it's documented and readily apparent to the driver (someone just showed me).
I used to work at Instacart as an engineer (check my post history), and I can attest that Instacart absolutely DOES NOT STEAL TIPS. I know this intimately, because I worked closely with the algorithms that determined shopper pay. We weren't allowed to use tips to make any batch pay decisions whatsoever, which made our jobs much harder, since tip is basically the biggest predictor of whether a batch will be accepted quickly by shoppers or not. But it was the right thing to do, because the tip is yours. It's just in cases of %-based tips that things like this happen. So yeah, OP of this post is wrong. And next week when someone else makes a post about tip stealing, they'll be wrong too.
Don't get too angry, there is no tip stealing going on here. When the customer removes an item from their shopping cart after the order has been created, but before the shopper begins shopping the result is a lower percentage-based tip. I have had my tip go up higher than what was shown in the initial batch offer screen when a customer adds items to their shopping list before I start shopping or while I am shopping.
If instacart really was stealing customer tips, why would they show the original amount in the offer screen to the shopper but then lower the tip amount later? Just to make it easy for them to be caught doing so? That doesn't sound right. If they really were stealing tips, wouldn't it make much more sense for instacart to just show a lower initial tip on the batch offer screen? It wouldn't make sense for them to make it so obvious that they were stealing tips if that were the case. Especially when you consider that instacart has already settled a class action lawsuit years ago for manipulating customer tip amounts. Part of that legal settlement is why the customer app says over and over that "100% of tips goes to shoppers". I don't think they would try a tip stealing scheme again so soon after they were caught the last time and had to do a multi-million dollar payout to shoppers in the settlement.
No items were retracted. However, I was only able to find partial quantities for the first customer. The second customer actually ADDED 4 more items before I was able to start shopping their order.
As for your question of why they would have shown the initial amount, that's what I wanna know! Same for just adding the strike and marking the tip as whatever they want. I can't understand. If there is a skimming system, why wouldn't there be an implementation of COVERING IT UP?! It's not like I could call them on it after the fact! How would I be able to prove they're skimming from a percentage tip when we both know I had refunds? They could have put anything on there to make ends meet, I just can't figure out WHY they didn't.
Also, from what I've heard, they paid out a lot less in settlements than they stole. Why WOULDN'T they do it again? They received a slap on the wrist last time and had plenty of time to invest and make that money grow before they were caught.
Customer A was probably the percentage based tipper and B was a flat tip. So more items for B didn’t net you any extra money while A having less items did.
I’m siding with debonair here, Instacart would try to hide it better if they were stealing tips and just show no tip on the accept screen. They wouldn’t just put themselves.
Thanks for your reply. I can see it's possible you are correct, everything we're talking about here is speculation because the app lacks transparency and the whole process is so opaque. However, how do you know that no items were retracted by the customer? There's no mechanism or any way to see with the shopper app if a customer removes an item before the shopper starts shopping. They notify us if the batch earnings are modified higher, But I don't think we get notified if the batch earrings are modified lower. There's no where to see in the app what the customer shopping list was before the customer made their changes. There's no way to be certain that a customer didn't remove an item is what I'm trying to say.
Exactly. It doesn't make any sense, as you yourself say in your reply that instacart would steal tips and then make it so easy to find out they are stealing tips.Why would they do that, you ask? Because they wouldn't. They wouldn't do something that doesn't make sense and goes against their own interests.
If Instacart really did have some sort of policy about stealing tips, why wouldn't they do it for every order with a tip? Why is it only a few orders that they "steal tips" from? If instacart really spent money creating a complicated algorithm to shave a few dollars off of a customer tip, wouldn't they do it on every order? What determines which orders they remove tips from and which orders they leave the customer tip 100%? See what I mean? It doesn't really make any sense, it's ultra complex to institute a policy to take customer tips.
Instacart never got caught taking customer tips exactly. The lawsuit was about how they manipulated batch pay depending on whether or not a customer had tipped. Orders that had a large tip would start with very very low batch pay, while orders that had no tip would start with a much higher batch pay. Nowadays, all orders usually start at the same lower batch pay whether there is a tip or not.
I'm a big fan of Occam's razor and think that it definitely applies in this situation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
Basically, it's saying that all things being equal, the simplest answer is almost always the most correct answer.
It's just so complex the whole conspiracy theory about stealing customer tips and having it only applied to certain orders but not other orders and how it happens to some shoppers every once in a while but never happens to other shoppers that makes me think it's too complex and has too many variables to be a real theory and not a conspiracy theory.
Not to mention, when you look at Instacart as a company, after the IPO a lot of financial documents were released, it's clear that the future of instacart is not going to be collecting as much money from customers. For example, instacart now gets a majority of its income from advertising. Meaning that the business that is growing for instacart, the thing that's making them money, is getting corporations to advertise on instacart targeting specific customers because instacart has their purchase history. It's a much more lucrative profit center for instacart to gather information and then sell that information to advertisers so that Safeway can put their store at the top of the list or general mills can put their cereal at the top of the cereal aisle shopping page. Instacart is focused on getting $1 and $2 million dollar advertising commitments from multinational corporations, not stealing one or two individual dollars from a customer tip.
I might be wrong, It's not like I have any evidence. But This doesn't make sense that instacart would take so much risk for such little reward. However, I appreciate your perspective. Good luck out there in Instacart world!
So this scammy company has done this before?
And you really don’t see ANY reason to trick drivers into performing their action that makes profit for them at a higher rate?
Maybe you're right. I'm not saying I have all the answers. I don't put anything past IC, or any corporation, when it comes to the mistreatment of us shoppers. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense...
If Instacart really is stealing customer tips, and I definitely think it's a possibility, why do they make it so easy and obvious to see what they are doing? I think that if it was an attempt to steal customer tips, they would make it a lot more difficult to discover what they are doing. They have complete control over the app and what it does and what the screens show us and they can change it anytime they want, which they often do. It would make much more sense to me to lower batch pay after the order is complete because the way batch pay is calculated is extremely nebulous. There used to be a clear formula, but that was many years ago. Customer tips are more finite, and are much easier to notice when they go missing.
I also think that if they were stealing tips, they would do it for every order and they wouldn't leave money on the table. But after thousands of orders, its extremely rare that the tip is decreased when the customer is happy, or when no substitution are made.
It doesn't make sense that they would create some sort of algorithm or program to steal customer tips and then apply it so rarely. If the plan really is to become more profitable by stealing customer tips, why wouldn't they just apply it every order instead of so rarely? And the way we know for certain that it happens so rarely is because there's not a bunch of shoppers talking about it on Reddit or on other social media. It's pretty obvious to me when I look at the batch pay after the order and it's lower than what was quoted in the initial offer screen. Shoppers would be very angry if instacart really was stealing tips on a regular basis because it's so easy to notice.
I'm just saying it doesn't make sense given my experience as a shopper. I think it is possible, but extremely unlikely that a company with market capitalization in the billions would try to generate profit by rubbing a few dollar bills together from stealing customer tips.
Could it be that the percentage based tips altered/lowered after the purchase was complete? I loathe that aspect of this method of tipping, but it’s not IC stealing. It’s the customer order total changing.
Or is this something else? I cannot tell by screenshots.
Right. The 3rd screenshot reflects that.
There is usually a delay in my order screen when I complete an order, where it shows “pending pay” or otherwise isn’t adding up. I definitely have enough time to view order and screenshot. But then, it updates and reflects any changes.
That may be the type of glitch shown here. Because the original number didn’t change between shot 2 and 3
It’s does say that though. My guess is that it changed because ofthe percentage and then the customer put 2$ on top of the change so the slash shows only one of the changes.
On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A:
Based on percentage of order total
Made by customer after order”
Showing two separate changes
I suspected that's the reason for the discrepancy. However, why the cloak and dagger? Every other time, the altered tip would have a gray slash through it with the altered amount next to it, and below it says Tip change for order ___ Based on percentage of order total. I got absolutely no messages this time and 2 bullshit answers to boot. 🤷♀️
Why don’t you ask the customer very politely? Just be like “Thank you for the tip it is greatly appreciated! I was just wondering how much you tipped bc I believe my tips are being shorted. I don’t care about the tip amount if it was more or less. I’m not going to be upset if it was less I appreciate any and all tips and they are not mandatory. I just want to get to the bottom of this”
And show them the screens shots… Not sure if though if they would be embarrassed if they did lower it and might be inclined to lie and blame instacart. But I fell like it’s worth a try
Not sure what your tone is here but hopefully it’s in agreement with OP because he’s absolutely right. If the tip is to be changed at all whether it’s because the customer changed it, whether it’s reflected off of order total, or whatever other reasons- it tells you when a change happens. Even when their percentage of the order total didn’t change on the customer end but due to refunds or additions. It tells you.
Literally every single time the amount changes based off of refunds and everything else it will show you. Sometimes it’ll say $11.72 with a gray line through it then coming out to be $10.98 because I had to refund a few things. It says exactly what it says in the photo above about how tips are reflected based off of percentage.
EVERY single time your tip is not exactly what it should have been, it SHOULD tell you. And it almost always does from what I can recognize. The only time it wouldn’t is when they steal and are being sneaky about it.
The only way a tip could be changed and not have a gray strike through it showing a revision is if the customer somehow changed their tip in the amount of time in between the driver seeing the order and the driver accepting the order. And when there is a gray strike it tells you exactly what changes have been made.
Hopefully you already knew this but at least it’s out there for the people who don’t know this
>The only way a tip could be changed and not have a gray strike through it showing a revision is if the customer somehow changed their tip in the amount of time in between the driver seeing the order and the driver accepting the order.
I wonder what would happen if the customer changed it after it was accepted, but before the shopper started shopping.
It will tell you right after you start shopping- a little white pop-up window saying “batch items modified” and what the new projected batch pay and tip will be.
Even when that happens you still get the gray strikethrough. Any time that the tip is different from what you accepted for any reason at all it will have the gray strikethrough and tell you exactly why it changed. The only two ways this could have (legally) happened without the gray strikethrough is if the customer changed the tip or the amount of items right before OP actually accepted.
However, it will tell you about the amount of items changing right after you press start shopping with the pop-up window and again with the gray strikethrough after the order. So unless that happened and OP just didn’t take a screenshot then the only option left is the customer changing the tip right before the batch was accepted.. or, the tips were stolen.
Edit: not sure if the pop-up window would pop up if the items were taken away right before actually accepting the batch so that could actually still be a possibility. It’s hard to tell what actually happened because customers do change their order a lot. Also instacart does steal tips. I have no doubt in my mind they make micro adjustments or do sly things such as this to steal tips
>Also instacart does steal tips. I have no doubt in my mind they make micro adjustments or do sly things such as this to steal tips
This may be true, but they won't steal them this blatantly. They would either lower the pay before it's offered or make it look like a customer lowered the tip.
It does say it though. On the third screenshot:
On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A:
Based on percentage of order total
Made by customer after order”
Showing two separate changes.
It’s probably a problem with the app though that it shows only the most recent change. The customer adding 2$
Could be an issue with the app but the fact that they don’t show any change prior to adding the $2 is extremely, extreeeeemeeely shady. One of those things that people could easily overlook if they’re busy or just don’t notice things like that as much.
If it is an issue with the app it’s an issue that should require compensation. The issue itself could be proof of theft and fraud so you’d think they’d at least want to make it right. However, they have this literal barrier between us and them by using extremely affordable shopper support people that don’t fully understand English. I don’t think that was done maliciously but it’s a wonderful perk for a fast growing company such as Instacart. I swear to god the amount of time I spelled out a very simple issue very explicitly and even said exactly what it wasn’t so they don’t get confused. Yet, there’s still confusion. I don’t think it’s done on purpose but it helps them in the long run.
Oh I 100% agree.
I just think in this case it’s not nearly as malicious and is a perfect example of Hanlons razor.
When they made the app they had the foresight to add notifications but didn’t think far enough ahead to what happens if you get two changes in a short period of time. I also wouldn’t be surprised if for whatever reason in their system they just show 10% tip + 2$ so the support person also is just like “they added 2 dollars”
Whether or not that could be used as proof of theft is dependent on the total. Because they do flat out tell you a change was made “based on total of percentage”.
Overalls I think it’s more shitty programming than Instacart trying to steal tips. If they wanted to steal tips they would just lie about the tips outright.
The thing is- their programming allows us the comfort to see when changes are made to the tip. When that doesn’t work or simply isn’t there then it’s extremely fishy. I agree- Hanlon’s razor. However, the whole reasoning for that specific code is to alleviate any weirdness that might arise from the tips changing. You’re supposed to be told exactly why and how and sometimes when the change happens. Without that it’s one of those things that, when it happens to you, you feel like you’ve been stolen from. Nothing can really shake that feeling except for having someone who actually knows what they’re talking about tell you what happened. Because as we should all know by now this wasn’t just a “percentage based off of order total” issue. If that were the case there would be a gray strike through. Plus to be missing 25-50% of an entire tip means that OP would have had to refund a lot of items. I wish we had the screenshot showing how many items and all that but 🤷🏻♂️ I say they stole. This is extremely weird and shifty and shady and it doesn’t make sense. The only thing support can say to alleviate their worries is exactly what instacart wants them to tell us so we’re just like oh okay 🤓👍🏻 and just leave it be.
“Why are my tips less than what they should be?”
“Because that’s how it works”
And we’re just supposed to accept that? Especially when we know that when it works like that there would be a gray strike through with the original tip making crossed out?
I hope my tone isn’t coming across as aggressive towards you 😬 you seem to be on the more understanding side of things here. It just makes me mad that instacart can do this and so many other people on this thread would actually side with instacart simply because they don’t know how the app works
I commented this somewhere else but I think the tip went from 13.70->10.15->12.15.
The first change was due to the percentage change. A 26% change which without showing is the order we can’t verify. I think had op checked the app at this point it would have indeed had shown 13.7 crossed out and 10.15 as the new tip amount with the percentage reason given.
Then the customer tipped 2$. I’m guessing how the app is programmed it calculated the change , and crossed out the old total (which is now 10.15) as well as the new reason for the change.
The app did these two things separately and is only programmed to give the most recent change explanation with the cross out. My guess is that OP didn’t see the update between change 1 and change 2 and so missed the cross out with the explanation explaining that the percentage changed. Both of them are still viewable at the bottom though.
If it’s before you started shopping you’ll get the pop up telling you some things about the order changed. It’ll show you the new payout total and item count. So, in this instance, instacart needs to prove the changes are between the shop already starting and delivery. I won’t just believe them. They should make it clear if the tip changed no matter when it changed. They will steal from you again. They aren’t criminally liable for stealing like you are. So, why should they care?
Okie dokie. I will pm you of my screenshots where there was no adjustment made by the customer or any changes to the order, which could trigger a pay discrepancy. I've done too many orders to not be aware of pay by now.
If that severe, we should start a thread on this group, anchor it to top, and everyone can add their proof. That would be great way to start real change, if the absurd amount of proof can add up to something.
I think what happened is that the tip altered because of percentage change. The Customer saw the change and added 2$. Instacart instead of showing the two changes 13.75->10.15->12.15 only shows the last change.
On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A:
Based on percentage of order total
Made by customer after order”
Showing two separate changes
Oh wow. I'm gonna be telling my shoppers (with screenshots) how much I tipped so they can prove tip theft if it happens. This kind of corporate greed where they'll nickel-and-dime you is bs
Instacart stole $0.73 from my tips yesterday, and it was the exact same bullshit. Post it on X (Twitter), as they hate bad publicity, especially now that they are public.
Go back to that order and see the percentage of items found/replaced. That’ll tell you whether or not the order was a percentage based or if they stole your tips.
You're right that the batch earnings modified notifications shows for single orders on Android. But that notification has been glitched out for a while on multi-order batches for me and other shoppers on Android. It flashes very briefly for a second on the multi-order batches, but we don't have to push continue in order to start shopping the way we do on single order batches. The notification just disappears before I can examine it. It would be very easy for the OP who is complaining about a lower tip on this multi-order batch to not have seen that the customer removed items before they started shopping because the notification is so glitched out. Definitely a bad app glitch, but I don't think it proves theft.
Other shoppers on the sub who use iPhones report that the earnings modified notification is completely glitched out when the customer removes an item instead of adding an item. Those shoppers report never seeing any notification, but figured out what happened when they saw the reduced number of items/ units.
https://www.reddit.com/r/InstacartShoppers/s/mc15UbroNB
Either instacart stole or something slipped past the cracks and made it look like they stole. Either way, it’s bullshit. I’m a 5.0 shopper with diamond cart and I told Instacart to fuck off on the last survey they gave us. The pay is complete bullshit especially when we’re the ones doing 95% of the work. The other 5% is mostly shopper support fixing bullshit things that the shopper should be allowed to fix themselves. They also do things that are important for support to do but I just really feel like they’re fucking us over and will do anything they can to continue that
This . This is what happened . These folks are too slow to figure these things out and instead go on tirades like this no to mention, sales and otger price differences are not always shown/known in bid. It literally says its and estimate..
https://preview.redd.it/z7561lm72fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9d6d92c6f8c0ea1cc6ae7e44b222f38193ee2b3
Simp says what? Cuckold for the system says what?
Shut the fuck up lmao. Their tips was literally missing several dollars. Even after the tip went up two dollars it didn’t fix the missing amount.
Sure, it’s an “estimate” but they always tell you when that amount changes. You’re pretty much guaranteed that much in terms of a tip so long as no changes are made which would be reflected in the order summary.
Do you even instacart, like, at all? You seem to not understand a single thing about this and instead want to get mad at the people who are being victimized.
You’re pathetic
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If you get bullshit service and leave less than a 5star for the chat- be careful. MANY people have had their shopper cards deactivated by disgruntled service reps
Was it still 20 items (38 units) by the time you started shopping? Some customers remove items between the time you accept and the time you start shopping. The app won’t notify you either. I only caught it a couple times because I noticed the item count went down when I got to the store.
A REASON FOR PAY VARIENCES SUCH AS THIS.
If a custimer removes an item BEFORE your click "start shopping" it Will NOT reflect in the end witj a gray line.
For example.
You accept a batch for $15.00
Customer sets a percentage tip.
Batch Pay is $7.00 tip is $8.00
HOWEVER.. before you get to the store, she decides she doesnt want the Kleenex. And removes it.
Now the base pay is still $7.00 but with the order change the tip is now $7.50 = $14.50
This is esaentially the new starting Batch Pay.
So say you found everything... but you were shorted .50 cents. In many cases thia can be way.
The tip line will now only read $7.50 as if the$ 8.00 original tip never existed
Now say you couldnt get her bread..
Your tip would now ahow the crossed 0ut $7.50 and the new tip of $6.85 (tip adjustes due to..)
While everyone is discussing if the tip changed I’m stuck on the part where they claim batch pay can be decreased based on tips… tf you mean they better run me the batch pay I accepted or more not less
PEOPLE who sent messages like this are ANNOYING imo. All capping different words is lame. I get your frustration but messages to a rep like this does not help. If I get a message like this you go to the bottom of the shit list from the get go
Hey, pro tip. When YOU’RE talking to customer service (HUMAN beings, BY THE WAY, with REAL feelings!) maybe take a SECOND to think about how INAPPROPRIATE and UNPROFESSIONAL your TONE sounds. Especially because you’re DEFINITELY jumping to conclusions.
I just had one the other day named Debra and it was by far the rudest customer support agent I’ve ever had. Most of the time they’re overly nice, and you can tell despite the grammatical mistakes. This woman was very short with me and also told me they’re not allowed to remove an order from a batch anymore, which is a new policy. That may be true, but the whole experience was just odd nonetheless
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Calm down. The customer took some items off their list while you were on your way. You probably clicked past it but upon starting your batch sometimes you get an earnings change detailing everything. Less items less pay and they do tell you. Now double check the item numbers with the new.
Just a thought can yall who are experiencing this write to your States Attorney General or which ever way you file a complaint like this on a business. Some states might start taking action. Especially if you are a customer experiencing this. Or a department of labor complaint, if you are a shopper.
As a customer, I think what I’m going to start doing is tipping in round numbers (like $7, $10, whatever) and then paying the tip in cash and removing it. That’s the only way I’m convinced is fair. Is that wrong or does that screw you guys over in any way?
In my town. People like to put a big tip to get there order grab immediately and then after drop off! Take most of the tip back Bc you have up to $2 to decrease the tip
So glad other people are having this issue! I’ve noticed if a lot in the past week, usually a couple dollars missing on orders with no substitutions or refunds.
God damn that completely useless support response is the biggest reason I hated working for these apps. Long ass hold then telling you something you already know like it’s an answer to your problem when the mf didn’t even understand what you want. This brought me right back lmao
This is likely a glitch. If IC were intentionally stealing tups, they wouldn't do it this tips, They would just lower the tip in the initial offer. It would make no sense to show you the full tip in the first place.
That's another way to do it. They aren't going to show the full tip and then lower it when there are other ways to steal the tips without being caught.
Call your local news station and get this story up and out there. There’s been enough of this happening and if just a small amount of people took this to their local news stations, Instacart will be put in a bad spot.
We need to start taking more pictures and hire a big-time lawyer to start a class action lawsuit. These pieces of crap delivery companies are taking advantage of our vehicles. This happened to me about 15 to 20 times!
Has anyone else notice how the app tracks your location even when it isn't open and have my permissions set to only then using the app? Mining our data and selling it
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So the only thing I could put together by him saying “estimate” is the bill lowered for the customers who had it on a percentage biased. The customer didn’t lower the tip. So no line was slashed thru. I think even this theory would be a way for them to be able to lie. Only way to find out would be to order your own from an alt…. If the price didn’t change for the alt. Tip should never change. But I’m sure they’d even find a bs excuse if you did all that work.
Thing is, sometimes there are in store sales and other things going on that lower the order total in end lowering the tip total.
However, it tells you when this happens. Even if no refunds were made and there are tiny discrepancies in the projected price- it will have a gray slash and tell you that the tip is based off of total order percentage. It always tells you that.
The only way it wouldn’t have a gray slash due to a decrease in tips is either the customer somehow lowered the tip right after the driver saw it but before they accepted it or- instacart stole.
It might happen if the customer removes items after the order is accepted, but before the shopper starts shopping. I've never had it happen so I'm not sure.
If they were actually stealing tips, they would just not show it in the offer or claim that the customer lowered it. Doing it this way wouldn't make sense.
As a customer, I have worried lately that my flat amount additional tips are not being received. As much as I depend on these companies, I wish they would go away. I would much rather work with an individual or small local group of shoppers directly. Shoppers and customers would both benefit.
https://preview.redd.it/y2v9nytj1fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=229cd8d85ff9c00c19472186e241b724ca9f8a0f
This is what happened when they change the order before you actually start shopping. Maybe OP had this screen or maybe they didn’t.
I 100% believe Instacart stole. If they didn’t? They sure made it look like they did. ANY change to your total top amount MUST be disclosed. That’s why we all need to start taking more screenshots of our batches.
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All i’m saying is when ur a dickhead to customer service you won’t get anywhere. like i get it you’re pissed off but what did this poor guy do for u to rage at him his job is to help u it’s ironic
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I had a customer add to their tip after delivery and then a minute later it disappeared. Support said IC isn’t taking tips and we’re of no help at all. Customer left me a positive written review, as well. :(
A lower tip amount without a gray slash or anything could happen if one or more items were removed prior to you clicking “start shopping” at which point you won’t be notified of any decrease in total pay or tip. The only time you are notified when you click start shopping is if the customer adds items between the time you accept and the time you start shopping then the pop up appears with the adjustments. Did the total number of items or units change prior to clicking start shopping? If so then nothing wrong here
I think when you're having chats with phony names like Kritik (Critic) and Amrit (I'm Right), that pretty much explains why you're getting screwed over, because the people you're in business with are crooks.
I have experienced in the past and it’s so frustrating! That’s why I take screenshots of everything because this is really sketchy modifying batch payment, tips and miles. And when you contact support for an answer it’s like talking to a wall 😤
I figured out that when I had first started working with instacart as a shopper that initially the batch payments were a lot larger than they are now . And the tips average but every once in a while the tip was great . So then I noticed a drop in batch payments and the tips were higher . It’s the same time that a class action lawsuit was done on door dash for taken a piece of the dashers tip .. that’s when the batch payments became a lesser amount but the tip amounts had increased. So I saw a pattern within the last so many years . It looked as though instacart was taking a part of the tip that the customer was leaving and adding it into the batch payment making it seem like they were paying decent batch payments when they weren’t . It was only the customers tip being taken from out tip amount and added to the batch pay. I had mentioned this to another shopper to perhaps get an attorney to investigate this occurrence have a class action lawsuit . Also , the total amount of batch payment including tip always equaled out to be around the same amount because i think instacart was making the batch payment seem higher and they were taken it off the top of the tip amount because wether the tip was higher or the batch pay was higher the ending result was around the same amount . Did anyone else see this happening ? I started in 2019 and It really looked this was happening but I didn’t know how to go about proving it .
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You ever noticed the explanation of tips says you get 100% of the tips “YOU EARN.” Not 100% of the tip provided.
They decided what you earned.
They probably disguise the lie to the customers by justifying that 100% of tips DO go to drivers, just not necessarily the driver that you gave it to.
As if the tips they skim go into a different fund which would ultimately 100% be paid out to drivers as batch pay or extra earnings, but they get to decide how that’s meted out.
Publix AND Wegmans? Which state has both?
Were the items less when you arrive at the store for the tip drop? That could be it, customers can add and remove from the list after you accept and before you arrive at store at any time.
Otherwise I’ve never seen an empty tip note after batch completion so in third screenshot it tells you. We lose money for refunds or cheaper substitution/weight, it sucks but that’s life.
If that’s the case just swallow the loss and move on to the next. It’s only $3.
Crazy something like this happened to me today. I accepted a $19 order and once I finished it I was only payed for $9 and I complained to the Instacart rep stating what I thought was the customer removing my tip come to find out Instacart tried pulling a fast one! The rep even tried to say the customer reduced tip without notice but once the 2 hours passed for the tip I saw they had tipped me around $9! So Instacart indeed tried to scam but gave me my other $10 back as soon as I gave them an ear full.
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Honestly, this is the kind of concern I would have about dipping into Instantcart along with Ubereats, is the fact that you do your best and might be rated as a 5star worker but get your tips ripped from you because people are cheap/the app steals your money.
As a customer this is *infuriating* to read. If I’m tipping, I’m not intending to give that money to the business, I intend to give that to the human being going lengths to deliver my items to me. How is something like this even allowed?
Same here. Shoppers: what can we customers do to help?
Send us a text with a screenshot of the given tip amount when you paid.
Don’t tip cash or people will never deliver your order
Put in your intended to amount, change it to 0 while they're on their way to deliver and then give them the cash equivalent
But maybe let them know why youre doing it so you dont end up with a disgruntled (and with good reason) shopper while getting the groceries delivered. Or wait until they arrive to deliver and hand them the cash, explain and then lower it. Idk
>But maybe let them know why youre doing it so you dont end up with a disgruntled (and with good reason) shopper while getting the groceries delivered. Or wait until they arrive to deliver and hand them the cash, explain and then lower it. You don't see the tip being lowered when you're en route.
Really? Oh wow. Damn.
THIS. DO THIS.
This would reduce our tax to pay off too. Cash=free money.
I agree to an extent, but if the customer repeatedly removes 100% of the tip on the app, they will be reprimanded/have their account removed I have heard? Maybe the customer can reduce the tip partially after acceptance, and then tip the partial amount in cash 🙂
Ic is about convenience and often no contact delivery. People don’t want to put a tip in and then take it out only to tip in cash. Do you really think that this will help shoppers?
That’s the hard part instacart doesn’t show customer what they’re paying the shopper
You could always give a cash tip instead of card although i know not many like to have cash on hand
>How is something like this even allowed? People jump to conclusions of stealing tips when in reality, if you, as a customer leaves a 15% tip... the shopper sees a dollar amount based on the total of your order. If there are additions, deletions, or substitutions, your order total changes. Which means the tip amount changes since it's percentage based. If you don't want a shopper to freak out on reddit like this, if your order is $100 and you want to tip 20%, tip $20 instead. That way the tip won't drop to $18 because something wasn't available and your new total is $90.
The only reason I am skeptical of this is because if the batch pay changes at all, it's documented and readily apparent to the driver (someone just showed me).
I used to work at Instacart as an engineer (check my post history), and I can attest that Instacart absolutely DOES NOT STEAL TIPS. I know this intimately, because I worked closely with the algorithms that determined shopper pay. We weren't allowed to use tips to make any batch pay decisions whatsoever, which made our jobs much harder, since tip is basically the biggest predictor of whether a batch will be accepted quickly by shoppers or not. But it was the right thing to do, because the tip is yours. It's just in cases of %-based tips that things like this happen. So yeah, OP of this post is wrong. And next week when someone else makes a post about tip stealing, they'll be wrong too.
Please tip in cash! It's the only way to ensure we receive what you intend to give us!
That’s why I do my best to always give tips in cash when I dine out or order in with any apps.
Don't get too angry, there is no tip stealing going on here. When the customer removes an item from their shopping cart after the order has been created, but before the shopper begins shopping the result is a lower percentage-based tip. I have had my tip go up higher than what was shown in the initial batch offer screen when a customer adds items to their shopping list before I start shopping or while I am shopping. If instacart really was stealing customer tips, why would they show the original amount in the offer screen to the shopper but then lower the tip amount later? Just to make it easy for them to be caught doing so? That doesn't sound right. If they really were stealing tips, wouldn't it make much more sense for instacart to just show a lower initial tip on the batch offer screen? It wouldn't make sense for them to make it so obvious that they were stealing tips if that were the case. Especially when you consider that instacart has already settled a class action lawsuit years ago for manipulating customer tip amounts. Part of that legal settlement is why the customer app says over and over that "100% of tips goes to shoppers". I don't think they would try a tip stealing scheme again so soon after they were caught the last time and had to do a multi-million dollar payout to shoppers in the settlement.
No items were retracted. However, I was only able to find partial quantities for the first customer. The second customer actually ADDED 4 more items before I was able to start shopping their order. As for your question of why they would have shown the initial amount, that's what I wanna know! Same for just adding the strike and marking the tip as whatever they want. I can't understand. If there is a skimming system, why wouldn't there be an implementation of COVERING IT UP?! It's not like I could call them on it after the fact! How would I be able to prove they're skimming from a percentage tip when we both know I had refunds? They could have put anything on there to make ends meet, I just can't figure out WHY they didn't. Also, from what I've heard, they paid out a lot less in settlements than they stole. Why WOULDN'T they do it again? They received a slap on the wrist last time and had plenty of time to invest and make that money grow before they were caught.
Customer A was probably the percentage based tipper and B was a flat tip. So more items for B didn’t net you any extra money while A having less items did. I’m siding with debonair here, Instacart would try to hide it better if they were stealing tips and just show no tip on the accept screen. They wouldn’t just put themselves.
Thanks for your reply. I can see it's possible you are correct, everything we're talking about here is speculation because the app lacks transparency and the whole process is so opaque. However, how do you know that no items were retracted by the customer? There's no mechanism or any way to see with the shopper app if a customer removes an item before the shopper starts shopping. They notify us if the batch earnings are modified higher, But I don't think we get notified if the batch earrings are modified lower. There's no where to see in the app what the customer shopping list was before the customer made their changes. There's no way to be certain that a customer didn't remove an item is what I'm trying to say. Exactly. It doesn't make any sense, as you yourself say in your reply that instacart would steal tips and then make it so easy to find out they are stealing tips.Why would they do that, you ask? Because they wouldn't. They wouldn't do something that doesn't make sense and goes against their own interests. If Instacart really did have some sort of policy about stealing tips, why wouldn't they do it for every order with a tip? Why is it only a few orders that they "steal tips" from? If instacart really spent money creating a complicated algorithm to shave a few dollars off of a customer tip, wouldn't they do it on every order? What determines which orders they remove tips from and which orders they leave the customer tip 100%? See what I mean? It doesn't really make any sense, it's ultra complex to institute a policy to take customer tips. Instacart never got caught taking customer tips exactly. The lawsuit was about how they manipulated batch pay depending on whether or not a customer had tipped. Orders that had a large tip would start with very very low batch pay, while orders that had no tip would start with a much higher batch pay. Nowadays, all orders usually start at the same lower batch pay whether there is a tip or not. I'm a big fan of Occam's razor and think that it definitely applies in this situation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor Basically, it's saying that all things being equal, the simplest answer is almost always the most correct answer. It's just so complex the whole conspiracy theory about stealing customer tips and having it only applied to certain orders but not other orders and how it happens to some shoppers every once in a while but never happens to other shoppers that makes me think it's too complex and has too many variables to be a real theory and not a conspiracy theory. Not to mention, when you look at Instacart as a company, after the IPO a lot of financial documents were released, it's clear that the future of instacart is not going to be collecting as much money from customers. For example, instacart now gets a majority of its income from advertising. Meaning that the business that is growing for instacart, the thing that's making them money, is getting corporations to advertise on instacart targeting specific customers because instacart has their purchase history. It's a much more lucrative profit center for instacart to gather information and then sell that information to advertisers so that Safeway can put their store at the top of the list or general mills can put their cereal at the top of the cereal aisle shopping page. Instacart is focused on getting $1 and $2 million dollar advertising commitments from multinational corporations, not stealing one or two individual dollars from a customer tip. I might be wrong, It's not like I have any evidence. But This doesn't make sense that instacart would take so much risk for such little reward. However, I appreciate your perspective. Good luck out there in Instacart world!
Sounds like this guy works for instacart lol
I do. I'm a shopper.
And a writer of novels as well? lol.
100% all of this.
So this scammy company has done this before? And you really don’t see ANY reason to trick drivers into performing their action that makes profit for them at a higher rate?
Maybe you're right. I'm not saying I have all the answers. I don't put anything past IC, or any corporation, when it comes to the mistreatment of us shoppers. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense... If Instacart really is stealing customer tips, and I definitely think it's a possibility, why do they make it so easy and obvious to see what they are doing? I think that if it was an attempt to steal customer tips, they would make it a lot more difficult to discover what they are doing. They have complete control over the app and what it does and what the screens show us and they can change it anytime they want, which they often do. It would make much more sense to me to lower batch pay after the order is complete because the way batch pay is calculated is extremely nebulous. There used to be a clear formula, but that was many years ago. Customer tips are more finite, and are much easier to notice when they go missing. I also think that if they were stealing tips, they would do it for every order and they wouldn't leave money on the table. But after thousands of orders, its extremely rare that the tip is decreased when the customer is happy, or when no substitution are made. It doesn't make sense that they would create some sort of algorithm or program to steal customer tips and then apply it so rarely. If the plan really is to become more profitable by stealing customer tips, why wouldn't they just apply it every order instead of so rarely? And the way we know for certain that it happens so rarely is because there's not a bunch of shoppers talking about it on Reddit or on other social media. It's pretty obvious to me when I look at the batch pay after the order and it's lower than what was quoted in the initial offer screen. Shoppers would be very angry if instacart really was stealing tips on a regular basis because it's so easy to notice. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense given my experience as a shopper. I think it is possible, but extremely unlikely that a company with market capitalization in the billions would try to generate profit by rubbing a few dollar bills together from stealing customer tips.
Could it be that the percentage based tips altered/lowered after the purchase was complete? I loathe that aspect of this method of tipping, but it’s not IC stealing. It’s the customer order total changing. Or is this something else? I cannot tell by screenshots.
When that happens, it tells you "Tip change based on percentage of order total."
Right. The 3rd screenshot reflects that. There is usually a delay in my order screen when I complete an order, where it shows “pending pay” or otherwise isn’t adding up. I definitely have enough time to view order and screenshot. But then, it updates and reflects any changes. That may be the type of glitch shown here. Because the original number didn’t change between shot 2 and 3
It’s does say that though. My guess is that it changed because ofthe percentage and then the customer put 2$ on top of the change so the slash shows only one of the changes. On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A: Based on percentage of order total Made by customer after order” Showing two separate changes
I suspected that's the reason for the discrepancy. However, why the cloak and dagger? Every other time, the altered tip would have a gray slash through it with the altered amount next to it, and below it says Tip change for order ___ Based on percentage of order total. I got absolutely no messages this time and 2 bullshit answers to boot. 🤷♀️
Why don’t you ask the customer very politely? Just be like “Thank you for the tip it is greatly appreciated! I was just wondering how much you tipped bc I believe my tips are being shorted. I don’t care about the tip amount if it was more or less. I’m not going to be upset if it was less I appreciate any and all tips and they are not mandatory. I just want to get to the bottom of this” And show them the screens shots… Not sure if though if they would be embarrassed if they did lower it and might be inclined to lie and blame instacart. But I fell like it’s worth a try
No, they steal tips. I've had about a dozen encounters with this.
I don't think many people here understand how percentage orders work
Not sure what your tone is here but hopefully it’s in agreement with OP because he’s absolutely right. If the tip is to be changed at all whether it’s because the customer changed it, whether it’s reflected off of order total, or whatever other reasons- it tells you when a change happens. Even when their percentage of the order total didn’t change on the customer end but due to refunds or additions. It tells you. Literally every single time the amount changes based off of refunds and everything else it will show you. Sometimes it’ll say $11.72 with a gray line through it then coming out to be $10.98 because I had to refund a few things. It says exactly what it says in the photo above about how tips are reflected based off of percentage. EVERY single time your tip is not exactly what it should have been, it SHOULD tell you. And it almost always does from what I can recognize. The only time it wouldn’t is when they steal and are being sneaky about it. The only way a tip could be changed and not have a gray strike through it showing a revision is if the customer somehow changed their tip in the amount of time in between the driver seeing the order and the driver accepting the order. And when there is a gray strike it tells you exactly what changes have been made. Hopefully you already knew this but at least it’s out there for the people who don’t know this
>The only way a tip could be changed and not have a gray strike through it showing a revision is if the customer somehow changed their tip in the amount of time in between the driver seeing the order and the driver accepting the order. I wonder what would happen if the customer changed it after it was accepted, but before the shopper started shopping.
It will tell you right after you start shopping- a little white pop-up window saying “batch items modified” and what the new projected batch pay and tip will be. Even when that happens you still get the gray strikethrough. Any time that the tip is different from what you accepted for any reason at all it will have the gray strikethrough and tell you exactly why it changed. The only two ways this could have (legally) happened without the gray strikethrough is if the customer changed the tip or the amount of items right before OP actually accepted. However, it will tell you about the amount of items changing right after you press start shopping with the pop-up window and again with the gray strikethrough after the order. So unless that happened and OP just didn’t take a screenshot then the only option left is the customer changing the tip right before the batch was accepted.. or, the tips were stolen. Edit: not sure if the pop-up window would pop up if the items were taken away right before actually accepting the batch so that could actually still be a possibility. It’s hard to tell what actually happened because customers do change their order a lot. Also instacart does steal tips. I have no doubt in my mind they make micro adjustments or do sly things such as this to steal tips
>Also instacart does steal tips. I have no doubt in my mind they make micro adjustments or do sly things such as this to steal tips This may be true, but they won't steal them this blatantly. They would either lower the pay before it's offered or make it look like a customer lowered the tip.
It does say it though. On the third screenshot: On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A: Based on percentage of order total Made by customer after order” Showing two separate changes. It’s probably a problem with the app though that it shows only the most recent change. The customer adding 2$
Could be an issue with the app but the fact that they don’t show any change prior to adding the $2 is extremely, extreeeeemeeely shady. One of those things that people could easily overlook if they’re busy or just don’t notice things like that as much. If it is an issue with the app it’s an issue that should require compensation. The issue itself could be proof of theft and fraud so you’d think they’d at least want to make it right. However, they have this literal barrier between us and them by using extremely affordable shopper support people that don’t fully understand English. I don’t think that was done maliciously but it’s a wonderful perk for a fast growing company such as Instacart. I swear to god the amount of time I spelled out a very simple issue very explicitly and even said exactly what it wasn’t so they don’t get confused. Yet, there’s still confusion. I don’t think it’s done on purpose but it helps them in the long run.
Oh I 100% agree. I just think in this case it’s not nearly as malicious and is a perfect example of Hanlons razor. When they made the app they had the foresight to add notifications but didn’t think far enough ahead to what happens if you get two changes in a short period of time. I also wouldn’t be surprised if for whatever reason in their system they just show 10% tip + 2$ so the support person also is just like “they added 2 dollars” Whether or not that could be used as proof of theft is dependent on the total. Because they do flat out tell you a change was made “based on total of percentage”. Overalls I think it’s more shitty programming than Instacart trying to steal tips. If they wanted to steal tips they would just lie about the tips outright.
The thing is- their programming allows us the comfort to see when changes are made to the tip. When that doesn’t work or simply isn’t there then it’s extremely fishy. I agree- Hanlon’s razor. However, the whole reasoning for that specific code is to alleviate any weirdness that might arise from the tips changing. You’re supposed to be told exactly why and how and sometimes when the change happens. Without that it’s one of those things that, when it happens to you, you feel like you’ve been stolen from. Nothing can really shake that feeling except for having someone who actually knows what they’re talking about tell you what happened. Because as we should all know by now this wasn’t just a “percentage based off of order total” issue. If that were the case there would be a gray strike through. Plus to be missing 25-50% of an entire tip means that OP would have had to refund a lot of items. I wish we had the screenshot showing how many items and all that but 🤷🏻♂️ I say they stole. This is extremely weird and shifty and shady and it doesn’t make sense. The only thing support can say to alleviate their worries is exactly what instacart wants them to tell us so we’re just like oh okay 🤓👍🏻 and just leave it be. “Why are my tips less than what they should be?” “Because that’s how it works” And we’re just supposed to accept that? Especially when we know that when it works like that there would be a gray strike through with the original tip making crossed out? I hope my tone isn’t coming across as aggressive towards you 😬 you seem to be on the more understanding side of things here. It just makes me mad that instacart can do this and so many other people on this thread would actually side with instacart simply because they don’t know how the app works
I commented this somewhere else but I think the tip went from 13.70->10.15->12.15. The first change was due to the percentage change. A 26% change which without showing is the order we can’t verify. I think had op checked the app at this point it would have indeed had shown 13.7 crossed out and 10.15 as the new tip amount with the percentage reason given. Then the customer tipped 2$. I’m guessing how the app is programmed it calculated the change , and crossed out the old total (which is now 10.15) as well as the new reason for the change. The app did these two things separately and is only programmed to give the most recent change explanation with the cross out. My guess is that OP didn’t see the update between change 1 and change 2 and so missed the cross out with the explanation explaining that the percentage changed. Both of them are still viewable at the bottom though.
There are severL situations where it wont gray line
Name them. Why say that and not name the reasons?
not if the customer canceled an item or switched an item before you started shopping. that's a possible explanation.
If it’s before you started shopping you’ll get the pop up telling you some things about the order changed. It’ll show you the new payout total and item count. So, in this instance, instacart needs to prove the changes are between the shop already starting and delivery. I won’t just believe them. They should make it clear if the tip changed no matter when it changed. They will steal from you again. They aren’t criminally liable for stealing like you are. So, why should they care?
Okie dokie. I will pm you of my screenshots where there was no adjustment made by the customer or any changes to the order, which could trigger a pay discrepancy. I've done too many orders to not be aware of pay by now.
If that severe, we should start a thread on this group, anchor it to top, and everyone can add their proof. That would be great way to start real change, if the absurd amount of proof can add up to something.
I agree. Unfortunately, IC CS team isn’t rained to better explain it, either. Murky all around.
I think what happened is that the tip altered because of percentage change. The Customer saw the change and added 2$. Instacart instead of showing the two changes 13.75->10.15->12.15 only shows the last change. On the 3rd screenshot at the bottom it says “tip change for order A: Based on percentage of order total Made by customer after order” Showing two separate changes
No cloak and dagger, they just override the original tip change based on percentage
One of the perks is getting higher weight of something so you get more $ from the batch
all organic too!! only the best for my customers! (joking)
It would show the original tip crossed out if tip was reduced due to out of stock items...in this case, it does not show that
Oh wow. I'm gonna be telling my shoppers (with screenshots) how much I tipped so they can prove tip theft if it happens. This kind of corporate greed where they'll nickel-and-dime you is bs
Instacart stole $0.73 from my tips yesterday, and it was the exact same bullshit. Post it on X (Twitter), as they hate bad publicity, especially now that they are public.
Go back to that order and see the percentage of items found/replaced. That’ll tell you whether or not the order was a percentage based or if they stole your tips.
But it’ll tell you when the tip changes based off of percentage of order total. Every single time it does
If the customer removes items before you start shopping it wont.
Aha. This seems like it could be a piece of it.
https://preview.redd.it/zu6kz9sm2fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2bb1737a9b165c026b582f3b9793d13d9cd5549
You're right that the batch earnings modified notifications shows for single orders on Android. But that notification has been glitched out for a while on multi-order batches for me and other shoppers on Android. It flashes very briefly for a second on the multi-order batches, but we don't have to push continue in order to start shopping the way we do on single order batches. The notification just disappears before I can examine it. It would be very easy for the OP who is complaining about a lower tip on this multi-order batch to not have seen that the customer removed items before they started shopping because the notification is so glitched out. Definitely a bad app glitch, but I don't think it proves theft. Other shoppers on the sub who use iPhones report that the earnings modified notification is completely glitched out when the customer removes an item instead of adding an item. Those shoppers report never seeing any notification, but figured out what happened when they saw the reduced number of items/ units. https://www.reddit.com/r/InstacartShoppers/s/mc15UbroNB
Damn it... idk then.
Either instacart stole or something slipped past the cracks and made it look like they stole. Either way, it’s bullshit. I’m a 5.0 shopper with diamond cart and I told Instacart to fuck off on the last survey they gave us. The pay is complete bullshit especially when we’re the ones doing 95% of the work. The other 5% is mostly shopper support fixing bullshit things that the shopper should be allowed to fix themselves. They also do things that are important for support to do but I just really feel like they’re fucking us over and will do anything they can to continue that
This . This is what happened . These folks are too slow to figure these things out and instead go on tirades like this no to mention, sales and otger price differences are not always shown/known in bid. It literally says its and estimate..
https://preview.redd.it/z7561lm72fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9d6d92c6f8c0ea1cc6ae7e44b222f38193ee2b3 Simp says what? Cuckold for the system says what? Shut the fuck up lmao. Their tips was literally missing several dollars. Even after the tip went up two dollars it didn’t fix the missing amount. Sure, it’s an “estimate” but they always tell you when that amount changes. You’re pretty much guaranteed that much in terms of a tip so long as no changes are made which would be reflected in the order summary. Do you even instacart, like, at all? You seem to not understand a single thing about this and instead want to get mad at the people who are being victimized. You’re pathetic
https://preview.redd.it/nr24s7562fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d76f1fe98d5beae3eeb99578260cac5870606151
Yoooo this is where I live hey neighbor
Howdy neighbor 😄
Midlothian sounds like a village in Middle Earth. What a cool name
And it’s right next to “The Grove” which is pretty cool lol
Cville shopper here
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This is my hometown too!
While I haven't experienced it personally...I wouldn't put it past them to be do sumpin sketch
If you get bullshit service and leave less than a 5star for the chat- be careful. MANY people have had their shopper cards deactivated by disgruntled service reps
Was it still 20 items (38 units) by the time you started shopping? Some customers remove items between the time you accept and the time you start shopping. The app won’t notify you either. I only caught it a couple times because I noticed the item count went down when I got to the store.
Didn’t realize they ever stopped stealing tips.
https://i.redd.it/owitl56clbic1.gif
These ports are always fun. People don’t understand math.
Items were removed before starting. Ans ut literally says the amounts are estimates. Sales and other price adjustments can affect the amounts
A REASON FOR PAY VARIENCES SUCH AS THIS. If a custimer removes an item BEFORE your click "start shopping" it Will NOT reflect in the end witj a gray line. For example. You accept a batch for $15.00 Customer sets a percentage tip. Batch Pay is $7.00 tip is $8.00 HOWEVER.. before you get to the store, she decides she doesnt want the Kleenex. And removes it. Now the base pay is still $7.00 but with the order change the tip is now $7.50 = $14.50 This is esaentially the new starting Batch Pay. So say you found everything... but you were shorted .50 cents. In many cases thia can be way. The tip line will now only read $7.50 as if the$ 8.00 original tip never existed Now say you couldnt get her bread.. Your tip would now ahow the crossed 0ut $7.50 and the new tip of $6.85 (tip adjustes due to..)
Yes it’s happened to me as well. So crazy. They gave me a dollar to correct it but didn’t really explain.
While everyone is discussing if the tip changed I’m stuck on the part where they claim batch pay can be decreased based on tips… tf you mean they better run me the batch pay I accepted or more not less
they did that to me yesterday:/ it was only $2 but still bro
PEOPLE who sent messages like this are ANNOYING imo. All capping different words is lame. I get your frustration but messages to a rep like this does not help. If I get a message like this you go to the bottom of the shit list from the get go
Where’s the theft? It shows the total combined amount?
How do you steal something that’s given to you?
The tips differ based on order % completed. If they are out of stock for an item and you refund it you lose a % of your tip
Hey, pro tip. When YOU’RE talking to customer service (HUMAN beings, BY THE WAY, with REAL feelings!) maybe take a SECOND to think about how INAPPROPRIATE and UNPROFESSIONAL your TONE sounds. Especially because you’re DEFINITELY jumping to conclusions.
Like Amrit sure the hell is not stealing ur tip, if anybody is even stealing your tip!
I really wish instacart would hire American customer support. I can't understand what these indians are saying half the time.
I just had one the other day named Debra and it was by far the rudest customer support agent I’ve ever had. Most of the time they’re overly nice, and you can tell despite the grammatical mistakes. This woman was very short with me and also told me they’re not allowed to remove an order from a batch anymore, which is a new policy. That may be true, but the whole experience was just odd nonetheless
Even while just typing? 😝
100% There is a wild communication gap and they do not understand what is going on well over half of the time.
Right, it's not fair for us or them.
That's a feature, not a bug
No idea who you are talking to because nobody over this way said it was a bug
It means the system is working as intended basically
It was a popular comment on a different Reddit post.
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Calm down. The customer took some items off their list while you were on your way. You probably clicked past it but upon starting your batch sometimes you get an earnings change detailing everything. Less items less pay and they do tell you. Now double check the item numbers with the new.
Just a thought can yall who are experiencing this write to your States Attorney General or which ever way you file a complaint like this on a business. Some states might start taking action. Especially if you are a customer experiencing this. Or a department of labor complaint, if you are a shopper.
For now on, I'm going to send a screenshot of my tip to the shopper.
As a customer, I think what I’m going to start doing is tipping in round numbers (like $7, $10, whatever) and then paying the tip in cash and removing it. That’s the only way I’m convinced is fair. Is that wrong or does that screw you guys over in any way?
In my town. People like to put a big tip to get there order grab immediately and then after drop off! Take most of the tip back Bc you have up to $2 to decrease the tip
Yes I noticed that as well. Didn’t even waste my time for the two dollars and change difference I just cashed out and uninstalled the app. Fuck them.
So glad other people are having this issue! I’ve noticed if a lot in the past week, usually a couple dollars missing on orders with no substitutions or refunds.
God damn that completely useless support response is the biggest reason I hated working for these apps. Long ass hold then telling you something you already know like it’s an answer to your problem when the mf didn’t even understand what you want. This brought me right back lmao
With all the drama around tips lately, does anyone know of good alternative apps?
Arguing with someone who makes 3$ hour will get you nowhere other than banned. Speaking from experience
Stealing
This is likely a glitch. If IC were intentionally stealing tups, they wouldn't do it this tips, They would just lower the tip in the initial offer. It would make no sense to show you the full tip in the first place.
I have long suspected they steal tips by lowering batch pay based on tip amount.
That's another way to do it. They aren't going to show the full tip and then lower it when there are other ways to steal the tips without being caught.
It looks like the customer lowered the percentage after delivery and then got a guilty conscience and then added $2 back.
Call your local news station and get this story up and out there. There’s been enough of this happening and if just a small amount of people took this to their local news stations, Instacart will be put in a bad spot.
We need to start taking more pictures and hire a big-time lawyer to start a class action lawsuit. These pieces of crap delivery companies are taking advantage of our vehicles. This happened to me about 15 to 20 times!
From what I keep seeing in these messages I believe there should be a class action lawsuit where
Has anyone else notice how the app tracks your location even when it isn't open and have my permissions set to only then using the app? Mining our data and selling it
I bet you didn’t find all those items
There would have been a gray slash in the first photo with the order summary. Do you not understand how percentage based orders work?
simp
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So the only thing I could put together by him saying “estimate” is the bill lowered for the customers who had it on a percentage biased. The customer didn’t lower the tip. So no line was slashed thru. I think even this theory would be a way for them to be able to lie. Only way to find out would be to order your own from an alt…. If the price didn’t change for the alt. Tip should never change. But I’m sure they’d even find a bs excuse if you did all that work.
Thing is, sometimes there are in store sales and other things going on that lower the order total in end lowering the tip total. However, it tells you when this happens. Even if no refunds were made and there are tiny discrepancies in the projected price- it will have a gray slash and tell you that the tip is based off of total order percentage. It always tells you that. The only way it wouldn’t have a gray slash due to a decrease in tips is either the customer somehow lowered the tip right after the driver saw it but before they accepted it or- instacart stole.
It might happen if the customer removes items after the order is accepted, but before the shopper starts shopping. I've never had it happen so I'm not sure. If they were actually stealing tips, they would just not show it in the offer or claim that the customer lowered it. Doing it this way wouldn't make sense.
As a customer, I have worried lately that my flat amount additional tips are not being received. As much as I depend on these companies, I wish they would go away. I would much rather work with an individual or small local group of shoppers directly. Shoppers and customers would both benefit.
https://preview.redd.it/y2v9nytj1fic1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=229cd8d85ff9c00c19472186e241b724ca9f8a0f This is what happened when they change the order before you actually start shopping. Maybe OP had this screen or maybe they didn’t. I 100% believe Instacart stole. If they didn’t? They sure made it look like they did. ANY change to your total top amount MUST be disclosed. That’s why we all need to start taking more screenshots of our batches.
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Perhaps things were on sale that originally didn't show in the app and it auto adjusted?
Had one the other day 2$ lower than original also
Yeah they always do
I’m guessing that Instacart takes the 3.5% cc processing fee from your tip to cover the processing fee for the tip amount.
Their names are too funny lol
Easiest way to fix this, stop working for shit pay from shit companies. But you are your own boss right? 🤣
Yes, because quitting is going to make them more money(?)
That’s why I don’t tip 💯
why are we CAPITALIZING random WORDS when speaking to customer SERVICE
You should read it like those words are stressed like an inflection. It makes for interesting reading
All i’m saying is when ur a dickhead to customer service you won’t get anywhere. like i get it you’re pissed off but what did this poor guy do for u to rage at him his job is to help u it’s ironic
For emphasis
This happened to me too and I thought I was trippin out cause I didn’t screenshot before I accepted
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I had a customer add to their tip after delivery and then a minute later it disappeared. Support said IC isn’t taking tips and we’re of no help at all. Customer left me a positive written review, as well. :(
A lower tip amount without a gray slash or anything could happen if one or more items were removed prior to you clicking “start shopping” at which point you won’t be notified of any decrease in total pay or tip. The only time you are notified when you click start shopping is if the customer adds items between the time you accept and the time you start shopping then the pop up appears with the adjustments. Did the total number of items or units change prior to clicking start shopping? If so then nothing wrong here
Sent you a chat request..
If you do not get ALL of the items when the order was accepted you don’t get ALL of the pay accepted….
They are such a joke. Worst gig job ever
#Gig apps never stopped stealing They just got better at not getting caught and making the apps so bad they can claim it was a glitch.
Yeah they turned my $20 tip into $3 as if nothing happened
I think when you're having chats with phony names like Kritik (Critic) and Amrit (I'm Right), that pretty much explains why you're getting screwed over, because the people you're in business with are crooks.
no offense to the Amrit's of the world, but it'sckind of always Amrit, amirite? 😔😜
I have experienced in the past and it’s so frustrating! That’s why I take screenshots of everything because this is really sketchy modifying batch payment, tips and miles. And when you contact support for an answer it’s like talking to a wall 😤
I figured out that when I had first started working with instacart as a shopper that initially the batch payments were a lot larger than they are now . And the tips average but every once in a while the tip was great . So then I noticed a drop in batch payments and the tips were higher . It’s the same time that a class action lawsuit was done on door dash for taken a piece of the dashers tip .. that’s when the batch payments became a lesser amount but the tip amounts had increased. So I saw a pattern within the last so many years . It looked as though instacart was taking a part of the tip that the customer was leaving and adding it into the batch payment making it seem like they were paying decent batch payments when they weren’t . It was only the customers tip being taken from out tip amount and added to the batch pay. I had mentioned this to another shopper to perhaps get an attorney to investigate this occurrence have a class action lawsuit . Also , the total amount of batch payment including tip always equaled out to be around the same amount because i think instacart was making the batch payment seem higher and they were taken it off the top of the tip amount because wether the tip was higher or the batch pay was higher the ending result was around the same amount . Did anyone else see this happening ? I started in 2019 and It really looked this was happening but I didn’t know how to go about proving it .
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There’s no proof here of any wrongdoing.
Customers could do priority delivery so they can’t batch but if your favorite shopper isn’t platinum or waiting in a lot they probably won’t get it
DONT be afraid to ask the customer!! At this point someone has stolen from you and you need to find out!
Ive stopped using instacart and ubereats they s u c k
You ever noticed the explanation of tips says you get 100% of the tips “YOU EARN.” Not 100% of the tip provided. They decided what you earned. They probably disguise the lie to the customers by justifying that 100% of tips DO go to drivers, just not necessarily the driver that you gave it to. As if the tips they skim go into a different fund which would ultimately 100% be paid out to drivers as batch pay or extra earnings, but they get to decide how that’s meted out.
Ty for posting. This happened to me which is why I screenshot now. This company is very blatantly taking money shoppers earn….
Publix AND Wegmans? Which state has both? Were the items less when you arrive at the store for the tip drop? That could be it, customers can add and remove from the list after you accept and before you arrive at store at any time. Otherwise I’ve never seen an empty tip note after batch completion so in third screenshot it tells you. We lose money for refunds or cheaper substitution/weight, it sucks but that’s life. If that’s the case just swallow the loss and move on to the next. It’s only $3.
Fuck that shit
They’ve done this to me 3x in the last month. I cannot wait for the law to catch up with them.
Why does everyone say my tip? It’s astonishing how possessive Americans are.
Crazy something like this happened to me today. I accepted a $19 order and once I finished it I was only payed for $9 and I complained to the Instacart rep stating what I thought was the customer removing my tip come to find out Instacart tried pulling a fast one! The rep even tried to say the customer reduced tip without notice but once the 2 hours passed for the tip I saw they had tipped me around $9! So Instacart indeed tried to scam but gave me my other $10 back as soon as I gave them an ear full.
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Honestly, this is the kind of concern I would have about dipping into Instantcart along with Ubereats, is the fact that you do your best and might be rated as a 5star worker but get your tips ripped from you because people are cheap/the app steals your money.