Instacart customer draws criticism for lengthy list of demands: ‘Insta-cancel’

An Instacart worker shared a rather detailed list of demands she received from a customer, and it has incited much discussion about what is fair to expect from a hired grocery shopper.

On Aug. 1, Redditor u/Hannerlore posted in the subreddit r/InstacartShoppers about a standout experience she had with a customer as an Instacart shopper working in Florida in July.

In the post, titled “Insta-cancel,” she includes two screenshots: one of a direct message on the Instacart app from the customer, and the other of conversation with an Instacart customer service rep where Hannerlore is trying to get out of working on the order.

The shopper writes in the post that another worker attempted to work with the customer but couldn’t complete the order to the customer’s specifications. “You know it’s bad when even the IC Support agent agrees with you,” Hannerlore wrote.

“Dear [redacted],” the customer’s message begins.

“Thank you so much for your kind help! Please kindly follow the Instructions below that Instacart has asked me to submit.

“Please kindly have (the) same person shop and deliver, and deliver all items within 1/2 hour of shopping to prevent spoilage which was an issue in the past.”

They ask that the shopper “kindly” shop perishable items last, place them in insulated bags, select all items with far-out expiration dates, double bag items in plastic bags and make sure that no cartons, boxes or outside packing is ripped or dented, “especially the soup box.”

“I always give 5 star reviews to all shoppers, and these damages are most often caused by Publix recently, so one needs to check them with particular care now,” the customer notes. “Please kindly check the number of items that are bagged at check out and that all items are in my bags and delivered to me.”

The customer concludes their message with more requests, asking the shopper to select certain colors of flowers and to “send full vertical photos” of “the best” white and deep purple orchids so that the they could pick their favorite.

“And please kindly text back ‘confirmed’ in the chat, that you will kindly follow all these instructions that Instacart has asked me to place,” the customer wrote. “Thank You so much!!”

Reaction to the post was overwhelmingly supportive of Hannerlore’s decision to try to get out of taking the order. Even the Instacart support agent reacted to the request with a simple, “Oh wow.”

“If they are that particular why not just go shopping yourself?” asked one Redditor in the comments.

“1/2 hour is probably impossible,” speculated another Reddit user.

“The use of the word kindly is such a red flag,” another Redditor noted, to which someone else replied, “I counted ten of them. Each one hurt more than the last.”

For her part, Hannerlore maintains that she would have tried to help the customer if her order wasn’t batched with other orders, meaning she would have to fulfill other requests before she got to this one.

“I felt like she needed more of a personal shopper or like a one on one person,” Hannerlore, who asked to be referred to by only her username, tells TODAY.com, adding that not fulfilling the customer’s requests to their liking could result in a lower rating for an Instacart shopper. “With all of what was going on, it’s just a recipe for disaster and a bad rating.”

And this is far from the only time someone has given Miranda Priestly a run for her money when ordering on Instacart. In 2022, TikTok user Violetta Le’Mone (@violettalemone) went viral when she shared a video about an even longer request a customer sent her during a shift. Like Hannerlore, she rejected it outright, saying, in part, “Good luck to whoever got this because I would s--- my pants if I got this order.”

So, what is the proper etiquette when making requests to an Instacart shopper?

Instacart says it encourages productive communication between its customers and their shoppers to ensure the best experience possible, providing a few examples of how the app itself aims to achieve effective customer and shopper communication.

One is the chat feature, which customers can use to communicate with shoppers about replacements or any other requests. Unfortunately, in both examples above, customers used the chat feature to lump every request in one fell swoop, which Hannerlore says has the effect of overwhelming a shopper. But there’s a fix for that.

“When you have your list that you create in the app as a customer, there’s a place for you to type in notes for each item,” Hannerlore says, adding that you can just write it in the notes with the item what you want so that the shopper knows what to grab. “Take, like, bananas for example. Do you want them ripe? Not so ripe. A little of both? Just write it in.”

Instacart also says that customers can choose to have their shopper select a specific replacement item or get a refund if their preferred item is not available, which is then shared with their shopper, who can also chat, send photos of shelves and items in case it’s helpful.

The main takeaway: If your list of requests is lengthy, be communicative and patient with your shopper.

“I mean, I typically shop as I would be shopping for myself,” Hannerlore says, reflecting on some of the more common sense requests she gets from customers that are probably best left out. “So if I wouldn’t buy a dented can, then I’m not going to give that to my guests.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com