An Instacart shopper recently called out the platform on TikTok after he was required to pay for a customer’s $60 order himself and faced issues getting reimbursement from the grocery delivery app.
In a video with over 11,000 views, TikTok user Anthony (@its_anthonyisaacshops) explained the circumstances that led to him requiring a refund from Instacart—a refund they initially denied.
According to Anthony, his Instacart debit card was locked while he attempted to check out a customer’s $60+ order. Knowing that Instacart can refund purchases made with someone’s own credit or debit card, Anthony opted to pay for the item with his own money.
He claims he did this because unlocking the card would involve contacting support, and he wanted to prevent a line of bitter customers from building up behind him at the store.
@its_anthonyisaacshops @Instacart this HAS TO BE FIXED #INSTACART #paymemymoney #personalshopper ♬ original sound – It’s Anthony Isaac Shops
However, this is where the issues started.
Anthony says he sent the receipt to Instacart so they could approve his reimbursement request. The company did not immediately do so, citing the fact that some items on the receipt differed from customer requests.
“That’s because they’re replacement items, and I took a picture of the replacement items…and you guys are just denying me my reimbursement,” he says. “That’s $60.54. That’s 3 hours of work that you guys decided to tell me that this customer gets for free, and I had to pay out of my pocket. Instacart, 100% profit—what?”
This video immediately set off a firestorm in comments, with numerous users tagging Instacart in hopes of a response. Eventually, the company did reach out to Anthony and resolved the issue, which he details in a follow-up.
@its_anthonyisaacshops Replying to @thefoodbaby #greenscreen ♬ original sound – It’s Anthony Isaac Shops
“I’m super happy right now,” he says. “Once again, I’ve been reimbursed for every single order that I’ve ever used my personal card for—but I gotta say, I still carry a lot of wariness of using my personal card in the future. But Instacart, you guys made it right.”
While this is a happy resolution for Anthony, possibilities like these have made numerous commenters unsure of using their personal card for purchases.
“They told me to use my own card once when this happened to me,” recalled a commenter. “I straight up refusedddd, I’d rather cancel the whole batch than gamble with my own $”
“Door dash always trying to get us to use our card when the app won’t work. I refuseeeee to use my own money,” shared another. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“If you can’t trust them to have their own card operational why trust them with your money like that?!” questioned a third.
One user claimed they faced a similar situation in the past, only without the positive resolution experienced by Anthony.
“I’m so sorry,” the user wrote. “this happened to me too and I never got my money back.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Instacart via email and Anthony via TikTok comment.
