An Instacart Shopper Takes an Order for 60 Boxes of 'Pot Ready' Spaghetti From Food Lion but They Don't Have it

An Instacart shopper takes on an unusual order to pick up a lot of spaghetti from Food Lion, but their shelves are bare for the particular type of spaghetti.

Spaghetti tied in a bundle

One Instacart shopper had to learn the hard way when he took a strange order, not knowing if it was a joke or for real.

TikToker Posts a Video About an Experience

TikToker @instacartier1 

An Instacart shopper documented his experience on TikTok after taking an unusually large order of spaghetti for a customer to be picked up from Food Lion.

User @instacartier1 posted in a TikTok video that the order would require him to drive 16 miles to the grocery store, and he would earn $16.69 batch earnings before a tip.

According to Daily Dot, the instacart shopper was skeptical about the order, and they didn't initially respond to his communications to get more information.

He then called Food Lion to ask them to start preparing the 60 boxes of spaghetti, but they informed him of the bad news: They didn't get a delivery truck in that day, and he would have to accept whatever they had on the shelves.

So he drove to Food Lion, and the worst-case scenario happened.

Food Lion Was Out of the 'Pot Ready' Spaghetti

He said:

“So I get there, and there’s not a single box on the shelf. So I message this woman, and I’m like ‘Hey, there’s none of these boxes here. Do you want Mueller’s [brand]? It’s 50 cents more a box,’ and she goes, ‘Well, is it pot ready?”’

The Instacart shopper then has to ask, "What is pot-ready spaghetti?"

He does a search online and finds out from retailer H-E-B online that pot-ready spaghetti is shorter and fits within a pot without having to break the pasta.

Pot-ready spaghetti is "half of the length of standard spaghetti," but only Mueller brand was available, and it was not "pot ready."

He decided to not buy any pasta and posted a video about it on 19 August 2024.

He also shared that there was a second order along this route, and the customer ended up tipping him $8.39 for a different grocery order.

Do you think Instacart shoppers should get tipped for their time, even if the store does not have the groceries?

Rip Off: Customer Learns She Paid a $77 Convenience Upcharge After Ordering LobLaws Groceries Using Instacart Delivery Service

An Instacart customer orders groceries from Loblaws and finds out the reality of using a delivery service versus going to the grocery store herself. She posted the cold reality in a TikTok video after discovering her delivery driver accidentally left the real grocery receipt in her bag.

credit: @sophiakokolakis on TikTok 

Sophia Kokolakis found out that she is paying way more to order her groceries through Instacart and have them delivered, thanks to the upcharge, and that doesn't even include the tip.

She posted a video to TikTok on 29 September 2023 after she received her groceries from Instacart, and the reality sets in that she just got ripped off.

TikTok Video: Instacart is Making Serious Money with Upcharge for Convenience

In the TikTok video, she says:

"This is honestly the first time that an Instacart delivery person has left the receipt in the bag and my total was $221 and I paid $298 on Instacart...from Loblaws. Damn." -Sophia Kokolakis

She paid about $77 more to Instacart for the convenience.

The video can be seen below.

TikTok video credit: @sophiakokolakis on TikTok 

Comments on the Video

Users weigh in on the video Sophia posted to TikTok. Here's what they said:

• User 'Cat Officially Cat' says, "That's the price of convenience."

• User 'TikTokMadeMeSayThat' gives a free tip, saying, "just order through Loblaws website itself. They use DoorDash to deliver and you don't pay any upcharges." (word 'upcharges' corrected in comment)
• User 'John C' says, "It clearly tells you on the app whether or not you're going to pay in-store prices or not, depending on what store you choose."
• User 'Wiara953 says, "I put stuff in my Instacart from Aldi's and went to the store myself and checked the prices. They tax the stuff like crazy."

Kate Witmer (Instacart shopper) said:

"As an Instacart shopper, I get sticker shock when I see the price the customer is paying vs. what the store is actually charging."

Jenny (Instacart shopper) said:

"We're supposed to keep the receipt for 30 days per our contract. The price mark up is insane though. Instacart makes money on every item you buy."

Mia (Instacart shopper) said:

"Do you live in the states? In Canada, we have to leave the receipt."

Boopie Jones (former Instacart shopper) said:

"During the brief moment I shopped for them is when I realized they were scamming customers & underpaying shoppers. Def left the receipt in their bag."

Readers, it's time for you to share your thoughts on the subject:

Do you think that customers would tip less or stop using the service if they found out how much Instacart is charging people for convenience?

California Instacart Delivery Driver Posts TikTok About Making $2,900 in a Week and It Includes His Health Subsidy

 A California Instacart delivery driver working in Los Angeles County makes bank in a week including a "health subsidy" of $1,365.30, $645.25 in batch pay, and $890.57 in tips for June 26 - July 2, 2023.

Credit: Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

An Instacart delivery driver 'Zeus Instacart Shopper' posted a video on TikTok on 3 July 2023 showing himself loading up a shopping cart with grocery items during a week where he says, "Come see how I make $2,900 doing Instacart in a week."

He posted in the comments section of the video, "I've only been doing Instacart since 2018 and have 9,000 orders.

Zeus says in the comments to his video, "I live in California, our wages are higher but 70% of the earnings are usually tips."

The Health Subsidy in California, Not Available in All States

Many people ask Zeus, "What is the health subsidy?"

He replies:

"I guess it's only in California...it's only once a quarter. I would never say I do this weekly because it's not possible at all. I get it because I pay for health insurance...so free health insurance"-Zeus instacart Shopper on TikTok

It appears that Zeus pays for health insurance and then receives $1,365.30 back from the state of California "once every quarter."

If you deduct his health subsidy of $1,365.30 from his earnings of $2,901.12 for June 26 - July 2, 2023, then he really earned $1,535.82. He attempts to clarify this in the comments that he "doesn't claim to earn $2,901.12 weekly" but it seems like the description of his video exaggerates his earnings to almost $3,000.

Most Instacart delivery drivers living outside of the state of California are not familiar with the health subsidy included in their earnings summary.

The earnings summary flashes for only a second at the very end. It can be seen in the picture below.

Instacart Earnings Summary

Thoughts

If you are a delivery driver, do you earn a decent amount in your area? Have you had a positive or negative experience as a delivery driver?

Do you live in California and get a health subsidy back with your Instacart earnings?

(Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments)