The Problem with Instacart's Business Model

Martin recently had an issue with Instacart so he decided to write them a letter. Writing letters to corporations’s customer service department is good practice for negotiations with clients.

I'm not talking about writing a bitchy Karen letter, I'm talking about constructive criticism with well-reasoned arguments and clear instructions on what you want the resolution to be.

Curated by Martin R Ricketts

Source: Letter to Instacart

I generally order from Walmart using Instacart at the beginning of each month. In the last three months, there have been changes to the service, not to the customers' benefit. Initially, when I started using the service, I had an issue and Instacart and instantly refunded me.

The next time I had a problem, it took about three days. And now I find that Instacart prioritizes deliveries based on the tip size.

No doubt, like other customers, I feel nickel-and-dimed by Instacart. I paid the flat fee for FREE delivery; at the time, the marketing suggested that my delivery fee would be zero.

But now there are endless checkout charges, including a delivery fee that isn't zero, a heavy fee, a gas surcharge, a bag fee, a sugar-sweetened beverages fee, and of course sales tax which on groceries is surprisingly one of the smaller fees.

And as if all that wasn't enough, we were then asked to pay a tip for the workers. I understand that many fees are government-mandated such as taxes and bottle deposits.

However, the main reason I don't do the shopping in person is that it's heavy, so charging me a heavy fee is ridiculous. And as for the tip? I think it's disingenuous for companies to ask customers to pay their workers a tip.

Your industry can do mental gymnastics to justify that your workers are not employees but don't make me pay for something that is clearly a YOU problem. Nevertheless, I've been begrudgingly paying the minimum amount in the past.

But today, I was treated with yet another insult. For the first time, I saw my delivery time measured in days, not hours.

Because I didn't comply and pay up the tip amount requested; instead, I paid $5. Then I was informed after instacart took my money, I would receive my groceries sometime between the 5th and 6th of September. Are you freaking serious?

The entire reason I use instacart is because it's supposed to be instant! It's in your freaking name! Why the hell would I order groceries from Walmart through Instacart when Walmart (or Uber or any number of competitors) can deliver them to me faster than Instacart can?

I'm an entrepreneur, so I'm aware of the challenges in monetizing this business model. But if Instacart punishes clients who don't want to cough up yet another fee, one that arguably should be borne by Instacart, then I predict your company will not survive.

Instacart is playing a very dangerous game here. In my view, your quest to tweak your business model has gone wildly astray, and I, for one, will not be part of the experiment.

I want you to refund my money for my current order immediately.

Respectfully,

Martin R. Ricketts

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