Another Endorsement, Except Not

You all know that this blog, like Ivory soap, is 99.9% pure although in this case we are pure blather rather than pure soap. It has no advertising, no affiliate links, no way for me to make as much as a single penny by writing it. My total reward comes from you telling me how pretty I am, and I pander for that shamelessly. 

But on occasion I tell you how much I love something. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I gushed my endorsement for eShakti. I stand by that endorsement--today's lead photo is my rehearsal dinner dress for WotCII. It's an eShakti dress paired with a shawl I was knitting at the moment that just happened to match pretty perfectly, and I love that dress. 

Today I'm not endorsing a product, I'm writing about a service now being provided in Small Town that I originally loved but and gushed about on social media, but since those non-blogged endorsements I have learned some things since that makes me want to make sure you know them, too. 

The whole time the Boys were growing up I moaned about how much I hated shopping, and how I would be glad to pay whatever it cost to have my groceries delivered and carried into the house. Just a couple of weeks ago this kind of service came to Small Town--Instacart. 

It seemed too good to be true. For $6.99, Instacart shoppers would gather items from your online shopping list, pay for them with the credit card, and deliver them to your house within the time window you specify. 

Oh. My. Gosh. 

Does that seem like heaven? On the days when I loaded four grocery bags on each arm to minimize the number of times I walk the half-block between our driveway and the back door, it would have sounded like paradise. 

I signed up for the two-week free trial, and it was lovely. The shoppers picked out good produce and were friendly and upbeat as they brought the groceries clear to the kitchen. So I signed up for the full-year Instacart Express that, rather than charging $6.99 for each delivery, would give unlimited  deliveries on orders of $35 and over. 

I was so excited--until my shopper accidentally left the store check-out receipt with the bags. When I compared that paper receipt to my online receipt from Instacart, I discovered cost of the service was substantially more than $6.99 per delivery. For one thing, a service charge and tip were automatically added to my cost. The service charge of 5% of order total, and an automatic tip of 5% (which can be adjusted after you have been charged for the delivery) add 10% to your bill on top of the delivery fee. But this didn't bother me as much as seeing that I was charged product prices that were higher than in-store prices. 

Customer service at Instacart explained it this way:

The paper receipt is also not an accurate portrayal of what you were charged on your order, and will not include any delivery fee, tip, services fees, or store markups if applicable. The total you see when checking out on Instacart is a more accurate portrayal of what you will be charged (barring any replacements, refunds, or weight adjustments). When your order is completed, you can view your electronic receipt to see the final amount you will be charged. You can access it directly from your Instacart Account under View Order Detail.

All told, according to my math (and verified by my in-house CPA), I'm paying around 20% more for my groceries than I would have if I had done my own shopping. 

In addition, although I asked for my own shopper loyalty card to be used (so that we could get fuel points and loyalty discounts) Instacart apparently gets the loyalty rewards on its own card. 

And at this point I need to say that it may well have been that all of these charges were outlined somewhere on the website before I forked over my $149, but I did not see it on the Instacart website before I signed up and I cannot find them now. 

Would I have used this service when I was working full-time and trying to wrangle a family? Absolutely. There were many times when I simply did not have enough hours in the day and would have gladly paid whatever it took to have someone else do my grocery shopping. If you're in that part of your life, God bless and carry on. 

Now, though? I regret that I spent $149 that I could have used on two or three new dresses from eShakti.