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Are Male Instacart Shoppers Really That Bad? - Currently.com

"I have watched guys at checkout just refund a dozen items they couldn't find instead of talking to a customer about possible replacements," one male Instacart shopper said of his peers. Illustration:Jianan Liu/HuffPost;Photo:Getty Images

The internet has spoken: Male Instacart shoppers need to step up their game, and fast.

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, irritated Instacart shoppers share screen caps of conversations between them and their confused male Instacart shoppers. It's nothing new, either; such public complaints have been happening for years.

"Unfortunately, Schweppes Ginger Ale isn't in stock. Would you like something else" one man asks his customers above a photo showing, yes, Schweppes ginger ale.

"Nah defund male Instacart shoppers immediately," the poster wrote of the exchange.

Much of the time, people complain about head-scratching replacement items.

One irked customer tweeted about having a pound of cheese replaced with four gallons of milk. "Did he think I wanted to make it myself," the person joked.

"My friend needed chicken stock and dude replaced it with chicken feet. CHICKEN FEET," another person posted.

Then there was this beleaguered Instacart shopper who subbed in Bengay pain-relieving cream when he couldn't locate Ben's Original Butter & Garlic Flavored Ready Rice.

Some customers say they press the cancel button on their whole order the minute they see a man is going to do their shopping. Kita Bryant, a frequent Instacart user who lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, is among them.

"On a scale of one to 10, 10 being the best, I would say I'd give male shoppers a one," Bryant told HuffPost. "In my experience, women get it right and I don't have to tell them what to substitute with. They don't pick out bad items and they actually listen."

It's true that in the past, when Bryant was still willing to use male shoppers, she had some real doozies: Once she had to cancel an entire order because the shopper could only find one out of the 10 items in the store. Another time, a man bought her molded fruit and expired food.

"I have good expectations for men and believe they can do whatever they put their minds to, I just think grocery shopping ain't it," Bryant joked. "Women are obsessed with the details more than men!"

Given the outsized opinion the internet seems to have about male Instacart shoppers, it's only fair that they get a chance to reply. Though none of the men we spoke to for this piece said they're poor shoppers, we were curious what they thought was going on with some of the other men on the app.

There's nothing inherently wrong with men that makes them incapable of shopping well. So is it weaponized incompetence ― men feigning grocery aisle ignorance so they don't have to do the legwork of finding a product? Is it just that sexist conditioning in our society has led to generations of men who aren't properly taught to shop for groceries or cook?

Mike Romagnoli, an Instacart shopper in the Toronto, Canada area since 2019, offered an alternative reason: Some of the worst mistakes may have been made by new Instacart shoppers who've just arrived in the country and aren't familiar with certain products, or even the language.

"I think that since the vast majority of shoppers are male, and the majority of those are new Canadians and American, it causes issues, especially when you message them and they don't understand what you're asking them or telling them," he told HuffPost.

Stats seem to to back Romagnoli's suggestion up, at least in big cities. A 2020 study out of University of California, Santa Cruz found that In San Francisco, nearly 80% of app-based ride-hailing and delivery service workers are people of color, and a majority are immigrants. In New York City, app-based food delivery workers are disproportionately male, young and from immigrant communities, according to the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

"I have watched guys at checkout just refund a dozen items they couldn't find instead of talking to a customer about possible replacements," Romagnoli said.

Since there's no aptitude test for Instacart shoppers, new recruits are pretty much thrown to the wolves ― in this case, annoyed customers at home.

The customer has to be attentive and on the ball, too. If not, you're going to have a bad time."Mike Romagnoli, a man who has been an Instacart shopper since 2019

Romagnoli gets people's annoyance, though. When he's placed his own orders on the app, he's had men get sour cream instead of whipping cream, castor oil instead of olive oil and hand sanitizer instead of hand soap. He's had guys not know what pulp means in orange juice or get beef roast instead of a steak.

Of course, some shoppers could just be lazy or have "grocery store blindness" ― that feeling of being unable to find something in a large store, even though in all probability, it's there. Because he frequently shops for himself, Romagnoli doesn't have such issues. His philosophy is, if he wouldn't buy it for his family, then he doesn't buy it for the customer.

"I'm not going to give them seven bad Roma tomatoes and three good ones just to get to the number for the batch," he said.

While good and bad shoppers exist in equal measure, Romagnoli believes some of the issues with "bad" shoppers fall on the customer, too.

"I can't count the number of times that I've messaged someone to get no reply for an hour and then they message me about replacements or other things when I am already pulling into their driveway," he said. "The customer has to be attentive and on the ball, too. If not, you're going to have a bad time."

Some Instacart shoppers have "grocery store blindness" -- that feeling of being unable to find something in a large store, even though it's probably there. Illustration:Jianan Liu./HuffPost; Photo:Getty Images

Byron, a Virginia man who asked to use his first name only for privacy, has been shopping for Instacart for three years.

He said eight out of 10 times he's gotten a male shopper on his personal orders, they've been great. Byron thinks the issue with the others is that they rush to check out without asking about a replacement for an out-of-stock item. They could probably work on their customer service, too, he said.

"My advice for male shoppers would be to always send out an opening greeting when you're about to start shopping," he said. "I get a lot of customers who say their shoppers almost never do that. It helps remind the customer that you're about to start shopping and helps build better relationships with the customer."

Nelson, who also asked to use his first name only, has been working for Instacart in the Seattle area since 2022. He's a diamond cart shopper, with a 4.96 out of 5 rating.

Like Romagnoli, Nelson said the best advice he can offer struggling Instacart shoppers is to pretend you're shopping for yourself: Try to find the best buy-by dates. Don't pick out fruit that's rotten. When an item is unavailable, sometimes the customer has a pre-approved backup that they want instead ― go with that.

Basically, he said, do everything you can to protect yourself from customers pulling the tip back.

"Customers do have that option, and there's nothing we can do about it, even if we do a great job," he said. "Unfortunately, we rely on tips and we're underpaid to begin with."

As a company, Instacart says that shoppers get a flat rate (starting at about $4 for a small order) while keeping 100% of their tips. That dependency on tips ― and the lack of workers' rights that characterize the gig economy ― create an insecure working environment for many who sign up to shop.

Gender bias from clients before they even get a chance to start shopping is the last thing gig workers need, Nelson said: "I view myself as one of the best shoppers, but I think there is bias against male shoppers."

Sure, there's some bad apples that are shockingly bad at picking apples, but in general, Nelson thinks shoppers ― male and female ― don't get enough credit.

"We are providing them a service that saves them time, gas and stress from traffic. Think of the stay-at-home moms who have kids to take care of," he said. "Instead of loading the kids in the car to make a Costco run, we can do it for them. People forget that this is a nice luxury to have."

Related...

I'm An Instacart Shopper. Here Are 8 Things I Wish Customers Would Stop ...

Matt Wilson

Updated Sun, September 12, 2021 at 1:15 PM UTC

5 min read

Instacart is a great side gig for a lot of people, but it's not perfect. Matthew Wilson

Although I spend most of my days in front of a keyboard, I also moonlight as an Instacart shopper.

It's a side gig that's flexible with my schedule and allows me to tap into some of those ancient skills I had working at a grocery store as a teen.

But being an Instacart shopper isn't all breezy - here are 10 things I wish customers would stop doing:

Bad directions can turn a quick, easy trip into an hour-long affair

It's an Instacarter's worst nightmare: You're driving to drop off a car full of groceries and your GPS suddenly tells you that you arrived … to a deserted piece of land.

Or sometimes people in apartments forget to put their unit number - if they don't answer, you may need to spend half an hour on the phone with Instacart support.

It's even worse when the customer has cold items that could begin slowly thawing in my car.

If you're ordering a lot of heavy items, consider leaving a nice tip. Matthew Wilson

Instacarters make most of their money from tips, but not all customers are generous

Thankfully, Instacart lets you choose which orders you want to take. Still, there are some real doozies that pop up in my feed. How about shopping for 47 items for $7? No thank you!

Technically, Instacart also has a heavy-load pay for large items - but that doesn't make things easier when a customer ordered water in bulk and are on the sixth floor of a walk-up apartment building.

Some customers leave only a couple of dollars or, worse, no tip at all. When large orders can take a significant amount of time including shopping and distance, you can sometimes end up making less than minimum wage.

It's totally OK to add a few items to your list after the order starts ... But please be reasonable

Some customers like to be what I call "active shoppers." They will continue to grow their shopping list through the entire order since Instacart allows customers to add items until checkout.

It can be a bit maddening when you take what you thought was a small order only for the opposite to be the case.

I once took an order that seemed too good to be true at three items for $18. But many added-on items and half an hour later, I ended up regretting it.

I felt like I was in a "Supermarket Sweep"-style competition to finish and reach the checkout counter before the customer could add even more.

Sometimes it feels misleading when a customer adds dozens of items to their order while I shop. Matthew Wilson

It can be frustrating when people are really picky about their replacements

Sometimes stores run out of items and, as shoppers, Instacart encourages us to find replacements because our pay is tied to the overall amount for the batch.

I totally get that everyone has their favorite brands - there's a refund option for a reason - but sometimes customers get surprisingly picky when it comes to replacements.

Once a customer asked for a refund for tortillas because the store only had a slightly bigger bag than she was asking for - 10 shells instead of eight.

I've spent a lot of time waiting for customers who don't communicate

In a perfect world, the store will have everything a customer needs. But often I will need to contact the customer about potential replacements or a refund. If the customer doesn't respond it can be difficult to figure out what to do next.

Additionally, some actions require approval by the customer in order to check out. If they don't reply in a timely manner, I have to twiddle my thumbs waiting for a response.

I'm not going to break the rules to buy you alcohol and cigarettes

I'm more than happy to follow most requests, like wearing gloves while shopping or using paper bags for your groceries.

But asking me to buy you cigarettes and beer with your order is where I draw the line. In South Carolina and a number of other states, shoppers are not permitted to buy alcohol or tobacco products for customers.

The rules haven't stopped customers from trying to circumvent the system. They'll leave messages like, "Don't take my order if you're not going to buy my cigarettes and beer." OK, I won't.

Sometimes shoppers make requests we aren't allowed to follow. Matthew Wilson

It sucks when you get a low rating for no real reason

Maintaining a five-star rating is essential to Instacart. If your rating starts dropping you receive fewer batches until you can increase it.

But sometimes customers will give you a bad rating for seemingly no reason at all. Some will blame you for the grocery store not having a specific item or they'll list an item as damaged even though you left it perfectly safe and sound on their doorstep.

It can be a maddening experience, a little like spinning a what-review-will-I-get-this-time roulette wheel.

It's frustrating when the few bad-apple customers go on a power trip

The company provides a valuable service to customers who might struggle to shop, so many people using the app are understanding and great to work with.

But every so often, you get a customer who yells or treats you like you're not worthy to shop for their groceries.

Some say that you can determine a person's true character by how they treat their server at a restaurant - if that's the case, it's probably also true of Instacart shoppers.

Read the original article on Insider

How Did This Instacart Shopper Turn Into A Hero? - The Daily Dot

An Instacart shopper is getting called a hero for sharing a story about a delivery that led to her checking on an elderly customer.

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