Despite being in business for 7 years, Instacart is not even accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
I only checked the first 7 reviews listed at the BBB website. They were all only one star, the absolute minimum.
That means nothing. Look some businesses you like and see how many are accredited.
Valid point, so I decide to revisit the BBB website. The 20 latest reviews for Instacart are all one star slams.
Nobody is happy. My horrible experience is far from unique.
EVERY review on BBB for Instacart is one star. Tells you something about who goes there to write reviews.
The evidence seems conclusive - Instacart doesn’t seem to give a damn about operating a better business.
The vaccine can’t come soon enough.
I know we are all trashing Instacart, but I have to report that I just had an order delivered in NYC and I got what I ordered other than one substitution which I had pre-approved. Maybe things are working more smoothly on the East Coast. I had to wait a few days to get a delivery date, but I did get one and it was delivered when expected and as expected, so I’m a happy camper.
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Ordered $138 of groceries through Vons pickup and only received &98 of groceries. Refeund is on its way. I have been having a reasonable time with Instacart and sprouts when I can get a delivery time. I managed to get a 4 to 6 pm delivery at Whole Foods. But, they absolute best was my brother dropping by with champagne and Sugarfish.
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Same here in Boston - our once weekly Instacart delivery works nicely - some substitutions (e.g. farfalle instead of rotini etc. )which you just approve by text but otherwise all items are available and delivered for the last five weeks.
On Tuesday I ran out of wine. This never happens (yes, I went through my reserves and the stuff I was saving for whatever and the stuff I didn’t want to drink because it was stuff that somebody gave me like chardonnay—and I’m not into chardonnay).
So I decided to place an order @ K&L for delivery, thinking that I live less than 2 miles away and they should be able to deliver the next day. I go on their website, pick things out, add to my cart, go to check out and the soonest delivery time is next Tuesday (4/21). woooooow.
I still placed my order, but in the mean time I needed wine and was starting to run out of food. I was hoping to use Mercato, but after reading of everybody’s experience, I decided to just go out in the wild and hunt for provisions. In my case, that meant TJs @ 3rd & La Brea.
The wait was still the same as the last time I was there a couple of weeks ago, but they’ve really stepped up their game as far as protecting both their workers and shoppers. In addition to the line and limited customer entry, they have directional aisles, the cashiers are behind a plexiglass barrier, with masks/ gloves and are wiping down everything upon entry and between customers on checkout.
As stressful as shopping can be right now, this was good for a “regular market”. I still think I’m going to make a run over to Farmers Market early on Sunday and hit up the butchers.
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Try Woodland Hills Wine. Not sure if it has been affected by the pandemic, but they usually ship a whole lot quicker than K&L – usually overnight for local deliveries – and I like their selection better than K&L.
Also try John & Pete’s on La Cienega. They have some interesting stuff and they have free local delivery - same day – although I haven’t tried in the pandemic.
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If you’re close to K&L, you’re probably not too far away from Domaine LA. You can order through Postmates.
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Had another good experience (with a caveat) using Mercato. I don’t really need anything, but am starting to run low on TP, so searched Mercato and found some at one store, Los Toros Meat Market, of all places. An off-brand–labeled in Spanish–but hey, why not. So I ordered a couple of mega-jumbo packs plus a few food items, got a delivery slot for the next day, got everything I ordered (a bit late but that’s okay), including the toilet paper. HOORAY!
It was a pyrrhic victory, though. The goddamned stuff is scented! 
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I found an annoying workaround to that problem — I ordered delivery but did not choose a delivery date because they were way out, as you experienced. But once the wine status changed to “picked” a couple hours later, it did offer next day delivery dates. The system appears to assume the maximum possible time for wine to be ready for delivery, even if you’re only choosing things that are in stock in Hollywood. They should fix but in the meantime that workaround might help. Of course, it won’t if the delivery slots are actually full.
I did get my picked notice a couple days later, but I was too busy working @ home to log in and see if I could get an earlier delivery. As the week drew to a close, I needed some food fill-in so I decided to just pick up some wine @ TJs while I was there and wait until Tuesday for the K&L truck.
I wish Domaine LA was doing curbside pickup instead.
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I thought K&L would be fast since they do their own deliveries vs shipping. But I guess lots of folks must be ordering delivery beverages right now.
If you choose items in stock in Hollywood it should go to picked in a couple hours, giving you in effect next day delivery on your purchase. I’m not saying it is a good system — just a workaround that I am living with because I prefer K&L’s selection, service and (in normal times) IT to other local shops. (I live within walking distance of Domaine and am put off by the service there every time.)
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Unless you just want wine, any wine, I’ve never been blown away by Domaine’s offerings. I would definitely head to K&L before heading there and even more likely to head to the Internet to Woodland Hills Wine knowing I can have next day delivery and not have to trek across town to Hollywood.
If you “just want wine, any wine,” Total Wine & More is the place. Domaine LA specializes in “natural” wine, which probably looks pretty random if you’re not into that.
I actually just ordered from Total Wine & More as I wanted to send somebody Champagne for their birthday and they could do same-day delivery.
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