So begins yet another chapter in my personal battle with the Division, Exclusion & Inequality practices that affect my shopping choices.
Skipping the entire 14th Amendment argument for equal protection under law…
The financial aspect: It will add about $10 a week or $520 a year to our Food expense.
That would then be balanced by no long needed an Instacart+ Membership so for 2024 that would be offset by $99. With careful shopping likely I can do better to reduce the financial aspect.
Personal Politics: ALDI will be the loser (however small a customer we may be) and to a lesser degree Food Lion & of course the very diverse and really nice people who shop and delivery for Instacart(doubt they will miss my membership)
I am a customer/user of InstaCart and other grocery delivery services for several years. One thing I have learned is that Instacart and in-store employee shoppers are not mind readers. It has been my experience that IF I take the time to fill in the BOTH the Replacement and PREFERENCE details for each item, it increases my chances for a satisfactory result.
They ain’t fancy, but the following screen shots may help you find where to insert your preferences AFTER ADDing to the Cart and BEFORE you “Submit Order” Once an order has been submitted, it is my experience I can only ADD new items or REMOVE an item and then ONLY I get it done before Shopping Begins. After that, changes must be made thru CHAT.
There are seem to be TWO places where you can edit your order and add Replacement & Instructions for each item. The first is when you edit as you order – look for the cart icon followed by a number (that number might be confusing – it is the number of different items, not the quantity you choose) This usually located at the top of the page your right as you look at the screen. This will bring up a list of the items you have ordered and you can then adjust quantity, remove, and Insert YOUR Replacement Preferences AND Instructions
NOTE: this is a screen where it is easiest to adjust quantity – click on the quantity shown and it will allow you to add or subtract as you wish.
When you click on preferences, it brings up the “Your Preferences” Screen – usually with either what you have chosen in the past for replacement and instructions – or you can edit as needed. ALWAYS check the replacement is something you want. Because if you have not completed it before, you might just find some less than happy substitutions.
The good news is that “most of the time” Instacart seems to save the Replacement & Instructions with the product. If it is something you are likely to buy often, be sure to favorite. The bad news is that it is a pain to get back to the cart listing, but less so than if you have to do it from the Checkout Page.
The second opportunity to add your Replacement and Preferences are when you Go To Checkout Although sometimes tedious, I ALWAYS do this step because – well the “APP” can be less than perfect and if I don’t do my part, it will not be the shoppers fault if I don’t get what I want.
Below is part of the Check Out Page. It is where you can change/add an address, select a different available delivery time frame. Create DETAILED (and mine are) Delivery instructions, Insert a telephone number for the shopper to reach you (I know it says Mobile, but remember, I don’t have one and so it has my landline.) Choose payment options and last but not least Click the down arrow for review and adjust your selection of items, replacement and detailed instruction. Note: It does not seem to be possible to add an item from this page – but that is another blog entry to be done.
When you select the down arrow for the items, it will bring up your items in a page that looks like this And now comes the really annoyingly tedious and extremely non-intuitive part –
First, I have since fixed the contradictory instructions thanks to one of my favorite shoppers (he has shopped for me at several dozen times)
When you click on either Replacement OR Instructions It takes you to the PRODUCT/ITEM Page you will have to scroll down past all the almost never acceptable “Picked for You” and “Related” Items
Till you get to this one.
TEDIUM = whilst air turns blue as you berate yourself for not checking from Cart page which is slightly less annoying, you will need to go back to the CART page, Go to Check out and then go thru the check out steps (where hopefully InstaCart has “remembered” all the stuff you typed before.
Be sure to check that the section with total, Delivery & Service charges look correct and yes, be sure you have included an appropriate tip according to your means. But tipping is a topic for another day.
Things can change so CAVEAT EMPTOR – this is just what is working for Wheat at this time (22-Aug-2021)
On Topic Comments are always welcomed of find me most often: Facebook Profile: Wheat Carr GAB Profile: Wheat M Carr @wheat GAB group: Food Craft – Making and Methods Other Social Media – almost never, but always using my Real, says so on my birth certificate, name: wheat or Wheat Carr or Wheat M Carr
Every ALDI Aficionado knows the pain of weekly food finds disappearing until the next time… NOTE: since the ratio is about 3 bars per tin, an excellent reason to try more than one flavor of the wonderful Moser Roth bars. STICKER SHOCK: At ALDI via Instacart the price is $2.19 each for the Moser Roth. on Amazon it was $12 for two.
I am putting this here so I can just give the link to “interested persons” This is “off the top of my head” so feel free to ask additional questions – eventually I will find a shopper/delivery person willing to help with additonal informtion and their viewpoint without jeopardizing their standing.
I recently, I opened a small group on the free speech platform GAB called ALDI Aficionados it is tiny, but if you happen to be a GAB member – please do drop by and talk “ALDI”
NOTE It does contain an InstaCart referral code which may result in benefit to your for your first order only and for me for a future order. If you do decide to give them a try, I hope you will consider using my referral code which “should” give you a free delivery and a credit to you and me for your 1st order https://inst.cr/t/NHE7cDZhr
Some details vary in different states, not all ALDI are currently partnered with ALDI and there are also differences (i.e. pricing varies even within the state and curbside pickup is very limited for ALDI
I think less than 5 of the 50 plus stores in Maryland.)
So the “bad news” first, There is a mark up per item averaging 10-14% depending on your area for ALDI. The prices you see are for the items in your nearest store – I played with this using family members zip code and as you know prices and partners (stores served) can vary from area to area even within the same state.
InstaCart has improved their website in the last few months, (added limited weekly finds available to order)
The “special request is still an exercise requiring patience “Most” but certainly not all of the current shoppers are relatively new and so may not be quite as good at subbing.
Tiplets: try to get a slot EARLY in the day. And right now expect that it may not arrive in the requested window. If you have a late day slot it is not uncommon for there to be insufficient shoppers at that time and so your order may get cancelled. Earlier slots (I try to get the 1st morning 10am-12 ) seem to be averaging about 1-3 hours later.
Be aware that as soon as you place your order, they will put thru an authorization against your debit or credit card. It will be higher than you order.
Since I want AM slots, I keep a running order until it hits the magic $35 needed for Express benefits. These benefits are no delivery fee, but there is still a service fee. And no upcharges based on time of day or day (I do not remember exactly since I have Express membership for a year, but it was several dollars before I did Express)
Just as if you went to the store yourself, if it is out of stock then depending on your instructions you will not get exactly what you want. The default is “let shopper choose” which I do not recommend. If you are fussy about brand, pick don’t replace. If you okay with alternatives, choose that and you can be detailed in the instructions. For example, my arthritis makes hard to lift a gallon of milk so I order two 1/2 gals 2%. . BUT my instructions are “If 1/2 gallon unavailable – okay to sub ONE gallon 2% or whole milk”
It is easiest to do the replacement and other instructions during the checkout, and MOST of the time those instruction now carry over from order to order.
Be prepared, especially if your order items price pound that your order may be higher than when placed. It may also be lower, InstaCart makes adjustments when it processes from an authorization to final total.
Refunds may take a few days to show up depending on your payment method.
It may be helpful to “keep an eye” on the order starting about 10 mins before your time slot and then once they start shopping – I wait until first item is moved to “shopped” = use chat to let them know you are available if they need you to approve subs.
Until this craziness (Covid-19), I preferred to put minimum tip on the order and then use cash on delivery. Anyone who has ever worked for tips will understand why but right now that may not be in your best interest.
With some many new folks working, I have gone to 15% when I place the order. The shopper can only see the value of the order “to them” – not sure what other info, but have been told definitely not the identity of the customer.
You can make changes (add/remove) right up until the InstaCart shopper official starts. Sometimes even while they are shopping if you use the chat function. To keep my “morning” slot I usually place the order as soon as I get to $35, and then add as needed. Why $35 = because that is the minimum merchandise amount needed for your Express benefit (free delivery, no service fees related to time and day requested)
Rarely have they upped the hold authorization against my card – which really only matters if you are using a bank debit card.
It may or may not be important – but if applicable – in most case EBT WIC and other government subsidy for food cannot be used. This varies from state to state – even when they are acceptable “in store”
The markups are a percentage, so if you start with a higher price such as you might find in Safeway or Kroeger then the actual $$’s will also be higher. It also varies according to Instacart’s agreement with a particular chain.
I do know the 5 “shippable” items I get from BJ’s every month or two are marked up a minimum of 20% AND the delivery and service fees were much higher than using Safeway & BJ’s own services.
And again, the percentage and base price seems to vary wildly from area to area even within a state.
A note about the Instacart Express “deal” With ALDI it is usually okay, but for other stores often much higher percentage. However in these times, since they partner with many places in my area including BJ’s & Costco for fresh foods as well as many of the Albertson chain of stores (our area has many Safeway) Petco, CVS, and a few others.
The down side is that If for example your local Safeway has a weekly special for hamburger or a bogo, those will NOT apply when you order thru Instacart.
I don’t know “for sure” about Costco – but for BJ’s their 2 day ship (which means right now it takes about 7-10 days to arrive) is about 20-25% less costly. So we try to get things that cannot be shipped when we have medical appts closer to the store.
Ongoing, if there are items you frequently order, do “Favorite” them. There is an option to shop your Favorites and that can be a time saver. Annoying and time consuming but a big convenience as you go forward.
If you do opt for the Express membership – it can be used for any of the stores in your area that are partnered with InstaCart. It may not be possible to see what stores are partnered in your zip code until you have created your account. And you will need give InstaCart your loyalty card or membership number. So you if you want to use InstaCart for BJ’s and Costco, etc, you will need a membership. InstaCart charges are additional.
Hope your experience turns out as positive as mine have been
I continue to be grateful for both the ALDI employees & InstaCart shoppers and other delivery services
If you have other questions, I will be happy to help if I can.
Again, I recently, I opened a small group on the free speech platform GAB called ALDI Aficionados it is tiny, but if you happen to be a GAB member – please do drop by and talk “ALDI” or use the newly returned private chat option to reach me @wheat is my screen name (yeah I always use my real name)
If you are a shopper/delivery person willing to help with more information to help your customers work with you, please comment (they won’t be made public) with how to reach you by email.
This usually located at the top of the page your right as you look at the screen. 
I am putting this here so I can just give the link to “interested persons” This is “off the top of my head” so feel free to ask additional questions – eventually I will find a shopper/delivery person willing to help with additonal informtion and their viewpoint without jeopardizing their standing.