Grocery delivery services can be an immense asset for a busy person.
Between work, picking up the kids, or not feeling like going to the store, grocery delivery services can be a lot of help.
Instacart is one of the best grocery delivery services available, but it’s definitely not perfect.
In those moments, you need to know when and how you’re going to get your Instacart refund.
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Instacart Refund Policy
Instacart states on their website that you have to request your refund within 7 days of delivery. If you don’t, you won’t be able to receive a refund for your order, regardless of what was wrong with it.
Instacart refunds will take anywhere from 5-10 business days to be returned to your bank account.
Unlike other Instacart credits, found in the “Credits, promos, & gift cards” section, a refund will not show up in your account.
It won’t be refunded as a credit, but rather the funds will be put back into your bank or on your credit card.
Types of Refunds
There are a few different types of Instacart refunds you might be available to receive.
It all depends on the service you signed up for.
Instacart doesn’t require a membership to shop with the service, but you can choose to pay for Instacart Express to save a bit of money on service and delivery fees.
Refunds on Normal Orders
You might need to get a refund on a whole order, a single item, or a mix of items.
This process is fairly straightforward, as Instacart will work with you to get a refund issued to your choice of payment method.
Whether it’s a missing, damaged, or expired item, the Instacart refund, once approved, will show up 5-10 days later on your payment method of choice.
Refunds on Instacart Express
Instacart Express is a bonus service you can pay for from Instacart to help make your experience a bit easier.
If your order is over $35, you’ll get free delivery and won’t receive a delivery fee when you have Instacart Express.
You get lower service fees and save an average of $7 an order with the service.
Because Instacart Express is not free, the company encourages people to try a trial of the service and then choose to pay its yearly cost.
While people may forget to cancel their free trial, Instacart Express can be canceled at any time by going to the “Your Account” tab in your Instacart account.
If you cancel your Instacart Express membership within the first 15 days of your membership, not the free trial, you’ll get a refund of the membership fee.
However, you’ll only get the refund if you didn’t utilize the Instacart Express services during that time.
If you did, you will not be refunded, but there won’t be a cancellation fee.
Editor’s Tip:
If you are fed up with the service entirely, learn how to delete your Instacart account altogether.
It’s a simple, painless process that takes but a few moments to do.
Common Reasons for an Instacart Refund
There are tons of reasons for you to need an Instacart refund.
In some cases, delivery drivers will drop off your groceries at the wrong address, leaving you stuck with no food and out of money.
Other times, you’ll get faulty products or be missing entire items, so of course, you’ll want your money back in those cases.
1. Missing Food
Though it should hopefully be an uncommon occurrence, sometimes food items are missed from your order and get forgotten.
This can be as inconvenient as forgetting your favorite snack or a key ingredient for dinner.
You have up to 14 days to report an issue with your order with Instacart.
Instacart’s customer support works to keep customers happy, and it’ll issue refunds quickly when applicable.
You may not be eligible for a refund in some cases, but Instacart will happily give credit in lieu of a refund.
However, you need to report any issues within 14 days of receiving your order.
2. Incorrect Address
Getting your groceries delivered to the wrong address is more than an inconvenience, especially if you’re trying to run a household and have suddenly found yourself without food.
If your groceries are delivered to the wrong address, it’s best to kiss them goodbye and ask for a refund from Instacart.
If an order goes to the wrong address after you’ve knowingly put the correct one into the system, odds are Instacart will cooperate with you to give you a refund.
However, if you input the information incorrectly and it technically goes to the right address, you’ll have a bit of work ahead of you.
Instead of requesting a refund, you’ll need to contact Instacart support to figure out what can be done regarding your order.
You can call them at 1-888-246-7822 or use the “Contact Us” option found within the Help Center to start a live chat. This live chat can be accessed from the desktop website or mobile app.
3. Cancelled Orders
There’s a trick to getting your Instacart order picked up quickly, but first, let’s discuss why orders get cancelled.
Sometimes there aren’t enough shoppers for that day or they simply don’t want to take on the order, so instead of you waiting in limbo, your order is canceled instead.
So how do you make sure this doesn’t happen?
If your order is a fairly large order, odds are shoppers won’t want to take it on.
However, if it’s a large order with a generous tip, you may find it gets picked up a bit quicker.
Making sure you tip your shopper accordingly will all but guarantee your Instacart order is fulfilled as soon as possible.
Obviously, if you canceled your own order, this wouldn’t be a surprise.
You’d just have to figure out if you want to place the same order at a different time or brave the unknown and venture into the grocery store.
4. Spoiled Orders
Hopefully, this doesn’t happen often, but on occasion shoppers may not pay attention to what they’re grabbing and get you something expired.
If you find yourself in possession of expired foods, whether it’s fruit, meat, or something else, Instacart will gladly help you get refunded for those items.
Instacart shoppers aren’t perfect, and sometimes they find bad apples (literally) or choose a bad substitution.
If you’re unhappy with the quality of your product or what replacements were chosen, you can get a refund from Instacart.
However, you have to reach out during the given timeline, otherwise you won’t be eligible for a refund.
How to Get a Refund
If you realize Instacart has messed up your order in any of the previously mentioned ways, you need to know how to get a refund.
Luckily, you can request refunds from both the Instacart app and the desktop webpage.
It all depends on what you’re more comfortable using.
1. Request an Instacart Refund on the App
When you’re logged into the Instacart app, you’ll first need to find the receipt for your order.
You’ll need to tap the three horizontal bars in the upper left hand corner of the app.
From there, you’ll need to select “Your Orders” and find the order you had an issue with – probably the most recent one.
From there, tap on the order and it’ll show that your order is complete and hopefully have a picture of the delivery.
The screen will also display a “Reorder,” “Receipt,” and “Chat History” options.
You’ll need to select “Receipt,” and from there it’ll show an itemized list of your grocery order.
At the top you’ll see any refunds you may have had while the shopper was fulfilling your order and the store was out of items.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the receipt, you’ll see a prompt asking you to rate or report a problem.
You can rate your shopper and then go about asking for your refund.
2. Request an Instacart Refund Online
Requesting an Instacart refund via your web browser is fairly similar to requesting one on the app.
You’ll log in to your Instacart account and then find the same three horizontal bars in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click that, and then you’ll see a new menu of items.
In this menu, you’ll need to click “Your Orders.”
The next page will show you all your past orders and give a preview of what they contained.
On the right hand side you’ll see a link that says “View Order Detail,” which you’ll need to click.
Once there you’ll see an option to add the items to your cart again or view the receipt.
Now you’ll click “View Receipt” to see a detailed list of what was already refunded, adjusted, or successfully delivered.
Next, you’ll need to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the digital Instacart receipt page.
It won’t be in very vibrant lettering, but you should see a box that says “Rate Order And Report An Issue.”
Click that and fill in the correct information to get the refund ball rolling.
Alternative: Cancel an Instacart Order Before It’s Delivered
If you choose to cancel an Instacart order before a shopper has picked it up, you won’t incur any fees because it’s a no harm, no foul situation.
However, if you cancel your Instacart order after a shopper has already picked it up and started shopping, you’ll need to call Instacart or email them to cancel the order already in progress.
Waiting until the order has already been picked up to cancel it isn’t the best move because it’ll be a hassle for you as well as the shopper.
Additionally, you could get a cancellation fee of up to $15 for canceling your order.
It’s best to place Instacart shopping orders at a time when you know you’ll be available to ask questions about the order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Getting an Instacart refund is fairly simple, but there are still some frequently asked questions we need to cover to make sure you’re doing everything correctly when trying to get a refund.
Why Did Instacart Charge Me $100?
If Instacart charged you $100 outside of a grocery delivery, odds are you signed up for the Instacart Express membership and forgot to cancel it.
As long as you cancel the service within 15 calendar days of it charging you and you haven’t used the delivery service during that time, you should be able to get a refund for the charge.
Why Can’t I Cancel My Instacart Order?
If you can’t cancel your Instacart order, it probably means a shopper has already picked it up and began working on it.
If this is the case, you’ll need to reach out to Instacart directly to get the order canceled, but you might get a cancellation fee in the process.
Wrapping Up
Instacart can be a fantastic service for grocery delivery, especially when you don’t have enough hours in the day.
But it’s important to know you can easily request a refund for a variety of reasons both on the Instacart app and mobile web browser.
It’s easier than ever for you to go out there and shop on Instacart and get the refund you deserve.
