Buying Groceries Online: Safety Risks and Hidden Costs

Originally posted 12/18/2025, updated 1/15/2025 …includes sobering editor’s note added to I am so done …

No AI

Contents
2, 626 words

Back story
Yet… more than 50 percent of the time, there’s a delivery problem.

Wish I had known beforehand
The number of ways simple chat requests can be misinterpreted
I  am so done

Complaint letter to customer service…update
Conclusion
A few Tips
Epilogue

Sources

Update: Shopping adventure 1/14/2026  pending

Many consumers have started using online grocery ordering for convenience.

But for those who  consider using  the service for medical reasons…be aware it may not be all
as advertised.

I have used six platforms… the current one for 18 months.

*Platforms will not be named.

Delivery images taken by shoppers and posted on my dashboard are shown below. But I took scans to provide proof for selected order complaints.

Ever scan a cracked egg??

To avoid bending and lifting, I  put a box inside a new lawn bag in front of my door…

The plastic bag handles are taped inside the apartment to allow me to pull the box inside…

But my written box instructions are open to many interpretations.

Ex: The delivery pictured below…bags were left lined up in marching formation … six feet from the box…  

     Others have

• Moved the box and placed the delivery outside the box…

• Jammed delivery bags under the plastic instead of leaving On Top of the plastic as requested…

• Left a single bag delivery dangling on the far rim of the box…the rim farthest from reach.
• And in a stunning incident… A small, heavy order was delivered in a flat box lid and placed on the hallway flooring…too heavy to lift.   Then my empty, dusty box was placed on top of the exposed groceries in the delivery lid.

• In a recent new twist…one shopper delivered the order by slitting the plastic from top to bottom on my box to place the bags inside the box and under the plastic…   Speechless
• At the store, one shopper, anxious to please… not only put the produce in produce bags and knotted them tightly… but decided it would be a good idea to do the same for all items in the entire order.

• A delivery driver liked my $200  grocery order so much… he stole it en route…
  Note:  Not unusual  Chinese and Mexican take-out orders were food-napped previously, said an industry insider.

A quick refund was granted, but the original order could not be replaced in one trip…because some of the essential items were out of stock.

The number of ways simple, written instructions can be misinterpreted is amazing….

For instance, despite my customer profile, I have received food and oil from New Zealand, Zimbabwe…and other parts of the world mistakenly thought to be in the US.

 

                                 I am so done

Images below
Two deliveries were scheduled on December 15, 2025, a few hours apart, and what transpired led me to write this warning post…Each delivery complaint below required 2 separate sets of paperwork.

Dismayed when I opened my door …

The delivery box was heavy…I nearly dropped it, and some edibles fell out onto the dusty remodeled flooring…

The next day…I learned the delivery box was contaminated.

Details in the complaint email below.

“A bagged delivery with edibles was supposed to be left at my door in a waiting box yesterday…

But the order arrived minutes before store closing… in a used box.

The used delivery box had a strong chemical odor…The lanolin-like scent irritated my throat, and nausea ensued…and despite breaking down the box and sealing it in [fresh, double lawn trash bags last night]…the toxic smell persisted yesterday.  

Disinfectant in plastic bottles were previously stored in the delivery box.

This morning the store manager said,  “We did not box your order…we only bag… and we do not carry that product.”

The box markings and label are scanned and attached.

Library science department said based on the box markings: the product may be used to clean athletic equipment, and trace amounts of residual contact in the box with edible items could cause illness and poisoning.

I was advised not to consume the edibles.

The chemical smell from the box persists right now and is still causing intermittent low-level nausea…and throat irritation.

*I must document all this for the second day to attempt a refund of all applicable charges??? Again?”

*Editor’s note: The platform replied on the 16th that I must send more pictures for clarification. So, I had to resend seven attachments in two emails.

Update: Learned from pharmacist 12/22/2025
OSHA lists the disinfectant on the box as dangerous and must be used in a well-ventilated area…”Get rid of the box!”

Box tips

1. Do not rip up a chemically scented box… even if gloves are used.
2. First calls should include poison control.
3. You must remove the offensive box from your residence right away…Storing it in a new, sealed double lawn bag and keeping it in a hallway closet near the entry did not solve my problem.

Nope… the awful scent persisted…despite using three fresh lawn bags to smother the scent.
The disinfectant could have leaked into the box, I was later advised …

Extra cost for shopper error…
$90…box removal and cost to replace the tainted edible items…

 

Order #2

Two dozen eggs ordered… one carton fine but the other carton had a cracked egg that leeked over the others… carton damp because it was packed beside frozen bags of green beans.

 

Reorder for uncracked eggs…

Delivery #2.  Extra cost for shopper error…
replacing one dozen eggs with service fees, etc. $23…REFUND granted January 2, 2026

Of course, the bag left out of the box during egg redelivery was very heavy.

 

Conclusion

Nothing I found online prepared me for the experiences that I have encountered.

The preceding stories are just a sample of the injury-aggravating, schedule-ruining, time-draining, and costly issues experienced.

Several supervisors say: “Your instructions are clear and simple …my apology… the shoppers are just not reading the instructions.”

I’ll never forget the shopper, who, in opening chat, when asked if he read the instructions, misspelled OK.

No… not a typo.
I worried what new, fresh hell awaited this order… unfortunately…I was correct…

Another part of the problem is the tech glitches …

For instance, placing an item in your cart with instructions not to substitute items, yet either the shopper or the system removes your instructions, and you receive something that you cannot use or consume.

Shopper notes written for other stores previously will sometimes appear without warning on other unrelated orders.

Incredibly, continued shopper errors pile up on the customer’s account, and despite evidence that the errors are the shoppers, customer service often can’t manually refund the money or issue credit…

Because your account is deemed to have too many complaints registered??? Seriously???

So, one must gather evidence, write a complaint, and submit…repeatedly.

I reordered the items in both December 15 orders.

Meanwhile, the platform, in their own words, is still evaluating my documentation* and deciding whether I will receive a refund for the contaminated box delivery and the damaged carton of eggs???
*Security video on the site.

Outrageous.

                                           A few tips

*A credit card used for orders will give you more protection than a debit card, and using PayPal may help you resolve issues more quickly than the bank solo.

*I no longer plan for other tasks or activities on the days I must order online groceries. The amount of time spent correcting mistakes… sometimes reordering…it is too much.

*When refunds are returned, you must still cover the extra service fees for unplanned trips. Sometimes refunds are delayed.

Of course, some shoppers do follow simple instructions well.

And some shoppers know how to bag meat and poultry.

Unfortunately, you can’t request specific shoppers.

*Place orders early in the day.

Learning that essential medical-related ingredients for dinner are out of stock…or the shopper made a mistake and brought the wrong item, or ruined the item for a 6:00 pm delivery… might mean grabbing a sandwich instead.

Curiously, complaints about the delivery of bad selections of fruit and veggies are common, but I have been spared such incidents.

*Avoid bad weather days

*Good luck getting all your shopping done at a single store.

*After placing an order, you must monitor the screen until checkout…much like an unwatched pot boiling over…it is the only way to reply quickly to the shopper on a fast-paced schedule…spot tech errors and cut down on costly correction trips.

If shoppers have trouble with directions once they arrive on your property…you must continue to monitor or risk the delivery being taken and left at the wrong part of the property.

*Whenever possible…call the store and find out if items on your list are in stock.
Be aware that it may be when they say yes… but no… by the time the shopper arrives.

And in stock versus… we sell… means two different things.

Sometimes the shopper will message that an essential item is out of stock and remove the item from your cart order… but it is in stock…happened recently. I knew there was a large supply…I had called the store before placing the order.

*Some stores stock items not visible on the platform dashboard…so creative ordering and instruction must take place.

Order a product you do not want for about the same price as the item that you do want…. and can use if the shopper brings it by mistake….ask the shopper to switch it out…Note: This order went well.

 

Warning...buying an item not listed on the platform means… should there be a complaint…the platform will not intervene. 

A recent case in point…despite speaking with a store department manager… who assured the organic food item not offered on the platform app…was in stock…I was scammed…the manager sent the non-organic version.

Cost $25.68 …for starters…

Able to gift the essential food item to another shopper hours later…a nightmare ensued…

Replacement meant booking a return trip to another store that day …BUT shopper error delivered less than ordered…

Instead of 1.5 pounds…7 ounces arrived, so a second trip was required…

What had started as a late morning order dragged until 8 pm.
Note: The shopper error, which I saw and alerted the shopper who was still shopping, was not corrected.

The platform does not allow refunds of service fees,  said customer service.   Cost $14.
Good news though: receipt noted I had saved 20 cents on bread.
Of the four orders delivered that day, only one shopper completed the task without error.

*You may print out and read or listen to the platform rules and regulations, and discover later… cancellation fees are not listed.

• Always check the bags right away …even if perishable items are excluded.
  If your dashboard shows you were charged for four items as requested, but only three arrive…without a paper receipt… good luck with that…    Hard to take a picture of the invisible.
  Call the store’s tech department to see if a receipt can be found…
• You may discover the platform does not always abide by their written rules…
  Consider…An information professional ordered one item and specified …no substitutions.                             Yet the shopper chose a replacement costing 3 times more.

According to the agreement, if the customer refuses the order at delivery…the shopper must return it… but the shopper refused, and the platform agreed with the shopper.

So, the customer left the platform for good. Much easier to do when injury issues are not involved.

• Product pics on the dashboard… may not reveal all.
  Ex:  product was delivered with a warning label:
  Toxic and may emit chemicals and lead

In this case, I received a prompt refund…because the warning label could not be found on the dashboard information…a platform error.

                                         Epilogue

Three orders today…December 30th
Order #1 …Thumbs up!  

Last time, the delivery bag was left on the door as requested…

but a request to secure the bag with the tape waiting on the door handle was ignored.

So, when I opened the door…the bag flew off the handle and into the hallway.

Order #2

Box too heavy to lift… had to push….
surprise…surprise …beside not in the waiting box.

Order # 3

Chat image below…

Result: 1. Potatoes were thrown into the large grocery bag unbagged.

2. The store was fully stocked with water, but the cart quantity somehow changed to 3 bottles …
I tried to translate the shopper’s response in Google …but the translation was unclear …
so, I gave up and replied OK.

Service fees for this order: $11.00 and $5 tip + my cost to replace a roll of damaged paper towels and reorder water supplies… days sooner than planned.

But at least, he put the bags in the box.

This is my last December with this company. Nothing that customer service has suggested to ease shopper errors has worked.

Even native English speakers make mistakes…while some non-native speakers deliver without issues.

In reflection, using this platform was based on an unexpected situation, and I skipped the homework step.   Such as …what do other people think about the platform you are considering?

All in all, a business model in need of a major overhaul. 

Thank you for reading.

**This post is a sample from a new 2026, 14-page supplemental tutorial for family consumer and sciences…and career and tech independent study students…including overlooked aspects of the gig economy that consumers should know….and a quick quiz: can you spot the hidden expenses outlined in this post?
…9-12 and adult education…

 

ift.org   Tips For Bagging Groceries Safetly

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
https://www.osha.gov/