8 Subheads…1630 words
*Yet… more than 50 percent of the time, there’s a delivery problem.
*Wish I had known beforehand…
*The number of ways simple, written instructions can be misinterpreted is amazing.
*Complaint letter to customer service…note update
*Conclusion
*A few Tips
Laughter from customer service at some of the documented incidents I have reported…took a recent turn with a senseless health-related delivery that must be exposed.
I have used six platforms… the current one for 18 months.
Customer platform data
*Injury and …compromised immune system…
*Food restrictions…six words
*Please use produce bags for produce and for packages of meat and poultry
*No contact…please put delivery bags inside the plastic-covered box in front of my door.
Yet… about 50 percent of the time, there’s a delivery problem
To avoid bending and lifting, I place an empty fruit crate inside a new lawn bag in front of my door… the lawn bag handles secured inside the apartment allow me to open the door and pull the box inside…except… as you will learn…the instructions are open to
Example: The delivery pictured below was left lined up like marching men… six feet from the box…in the hallway, nowhere near my apt door…
Others have
- Placed delivery bags inches from the empty box…but not in the box…
- Left a single bag delivery dangling on the far rim of the box…the rim fartherest from reach.
- Forced bags under the plastic instead of placing the delivery On Top as noted…
- In a recent new twist…one shopper delivered the order by sliting the plastic bag to place the bags inside the box.
- 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 to all items in the entire order.
Wish I had known beforehand…
- 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.
I got a fast refund, but the original order could not be replaced in one trip…some of the essential items were out of stock.
- A delivery service debited my order 19 times…even the tech glitch shocked a banker…
- Or the time I received a grocery order with one dozen wet, cold, organic eggs… Despite what you may hear or read online…discard!!
The shopper had ignored chat and dashboard instructions to use produce bags, so wet bunches of collard greens were bagged with the eggs… - Instructions for fresh bread would arrive with stale or almost expired product… for months, last year. I had to send pics of the bread tags and receipt …
- Frozen bags of veggies arrived… thawed.
- Heavy, wet zucchini and other unbagged fresh vegetables, piled into the grocery bag…eggs on the bottom…of course…where else.
- One of the worst…produce bag not used with meat or poultry …instead, thrown into the bag with a pint of organic ice cream, no less… in another delivery, a package of chicken leaked in the bag and all over quarts of bottled water…
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
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.
Complaint Letter to Customer Service 12/16/2025…updated
“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 nauseau ensued…and despite breaking down the box and sealing it in [fresh, double lawn trash bags last night]…the toxic smell persists.
Bottles of disinfectant in plastic bottles were previously stored, according to the box markings.
“We did not box…we only bag… and we do not carry that product,” said the store manager this morning.
Box markings scanned and attached.
I learned from the library science department and online…that 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?”
Note: Learned from pharmacist 12/22/2025
OSHA lists the disinfectant on the box as dangerous and must be used in a well-ventilated area.
Order #2
Two dozen eggs ordered… one carton fine but the other carton had a cracked egg that leeked over the others…and the carton was damp because it was packed beside frozen bags of green beans.
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, time-draining, frustrating, 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, misspelled OK. No… not a typo. I worried what new, fresh hell awaited … 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.
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???
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???
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 of the shoppers follow simple instructions well. And some shoppers know how to bag meat and poultry. Unfortunately, you can’t request 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.
*After placing an order, you must monitor the screen until checkout. It is the only way to cut down on costly trips
*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 an essential item is out of stock and remove the items from your cart… 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 have items for sale that will not appear on the platform dashboard
*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 document invisibility.
Call the store’s tech department to see if a receipt can be found.*You may discover the platform does not always abide by written rules…
Consider…An information professional ordered one item and specified …no substitutions.
Yet the shopper chose a replacement item costing 3 X as much.
If the customer refused the order upon delivery…the shopper had to return the item…the shopper refused to do so, and the platform agreed.
The customer left the platform for good.
Much easier to do when injury issues are not involved.
This is my last December with this company. Nothing that customer service has suggested to ease shopper errors has worked.
In reflection, using this platform was based on an unexpected situation, and I skipped the homework step.
Before you sign up for any platform, check customer satisfaction with the Better Business Bureau for starters…
A business model in need of a major overhaul.
Thank you for reading.
Sources
https://www.ift.org/career-development/learn-about-food-science/food-facts/food-facts-food-safety-and-defense/bagging-groceries#:~:text=Raw%20meat%20should%20always%20be,temperature%20foods%20in%20separate%20bags.%20When%20shopping:
https://www.osha.gov/
Note… the country has a reputation for extremely clean grocery stores…see up to point 00:35
Less need for produce bags.
Views: 0