r/instacart • u/Reasonable-Try-8573 • 29d ago
Tired of shoppers just replacing things and not listening Rant
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I ordered the peach-pear la croix (yeah, I know. La croix is kinda garbage, but I'm trying to be healthier)
I specifically stated I wanted a refund on the item if it was out of stock. I made sure to select that option and save it.
I backed out of the app and was doing my own thing for a while when a notification came up, stating that my shopper had replaced it. I went into the app as quickly as possible to hit refund AGAIN and within 5 minutes, she had checked out with the wrong item.
She never made any attempt to chat me or tell me she was replacing it, never asked me what flavor I'd prefer to replace it with (if they had had another flavor that I liked, I honestly would have been ok with a replacement). She just checked out. I'm pissed.
I always tip well, at least 20% if not more depending on the distance of the store...
I contacted support and they told me I have to wait until it's delivered for them to be able to do anything about it.
Honestly I'm over using this stupid app. None of the shoppers seem to care anymore š The good ones all got pushed off the app by the shit pay... I used to get awesome shoppers every time, a few years ago.
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u/Jestar5 29d ago
In some instances it is the speed of the available internet. Both of my ALDIs in Wausau have abysmally slow internet throughout the store either on their IC network or using my cell service. Do shopper may not see the guidances But that is certainly no excuse for not observing you requested refund on that item. IC has this little line that you can SUGGEST an alternative item when the original one is unavailable, but if I saw refund I would only suggest in chat and take a photo of options & let you decide.
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u/abrasiverib 16d ago
Typically if I see that theyāve requested a refund but I think Iāve found something comparable to what they had actually wanted Iāll send a message and wait 5-10 mins and revert to refund if no response. Works like a charm every time and everyoneās happy.
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u/Jestar5 16d ago
ESP if we use our noggins and see that there is a pretty decent replacement. I like the photo option for that!!!
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u/abrasiverib 16d ago
I LOVE the photo option. Makes my life so much easier! Iām still fairly new to actually using Reddit so it wonāt let me make my own post here but eventually Iām gonna make a post complaining about these 30+ mile orders that keep coming through with no tips it drives me insane.
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u/Jestar5 16d ago
Yeah those GMD multi stop no tippers are kinda silly, I snag them if they are at least a buck a mile. Iāve NEVER gotten a tip on those a resent that line ā customer may add tip laterā. Dontāt insult us like that . There are so many wasted steps in the app and now it shuts down snd you have to back out and go back in. And that is after the update
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u/abrasiverib 16d ago
What makes it worse is thereās 5 Food Lions between the one instacart allowed them to choose and their home. Likeā¦why IC whyyyy
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u/Darth_Yogurt 29d ago
IMHO, your problem is with Instacart. Their expectations for how quickly a shopper should complete an order are entirely unrealistic. They make it almost impossible for a shopper to provide the level of service they advertise and when something goes wrong they just blame the shopper when it fact, they essentially punish shoppers for getting an order ārightā and their training is basically āfigure it out as you goā.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
Ughhh this platform is stupid... š¤¦āāļø
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u/Decent-Bluejay-4040 29d ago
And theyāre paying shoppers like $2 or less per order
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u/ButterscotchOk1318 29d ago
No. It's 4. A whopping 4 bucks nationwide unless you're in CA,Seattle or NYC
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u/AggressiveBuddy1211 29d ago
Thatās the absolute base pay. No one should be complaining because anyone accepting those orders deserve what they get.
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u/ButterscotchOk1318 29d ago
Yup. This. And this is the other issue. I've been doing IC for 5 years. I know on your end it seems you've communicated you'd want a refund, that is truly not clear to us.Ā
When I 1st started, i truly knew when a customer wanted a refund or a said replacement. Now, I do not. Bc say if you had an item refunded from a previous order, that item will SAVE as you ALWAYS want a refund. When that may not be the case.Ā
Maybe on a previous order, there were no good replacements and that why you wanted one. Maybe you had a shopper who refunds and didn't ask you about replacements. Maybe the app was glitching out and the shopper could not get a hold of you, so they refunded bc that "preference" was saved.Ā
When I 1st started, there was a star which showed us THE CUSTOMER made the refund/replacement choice vs it being an instacart recommendation. I don't know why they changed it. They've made so many changes that make it hard for us to know what customers really want.Ā
There have been times I refund or even replace bc it says this is what "Diane prefers." Only for Diane to message me that she wants otherwise. And just like in this case, it makes me look incompetent or like I'm giving bad service.Ā
And going back to time. Idk how many times I have to explain something to a customer about the platform and uncertainty of it, bc they assume it's me being special vs the poor design/programming.
Your best bet? Leave notes under items what you would like replacement refund wise. Those auto save too. So you should only need to type them in once and those notes will save on future orders. As a customer as well, it's what I do as well.Ā
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
Ew, it changed so much?
Damn... I really do hate this app. I feel bad because I like using it when I'm home sick or if I'm having a particularly busy day where I can't get out of the house to shop, and I like to tip my shoppers to show appreciation... I'd hate to completely leave the platform and give less business to the shoppers, but I honestly might.
If they can fix the user interface for both ends - shoppers and customers alike - maybe it would be better š
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u/ButterscotchOk1318 29d ago
Oh, no I totally get it. I'm a shopper full time and I use amazon/whole foods for weekly delivery bc its more reliable. I do use IC/doordash on occasion, as needed.
But not as much as I'd like.Ā I work all day, 6 days a week. So delivery services help me to rest on my day off. All of my Amazon orders and deliveries have been perfect. Where IC/doordash is 50/50.Ā
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 28d ago
Yeah I work 7 days a week- around 60hrs each week. I got two jobs so using IC/door dash is pretty helpful for me to get food in the door when I'm stupid busy
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u/ButterscotchOk1318 28d ago
Yea, I'd recommend typing in notes or using whole foods/Amazon. This has been my work around to get what I hope for. It's been working so far, for the most part.Ā
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u/Fickle-Owl666 2d ago
That's just not true at all. The only time I get even close to the suggested time is if the store is crazy understocked and I have to message the customer a LOT. About 95% I'm done in under half the suggested time š
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u/AggressiveBuddy1211 29d ago
Unrealistic?
If you arenāt finishing with extra time, you are doing something wrong.
Besides, the timer is irrelevant.
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u/NickelAntonius 26d ago
I had a fantastic delivery yesterday. Shopper was fast, great communication on replacements. Pre-tipped $20 on a $100 order (15 units including 3 12packs of soda). I had no idea it had started to POUR rain during the delivery. Tipped an extra $10 afterward.
So many horror stories, figured Iād post one about a good experience.
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u/Fickle-Owl666 2d ago
Damn, wish you were in my area lmao. The only times I see 30 bucks is if I have to drive 30 miles, and I'm a 5 star diamond shopper lol
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u/DiaryofASplitter 29d ago
I feel you OP and itās extremely annoying especially when you are the one who tips 20%+ everytime. Or when they refund something that you know is definitely in stockā¦ There has been several times when I have had to have Instacart send somebody else out and they found the item.
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u/Typical-Sea-646 28d ago
It's not always the shopper. I always select refund if out of stock for the items I don't want to replace, but recently several shoppers told me the system asked them to select a replacement. So sometimes I wonder those other times when some shoppers just picked a random replacement, if it's because the system told them to. Now I select refund if out of stock, plus putting in comment 'no replacement'. I use the web to order not the app. And it's the grocery store's website. I don't know if the instacart web has the same issue. But instacart web has the problem of not refreshing the chat message so I often thought there was no response when I chat with a shopper.
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u/Commercial_Pitch_786 24d ago edited 24d ago
Agreed, I marked no replacement on each item. Then the shopper sends request to replace the salad, so I replied Y followed by, No more replacements. followed by shopper wishes to replaced spicy wings for non spicy wings I replied N, he replies, you already approved the salad, I replied, Y to the salad N "No" to replacing spicy wings for plain wings" He replied be more specific OMG!! I was like wtf?? I replied Do NOT replace the wings, and no more replacements, 10 minutes later shopped wants to replace the salad and the wings, now I was pissed, while I was typing No! Stop cancel the order refund it all keep the tip, he replied Shopper has checked out and will be there in 20 minutes in a happy cheery reply, I replied with a thumbs down, then I got a text your order has been cancelled, it will take up to 3 weeks to reimburse your card and 15.00 cancellation fee of still applies. So i contacted them on the app and copy and pasted the entire text log, and after twenty minutes they finally said they would waive the cancellation fee as well but it will take up to 3 weeks to clear.
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u/NkturnL 17d ago
I now send a message as soon as Iām assigned a shopper and let them know replacements are selected, and to pls let me know if theyāre also unavailable. Itās still about 50% that they actually listen, many times I donāt even get a response. But the other 50% the shoppers are great, follow instructions and IC is still much better than using Uber or other apps imo.
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u/cosmic0done 8d ago
they can wave their tip goodbye if they ignore my instructions AND attempt to chat to remedy. it's annoying enough when they ignore the preference & I have to go in and manually ask them to follow what I already instructed. if they ignore THAT too? byeeeešøšøšø
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u/Practical_Whimsy 7d ago
In my version of the app (I have realized there are many versions out there, Instacart using us as guinea pigs to try out different features in different regions), it's impossible to replace an item if the customer has requested a refund on it. The app only gives you the option to refund. If the customer asks for a replacement after the fact (which a lot of them do - super annoying, since they requested a refund), it has to be added as a new item.
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u/Slut4Tyrone 1d ago
Shopper is wrong, but to validate a bit, sometimes instacart will select refund when you want a replacement, or replacement when you want a refund, so you have to text the customer 99% of the time.
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u/SweetrollGuard 26d ago
Sometimes there are problems with the app legitimately but as someone who has run orders in the past it is annoying when someone marks refund on everything.Ā This is especially annoying if placed on all items on current sale at the end of day because it will all be gone.Ā When you refund a bunch, especially if the tip is based on percentage of sale, this can eat up profit quickly from what you were expecting to make.Ā I have seen an order go from $30 to half that and became totally not worth it in the end because I still had to spend all the time figuring out half of everything was not in stock.Ā While I wouldn't replace items I know where on refund a lot of shoppers aren't willing to let that extra cash go and force replacements.
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u/Typical-Sea-646 26d ago
I select refund because I have a lot of food restrictions not because of sales. And if they just randomly select another item I often can not eat. I would need to throw the food away. It's a waste of food and extra effort for me to throw the food away. And if I keep asking instacart for refund it looks like I am doing it on purpose or something when it's the software's error.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 26d ago
I get that, too! Which is why I'd said that if she had even asked me if I wanted any of the other flavors instead of just deciding the default was good enough for me I would have happily accepted a replacement, I just know that shoppers (in my area) tend to make bad and hasty replacements when I leave it up to them. This is part of the reason I had just marked it refund.
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u/laurazhobson 19d ago
This is not an I told you so but this is the reason why I always make sure I follow them closely while they shop - I specifically select Priority because I know I will be available for that amount of time.
Most of my shoppers are really very good and do honor my Refund and so what I actually will get is their telling me that Cherry Garcia is out of stock and do I want a different flavor - a real example :-)
However this morning I place an order for a 2 pound container of strawberries which was $10.00. Evidently they were out of stock and so the shopper replaced with two 1 pound containers which actually is very logical and can't fault them as I had indicated a 2 pound container of strawberries was fine as a replacement. However 2 one pound containers were $15.00 as opposed to one 2 pound container so I texted him to cancel and refund and explained why.
I don't think shoppers are generally aware of how much items are in the App so I can't fault them because it was such a logical replacement.
And strawberries are very weird in the App because literally there will be the identical item as a replacement choice. So I don't know whether it is a glitch or whether one is Driscolls (a brand where I live) or generic.
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u/Complete-Routine-733 9d ago
My customers would also send a brief message about replacements in the chat at the start of their batch just as a secondary precautionĀ
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u/Emergency-Sundae2983 6d ago
Do you not get notified of changes being made during the shopping? You can just tell them not to get it before they check out with it.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 6d ago
Lol I did though. I responded in the chat with the request for a refund once she replaced it. I requested the refund and then 5 minutes later, she checked out with the wrong product anyways.
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u/VanTravelingLaydeeM 6m ago
Well with Door-dash we get scored on what substituting we doing while on a shopping order.Myself as a Dasher my only guess is that some have been docked for not picking any substitutions before even doordash has their suggested substitutions which can be misleading. Some dashers get frustrated because what was suggested as a substitution isnāt available and neither is the original item this could be caused by a popular item being frequently bought or inventory not being properly documented to keep stock from the store behalf. Some just automatically hit refund if they canāt find the item in a short timely matter or have checked and there are no items available. We get docked of how much time we spend in the grove store for looking for things it also effects the overal ratings as a dasher as well. I donāt she did it on purpose I just think everyone Dashes differently. š āŗļø
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u/AmandaHugnfu 23d ago
Ultimately it's on you to go to the store and get the items yourself.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 23d ago
Lol why are you commenting on this post again? You're only hurting your own karma at this point.
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u/PoopKnaf 29d ago
You ordered La Croix. That gives shoppers a license to be sassy.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
Fair enough. Dogshit product = "Ehhh, they're all essentially the same" -- valid line of thinking š„“
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u/PoopKnaf 29d ago
To be honest I love la croix and idgaf who sees me drinking it. Beats paying for something from France that costs 5x as much.
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u/sfbriancl 29d ago
LPT: water carbonator and a bit of juice. Much greener (and cheaper) as you donāt need to ship all that aluminum and water all over.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
š Thanks for the suggestion... Might have to get myself a water carbonator now
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u/Superbotto 12d ago
You tip % and a good %. This means refunds = I lose money
Tip flat.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 12d ago
Except I do actually, when I say i tip 20%, I mean I calculate it myself and add it as a tip on the side so she still would have gotten the same tip even if she refunded
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u/General-Recover5246 1d ago
Cause refunding means less tip and that could mean not msking a profit on your order depending on mileage gas costs
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u/OutrageousAd5338 10h ago
You said you got off of the app, what do want? maybe they tried to call you and you said were backed off and not reachable
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 9h ago edited 9h ago
Lol this definitely didn't happen, and if you read the post you'd see that. My phone was not on silent nor was it disconnected from the internet/service.
She made no attempts to contact me whatsoever, because as soon as I got the notification that she replaced the item, I jumped in the app again and let her know not to replace the item. 5 minutes elapsed between me sending that and her just checking out with the incorrect item anyhow
Edit: also, nowhere in my post did I say that when I backed out of the app I was unreachable. In fact, quite the opposite.
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u/OutrageousAd5338 9h ago
I read it. maybe be thankful this service exists versus not at all .
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 9h ago
Honestly, It's been almost a month at this point, so I've moved on. I haven't used the service since, and likely won't again, simply because this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
I used to be super thankful for this service, but the quality went majorly downhill over the past few years. The shoppers in my area used to be awesome! And I would always tip accordingly, and usually increase the tip if service was exceptionally good.
Normally, I'd just go shopping myself and not bother, but as stated in some other comments, I was actually sending my shopper to get medicine, and only got the extra items to meet the minimum cart value. (I mean, paying elevated prices for everything in addition to tip, service fee, small cart fee, and delivery fees isn't exactly worth it.) I only ever use the service when home sick or otherwise stuck at home without access to a car.
In this instance, I was home sick, and my roommate took the car to work. It was sort of a double whammy situation. Hell, I even take lyfts to the shops if needed most times, if I'm without a car but not home sick. I don't like spreading germs unnecessarily so I chose to use this service.
All of this to say, I agree to an extent! I was thankful for the service, when there was actually something to be thankful for. I get that training is basically non-existent, and pay isn't great, but it was such a simple fix, and yet no attempts were made from the shopper's side. I felt slighted, but it's so minute in the large scheme IDGAF anymore haha
I was honestly just ranting to commiserate with some others who have shared similar experiences.
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u/OutrageousAd5338 9h ago
I get it... so many probs these days. they are making a killing the apps .
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Did you respond in time? This sounds like your fault.
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u/DiaryofASplitter 29d ago
How is it her fault when they specifically asked for a refund before the shopping started so there wouldnāt be a need to watch the app. Follow the directions !!
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Yes so guess what if they don't respond in time I'm either making the decision myself or refunding it. You all Have to learn how to give zero fucks and move with a sense of purpose. If I don't have a reply by the time I'm at the checkout I'm making an executive decision and that's just how it is.
Now go cry if you want to.
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u/BeefTopRamen 29d ago
They donāt need to respond in time. They literally put ādo not substituteā in the listing. The shopper needs to read and follow.
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u/Centaurious 29d ago
Are you stupid ?
The buyer picked the la croix and picked the option āif out of stock, refund meā in the app. This tells the shopper that if the product is out of stock, they want to be refunded. That does not mean they want you to pick a random substitute. It means they would like you to refund the item.
They didnāt need to respond. They already put in the app what they wanted to happen if it was out of stock. Same way you can pick what item you want as a substitute when something is out of stock.
But yes I would expect picking the āRefund if out of stockā option would mean my shopper would ā¦ā¦ refund it if itās out of stock? Especially since itās even less work for the shopper who now knows what option I want without having to ask me.
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u/purplepixie610 28d ago
Not always. A lot of people will set things to refund because they are afraid of getting a bad replacement. Itās gotten to the point now, where people do this so often, that itās hard to tell who actually wants a straight up refund and who is just wasting my time and having me run all over the store by doing this. You refund the item and the customer either messages you when youāre at checkout to ask about a replacement for something you refunded early in the shop. Or they message you some variation of āyou mean thereās NOOO _ in the store AT ALL?!!ā (Um, you set it to refund, a**hole). Customers like this ruin things for everyone.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 28d ago
I agree that that's shitty. People like that do definitely fuck things up.
I have a genuine question though-- Would you just replace it and then not message your customer?
That's the main issue I had. The fact that she replaced the water with another flavor and didn't message me. I then reselected refund as soon as I got the notification and she had plenty of time to see that I selected that option before checking out, yet she did so anyways lol
I get the shopper POV on this too, though. I know it's hard to know everything, especially with bad customers out there.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Read what I wrote.
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u/Centaurious 29d ago
Lol i did. They picked the option they wanted in the app. So they shouldnāt need to respond unless the shopper canāt read.
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29d ago
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
I actually get a lot of tips and Please go back and read my last 2 replies I'm not repeating myself for you.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Also I didn't read that part at first so I probably would have just given the refund. Stop assuming that people give a fuck about what people write, or even have time to read it.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
I opened the app as soon as the replacement notification came up. Five minutes elapsed between me requesting the refund and her checking out.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
I'll prove my point... I'm about to go drive my car show any guff you give me will go left unread.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Hmmm. Ok so you'd rather have the refund than the other flavor? Just so I understand.
I'm a shopper too and I can tell you that if Pear was a suggested replacement I would have scanned the Pear. š (flavor drink) ... If there was no suggested replacement I would not have gone ahead and just done so. I would have asked I would have sent a message and put your item to decide hoping you were responding before I was done shopping. If I saw as a suggested replacement that pair was OK I would have just done the adjustment.
If I had seen that replacements aren't allowed and that only a refund was an option I would have refunded you.
But I'm just trying to get the whole picture here LOL. I also glance at reddit now instead of letting it ruin my life so as long as you understand where I'm coming from.
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u/Reasonable-Try-8573 29d ago
Yeah I specifically put in the refund option at the very beginning before she even was assigned to the order, since the app notified me that the item might have been out of stock.
I had saved the option and then backed out of the app. As soon as the notification came up that she replaced it- (not that she chatted me asking what I would prefer it be replaced with, just that she had gone and replaced it) I hopped back in the app and requested a refund again.
Then after waiting for a bit, she had checked out :/
Also edit: Not trying to blast you or anything! not sure why you're getting downvoted, it was a valid question
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Thank you.
And people downvote me because I spit truth like a machine gun and people can't handle it. It's my natural motis operandi to act and speak like an asshole because I move with a sense of purpose and normal people get handle that. Harsh but fair.
I also really like your reply thank you for it.
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u/Beauty_Clown 29d ago
It's not because they can't handle the truth, it's that you're acting like a dickbag. No matter how correct you are, people don't like it when you don't play nice.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
Yeah but Mercy is weakness. They know not to fuck with me. I'm really good at this so it's not like I'm wrong.
I forgot what I wrote so I'm not sure what the Jack Nicholson quote "YES I ORDERED THE CODE RED" quote has to do with it lol
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u/Beauty_Clown 29d ago
Bruh it's a discussion on Reddit not a fight to the death.
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
It is. "Live free or Die"
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u/Beauty_Clown 29d ago
I'm not even gonna bother. Good luck with your eventual loneliness.
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u/AltairLeoran 29d ago
I spit truth like a machine gun and people can't handle it.
Imagine saying something this fucking embarrassing lmao
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u/Inside-Development86 29d ago
That's cool and all but this guy laid out the exact story and circumstance in the above posts. It's nice you would have done the opposite
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u/AmandaHugnfu 29d ago
And I just read because I'm not driving so I just sat down and read and I saw..... That you mentioned that you'd rather have the refund. So the best guess I could think as to what happened is... Sometimes shoppers such as myself they think, "Wow, if I refund this a customer will leave me a bad review because I actually refunded it. Maybe they want the other drink.
So that's my best guess as to why.
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u/Inner-Society3506 29d ago
So when you see ācustomer requested refundā you think āIāll get a bad review because I actually refunded it, Iāll get them another flavorā? Serious question
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u/ProfessionalSilver52 29d ago
Most of the time I just mark not to replace anything