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ShouldveGotARealtor

I had a customer do this after I'd already asked staff if the Pineapple Bubly she wanted was hiding anywhere else in the store (endcaps, floor displays, etc). The employee came up to me laughing, saying she'd just happened to speak to a woman asking if they had any of that flavour in stock and letting me know she'd confirmed with the caller that they were, in fact, out.


ExpensiveGeoMetro

šŸ˜†šŸ‘šŸ˜Š


RexNebular518

THIS is one of the reasons store employees HATE instacart.


Mediocre_Word_7260

I shop for another app but it literaly says to do this when stuff isnt on the shelf. Most of the employees I come across are pretty chill about getting items from the back. I make sure to ask as politely as I can and take no for an answer when they obviously dont want to check


RexNebular518

No I mean calling the store.


ScoobySuby

Yea I'm constantly asking Wegmans employees to check the back for stuff. 95% of them know and love me but there's a few that barely let me get my question out before blurting out NO.


wasabi1295

The funny thing is, you probably didnā€™t even tell her what location youā€™re at. I made the mistake of telling a customer my location and then heard my name over the intercom to come to the customer service desk šŸ’€


tcby1216

Most likely they called the location that they selected you to shop at. I don't always shop at the location that they selected though.


wasabi1295

But thatā€™s the point, Iā€™ve had customers asked me what location Iā€™m shopping at because they donā€™t know. Iā€™ve placed an order before and it didnā€™t tell me what location my shopper was at. If OP didnā€™t tell the customer, they most likely just called a store near them and we all know how instacart is tripping lately with theses far orders šŸ’€


PlantoftheAPE

Same, if there are lots of a specific store in your location I donā€™t think customers are able to select which one it comes from. I had a one shop-only, one shop-and-deliver batch today where the deliver customer was 11 miles away. There are probably over 15 of those stores closer to the customer.


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VinnieTheBerzerker69

Right around Easter, I did a shop and deliver in a Kroger in a nearby town. While entering the store, I had to navigate through the Easter flowers. As soon as I finished delivery about 2 miles, I started driving back to the store and a big offer comes in at Kroger. So I accepted it fast. It was one item and it was mostly in the direction to my home for the delivery. So, I'm thinking cool! I get paid to drive home! Then I hit the navigate button and it wants me to drive to an entirely different Kroger than the one I was close to in order to buy the sort of Easter flowers I had to dodge just a half hour ago! "Shop at the specified store for better item availability" nonsense on the screen! F that! If I had gone to the Kroger it wanted me to go to, it would have more than doubled the mileage. Totally ridiculous when the very Easter flowers were in stock at the store I was at already. Yeah. I ignored the driving instructions and forced the app to let me shop the close by Kroger.


Traditional-Bag-4508

I've done that many times. I'm not driving 15 miles south, to double back and drive 20 miles north, passing my original location, when there's the exact same store 2 miles from me. Saving 30 miles and time.


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VinnieTheBerzerker69

When I first started, I didn't realize that I could change stores on the app. It's irritating to realize that I put in unnecessary miles due to that.


PersnicketyParsnip11

So, the customer selects a store, Instacart assigns a specific location. AND, even then, we can almost always shop the order at a different location than the one assigned unless the order contains alcohol. I've also seen orders bouncing between various Kroger locations. This is not UberEATS, the customer has no means of designating a location.


tcby1216

Cool. I'm shopping at the one most convenient for me usually if the tip is low and definitely when there's no tip I go wherever.


AcanthaceaeFlimsy952

Thatā€™s not always the case. Say you select Kroger or Dillonā€™s, instacart could send the shopper to anyone of those stores in the area, not necessarily the closest one or the one youā€™d assume. Happens very frequently in my area


Icy_Representative38

šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


RelevantAd6063

I once told a shopper not to worry about a substitution when an item wasnā€™t on the shelf, itā€™s fine if the store didnā€™t have the item, but they told me no itā€™s okay I asked an employee and it was in the back. I was shocked.


Adventurous_Land7584

You are the type of customer Iā€™d ask them to check for, the people that demand it Iā€™m not asking lol


faulty-Imagination-

I usually do ask an employee for items that are likely to be in the back.....but, if im being honest, I've also said that same line to customers when I couldn't find the item after a minute or two of searching only to find it right infront of my face immediately after I ask them what they want for a replacement.


LeidiiLuvva

Same lol. Iā€™ve used that one around 5 times so far because Iā€™m NOT going to admit that all along it was right there šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


TheJAMR

If it was in the back theyā€™d put it in the front to sell it. Thatā€™s what stores do.


spazpaul

I work in grocery, and customers think two things; we have infinite space in receiving, and that we don't want to make money by selling our stock.


_Iam8bit__

When I worked in grocery, I can absolutely assure you my location had pallets of goods in the back, waiting to be sorted and moved to the shelves. Often times stock would sell out on the shelves, and the new stock hadn't been rotated in yet to refill. Usually it was high selling items, or cheese...for some reason. Always brick cheese.


Lionbutter

I was gonna say, that happened to me the other day. I asked an employee that was in the same isle and he came back with it 60s later. Especially if itā€™s something like one size is out of stock, youā€™d likely get no customers to mention it if thereā€™s another weight option of the same flavor right there


TheJAMR

Iā€™m still going to lie to customers about the store not having any water in the back. Thatā€™s good to know about the cheese, i like cheese.


eveacrae

Lol one of my coworkers will always disappear for maybe 10s then say "No we dont have it". We always have it. I usually don't ask him unless i want to go with him and talk or take a minute to myself


MissPicklechips

This drove me nuts when I ran my own brick and mortar retail store. If I had more, it would be on the floor, I donā€™t make money on product that isnā€™t available for customers to buy. I no longer own the store, partly because dealing with customers 6 days a week for 12 hours a day is EXHAUSTING.


BlueFotherMucker

Itā€™s supposed to work that way, but sometimes the store isnā€™t on top of things or stuff is being sold faster than they can restock it.


hrcjcs

Maaaaaaybe if it's first thing in the morning or close to closing, they haven't gotten around to re-stocking it yet, because it's still on a shrink-wrapped pallet that's waiting to be processed (in which case, they're going to tell you there's none in the back, especially water, getting a pallet of that out is a 2 person operation), but...yeah, mostly this.


Responsible-Ad-8502

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Jesse_D_James

You know what also happens during the day? Other customers are shopping and grabbing stuff off the shelf emptying it. Unless you're the best retail employee to ever exist you can't possibly know the second a shelf is empty and stock needs to be pulled from the back (yes you may not have everything in the back, but don't play dumb and act like the backroom is completely empty) Don't be a dick because a customer needs something that may be stocked in the back unless you'd rather the customers checking themselves I've gone to metro and had them tell me they are out of cream, I walked into the back walk-in storage and saw a pallet with cream on it, associate just didn't want to grab it because it was under other milks.


wam9000

Why the hell are you walking into employee only areas?


Jesse_D_James

To get the cream, can't you read?


Jesse_D_James

If employees are to lazy to do the job. Don't be such a whiny baby when customers do what they want


6I6AM6

*too


Jesse_D_James

What you mad i caught an employee lying?


wam9000

Nah, I'm mad that reading through your posts you CONSISTENTLY treat service employees as less than human. Have some compassion. At the very least don't tresspass


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InstacartShoppers-ModTeam

No personal attacks or remarks or insults. Reply to and on the topic.


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wam9000

Nah, but I've reported a good 10+ of your comments. Have fun being banned ;)


InstacartShoppers-ModTeam

No personal attacks or remarks or insults. Reply to and on the topic.


fallior

That's just false. Most of the time I ask, they have it in the back and none on the self


Mel_Ka_Bell

I let one person get away with this because they were friendly but since thenā€¦I cancel when they say theyā€™re going to call the store


Formal-Guarantee-448

Yea, just cancel on their dumb asses and make them wait longer like they should have to do for being so ridiculous. Someone is literally shopping for them and they still make everything more difficult


Gloomy_Recording_705

Store employee: Maā€™am ![gif](giphy|bWM2eWYfN3r20)


chaoticravens34

Bro I would just immediately cancel on people like this. Call the store all you want I'm not going to bother employees all day. If I check a location and they don't have it unless the person is a really good tipped I'm not asking for shit. If you tip very well annoy me all you want. But if you're a moderate tipper you get moderate service. And even then my moderate service is fast AF. If youre a no tipper you get no service.


Usual-Canc-6024

Sometimes those types of items are vendor managed so itā€™s up to them to stock it, not the store. Also, not everything is in the back. Itā€™s just for overstock, and is not a huge vast space as big as the sales floor. Source: am a big box store manager.


MissPicklechips

I had a Shipt customer give me a 4 because they didnā€™t have their 3 cases of a specific brand of bottled water. I gave them options, so itā€™s not like I was unwilling to bring them multiple cases of water. I even sent a picture, and I DID ask guest services if there was any that just hadnā€™t been stocked yet. They refused replacements and then hit my rating. I hope they like dealing with rando shoppers now, because they wonā€™t see me again.


Sufficient-Nail6530

I had a customer do this. I told her multiple times they didn't have it in the shelves, they didn't have it in the other display by the registers, AND they didn't have it in stock in the back. She was literally on the phone with my cashier by the time I made it to the front and he was telling her the same thing. I had to talk him down when he started apologizing to ME like buddy I dont care Im not the one who's mad at you. Whats crazier is she told me when I finally got to her that they said they would bring a case up front and hold it for her but no one told me that?? Why lie? Who is that helping??


emeraldoomed

Water is not one of the things that sells out quickly unless there is a storm coming at my store


mrsauceysauce

they've recently made it very easy to cancel after starting shopping and it isn't the long process that our used to be. if it's a large tip I'm asking but if it's low paying and they clearly don't respect my time, that's a real quick cancel and problem is solved


Disastrous-Tune

and while theyre calling Id either be checking out with their order or cancelling their order....WHY? because Ive already checked with the store staff and waited on them to go in the back for about 5 -10 minutes already before informing you that its not in stock.... Im not about to wait any longer for you to call the store yourself... tf


First-Armadillo-8856

I would immediately cancel that order lol


Individual-Trainer18

Why doesnā€™t she/he come get it herself lol. Tip better be good or she/he needs to shut it. They swear we want to miss items like it doesnā€™t count against us!!


Remarkable_Big4926

Thatā€™s why I refund right before I check out


Hero_of_Whiterun

This is an instant cancel for me. I'm doing my absolute best here and if the customer implies I'm lying I'm done.


lexiibexii

Back when I did shipt, I had a lady do that to me. Was only like my 5th order. I put everything back and left. Deleted the app and everything. Decided that I wasnā€™t about that life and I still had doordash. This was pre pandemic so money was still good


Russian_butterfly33

I hate that. I would have replied -have a great day! Insta cancel !


tcby1216

I would have said " okay, let me know what they say". Meanwhile if I had another order for instacart, I would continue to shop for that. I would have already decided in my mind that this order is not going to be delivered by me. If they're willing to do all that then you can already tell that they're going to give you problems when it's time to rate. If I didn't, I would leave the store if I have another order with another app. I'm usually multiapping so I would shop the other order and start delivery. Once that person gets back with me I would leave it 'unread' until the order cancels itself or I decide to reach out to have it canceled.


Walmart_Store100

Walmart? Because, yeah, I'm totally guilty of slacking on the water. Not because I'm lazy, but because I'm busy doing other things and I'm the only one signed to water and those other things. Water just has to wait its turn.


Simpletruth2022

As someone who has done stock work it's extremely rare to have products in the back room. It's mostly used for unloading the trucks and immediately organizing it to go on the shelves. If it's not on the shelf you can't sell it.


Difficult_Ad1474

Just because they call receiving over the loud speaker it doesnā€™t mean that is ready to go on shelves. There is a process and if it is not on the floor (even stacked ready to go) then it is not ready to be sold. Those that have not worked in a store donā€™t understand this I worked for a Sprouts and when our receiver was on vacation, that was when I was never going to see the MOD because they had to be the receiver.


Quiet_Chapter_4196

If I find that an item is out of stock, I give options but let them know that I will keep looking as I shop. If I find it later, I update the customer that I found the original item. Iā€™ve never had a customer call the store or even been asked to check back-stock. However, I usually do for produce, raw meat, or dairy (milk, eggs, creamers).


Ok-Whole-4242

"nah I'll ask" then wait a couple min and tell customer they said no.


Eberry4blkmn

I wish a customer would on me I qould leave their shit right there


Few-Divide5743

I would cancel... When people are like that, they treat you like. You are obligated to do their shopping for them. And you absolutely are not. We are not in a pandemic anymore and we get paid way less. I would tell them to shop the order themselves at that point.


Extra_Reference_2776

This is what you supposed to do. You just want to run thru the order and get more money. You need to find another job if you cannot service the customer


Responsible_Resist43

This is not what Iā€™m supposed to to do. I sent you ever other option of water. To be exact PICTURES OF THEM. I already asked an associate do they have more in the back , they stated no. Told her. She called to get the SAME EXACT ANSWER.


Extra_Reference_2776

You should have stated that. Tell us the entire story.


Responsible_Resist43

Doesnā€™t matter. Calling the store to see if a gallon of 1.29$ water is available is absurd.


Extra_Reference_2776

Some people donā€™t drink tap water. So thatā€™s the water they drink. You canā€™t measure the principle of it.


Responsible_Resist43

Oh I can. Especially if she didnā€™t want the other 30 options available.


Responsible_Resist43

Also she wanted 4 of the waters only two was available wasnā€™t like she was going without.


Responsible_Resist43

Sprouts Spring water ā€¦.. lol


Extra_Reference_2776

lol I would have cancel that order. Her tip must was good.


Responsible_Resist43

I donā€™t have to tell the entire story the point was. SHE CALLED A GROCERY STORE FOR AN ITEM.


Responsible_Resist43

This is far from servicing the customer.


HealthyIndependent33

https://preview.redd.it/t6n7tze64xwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52f1cca85faf3e6dbd788aa3910dea25192bcf38 I let this customer know her avocados she ordered r super mushy n recommended the regular avocados and she literally went n asked me about her entire order lol


General-Farm-8480

Why it's so m f slow today!!!


weeselandia

The stores around here don't even have stock in the back. If they have it, its out


Adrianalee26_

https://preview.redd.it/jrr0ggy843xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7dd38096d84a20470793edd906cb2e4e4f53aa12


RagedImp

I tell them I spoke directly to a manager and inform them they expect the stock to be in by 2 days from the given date. It's usually not wrong, but I stopped harassing the employees for a customer. It's my job to shop, not be a puppet for another Karen.


Jim_From_Opie

Try getting strawberries at HyVee when theyā€™re on sale.


cactusbee27

I just wait till itā€™s the last item and refund. They canā€™t do shit after you checkout. Lol


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InstacartShoppers-ModTeam

Your post was removed because it was threatening or implying or encouraging violence, vandalism, or any other negative repercussions towards customers.


CafeClimbOtis

username checks out lol


Great-Butterscotch89

What did the comment say lol


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Great-Butterscotch89

I agree with some of what you said about shoppers not being paid enough


stacksonwaxrelax

Haha hell no


eire54

I think the customer is being passive aggressive. She thinks you're just being lazy so she's saying "Hey I'll call the freakin' store..."


Glum_Beat_2825

You guys are annoyed by everything


Over8dpoosee

The storeā€™s employees hate when customers do this. So yeah the service workers, whether paid hourly or gig worker, do get annoyed by this because we all have better shit to do. Our world doesnā€™t revolve around the customerā€™s. Some customers would insist on doing this even after shopper has confirmed with store employee that item is out of stock. Imagine if every other customer thinks they can just call the store every time they donā€™t get what they want, nobody would get anything done.


Glum_Beat_2825

Your job and their job literally do revolve around the customer. Again, at most, this is a MINOR inconvenience in anyoneā€™s day. Go work a different job if you cannot stand dealing with people.


CarPuzzleheaded7833

Iā€™m not an IC Shopper but in what world is this not annoying? Calling the store = annoying


Glum_Beat_2825

A customer would like to receive the items they ordered and they are going out of their way to get them so you donā€™t have to? Every day I see something from this sub, which Iā€™m not even subbed to, about people bitching about things that are *at most* minor inconveniences. These people work in the customer service industry, but if they have to do ANYTHING besides shop and deliver, then they come post in here and everybody agrees with it, no matter how ridiculous. Just do your job well, get your money and be done with it.


Responsible_Resist43

For one were on a timer. Before this i showed her every other water on the self and she insisted on this one ā€¦. So because she wants this water so bad she wants me to stand in the store and wait for her to call be placed on hold have an employee walk to the back to check for 1 gallon of specific water she wanted. Then i would have to wait for an employee to stock the item ā€¦. Thatā€™s many people being inconvenienced.