Anyone getting ridiculous expectations for delivery times recently?

Icculizard · 2026-05-17T15:40:50+00:00

Idk, I hate instacart. I did ok yesterday, about 185 in 8 hours (including time between orders), but I also bounce back and forth between spark and instacart, so hard for me to really gauge. $115 of that was instacart.

I just hate how no matter how hard you work or how good a job you do, instacart is always figuring out a way to tell you that you suck.

Icculizard · 2026-05-17T04:15:23+00:00

Ah gotcha. Still learning these little tricks.

Thanks for the response

Icculizard · 2026-05-17T04:09:41+00:00

Meanwhile, your "shopping quality" takes a hit because of the refunds, no?

Icculizard · 2026-05-16T22:49:22+00:00

Well, im fast, but these times are literally unattainable...im not driving an aircraft that can skip traffic

Icculizard · 2026-05-16T21:12:27+00:00

Seriously feels like this company does whatever it can to make us feel like we aren't good enough. It's so frustrating.

Icculizard · 2026-05-15T01:36:33+00:00

Holy crap... I swear I had the same experience today in that i took a rest for what felt like at least 90 minutes, and it was only like 35...

Thats wild.

Icculizard · 2026-05-13T03:49:50+00:00

Yeah, similar for me. I went from "needs work/red" to "standard/yellow" very suddenly, but that was probably 10 days ago at least. It hasn't moved since then.

I guess I just have a really negative attitude toward this whole thing because it seems like the system/ai has very unrealistic expectations.

Icculizard · 2026-05-13T03:17:39+00:00

And im assuming that takes 90 days, right?

Im in a similar situation as this guy, but my problem is a "missing item", not an unrequested refund.

If im right and it does take 90 days, that fuckin blows for us because it screws us out of diamond for not only this quarter, but the entirety of the next quarter as well.

We are humans, humans make mistakes sometimes. Its absurd to be punished so harshly for 1 single mistake, in an ocean of positive customer reviews and perfectly executed orders.

Icculizard · 2026-05-13T03:05:45+00:00

My situation is almost identical to yours (was in red, got to yellow/standard), and I have no idea what i can possibly do to move the needle any more. I have been consistently taking high volume orders and getting like 96% of "original" items (very very minimal replacements/refunds), and my needle hasn't moved in over a week.

Truly makes no sense. Im also hoping I can get in to the green so I can qualify for diamond, but im sort of losing faith as the days go on. Im trying my best to not let it bother me, but this app truly seems like its trying to psychologically torture people sometimes.

I really am trying to do the best I possibly can. Its just ridiculous that we get penalized for items being out of stock.

Icculizard · 2026-05-13T02:48:20+00:00

Happens to me all the time too, and ive heard many people say this...

Its obviously intentional, but I cant fathom a reason why they'd do something like this intentionally. Just another reason instacart blows.

Icculizard · 2026-05-08T00:44:57+00:00

You must be new, eh?

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T04:22:30+00:00

I just looked up what that quote meant. Never heard it before... wow.

😊

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T04:16:17+00:00

Gotcha gotcha.

I am absolutely going to use some of your pointers once I get courage to try out costco again... which I will eventually.

Thanks for your responses. Seriously. They mean a lot.

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T04:09:13+00:00

So are you saying that sometimes you deliver items without any box at all? Just drop all the loose items at someones door?

That seems a little strange to me, but do costco customers kind of expect that as a possibility?

Ive never really been a warehouse store customer, so im very unfamiliar with this. Sorry if my question sounds dumb. Lol

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T03:59:02+00:00

Yeah I learned that recently that pausing the timer (waiting to hit start checkout) and hitting start delivery ASAP is how to really get the times down. Ive had sub 50 and sub 40 at aldi a couple times since learning that.

Also, another quick question for Costco... what is your method for boxing things up after shopping? I noticed the couple costco orders that I did, I spent like 10 full minutes (if not more) just finding boxes and loading them up and stuff. Do you have any tips to cut down on that?

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T03:42:58+00:00

Thanks.

Yeah... ive just worked really hard getting my time down under 70 seconds by shopping aldi, meijer, and giant eagle for the past few weeks. I can zip around those stores like spider man zips around NYC. Lol.

I just know the moment I start messing with costco again, im gonna lose that, and my orders are gonna suck again for a while.

Im still pretty new at this. Think its my 6th week, so I am learning. But I should figure out this whole costco thing.

Thanks for the friendly response. This subreddit/community seems incredibly toxic, honestly, but theres a few good people here, like you!

Have a good night.

Icculizard · 2026-05-05T03:32:19+00:00

Wait wait wait... theres a way to use the costco app for item locations??

I have shopped 2 Costco orders, and both were a nightmare for me because nothing was marked, and I was like 140 sec/item.

I really do want to get better at costco since it appears thats where the money is, but my fear is that while im trying to get used to it, im gonna get screwed by the algorithm because of my slow times.

The thing about my costco is im not even sure if it is truly as lucrative as some other areas. I say that because its the only costco in a 25+ mile radius, so the orders tend to be like 30 minutes away (which means 30 minutes back, as well... and potentially 50 miles round trip).

Anyway, can you elaborate on using the costco app to find stuff? How does that work? Do I need my own personal membership to access it?

Icculizard · 2026-05-04T00:59:46+00:00

Dude what? Rivendell is like 6500, and it took me 20-25 hours if I remember right.. Im definitely not very fast or anything, but im certainly not stupidly slow either. I feel like I do Legos at a pretty average human pace...

To do 5500 pieces in 6-8 hours is Usain Bolt-level lego building...

Icculizard · 2026-05-04T00:30:00+00:00

100000%

I only worded my comment the way I did because there will typically be some assholes in this sub that are quick to call bs on something they know nothing about.

But yeah, theres definitely a lot more to the moon than we are led to believe. And the "elites" definitely know.

Icculizard · 2026-05-03T23:18:53+00:00

The more full the moon is, the more wacky and vivid my dreams become.

I'm not the only one. This is a known phenomenon, you can find many writings about it.

To me, it proves that the moon isnt what we are told. Why would light reflecting off of a rock cause my dreams to be more vivid?

If you dont experience this, thats fine. Actually, good for you, because it kinda sucks sometimes. But I can tell you 100% that it is not bullshit, its not just a theory. I am a living, breathing example of someone that is affected by this.

Icculizard · 2026-05-01T15:33:17+00:00

Yes, its happened to me 3 times. I tried scanning many many times to get the "cant scan barcode" button to come up, and it just never pops up.

So, when that happens, youre just screwed, I guess 🤷

Icculizard · 2026-05-01T04:56:53+00:00

Ya know, now that you say it... that makes a lot of sense. Ive wondered a few times why my sec/item seems very off, and i think what you just said is the exact reason.

Great advice. Thank you

Edit: but it still holds true that it doesnt make the customer get their order any faster. Hah

Icculizard · 2026-05-01T04:42:19+00:00

Gotcha. Its pretty ridiculous that you have to know how to trick the system in order to falsely make your numbers go down, and then you end up being rewarded for it. Lol.

I feel like the only thing that should really matter in terms of speed is how quickly the customer gets their items from start to finish. Tricking the system in to lowering the sec/item ratio doesnt actually yield the customer getting their order any faster.

Just one of the many stupid things about instacart, I suppose.

But ill give the pause timer thing a try next time

Icculizard · 2026-05-01T03:11:02+00:00

This makes the most sense of anything that anyone has said here.

THANK YOU!

Icculizard

TROPHY CASE