Instacart is a widely popular company that specializes in the delivery of grocery products to its customers once an order is placed. The company has been around since 2012 and is now widely regarded as one of the largest grocery delivery companies in America.
Instacart has been making grocery shopping easier for their customers by delivering their grocery orders to their doorsteps, or by helping customers do their grocery shopping and dropping it off at a designated pick up location.
However, there are some situations where Instacart may charge you more than what the grocery store would normally charge. Find out the reason for this below.
Why Did Instacart Charge Me More?
Instacart will place an ”authorization hold’ thats 15% higher than your total at checkout. This temporary hold is to cover any changes in your order that can occur due to replacement items, weight adjustments, added items, or special request. Upon delivery, the hold will be removed and the total amount will be charged.
The correct, final charge will be reflected in your account 7 business days after ordering.
Instacart also has ‘partner’ stores that offer better prices for their customers. To learn more about these prices and why or when Instacart will charge you more, keep reading…
Instacart Charges and Discrepancies
While Instacart doesn’t always charge you more than the grocery store in normal situations, they may charge you more if you decide to shop at a grocery store that is not a partner with Instacart.
The Instacart company partners with over 750 national, regional and local grocery retail stores to be able to meet customers’ demands.
However, if your grocery retailer of choice is not a current partner with Instacart, you may be charged slightly more for pick up or delivery services done by Instacart shoppers.
Instacart normally offers you regular store prices while shopping at a partner store.
The majority of the largest retail outlets in America such as Costco, Kroger, Publix, Sam’s Club, and CVS are partners with Instacart, and you are only charged regular store prices shopping at these retail outlets.
Also, the retail stores that Instacart partners with set the prices for each item themselves on the Instacart marketplace.
While some of these prices may be updated every day by these retailers, they may also decide to set a price that is a bit higher than when you buy in-store at their outlets.
This may also be part of the reasons why you think Instacart charges you more than the store price.
Read: What Time Does Instacart Open?
Why did Instacart Charge Me Twice?
While shopping at Instacart with your debit/credit card, you may receive notification of a temporary hold placed on your account before the final charge is debited from your account.
This temporary hold is usually placed on accounts to adjust for grocery items added or removed from your shopping cart while placing an order.
At the end of the day, you’re only charged for the grocery items picked, with no additional charges whatsoever.
If a temporary hold appears on your account while shopping, there is absolutely no cause for alarm. The temporary hold is usually labeled as “pending”, and often disappears between 3-5 working days, depending on your banking institution.
Also, According to the instacart website, when an order is placed, it is possible you receive a charge from Instacart that you didn’t expect. Some of these charges may be due to:
- A temporary authorization hold for an order in process
- An adjusted total for changes in your order (e.g., unavailable items or replaced items at a different price)
- A recurring charge, such as an Instacart+ subscription fee.
However, if you’re charged twice for an order, other than these reasons above, it is most likely a minor error from your banking institution. You may have to contact your bank’s support to help you fix such an error.
Why Did Instacart Charge Me $100?
If you suddenly receive an unexpected charge of $100 from Instacart, it is most likely due to the fact that you have signed up for Instacart+ and forgot to cancel your membership after your free trial period!
To put it simply, Instacart+, (formerly known as Instacart Express), is a subscription-based service that makes you eligible for free deliveries, as well as reduced service fees and charges on all grocery orders done using Instacart.
This service costs $9.99 per month, while the year round package costs $99, allowing you to enjoy a discount of $19 when you opt for the year round subscription package.
For this Instacart+ service, delivery charges are waived for any grocery orders exceeding $35 dollars. You also get to select your grocery items from any retail outlet you want.
You may decide to pick an item from one of your favorite grocery stores, then pick the next item at another grocery store, and have both items delivered to you together.
After signing up for Instacart+, you’re eligible to enjoy a free trial period of 14 days, after which you are automatically charged.
Therefore, if you suddenly receive a charge of $100 from Instacart, odds are you signed up for the Instacart+ service, then enjoyed the free trial of 14 days, and then forgot to cancel your membership.
Nevertheless, you may be eligible for a refund if, within 15 days of your actual membership (15 days after your trial period), you cancel your Instacart+ membership.
However, this is only applicable if you have not made use of the Express service during that time at all.
Read: What Time Does Instacart Close?
When Does Instacart Charge Your Card?
Instacart charges your card once your free trial period expires. When this happens, your debit/ credit card is immediately charged depending on the subscription package you selected while signing up.
If you prefer the yearly subscription package, you’re immediately charged $99, while you will be only charged $9.99 if you’re on the monthly subscription package.
However, there is a special promotion for Instacart users in Canada, that holds a TD bank credit card. There are special offers for TD bank credit card users that include 3 months of free membership of Instacart+ after which their credit card is charged.
Users will also receive a notice 3 days before the end of their free period from Instacart, notifying them that they will be charged for the service once the free trial period expires.
Why Is Instacart Charging Me A Subscription?
Instacart charges you a subscription because you have signed up for the Instacart+ package, which makes you eligible to enjoy quicker services from the company.
As earlier said, you are either charged monthly or annually depending on your preference.
However, if you do not wish to continue being charged for this Instacart+ subscription. You may decide to cancel your membership. To do this, simply follow the steps below.
- First, sign in to your Instacart app, or log into your account if you’re making use of a browser
- Tap the three horizontal lines located at the upper left hand corner of your screen
- Select Instacart+ membership
- Then towards the right corner of the page, select “cancel membership”
- Select continue
- Then kindly provide the reason you are canceling your membership in the drop down box that displays
- Then proceed to cancel.
By taking the steps above, you have successfully unsubscribed from Instacart+ and will no longer be charged any for any subscription.
Conclusion…
To avoid being charged an above-store amount by Instacart, you may have to shop at a store that is partnered with Instacart.
The company has over 500 million products, at over 40,000 partner stores, across 5,500 cities across the United States and Canada with millions of orders being filled every year.
All you have to do is log into the app, then look for a grocery store nearest to you and do your shopping there.
For seamless and quicker deliveries also, you may have to sign up for Instacart+ which enables you access a lot of perks and benefits that a normal instacart user can only dream of.
Other than the very quick deliveries you will enjoy, you will not also be charged for any order you make that exceeds $35.
Being an Instacart member also qualifies you to enjoy reduced service fees, and you also get to save up to $7 on every order placed.
If you are a frequent user of Instacart, it is highly advisable to sign up for Instacart+, as it saves you a substantial amount of money in the long run.