Instacart provides America’s largest grocery delivery service, and is currently present in all the 50 states of America, and Canada as well.
With future plans to expand into Europe and the world at large.
Instacart customers can order for groceries from any grocery store of their choice, making use of the Instacart app.
Why Does Instacart Charge More Than Total?
Generally speaking, Instacart does not usually charge their customers more than the total sum of their order. However, in some situations, they may charge you a bit more than the total cost of your order, most likely a temporary authorization hold for a slightly higher amount than the total sum of your order.
This small difference you may notice accounts for special or customized requests such as added items, replacement items, special requests or weight adjustments.
Instacart refers to such charges as “additional charges.” An additional charge will appear on your delivery receipt if after the final item charge, you proceed to order more items, or you cancel a few items on your shopping list.
Basically, an additional charge will be added to your receipt if after the final charge appears on your receipt, an extra purchase is made which makes the new total exceed the former total charge that was originally billed on your receipt.
To put this in perspective, if you order some items from a particular grocery store, then a few minutes after your order has been placed, you remember that you forgot to add a few other items you are in need of.
You then proceed to add these items to your cart after your original order has been placed, but is yet to be delivered.
When this happens, you will see an additional charge on your receipt, which is to compensate for the difference between the total on your original receipt and the new total.
Why Does Instacart Charge Me More Than My Receipt?
Other than these additional charges, you may also be charged an “adjustment charge” by Instacart. According to the official Instacart website, an adjustment charge on your delivery receipt means the final item charge, after any order changes, was higher than the original charge.
For example, if the store is out of a particular brand and you approve a replacement with a higher price.
You may also see this charge on your receipt if the final weight of an item increases the final item charge. The amount of the adjustment charge is the difference between your original charge and the new order total.
To avoid paying an adjustment charge, make sure you order all your grocery items at once. You can do this by creating a grocery list which should include every item you want, as well as the exact quantity you want.
You should always be mindful of the quantity, as you may also be subjected to paying an adjustment fee if there is a slight change in the quantity of a particular item you ordered.
Read: Does Instacart Take EBT?
Why Did Instacart Charge Me $100?
If you suddenly receive a notification of a debit charge of $99.99 from your bank, this may have happened because you have previously subscribed for the Instacart+ package.
In 2013, just a year after the inception of Instacart, the company introduced a deluxe package initially known as Instacart Express, a package that will allow customers to receive services faster and also enjoy other perks.
This includes a 14 day free trial period after which subscribers will be charged for the package.
A few years after the introduction of Instacart express, the package was later renamed to become Instacart+. It became 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.
The service allows customers to enjoy free deliveries on every grocery order they make that exceeds $35 throughout the period that their subscription subsists. Instacart+ users will also be eligible to receive up to 5% of their credits back for every qualifying order.
The Instacart+ service also includes a newly introduced family accounts feature. This feature allows instacart+ subscribers to be able to share their subscription with other members of their family.
Another perk included in this package is the “family cart” feature, which allows each member of a household to include grocery items they individually want into the family cart.
While this exciting service only costs about $9.99 per month, subscribing for the annual package allows you to enjoy a discount of $19 every year.
A package that would ordinarily cost you $119.18 dollars if you decide to subscribe monthly will only cost you $99 if you make your subscription at once.
For subscribers who wish to unsubscribe from this package, or wish to get a refund for the $100 charged, you can apply for a refund from the company, making use of your mobile app. However, not without a condition attached.
While you can cancel your Instacart+ membership at any point in time, you only become eligible for a refund if you did not make use of the Instacart+ service within 15 days of your actual membership.
That is, you only get refunded by the company if you did not make use of the service within 15 days after the expiration of your free membership period.
Read: What Time Do Instacart Batches Start?
When Does Instacart Charge Show Up On My Bank Statement?
Instacart charges show up on your bank statement almost immediately, if you decide to make your bank issued debit/credit your preferred payment method.
Instacart allows a variety of payment methods which includes Paypal, Venmo, Apple Pay etc. However, regardless of your preferred payment method, your instacart bill will appear almost immediately in your transaction history.
Instacart will also not charge you more than the total of your grocery order unless you place another order, which makes you liable for payment of an adjusted charge, as well as other additional charges. Instacart may also charge you separately if you subscribed for Instacart+, or you allow other new charges.
Instacart will not charge you for any other reasons other than the reasons stated above. If however, you receive another charge from Instacart that you do not recognize, you should quickly contact instacart support to complain about this.
If you also feel like such a charge looks rather fraudulent, you should also contact support immediately to make a complaint relating to fraud. You will be asked to provide certain information relating to your credit/debit card, as well as the day such transaction occurred.
Instacart recommends reaching out before you file a dispute for such unknown charges with your bank.
However, you should know that your account will be placed on hold once you file a dispute and the investigation may take up to 90 days to resolve.
Why Did Instacart Charge Me Twice?
While it’s quite unusual for Instacart to charge you twice, it still happens in a few scenarios. Instacart admits that sometimes, it is quite possible to receive some charges you did not originally expect.
Being charged twice may be due to any reason starting from being billed an adjustment charge or additional fees for altering your grocery order after it has been placed, to having a temporary authorization hold placed on your account for a pending order.
You may also be charged unexpectedly for your subscription to deluxe packages like Instacart+.
The reasons stated above are the most common reasons why you may be charged twice. However, other than these reasons, if you get charged indiscriminately, you’ll do well to contact the Instacart help center before you contact your banking institution or your credit/debit card provider.
The company’s dedicated customer support service will help you iron out your issues effortlessly.
However, after contacting support, if the charge you received is discovered to be due to an error from your bank other than from Instacart, you will be advised to contact your banking institution or card provider immediately for rectification.
Want to learn more about Instacart? Check out our related posts to learn if Instacart delivers cigarettes, does Instacart deliver alcohol, and can you work for Shipt and Instacart?
Conclusion…
To avoid Instacart charging you extra fees, ensure that all your grocery items are ordered at once, as well as the exact quantity you require.
Any slight variation or manipulation of your shopping list after an order has been placed may make you liable to pay certain extra fees.
To further ensure that you are not charged further for Instacart+ or any other related service, ensure that you unsubscribe for Instacart+ immediately after your free trial expires.
Also, you should contact Instacart support immediately to resolve any unrecognized transaction notice on your bank statement before contacting the bank. A support agent will reach out to you and guide you on how to get your issue resolved.