The video was posted to TikTok by creator Stephanie Eversole Vandenburg (@stephiequeen16). As of Sunday, it’s attracted more than 21,000 views as well as comments from sympathetic viewers who also know the travails of ordering from Instacart.
Though the creator was clear in her video that “the majority of Instacart shoppers have been great,” she walked through the errors of an Instacart shopper who ventured out on her behalf and missed the mark.
Exhibit A was an order for Heluva Good! French Onion Dip and the creator says the Instacart shopper felt it fit to sub in caramelized onion hummus.
Then, Vandenburg says she sought thyme for a soup recipe and got dill weed— an entirely different herb —as a replacement.
“My absolute favorite one though,” she announces, setting the scene by saying, “I ordered sour cream and onion Pringles.” She reveals a picture of Brittania 50/50 Sweet and Salty Biscuits.
“I don’t even know what they are,” she says, perplexed.
She notes, “I’m not going to show every single one because astronomical video,” but singled out the confusion between different yogurt types — she wanted blackberry and lemon, she got blueberry and peach mango. She also says she got a small bag of unsalted pistachios vs. the large bag of salted pistachios she wanted.
It eventually ended well, though. Vandenburg says she got a refund from Instacart for the items received in errata. She says she ended up reordering the items, and the second shopper dispatched on her behalf successfully found what she was looking for.
Others shared some of their Instacart stories to let the creator know she’s not alone.
“I order a plunger and got CAR WAX!!!!!” one exulted.
“I once ordered pads and the lady brought me incontinence diapers,” another shared.
One commenter generally assessed the service by declaring, “Instacart deliveries literally raises my blood pressure.”
Another observed, “Occasionally I’ve gotten items I did not order. Almost every time it’s Cheerios.”
The comments did include one alarming exchange, though. A commenter went off about the creator’s choice to order from Instacart, asserting, “I don’t understand this ordering stuff. What’s wrong with getting off your ass and going to get it yourself? People are lazy these days.”
Vandenburg responded, “I’m disabled, so ordering groceries has been amazing. You have no idea how hard it is to grocery shop when you have random fainting spells 2-3 [times] a day!”
Despite that uncomfortable exchange though, the customer found humor in the episode, which was clearly part of a journey she’s been on with getting food delivered to her. As she remarked in the caption accompanying her video, “Still doesn’t beat the time a food delivery guy tried to give me a baggie of weed.”
Some viewers suggested Vanderburg was at fault for not opting for a refund or accepting substitutions in the app, as the shopper would need to scan the items and if they were wrong, the app would not let them add it to the order.
In a follow-up video, Vanderburg clarifies that these weren’t substitutions as she was under the impression each item was in stock.
“He said that they had everything, then he didn’t give me any substitutions, so when I got it, I was like ‘what happened? this is all incorrect,'” she says. “It was funny but also frustrating.”
