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As an independent contractor, we have an obligation to handle the majority of our own expenses, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when we will have to get reimbursed for some of the expenses you might incur while working with Instacart
So in this article, We are talking about:
EVERYTHING You MUST Know about Reimbursements on Instacart
What they tell you vs How it ACTUALLY is
Everything in between!
Disclaimer: The content of this article does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind, This video is for entertainment purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online.
I also want to be clear that everything in this article is very market dependent, and what applies to me may not apply to you.
Instacart doesn’t expect shoppers to use personal funds for customer orders. Only use personal funds if you have issues with your Instacart payment card.
Submit a reimbursement request if you pay for a customer’s item(s) with your personal credit/debit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay.
So cash payments are not accepted which is fine because most of our work is done digitally anyway but for those who keep a bunch of cash on them, which if you are what you are doing, you might be SOL.
Non-Reimbursable Expenses
Instacart doesn’t reimburse shoppers for—
Parking tickets and fees
Tolls, unless stated during the batch acceptance phase
Gas and mileage
Purchases made with an unapproved payment method (ex: EBT, store credit, gift card, or cash)
OnLine Pay orders
So a lot of these make sense to me, Parking tickets for sure shouldn’t be paid back.
Parking fees, some companies do, this one doesn’t, same with tolls. I am surprised that they even allow toll reimbursement for the acceptance phase though. I would just imagine if they did have orders that went through a toll, then they would just say no to the whole order.
But they say they would tell you if they do? Yeah, I have seen a few stories online already where they blatantly show you the route which GUARANTEES the toll, but won’t do it.
Common case of playing dumb and making life harder than it needs to be, I would just avoid altogether.
Gas and mileage, super common in our industry as a whole.
Purchases made through an unapproved payment method, I assume this is because they need to verify the purchase through their own channels. So that makes sense to me.
OnLine pay orders, honestly just the way they put this is already questionable to me. First off, why is O and L capitalized? Tell me this was outsourced or AI produced, without telling me right?
Second, what does OnLine pay even mean? I feel like I need more clarification on that.
Submitting Reimbursements
Your Instacart Shopper app prompts you to submit a reimbursement if you pay for an order without your Instacart Payment Card.
To submit your reimbursement—
Go to Account > Reimbursement Requests.
Select the order you want to be reimbursed for.
Enter order information to the request form—the form already has the uploaded image of your delivery receipt.
Add more photos, if needed.
Tap Submit.
They also send you a push notification on this to streamline it if it is necessary. Sometimes I even got that notification when I still used the card so it isn’t like they hide it, but you need to be informed on how to execute.
Also, as with any of these forms, the more information the better.
You can check your reimbursement status in-app under Reimbursement Requests. We typically process requests within a few days, though it may take up to 30. Please keep your paper receipts for at least 30 days after completing an order.
If we approve your request, you should get the reimbursement in the following direct deposit.
Now I have never had to do this with this particular company but make sure you stay on them for this, and make sure that doesn’t fall through the cracks.
Never ask a customer to reimburse you. Requesting cash or 3rd party payments (ex. Venmo, Paypal, CashApp, Zelle, etc.) violates Instacart’s Full Service Shopper Account Access Guidelines and your Independent Contractor Agreement.
Also, don’t expect any reimbursement from the customer either, whether they asked you for an extra item or they said something about tipping you more if you do something for you, that is a huge red flag for scammy customers trying to pull shady shit with you.
Reimbursement Denied
Instacart sends a push notification and email if we deny your reimbursement request. The notification takes you to a new request form with the original request details filled out.
You may need to resubmit your request through the Shopper app for 1 of the following reasons—
Missing required information
Unclear receipt photo
Receipt details don’t match the information you entered
If you don’t have the order information, provide the customer name and/or address in the description section. We must be able to locate the order to approve the reimbursement.
The most problems I see from this are clerical errors, meaning wrong info of some kind was imputed into the system, or support being unsupportive, because when have they ever. I would just keep trying if you have to.
Better Off Not
I know this is a video about getting reimbursed on stuff, but the reality is you are better off not depending on this company for much in that department. If the card is declining, don’t risk coming out of pocket for an order of that size.
Also, imagine if this was a Costco order or something? That would be crazy! Not to mention the risk of deactivation by them claiming fraud for any reason.
So if it seems like it will be an issue, it probably will be. Don’t just do things like front money blindly.
Employee vs Business Mindset
Remember as an independent contractor, you are in business for yourself. That means your expenses are your own. If you don’t get that coming into this business, get that through your head now.
If that is a problem for you, that is fine, this may not be a good fit for you.
If you would like to add some other perspective to how Reimbursements work on Instacart, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!
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