Instacart advises women to overlook alarming warning signs from their driver.

Photo by@hallieelanaa/Tiktok sdx15/Shutterstock Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock

Moments before her shopper arrived, a panicked Instacart user turned to TikTok, warning that her safety was in danger over… a pack of chicken breasts?

“So if I turn up [missing], I’m telling you right now,” TikTok user hallieelanaa (@hallieelanaa) said in a viral video with over 1,500 likes, “Casey did it. And I will explain.”

Feeling sick, Hallieelanaa made a purchase for chicken breasts through Instacart. However, she received a notification from her driver, Casey, stating that her shopper card was not found. To get her order, Hallieelanaa would need to cover the cost of the purchase from Casey face-to-face.

Hallieelanaa "right away" turned down Casey's offer to reimburse her, citing it as a violation of the rules.

“Like, you can’t ask someone for a personal payment,” she said on TikTok. “So, I texted her back saying I was not comfortable with that. And then I called customer service.”

Handling Casey's peculiar request was only one part of Hallieelaanaa's concerns. After reaching out to Instacart's customer support, her assistance agent informed her that her order would need a three-hour wait for a new shopper. Should Hallieelaanaa needed her chicken delivered within a similar timeframe, she would have to rely on Casey.

Moreover, the customer support team mentioned that Casey had several complaints and negative reviews regarding her conduct, indicating she would be subject to further investigation. This naturally made Hallieelaanaa uneasy, especially since she was obligated to use Casey as her driver.

However, when inquired about steering clear of a possible intense disagreement with Casey, the customer service representative merely advised Hallieelaanaa not to fret over it. Should a problem arise, Instacart suggested she should simply "revisit the support team."

“He didn’t really explain to me why they were OK with letting this person come to my house,” hallieelanaa said. “I don’t want this lady coming to my house if she’s having behavioral problems, and like, repeatedly getting reported.”

Hallieelanaa “immediately [bolted] the door shut” using a specialty rod to prevent intruders from entering after lockpicking a door, she said. (And yes, hallieelanaa shared a follow-up TikTok showing off the rod). The video ends with hallieelanaa panicking for her safety as she announces that Casey is “literally coming up to my house.”

“It just showed that she got to the parking lot, and I’m having anxiety,” hallieelanaa said. “What if she tries to talk to me? What if she demands payment from me?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she continued. “So if I die, it was Casey. She’s on her way up right now. I will update you if I’m still alive.”

She’s not alone, there’s a lengthy history of Instacart shoppers engaging inappropriately toward their customers. In 2023, the Daily Dot previously covered a disabled customer who said multiple shoppers “verbally abused” her, while others outright refused her order. This past year, a male shopper in South Carolina sent sexually explicit images and texts to his female customer, while a North Carolina user said her shopper threatened her over refunded purchases. Especially for female customers, abusive and harassing behavior is not uncommon on delivery apps.