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Instacart is one of my favorite services. I use them every week. I want them to build a sustainable business and last forever, since I never want to visit a gro

Instacart is one of my favorite services. I use them every week. I want them to build a sustainable business and last forever, since I never want to visit a grocery store again. When I saw this on HN this morning, my reaction was that it's easy for things to get missed in the chaos of startups. Remember, these guys run a startup. They're juggling a million things, including a company that's growing fast due to high demand. These things will happen. It's how the team deals with issues like this that will make them a great company.

jacalata 14y ago
"They're a startup, things will go wrong" is a valid argument to use for anyone not charging things to my credit card.
- guiseppecalzone 14y ago
  Sprint makes credit card errors all the time. It's business as usual. Instacart makes a mistake and writes an apology on its company blog. I wish I lived in a world where there were more Instacarts and less Sprints. People are fallible. Companies are fallible. The real indication of character is what they do to fix things when they go wrong.
  - mbrameld 14y ago
    This isn't a credit card error. This would be like signing a contract with Sprint for 500 minutes a month for $20, getting charged the $20, and then being charged an extra per-minute fee that wasn't in the contract.
    - res0nat0r 14y ago
      Kind of like when you get your latest Comcast bill, Sprint bill, natural gas bill and see that "effective $DATE we will be increasing our price by $X% due to $Y". Happens all the time unfortunately.
      - mbrameld 14y ago
        It doesn't happen like that though. Natural gas, sure. Power bill, definitely. I've never had natural gas or electric service where I entered a contract for a service at a fixed price. My cable and cell phone service are on a contract, they can't increase the cost during the contract period.
  - mikeash 14y ago
    Maybe I misunderstood, but this doesn't sound like a credit card error. The charge was intentional. The stated error was failing to notify some people. The actual error was thinking that you can charge people's credit cards without their consent just because you gave them notice.
- r00fus 14y ago
  The 71 people affected were early adopters and had been enjoying Instacart's service for quite some time. I live just outside the area, and with 3 kids and both me and my spouse working, it'd be a godsend to get this service (right now we subsist on the occasional foray to TJs, Sprouts + Safeway deliveries when my parents are around to receive them). Safeway is costly and limited in choice. Our supermarket weekly spend is well over $100, so a single $99 charge might go unnoticed for a while. If I had the service I'm not sure I'd be ready to quit over a $99 unless my inquiries met with bad customer service.
socalnate1 14y ago
Agree completely. For a community of people at Hacker News who should "get" startups and business mistakes, I am surprised at how unforgiving everyone is.

jacalata 14y ago

"They're a startup, things will go wrong" is a valid argument to use for anyone not charging things to my credit card.

guiseppecalzone 14y ago
Sprint makes credit card errors all the time. It's business as usual. Instacart makes a mistake and writes an apology on its company blog. I wish I lived in a world where there were more Instacarts and less Sprints. People are fallible. Companies are fallible. The real indication of character is what they do to fix things when they go wrong.
- mbrameld 14y ago
  This isn't a credit card error. This would be like signing a contract with Sprint for 500 minutes a month for $20, getting charged the $20, and then being charged an extra per-minute fee that wasn't in the contract.
  - res0nat0r 14y ago
    Kind of like when you get your latest Comcast bill, Sprint bill, natural gas bill and see that "effective $DATE we will be increasing our price by $X% due to $Y". Happens all the time unfortunately.
    - mbrameld 14y ago
      It doesn't happen like that though. Natural gas, sure. Power bill, definitely. I've never had natural gas or electric service where I entered a contract for a service at a fixed price. My cable and cell phone service are on a contract, they can't increase the cost during the contract period.
- mikeash 14y ago
  Maybe I misunderstood, but this doesn't sound like a credit card error. The charge was intentional. The stated error was failing to notify some people. The actual error was thinking that you can charge people's credit cards without their consent just because you gave them notice.
r00fus 14y ago
The 71 people affected were early adopters and had been enjoying Instacart's service for quite some time. I live just outside the area, and with 3 kids and both me and my spouse working, it'd be a godsend to get this service (right now we subsist on the occasional foray to TJs, Sprouts + Safeway deliveries when my parents are around to receive them). Safeway is costly and limited in choice. Our supermarket weekly spend is well over $100, so a single $99 charge might go unnoticed for a while. If I had the service I'm not sure I'd be ready to quit over a $99 unless my inquiries met with bad customer service.

socalnate1 14y ago

Agree completely. For a community of people at Hacker News who should "get" startups and business mistakes, I am surprised at how unforgiving everyone is.