With the business of the holidays, having your groceries delivered can be a big time saver. It's also safer, as many people started using grocery delivery services such as Instacart or Amazon Fresh during the pandemic.
"They walk in the gate and drop them off," said Isabella McNeill, who has used a popular grocery delivery service several times.
This time, she says the groceries weren't in their usual place, and she was charged nearly twice as much.
"I'm really mad about it," said McNeill. "It was almost $400 so I knew something went wrong here."
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She called the customer service line and was told they would refund the money in five to seven days.
"Losing $400 and not being able to get it back in seven days is a lot," said McNeill. "On top of that I still needed to get my groceries."
Thinking it was a one-time issue, McNeill kept using the service. Then two weeks later the exact same thing happened.
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"I got the message my groceries were delivered," said McNeill. "This time I'm home, but there's no groceries here and I couldn't believe this happened again."
The service's customer service refunded her the purchase and included the groceries for free because of the continued issues. McNeill says there are some lessons she's learned through the process.
"Link your purchase to your credit card, said McNeill. "That way it doesn't drain your bank account."
There are also more protections offered by credit card companies as opposed to the service your bank can provide. Those protections might just help you out if you run into similar problems.
