I was intrigued by Baldor’s at first too, but alas, they apparently hate the south shore and it doesn’t exist in their world view so bah humbug to them. They added one delivery zip code in my town, even though there’s probably 3-4…so I guess you can’t stop along the way. I already tried emailing, but never got a response (might be limited customer service staff working) and as you noted, the website is really clunky for customers so doesn’t seem to be worth the effort.
I am lucky to to have a meat share delivery, so getting meat has never been an issue (and I’ve been working through my stockpile from past deliveries). What I have to go out for are the Asian groceries and fresh fruit or vegetables.
I’ve had no luck in the last 48 hours with either Instacart (tried Wegman’s, Star Market, etc.) or WF/Prime or Amazon/Prime. Even Mercato is fading. They allow you to see available delivery windows before you shop, and that’s convenient. Here are the earliest delivery dates they have for delivery to 02138 among more useful places:
Savenor’s (Cambridge): 5/6
McKinnon’s: 5/15
On the other hand, the Boston Olive Oil company will deliver today.
Sorry, that sucks. If you call Savenors directly you can put in a pick up order for this Saturday (4/25).
My Wegmans/Instacart order did bump up and deliver a day early (yesterday). I don’t see any Instacart or Prime Now windows right now, but will post here when I do.
I didn’t realize you could call Savenor’s Cambridge directly to place a pick up order. Now it’s on their web site that that’s a possibility…thanks! I did okay a few weeks ago with mercato but didn’t want my credit card to be charged for a full year after the free trial ended, so I canceled. I can’t pay in advance for a year’s worth of service I don’t know I’ll need. I used Mercato to order from Siena Farm at Boston Public Market. The delivery availability window was clear and accurate and I was please with the process and the products I did get. In both cases, about half of the items I ordered turned out not to be available.
Excellent experience ordering from Costco (Everett) via Instacart. They must have a different Instacart arrangement than some of the grocery stores. Delivery windows are widely available. I chose a 7-9a window and received notification that the order was being shopped before 7a. This is before even their senior hours I believe, so the Instacart shoppers must have internal access at Costco.
Since I ordered after they had closed for the day and the order was assembled before they open, there were no substitutions or refunds for missing items. The order was exactly as I put it in the cart, and it was a large order. They even had some elusive items such as Clorox wipes (was happy to get these as we do wipe everything down that comes into the house, whether it is grocery delivery, take out containers or packages). They also had toilet paper, but we didn’t need this and I haven’t really found it to be in short supply.
we did the same thing with Mercato, used it a couple times during the two week trial and canceled. we got stuff from Siena with about the same results, got about half of what we ordered. Also got stuff from Freerange Kitchen in Medford and one other vendor I don’t recall with mostly better results and good quality produce.
There were a couple of other screwups in all of our orders like wrong items and etc (which I swear always happens. I don’t think I have gotten a single online delivery that has been completely correct or doesn’t include bad produce) but the vendors that gave us the wrong stuff credited our money back w/o problems.
I have an Instacart delivery scheduled for next Tuesday.
Also have Mercato from the Boston Public Market next Wednesday, and from Savenor’s the Wednesday after.
But the hunting-gathering cannot stop. I need to start working on deliveries for three weeks from now…
I got one of their boxes today from Ball. There was a head each of cauliflower and broccoli, some squash (including a huge butternut), a bag of potatoes, some apples, mandarins, a cantaloupe and a pineapple. Everything looks very fresh and very good. I’ve only sampled the mandarin so far – and it was very juicy and had a complex, layered taste.
Edited to add: Also three Spanish onions and some excellent red grapes.
Glad to hear it! It is satisfying to score. For me, it’s definitely got to do with being to control something during all this chaos. Have your phone close by and your notifications turned on as there is usually a lot of back and forth via the app once Instacart starts shopping. Particularly since your order is 5 days away, inventory will migrate from your current order. If you have a good shopper and you are timely to request alternate replacements, you can do well.
Yes, I’ve used Instacart before, way back in March (seems so long ago) in the Boston area, and also very frequently when I’m in NYC. There, once you factor in the cost of a subway ride to a supermarket and of a taxi ride home, and the nuisance of lugging bags of groceries through the lobby and up the elevator to the apartment, Instacart is a winner.
I looked at Freerange in Medford, too, but the delivery date kept jumping around to days out…this was 2 to 3 weeks ago. Everything I got from Siena Farm was correct and high quality, only issue was the stuff that wasn’t available and I wasn’t charged. It came on time, packaged well, updates were prompt and accurate.
I would have continued Mercato if it were possible month by month. No way I’m paying for 12 months in advance when I don’t know if either I or they will be here that long. I assume they need the cash up front but it seems like a marketing model that won’t be appealing to many people.
I just put in a large order from Market Basket about 15 minutes ago. Before I had shopped, Instacart wouldn’t let me pick a delivery time even after I signed in. I decided to go ahead and fill my cart and check out. It worked! I was given a choice of today, or next Wednesday or Thursday. I went with next week since I am all set right now. Might be worth a shot.
I should add, before passing_thru thinks I’m a savage who allows others to pick his greens, that in normal times I used Instacart in NYC only for paper goods, foil, sparkling water, detergent, etc. Back in the days of plenty they were always able to get the particular brands I wanted. I got my produce mainly from the Union Square Greenmarket, and selected it personally.
Oh, I’m getting my produce from the open air market at Wagon Wheel in Lexington. I used Instacart a couple of weeks ago at Wegman’s, and got a few produce items. They were actually very good, and I think I had a savvy shopper who chose good substitutions for other items.
The only thing I wasn’t happy with was the fact that she wasn’t wearing a mask or gloves, and I was super careful unloading and quarantining everything. Of course, that’s essential practice no matter what the circumstances.
Was this the Instacart shopper, and did you interact with her?
The reason I’m using Instacart in Cambridge at this time is because I’m in a high risk category and so am minimizing contact with people. I text with the Instacart shopper and they have contactless delivery. All that remains is the obligatory wipedown of everything.
ha. I must just have bad luck or else the universe just hates me and likes to send me rotten tomatoes.
I also just have a terrible time in general with this online ordering thing. On bear’s tip above I looked at Market Basket this AM and there were available slots! But by the time we tried to finalize our order, there were none. I guess it’s back to HMart for me. You can put “He liked to pick his own produce” on my gravestone.
Oh, only by text for substitution approval. I left extra tip in an envelope taped to the mailbox. My husband was watching out the window and noted that she wasn’t wearing a mask or gloves and didn’t seem to be up on hygiene protocols, so I’m guessing that, at least as of last week, Instacart wasn’t requiring PPE. Hopefully that has or will change for everyone’s protection. (Of course, we would have been equally cautious no matter where the food was from.)
That said, our shopper was prompt, communicative, made very good choices for substitutions, picked good produce, and packed everything well.
Here’s the theory, at any rate, from an Instacart emailing:
Shopper Health and Safety Kits
The health and safety of customers and shoppers alike remains our top priority. As the largest grocery delivery service in North America, we became the first platform to provide face masks to shoppers. Our teams have secured personal protective equipment for the Instacart shopper community with free health and safety kits that include a face mask and hand sanitizer.
I’m no Instacart fan, but in fairness, the shoppers might be using PPE in the store, but not once they are in their cars, since from that point, they are only touching their own vehicle, and the bags.
