Companies like Instacart, Doordash, Postmates, etc. are exploiting desperate people who are trying to get by

People have to apply to Instacart to be an “independent contractor”. They have to wait 3 days for their background check. They are not protected by any labor laws. Now, these people are putting themselves at risk going into grocery stores. They are told to not “go in together”, but Instacart has meetings where 20-30 people go into one grocery store. They are told not to group together, but if they need to find each other, they are encouraged to do so. Now, these people are putting themselves at risk to get shit to entitled bitches who won’t put themselves at risk for their own groceries. Hell, they are putting themselves at risk for groceries THEY don’t have. They have to buy the groceries, THEN get reimbursed. They are told not to buy their own shit and submit it for reimbursement. If they do, they get booted. They have to use an app to find the groceries, including the prices and everything. They have to communicate with customers. They are not paid for travel. “That’s part of the job”, they are told. “There is no reason to pay you for travel”. They are not paid for gas. They are told not to reimburse themselves for gas from customer’s groceries. They tell these people they are their own boss, even though they are told when they can work. They told the Instacart people to only go on certain days, and to only get a certain number of batches. They have to wait around for hours for a batch. They are told it’s not Instacart’s fault they have to wait. “Some days are busy, some days are not. If you can’t handle that, then this isn’t for you”. They only get paid for completed batches. Some people get orders that are so big, they can’t finish in a timely manner. If they can’t, they have to contact the customer, and get approval from Instacart to “partial” the order. If they are driving around with $300 in groceries, and can’t deliver it, they don’t get paid. They have to contact the customer, contact Instacart, call the customer back, call Instacart back. They tell these people they can “decline” orders. They can decline 2 orders and Instacart “contacts them”. If they decline too many, they get deactivated. They get deactivated for “too many issues”, too. They aren’t telling these people what the issues are, but they are telling them they won’t help them. “That’s just the way it is”, they are told. This company is run by spoiled rich kids who have no idea how to run a company. The executives have no idea how anything works. They are so out of touch with reality, they have no idea how to talk to people. They are rude, and condescending. “Hey buddy, you gotta talk to the customer about not getting their groceries”. “Yeah, well, you make me look like a fucking jack ass. I told them you would contact them, but instead, you call me and tell me to contact them. Now I have to call them and tell them I can’t deliver their groceries. I’m gonna tell them you won’t contact them and you are making me look like an ass hole. Hell no, I’m not calling them again. I’m not gonna make myself look like a jack ass for you assholes”. “Well then maybe you shouldn’t be an Instacart shopper!!”<br><br>I really don’t know what to do. My mom is doing this and she is so upset. She thought it was a good way to get out and move around. But these people are so nasty and rude, she’s come home from Instacart in tears. And to top it off, she made just enough money for her to not qualify for unemployment. So because of that, she doesn’t get any stimulus. It’s so fucked up. <br><br>I’m sorry if this came off as a rant, but it’s just really upsetting seeing her this upset.