NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — In other parts of the country, there are reports of Instacart workers on strike. That is something that we have not seen here locally. Instacart workers at local Wegmans and Tops, two stores the company contracts with, continue to fill orders.
Wegmans said in a statement that it doesn't expect any interruption with these reports of an Instacart strike.
The full statement reads:
"At this time, we are not expecting an interruption of service. The demand for our curbside pickup and delivery service has grown exponentially over the last several weeks, which has led to limited windows of availability. We encourage customers to keep checking for availability, as windows do open up. We understand the unique time we are in, and the growing interest from our customers to use these services. We are doing everything we can to help ensure we’re able to serve our e-commerce customers. We’re closely monitoring our ability to fill incoming orders, and when necessary, taking action to limit the windows available to avoid canceling orders and disappointing our customers."
Both Wegmans and Tops say they have seen orders rise dramatically. And we've heard from many people on social media, complaints of Instacart delays and incorrect orders.
Tops says the demand for grocery services have risen resulting in longer wait times, and that customers are being told to check back as available time slots open up.
This all comes as Instacart announces steps the company is taking amid the coronavirus outbreak. Instacart says it worked with a third-party to make its own hand sanitizer for shoppers. Full service employees will get hand sanitizer this week.
Also, full-time shoppers and part-time employees can get up to 14 days of pay if they're diagnosed with coronavirus or if they're placed in isolation or quarantine. And employees will get bonuses ranging from $25 to $200.
We also checked in with other grocery delivery services. Dash's says in recent weeks they've had to put an 80-order daily cap, to deal with rising demand.
"Originally we used to be able to order four days out, now we have it up to 10 days out and we are booked solid pretty much 10 days out," said Alexa Dash, director of e-commerce and marketing at Dash's, "I've noticed the order sizes have like skyrocketed so instead of the average order being 100, 150, we're seeing orders of 500 dollars and up for one order."
Right now, online orders are being processed through the company's Hopkins location, in Williamsville, but Dash's is trying to expand that and process orders at two other Dash's locations.
As for major pharmacies, earlier this month CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all announced waiving home delivery fees for many prescriptions.
On Sunday, Governor Cuomo announced that major pharmacy chains agreed to offer free home delivery. But, many of them already do this and we're still waiting for terms of the agreement from the state.
On Monday afternoon, Tops announced that free prescription delivery is available throughout most of their stores in Western New York.