Daily writing prompt
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
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This morning I awoke to the news that the amount of my federal refund is not what I thought it was going to be. Not by a long shot. I will have to do more gig work to pay my state taxes. So I suited up and logged in. It's cold here today, so warm clothing was in order.
The first order of the day would be delivered to an affluent area. I shopped the 85 items, including the box of cheap wine, drove them to the home, and lugged them to the door.
The customer did not come to the door. Or respond to messages within the app, Or answer the phone. I stood there listening to a cacophony of howling dogs announce my presence from within, which indicated to me either the customer was not home or not coming to the door.
After five minutes, I lugged the order back to my car and tried to call again. This time the customer answered and said she was not at home but would be there in five minutes. She asked me to leave the order at the door. I responded I could not do that because there was alcohol. She asked if she could send me a photo of her drivers license. I said she could not. She then said she'd be home in five minutes.
I waited ten more minutes, then contacted Instacart shopper support. If you've been here before, you know how I loathe shopper support. However, this time the experience was rather smooth. I was told to text the customer and ask if she wanted me to leave the rest of the order and wait five minutes. I did and got no response, as I expected. The support person then directed me to leave everything but the wine at the door and return the wine to the store. Are you sure about that? The person said yes, so I again lugged the order to the door, took a photo of the items at the door, making certain to include the house number in the photo, and returned the wine to the store for refund. Easy enough, right?
Wrong.
In the middle of shopping my next order, I received a call from Tracy with Instacart Customer Experience. She texted me three times first to warn me she was calling.
Tracy told me she had the customer on hold; the customer was claiming I did not leave the order. I explained to Tracy what happened and that Shopper Support had been involved. I also said I had sent shopper support a photo of the order at the customer's door.
… and I can care for the ferals
Tracy then asked me to tell that to the customer, who was on the line. I responded to Tracy that it was not my responsibility to tell the customer anything. I was not going to discuss this with a customer while on the phone in the middle of Publix. I'm not paid to provide customer support.
I finished the shop I was doing and came home. I am livid. Because it was apparent to me this customer was shady af and trying to get over. Because Instacart has no clue how to handle such customers. And because once again I will likely bear the brunt of their inefficiency and be limited in my ability to work the rest of the weekend when I need money to pay my taxes.
The good news in all this, lest you thing there was none, is that I took care of me through it all. I knew I didn't need to talk to that woman on the phone and didn't let Instacart needle me into doing that. I knew I needed to take a break and calm myself before attempting to accept more work so I came home. I knew I needed to eat and did so.
To be clear, I am still furious. But the world is full of shady people who are rarely held to account for their actions. I can't waste my spoons on them; I have to focus on taking care of me.
But if there is any justice in the Universe, may Holly reap what she sows, and the sooner the better.
And may the Universe send me a better way to earn enough to pay my state taxes.
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