LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — As a working mom of a handicapped daughter who requires regular physical therapy, Jill McCormick said the convenience of ordering her groceries through the Kroger app from the nearby Kyle Station location has been a lifesaver.
McCormick said that all changed on Tuesday evening when an order for $282 in groceries turned into her being charged $2,783.25 for a long list of groceries she didn't order and never received.
"My heart stopped because I'm thinking panic mode," she said. "Something is happening, and I have to react very quickly, and I didn't even know where to start."
McCormick gave WCPO screenshots of the receipt she was provided from Kroger including purchases of six packs of Butterball turkey bacon for $26.94, five bottles of Dawn Platinum dish soap for $73.43, and 15 bottles of Gain laundry detergent for $239.85.
Adding insult to injury: under the total for her order approaching $2,800, the app said she'd saved $97.24.
McCormick said the designated shopper had been asking about standard substitutions for her order and hadn't messaged for a while when her bank notified her of a charge to her account in excess of $2,500 which tipped her off to the erroneous purchase.
She said the shopper claimed the charge was in error and would be canceled.
"After trying for an hour, trying to get in touch with someone, they were finally able to get in touch with Instacart to cancel the order because they never canceled the order as the shopper originally told me," McCormick said.
In an email exchange with Instacart, the company said it had rigorous guidelines for its shoppers, who serve as independent contractors — not INSTAcart employees.
The company said shoppers are put through background checks before they are brought in as contractors.
RELATED | Instacart customers complain of mystery charges
A Kroger spokesperson provided a statement that read: "We understand a customer was overcharged for an order placed on August 9, 2023. We rectified the incident as soon as it was brought to our attention with an expedited refund to the customer’s original form of payment and a gift card to apologize for the inconvenience."
After multiple email exchanges with both Kroger and Instacart, it's still not clear when Instacart got involved with the order, placed through Kroger's app.
McCormick said before WCPO contacted Kroger, they had indicated a refund may take seven to 10 business days and the amount offered in a gift card went up.
She said of the original offer, "They gave me $20 for my $3,000 that was taken out of my account."
McCormick said the second $250 offer wasn't sufficient enough to convince her to shop at Kroger again, at least not online.
"I'm not looking for that," she said. "I'm looking for a fix and outcome. How about we show results so someone else, another family, is not going through this."
Kroger didn't respond when asked whether they had a plan to prevent overcharging from happening again.
McCormick said she filed a police report with the Butler County Sheriff's Office.
