Shipt rating forgiveness protects independent contractors from low customer scores caused by factors outside their control, such as out-of-stock inventory or severe weather. If you deliver for Shipt, a single bad score can tank your 50-order average and restrict your access to lucrative delivery windows. Understanding how the forgiveness process works helps you protect your stats and keep your shopper account active.
The official Shipt Shopper Help Center outlines specific criteria for rating exclusions, but navigating the nuances requires practical experience. Let's break down how the system evaluates your requests, what gets automatically forgiven, and how to submit claims that actually get approved.
How Shipt Calculates Your Rating Average
Shipt evaluates your performance using your last 50 rated orders. Unlike platforms that calculate lifetime averages, your rolling 50-order metric means that a single one-star rating packs a heavy punch.
- The Rolling 50 Window: Every new rating pushes the oldest rating off your record. If you have a low score, it stays active until 50 subsequent customers rate you.
- The Threshold Danger Zone: Dropping below a 4.7 average puts your account on probation or risks deactivation.
- Customer Blind Spots: Customers rate you on communication, item selection, and delivery speed, even when store inventory is completely depleted.
Because customers often blame shoppers for store-level issues, Shipt introduced rating forgiveness to maintain fairness. However, the platform doesn't forgive everything automatically.
What Shipt Rating Forgiveness Covers (and What It Doesn't)
You can't get every low rating removed. Shipt's support team reviews submissions against strict internal guidelines. Knowing what qualifies saves you time and prevents wasted support tickets.
Automatically Excluded Ratings
Shipt systems automatically drop certain low ratings without requiring a manual support request:
- Out-of-Stock Items: If you marked items out of stock and the customer rated you low primarily due to missing store inventory, automated filters often catch it.
- Late Delivery Caused by Shipt App Outages: If platform servers go down globally during your shop, impacted orders receive automatic padding or exclusion.
- Stacked Order Chain Reactions: When delivery windows overlap due to bundled batches assigned by Shipt, late marks tied to system routing are frequently adjusted.
Manual Request Categories
If an automated filter misses an unfair score, you must submit a formal request. Valid reasons include:
- Unresponsive customers who fail to approve substitutions, leading to refunds or wrong replacements.
- Store register crashes, power outages, or long checkout lines verified by time stamps.
- Weather emergencies or sudden road closures that block safe transit.
Step-by-Step Guide to Requesting Rating Forgiveness
If you receive an unjust low rating, you need to act quickly. Follow these concrete steps to submit a support ticket that increases your chances of approval.
- Check your stats daily: Open your Shipt app menu, tap Rating, and review your star breakdown after every shift to spot drops immediately.
- Gather documentation: Take screenshots of chat logs where you tried contacting the customer, photos of empty shelves, or receipts showing timestamps.
- Open a support chat: Navigate to help within the app and select shopper support or send an email to the Shipt Shopper Support portal.
- Draft a concise explanation: State the facts clearly without emotional language. Mention the order number, the exact date, and the specific external factor that caused the issue.
- Wait for review: Support typically processes these requests within 48 to 72 hours. Check your metrics dashboard to see if the score dropped off.
Common Mistakes That Get Forgiveness Requests Denied
Many shoppers submit dozens of tickets that get automatically rejected because they violate basic submission protocols. Avoid these common errors:
- Blaming the customer directly: Never write that a customer was rude or unreasonable. Focus strictly on external logistics, like missing inventory or app glitches.
- Vague descriptions: Submitting a ticket that says "this rating is unfair please remove it" provides zero context for support agents.
- Submitting for normal human errors: If you forgot a frozen item in your hot car or delivered to the wrong address, Shipt won't forgive the rating. Own your mistakes and let them drop off naturally through the rolling 50.
- Spamming support: Submitting five tickets for the exact same order frustrates agents and can flag your account for review.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for Shipt to remove a forgiven rating?
Most approved requests process within two to three business days. Once approved, your overall 50-order average recalculates automatically.
Can a customer change their rating after submitting it?
No. Once a customer submits a rating in the Shipt app, they cannot edit it. Your only recourse for an unfair score is the rating forgiveness process.
Does rating forgiveness remove customer feedback comments?
Yes. When Shipt approves a rating exclusion, both the star score and any accompanying written feedback text disappear from your performance history.
What happens if my forgiveness request gets denied?
If support denies your request, you cannot appeal that specific ticket. Your best strategy is to complete more orders to push the low score out of your rolling 50-order window.
