Why hasn’t anyone picked up my delivery order?

First, what’s happening.

On Walmart’s Spark Driver service, drivers are independent contractors who decide which offers to accept. The FTC describes it the same way: drivers choose whether to take an offer based on what Walmart says they’ll earn in base pay and tips.

So an order that hasn’t been picked up usually hasn’t been accepted yet. Nobody is ignoring you, and nobody is stuck with your order.

Why some offers sit.

Every driver runs the same quick calculation: miles, minutes, effort and money. An offer can wait when:

• the drive is long, especially out of town (the long drive);
• the order is big or heavy, or the access is hard (heavy orders and access);
• the pay shown doesn’t cover the miles and the time (the offer math);
• the store is slow to hand orders over (waiting and delays); or
• lots of people want deliveries at once, such as around holidays or bad weather.

Does a tip speed it up?

It can make an offer look better to the driver deciding, which is why a tip shown upfront matters. But nothing guarantees speed, and this site doesn’t promise it. Distance, weather, store delays and the platform all play a part. An unattractive offer can sit with or without a tip, and a short, well-paid one can go fast either way.

What Walmart’s help pages say you can do.

• Watch for a pickup offer. If a scheduled delivery is delayed, you may get a text or push notification inviting you to switch to store pickup. Walmart says that if you do, it refunds the delivery fee and the tip.
• Contact customer care. If your delivery window passes and your order hasn’t arrived, use Chat with us.
• Reschedule once. Eligible orders can be rescheduled one time.
• Cancel for a refund. Most orders can be canceled before they’re processed.

What not to wait on.

Before an offer is accepted there’s no driver to contact, so customer care is the right place to ask. Once a driver has accepted, a delay can come from the store, not the road. Here’s how that works.

If you add a tip.

Walmart’s help page says you can tip before or after placing your order. Whether adding one to an order that’s already waiting changes the offer drivers see isn’t something Walmart documents, so don’t count on it. Tip because the work is worth it, not as a button to press.