How Long Sam's Club Will Keep Your Grocery Pickup Order Before It's Released

While some retailers add fees or require minimum purchases for curbside pickup, it's a free perk with a Sam's Club membership. The process is straightforward: Customers order from the Sam's Club app and the retailer will provide designated time slots for curbside pickup. The time slots are a suggestion rather than a strict rule, though. If you can't make it on the day of your scheduled pickup, Sam's Club will hold your groceries for 24 hours — except fresh items, which will be returned to the shelves if you don't show up by the end of your scheduled pickup day. After 24 hours, your order will be canceled. Typically, Sam's Club customers aren't charged for canceled orders.

Showing up on time is best for you, the employees, and other customers since it keeps things moving quickly. If you regularly find yourself bailing on orders, you might want to consider upping your membership tier: Sam's Club Plus members can pick up orders starting at 7 a.m., while regular Club members have to wait until 9 a.m. Curbside pickup ends at 8 p.m. for everyone.

Sam's Club keeps refrigerated and frozen items cold until customers arrive, so you don't have to worry about your eggs and milk. If you wait till the last minute to pick up an order from the Sam's Club's cafe, though, your pizza and pretzels may be past their prime. "We had one member who ordered pizza curbside and never came to pick it up. Suddenly, they remembered their order and came before the 24 [hour] mark," one employee wrote on Reddit. "Curbside employees tell us not to remake the pizzas."

Try to remember that your abandoned items aren't entirely free, though. In some cases, "Sam's Club reserves the right to charge a restocking fee for cancelled orders," states the retailer's website. The site doesn't specify what specific situations would trigger a restocking fee, but repeat offenders might be pushing their luck as abandoned items can be a strain for the store's employees. "There's the guy at my club who orders like 70 boxes of diapers a few times a month then never even picks them up," one Redditor shared.  However, in most cases, if your order is cancelled, you'll get a refund within three to five business days.

If you regularly run late, consider adding a family member or friend to your account for backup. You can add an extra person through the app's "Additional Pickup Person" feature, but it's not a last-minute solution. You can't add anyone else to your order after it's been submitted. 

You can also cancel orders scheduled for next-day pickup until 6 p.m. the day before, but orders scheduled for the same day need to be cancelled within 30 minutes of placing them. You'll find cancelation options under your order history, or you can cancel by using the customer service chat feature, calling, or visiting the store. Remember: There's no need to beat yourself up over a forgotten order, but try not to make it a habit. Nobody wants to be Diaper Guy.