Are you having problems using coupons?!?What is the deal these days with cashiers thinking that the coupons we use somehow come out of their paychecks? I just DON'T UNDERSTAND! It seems we should get praised for how much we save with the economy as bad as it is!
Now I'm not by any means trying to say there aren't some fabulous cashiers out there because trust me I know of quite a few. Check out this post to see what I mean!
I have gotten lots of emails lately about coupon usage and what to do when a store employee doesn't want to accept a manufacturer coupon. Here are a few things I try to do and say to make sure ALL my coupons get scanned:
- The first thing I do and this might sound a little funny, is look around and see what cashiers I have to choose from. Sometimes just by looking at facial expressions you can tell who is in a great mood and well... who is NOT so happy! Obviously I always choose the perkiest of the bunch!
- As I get up to the register I always, I mean ALWAYS strike up a conversation! Whether it be complimenting them on a piece of jewelry they have or how it hasn't stopped raining outside. I always come up with something to say. I also try to ask a question as my coupons are being scanned, then they usually don't get scrutinized quite as much!
- Now the hard part-Your coupon gets scrutinized! What to do? First NEVER get angry, that will do nothing for you. Stay calm and realize that most of the time when someone is worried about accepting your coupon it's because they are not educated at all on the use of manufacturers coupons and may be worried they will get in trouble. The is the time to become their little teacher and educate them. I make it short and sweet-Your store will get reimbursed for each coupon that I'm using. Coupons to your store are pretty much the same as me using cash instead. Either way they will get their money. Then I go on to explain that coupons are coded to beep if I didn't buy the correct item which usually gives the cashier the initiative to go ahead and scan the coupon.
- Does she still not want to scan the coupon? If so, my next step usually involves flipping through the sales ad and finding a spot where it says coupon saving in the paper. Walgreen's and CVS have this displayed in lots of places in their ads. This really helps if you can find the exact picture of what your purchasing with coupon savings written beside it. Basically that pretty clearly says you CAN use a manufacture coupon to purchase your item. This happened with the Garnier products that were on sale for $2.99 at Walgreen's last week. There was an EasySaver $2 Walgreen's coupon that would make the price only .99 plus if you used the $1 manufacturer coupon it would make the shampoo free. One cashier told me I couldn't use the manufacturer coupon, so I politely showed her the ad where it pictured the Garnier product at .99 after EasySaver coupon but ALSO had look for saving in the paper written beside it too! Of course after seeing that she went ahead and let me use it.
- If your still having problems your next step is to ask for a manager. Go through the above steps again with the manager and see if that works. If not, get his name and nicely let him know that you will be calling corporate about this. Sometimes just by saying that they will go ahead and let you use the coupons. Either way give corporate a call and see what they say about the problems with coupons usage your encountering!
Do you have any other coupon tips?!? Please feel free to share!
9 comments:
Sometimes, just knowing what you are talking about helps too. They are less likely to argue with you or not take your coupons when you know what you are doing. Take a minute to read the coupon policies on the web for the stores that you will be shopping with, take a copy with you if you want. Also, when you have a problem, call the stores general manager, when you use their name the next time a problem comes up, they fix things rather quickly. I had a problem with a night time cashier at Walmart not taking my IP's and after talking to and dropping the GM's name, he took them just fine. Most of the time, they just make stuff up, because they don't know.
Thank you, this is good advice. I'm fairly new at this and don't know the ropes too well. If they say they can't, i just accept it with no questions. Now, I can try a few things next time. Thanks.
I don't mean this to sound bad, but when I go shopping, I try to find a GUY cashier. They don't give a flip about what coupons I'm using! Not that I'm trying to sneak anything by. All my coupons are legitimate, but I'm just saying that guy cashiers don't seem to question them. at. all.
Funny...I had planned to do a similar article on my blog, but haven't gotten to it yet.
Love your blog!
I have had the worst time in Montgomery Alabama. I see the posts for great deals and it never works here. I went today to get some of the cleaning products for B1G1 and they would only except 1 coupon. I talked to the manager and he was clueless about the whole process. He did listen and proceeded to call Hqtrs, he said they can only take one for those deals because on the coupon it states "Limit only one coupon per purchase" So I'm just very frustrated I can't get a good deal!!!!
I too get shaky when I arrive at the check out wondering what they are going to say to me.
I worked in the accounting office of our Walmart for 2 years, and I do know we watch the cashiers closely and made sure they were doing everything by "Walmarts rules" blah blah. And we did have to flag cashiers when they used many of the same coupons. BUT...I don't think management ever actually looked at the coupon to see what it said. I too got confused on exactly what you can double up on. If anyone here can translate the different rules on the coupon and tell me which ones actually let you have more than 1. Some say 1 per customer, some say 1 per transaction, others say 1 per item?
I agree with asking a manager though. I had a manager once come to me when I was on a register once and told me that a young woman would be coming through with many coupons for baby wipes and to except them all. I though can't remember if the register "beeped" for an override. She somehow landed about 30-40 $2.00 off Huggies wipes making them about .34 each! And we excepted them all! What a deal she got!
But yes, I do get confused about the coupon part. Buying more items with a coupon for each..OR better yet..a store coupon matched with a manufacturer coupon. Is that totally okay? Or do some stores give you grief more than others.
I was just informed last night by a manager at WalMart (Las Vegas) that they're no longer accept printed internet coupons! I asked for their official coupon policy and she (nor the manager at customer service) could produce it. They gave me the number of their lead and said I should call her to verify. Has anyone else been denied using internet coupons @ Walmart? :(
If you google 'walmarts coupon policy' it will state that they do IN fact take internet coupons.
I'm a grocery store clerk and one of those clerks that most customer gravitate towards. I give out coupon tips and websites to check out. I actually found your site because of a customer that I was talking to.
As far as Julies comment about going to a male cashier she's probably right at least as far as my store goes.
Thanks for all the great tips on your site.
Ramona in Missouri
what i want to know, is let's say that you use your $2 coupon at walgreens and you happen to have that $1 coupon, but both of them say in fine print (as MOST coupons say,)"not to be used with any other promotion" or something of the like.. how are you able to be using more than one coupon on an item!? that's what confuses me! and what about sales? sometimes sales are "promotional" and cannot be paired with a coupon..
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