I received an email from a reader about what I call "A Coupon Victory"! I love hearing stories about other couponers sticking up for themselves and not budging when they know they're correct.
Here's the email:
Hey there Collin!
I just wanted to share with you a WAGS complaint issue that I turned in online the very beginning of May. This was my complaint except I inserted the mgr/asst mgr's actual names:
Yesterday I went to Walgreens to purchase the Bayer Heart Advantage Aspirin that is on sale for $1.69 and two of the Cutter Advance Insect Repellent 1oz that are on sale for 2/$4.00.
I had a $2 manufacturer coupon for the Bayer. The asst. mgr (young male) refused to take my coupon. I asked him to simply adjust the price of the coupon (so I wouldn't have overage) and he refused stating they are not allowed to do it. I also had two $2 off manuf. Cutter coupons, but b/c they rang up $2.19 for the 1st and $1.81 for the 2nd the asst mgr refused to take both of my coupons once again.
My frustration is that immediately afterwards, I went down the street to another Walgreens and they took my coupons just fine--adjusted the price of the coupon so I wouldn't have any overage.
I CONSISTENTLY have coupon problems at the Walgreens. I have had these same issues with a female store mgr at the same store. Why are my coupons refused at one store and not the other? Why are Walgreens consistently INCONSISTENT? This is extremely frustrating and a major time suck to deal with these incompetent people who run these stores. Furthermore, I didn't like the male asst. mgr tone and attitude towards me yesterday.
What can I do in the future? What is your store policy?
***********
I had received no response--not even automated, which I was pretty disappointed about! But just minutes ago, I received the below response! I will print this out and keep it with me every time I shop at that WAGS from now on (with my head held high)! SCORE--it did make a difference!!! And boo-yah to that snotty asst mgr for treating me like I was stealing from the company or doing something illegal...and that smirk on his face like he was telling me that he won. Take that!
THANK YOU for the courage and idea! I appreciate all that you do for us!!!
Here is the response she received:
I just called and left a message for you regarding your problems with coupon usage at my store. I have obviously done a very poor job of training my management staff in our coupon acceptance policy. Decreasing the amount of the coupon to the purchase price of your items should never be an issue. I thought that I had effectively communicated the proper handling of coupons to my management staff, but there was obviously a problem in the communication.
First of all I want to offer my sincere apology for the poor service that you received at my store. I also want to make this right for you. I am mailing a $20 gift card to you for your time and trouble. I will also use your e-mail as a tool to teach each of my three assistant managers the proper way to handle coupons that exceed the purchase price of a product.
I will attempt to call you again later this afternoon.
Have a great day!
****************************************
Isn't that awesome?!? Victory once again!!!:)
Also, if anyone reading this has Walgreens coupon policy- please let me know. I would appreciate if someone could email the policy to me. That way I can post it with the Walgreens weekly deals, so readers can bring it with them if they have any issues. My email address is: hip2save@yahoo.com
For more Walgreens Deals and Walgreens Coupons visit the new Hip2Save.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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47 comments:
Congrats! Not sure if the manager wants his # posted on a blog.
Thanks Hip!
I called Walgreens corporate because of a similar issue of not price adjusting coupons at a particular store. I was told that they don't have a written coupon policy, but their new corporate policy is they won't accept coupons they have to price adjust for. I talked to three different people, and got the same answer. If you call Walgreens corporate office, it is now their policy to not price adjust coupons.
Hooray for you! Finally after several months my walgreens has been trained (mostly by me and a couple of my couponing friends) on their own coupon policy. It took a while of us continuing to go and to complain on their website of any problems, but now they greet us by name and are super helpful!
Hey Anon-I've always said that I thought adjusting the coupon price is fraud on the part of the store-they are getting the full reimbursement but not giving it to the customer!?? that doesnt make sense to me (and thats one thing a Publix manager told me as to why they allow overages on mfg coupons). My wags adjusts the price of the product to match the coupon! which is fine with me, I dont need the overage (it would be nice but Im not arguing!)
Good for you! I've gotten to the point where I have all but given up on shopping at Walgreens b/c of their inconsistent policies, lack of stock of sale items and FREQUENT problems with RR not printing! I don't know what the problem is with their stores!
Anon--Email me, and I will email you Walgreen's written response to overages.
alisavasquez@yahoo.com
It IS allowed.
Collin, I will email it to you, too.
That's really encouraging, because I have those same problems fairly often, although my Wags is very nice about it so that helps.
It definitely is allowed. I had a similar situation, and received a gift card for my trouble, too! I get so weary of the coupon fraud line, but it's nice to return to the store after you know corporate has gotten on them, and just present your coupons with a smile. *nod*
SWEET! Finally a walgreens victory!
I was wondering if anyone has been having having problems using coupons and the cashiers pointing out that the fine print say "one coupon per purchase" and saying that I can only use 1 Q per purchase. Is there anything official I can print out and take with me because it is hard for the cashiers to understand that it really means one per item purchased when i try to explain it to them?
Also, I was at Walgreens last Fri and a cashier refused to take my 2 coupons and said he could only take one. He said that the store recieved a letter from corporate saying that they are only allowing one like coupon from each customer now. He then went on a rant saying that customers were getting things for free and taking half the store's inventory and hurting the economy. Obviously he did not know how coupons work. I didn't argue with him because it was almost midnight and there was a long line behind me. I did call corporate, they said that their coupon policies are more like guidelines and they could not give me a definite answer about only allowing one like coupon. They said they will contact the manager of the store I was at about the issue. They said the manager has 2 business days to reply to issue and if I don't a response then I can call them back and go higher in the chain. I still have not recieved a response but since I called Fri and weekends don't count as business days and mon was a holiday so I'm waiting until the end of today then i will call back. Frankly I HATE wags coupon policy and have shopped there fewer and fewer times because of the horrible service and unknowledgeble cashiers and managers. Walgreens should realize that they are making money from our coupon usage and that 75% of the stuff that I have gotten there in the past I would not otherwise ghave gotten if I didn't have a coupon for it.
I had a promlem at one of my cvs stores. The girl at the checkout tried to say that the 2 coupons I was using were the same because the code in the bottom left was the same. I tried to show her that the code in the uppper right was the one that identified the coupons as two different coupons and not the same one twice but she argued with me...there were people in line behind me so I just left. I did get her name though and have sent an email to corporate. Lets see if I get a response.
did they try to scan the coupon and it didnt work? i think the managers always have the authority to override coupons. they do it at my local grocery store which also takes expired coupons.
I stopped going to Walgrens for this very same reason. These people have driven me crazy and I couldn't take it anymore. I have since started going to CVS and have NEVER had a problem with using coupons.
The "one per purchase" is the purchase of the item. People are just un-informed about coupons. (I wanted to say ignorant...) Commpanies receive b/w 4 and 8 cents per coupon they procee ON TOP of being reimbursed in full for the coupon amount. This is a HUGE easy money maker for companies. I have said this several times before, but businesses are not stupid. They do not do things if they will lose money. There is a very small percentage of us that do couponing to this extreme, and I guarantee you we are not hurting the economy. In fact, just the opposite. We are able to do "fun" things that others aren't. I will not have to receive government assistance if my hubby loses his job. We have a stockpile of food and other items so we are self-reliant. This was possible by saving large amounts of money couponing. Stand strong! There is NOTHING wrong with what we are doing!
I'm new to this site, referred by a friend....I'm shocked, I just assumed this site was updated by a super saving woman! haha Boy am I wrong. Thanks Collin! Great site!
https://www.wyethallbrands.com/special_offers.aspx
awesome coupons on here
I've had similar experience at my
Walgreens. About a year ago, they wouldn't accept online coupons, although I knew the one next town over would. I simply came home, fired of a very polite e-mail to corporate, and within 3 days, received a call from the mgr. telling me my complaint was the "straw that broke the camel's back" and they were changing the policy at his store to now accept online coupons. Yaaayyy!!
Then about a month ago, I went to same store, & was told I couldn't use one coupon on each product when they are B1G1, "because that just isn't right, when you're already getting one free". I kept a smile, and asked if that was Walgreens official storewide policy. No answer. Assistant mgr. came over, same scenario. I left emptyhanded (still smiling) emailed corporate, received ANOTHER call from mgr. (he didn't remember me, I didn't refresh his memory. Long story short (sorry!) he wouldn't bend on HIS policy of no 2 coupons on B1G1. Apparenty each mgr. makes up his own policies. Believe me, I nicely told him my position as a consumer, and that while I realize it's his job to help make $ for his store, I feel keeping customers happy goes a long way toward that goal. It's just really easy to walk across the street to CVS where they are happy to honor my coupons. Which is what I inted to do.
Lori......I've had the exact same problem with a Mgr at CVS with the codes on the coupon. I showed him the upper codes were different and he wouldn't budge. Hope to hear what you find out.
I had several rpoblems with Walgreens and I was so happy to see this blog and not feel so alone!!!
I try not to go there anymore they always has problems taking coupons, they wont adjusted them down, they are rude and sarcastic!!! They are going to feel the pain if they keep going this way, CVS is MUCH better!!! They even take expired coupons!!!
I just had a not so nice encounter with a manager at CVS. I went on Monday(memorial day) to get the Neutrogena Sunscreen(which i never found the 1 oz. size). And i bought a few other things, mostly were all free or had overages, other than the $20 in sunscreen i had. Anyhow, when i got to the register the manager said he could not take coupons for clearance items. I stayed very calm and nice and told him that was ridiculous that i do it there all the time and he said they must be doing it as a favor to me, because that is completely against corporate policy. Which by the way i know is not true. Anyhow, i asked him to give me the # to corporate and i called them while standing there. Of course my luck the offices were closed due to the holiday, and he still refused to accept it. So i told him to take the item off and that i would be calling the corporate office back the next day. He said ok, have a great day. He was being very sarcastic.
The next day, i called corporate and they confirmed that i was correct and he was wrong and i gave thim his name & cashier # off of the receipt and they said they would be calling his district manager directly to take care of this problem so that it doesn't happen again.
So he may have won for the moment, but i know he will definitly not feel like a winner when he gets called by his upper manager and gets put in his place.
Yay!!!
Congrats!! Months back, I too had a coupon overage problem and I caused a big ruckus and weeks later I got a phone call from the mgr w/apology -- no gift card tho! FYI....I have a family member that works for Wags and she's tried to get the super secret coupon policy for me (and all of us) and had no luck. My guess is they don't want anyone to have it in writing?
Yeah! I am glad you fought that issue and won! You are right when you say you are not doing anything illegal or trying to steal from the company. Thanks for standing up for all of us and staying true to the reason we all use coupons--to save money! I know you will take that $20 gift card and stretch it to much more!
I had a really awful experience with Walgreens once where the cashier accused me of photocopying coupons bc they were Internet coupons. This was the same store where I dropped a $10 register reward in the store and no one cared enough to help me. I was so so upset.
THAT ROCKS!!! BOO YAH!
Glad you got a good response. I had a problem with Wal-Greens and the assistant store manager was such an idiot. He didn't even know corporate number when I asked for it. I told him I intended to call. And when I got home I did exactly that! 1-800-WalGreens. I ended up getting a snotty apology call from the store manager. Now I know where the cashier and assistant manager got their attitude. I'm not going back and I told them so!
About a year ago, I had an issue at Walgreens. I asked my husband to return an item that I had used a RR to partially pay for. I'm sure that some people do that to get cash, but it is the only time I've ever done it, and it was for a valid reason.
When my husband got home I noticed that the manager only gave him the change I had paid, and didn't compensate for the $10 RR at all. Talk about angry! This Walgreens told me they didn't accept internet coupons previously, and I wasn't happy. However, there is another one nearby that does, so I let that go. UNTIL they stole that $10 from me.
I wrote a letter to the store manager, and sent a copy to the corporate office as well. A few weeks later I received a letter from the district manager with an apology, and it said they should have returned the full value of the item to me. Enclosed was a $20 gift card, as well. I never got an apology from the store manager though, and to this day I rarely shop there.
Accepting coupons can't make a store that much money, Alisa... the employee still has to take the paid time to sort through them and mail the out for reimbursement- Time is money.
Oh, I have lots of problem with using coupons. Beginning of thismonth, I wasn't able to use the $2.25 ecotrin coupons. The Manager even told me it is coupon fraud if she amends the amount of a coupon.
I wrote to Walgreens someitmes in April regarding the attitude of one of their employee. I never received any response, not even an acknowledgement.
I try to shop at CVS unless the deal is too good to pass.
Yes, I'd appreciate a copy of the policy.
Thanks so much
I looked at
www.Iheartwags.com
and towards the bottom on the right hand she has this listed. Hope it helps.
Call: 877-250-5823
or
Corporate Customer Service 847-914-2500
Write: Walgreen Co. 200 Wilmot Road Deerfield, IL 60015
email: through walgreens.com
email from walgreens about coupon policies
walgreens' employee coupon faq
I've been a long time Walgreens customer since I was a child. After a few bad experiences with these Register Rewards and the dissolution of the rebate program, I am done with Walgreens. CVS makes it so easy to do their ECB. I don't have a Rite Aid near me, but I sometimes visit family in MI so I go once in a while. Even their program isn't that bad. I'm throwing in the towel at Walgreens.
Wow! I'm really impressed with the response of the manager. That would really make me want to give them my business. Often time management isn't that gracious.
I had already posted a situation elsewhere on the site about a CVS Store Manager not accepting ANY Manufacturer's Internet Coupon. Long story short, Corporate apologized, gave me 5.00 on my ExtraCare card, seemed very concerned and were very nice. Well, update.... that same Store Manager, who insisted very very coldly that they (CVS - not just his store) absolutely do not take any of them ended up calling me the next day with an apology.
I work at walgreens (X 7 years)and I also like to use coupons, Walgreens is a very good company to work for and to shop at, the one coupon per item deal is a system issue that doesn't allow us to add 2 coupons in one transaction for one item, if you are doing a buy one get one free you can use a coupon in the one you are paying for but not the free one(the system doesn't let us) most of the time, and YES you can use coupons on clerance items, the reimbusment to the company doesn't change, we can't accept expired coupons because the company doesn't get rembursment for it.
Just last month I went to Walgreens to get the excedrin. Walgreens coupon was B1G1, plus I had 4 man coupons. I got a total of 4 boxes. The guy looked at the coupons and said "Yeah, ok, you did get 4." Easy Peesy.
Anon Wags Employee: I have used 2 coupons on BOGO free items many times, and have had no system issues. It's the cashiers who have the issues. Most of the time they won't even try to scan 2 coupons. They call the manager when I question them. The manager will say, "Well scan it and see". It has always gone through, no problem.
Why don't cashiers just scan the coupons??? If there's a real problem, the system will usually beep.
Hot Deal! I went to walgreens today and I needed 2 fillers and they had a valentine rose chocolate single flower for .25. I bought 2 and it generated $1 rr from mars. Thats free plus .50. You should buy only 2 at a time. I went back several times, So I guess the little kiddies will be getting a treat on some special day or they will look good in my baskets. Also, thanks hip for the hint on buying 2 extra gum with b1g1 and in-ad. She took off 1.29 and 1.44. So, .5 for 2. Thanks, it's a lot of work getting it all ready to go but I feel so good.
The issue I had wasn't about being able to use 2 coupons on one item item in one transaction. I had 2 starbucks frap which was 2/$3 and I had 2 of the starbucks frap coupons, one for each starbucks frap. The cashier told me that they got a letter from corporate saying that I can only use one of the same kind of coupon in one store visit so I would not be able to use the second coupon. B/S if you ask me, I swear sometimes cashiers make stuff up, I used to be a cashier for many years so I know that it is a hard job and many of the customers are not nice but some of the things that I have been told by cashiers since i have started couponing is ridiculous and doesn't make since.
I have this same issue every single time at all Walgreen's except one! They DO need to train their staff better! Good job!
Anon--Do some research on coupons. Manuf. do them to get you to try their product. There is a small percentage of us (like I said before) that do it to this extreme. Companies are reimbursed for the whole amount of the coupon PLUS a handling fee. If it is a store coupon, you can bet it is built in the prices already somewhere!! And if not, it is a small cut they are willing to take in order to get you into their store. Trust me...they know what they are doing. We are not hurting these companies in ANY way. It is totally legal, and SMART for those of us that would rather be self-sufficient than ask the government for help. Do your research. They make money...they really, really do. :)
Happy couponing!!
Alisa, you must have took my post wrong. I understand what you are saying, agree with it, and know it. My post was just regarding the coupons themselves. It read like in your first post that you were saying the coupons make the store easy money b/c of the handling fee. I was just stating that it takes an employee time to process the coupons to the point of mailing them for a reimbursement from the manuf. And that the employees time is money- hence, the handling fee. They wouldn't offer a handling fee if it wasn't costing the store money to handle the coupons. Breaks even, no additional money made- like it read that you thought. Or were you talking about how accepting coupons makes a store money b/c we go to that store to use coupons and buy additional items which we may not have bought there in the first place? In which case, I agree :) I am well educated in couponing. You need to be in order to fight the difficult stores and make the process all worth it for everyone in the end. Hopefully more people will join us so we can get this country off welfare, like you said.
Happy couponing to you! and to all!
I think the stores are making money from processing coupons. They get 9 cents for each coupon. For ex. if they had one employee sorting coupons for one hour and they pay the employee min. wage ($7.50 where I live)then the employee would need to process around 84 coupons for the store to break even. It would take the employee 5 min tops to process that many coupons so take 7.50 x 11 = 82.50 so the store is making $82.50 after paying the employee min. wage to sort the coupons so times that by the hundreds of employees the company has and the store is making tons of money! Stores are not stupid and everything they do is planned around getting and making money.
I had a similar victory! I have not yet called the district manager back, but she called me in response to my complaint about her store manager who refused to take my coupon for toothpaste because I was going to receive a RR for the full purchase price so that I would be making money. I got in an argument about it with her and then called customer service and told them that I was also frustrated with the same inconsistency problems and wanted their to be a retraining seesion along with a store policy to be posted. In her message she said she was going to have a training session and wants to be sure she understands the issues. I will be calling her to follow up tomorrow so hopefully I will impress upon her to work on it at a corporate level so we can all enjoy an easier time of it.
I haven't been to Wags for several weeks becasue I'm sick of them because I'm having all of the same problems everyone is reporting. I've been going to Walmart and using coupons even internet printed coupons and haven't had one problem. So nice. I don't get r.r., but I also don't get the hassle that I get at Walgreens.
I went to Wags last night and was told that if the internet coupons that we all use, do not scan, they will not accept them. I think I need to call corporate too!
Thank you Hip to Save. I commented somewhere on this site about a week ago because I was so frustrated with Walgreens. After reading this "coupon victory" post, I decided to email corporate as well.
Today, I received a letter from the store manager and a gift card for $20. Thank you so much for giving me the information and the push to fight for my right to save. :-)
I love your site!
Sarah
I just wrote the above comment yesterday and today I had another problem at a different Walgreens.
It's nice that I got a $20 GC, but really I'm so fed up with Walgreens inconsistencies. They are inconsistent from store to store and even within the same store.
Today, the manager on duty wouldn't let me use more than one RR per transaction. I told her that I have been told (and it even reads on the RR) that I can use one per item. She said no. So I had her do 3 separate transactions. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but if it had been a transaction where I had to buy 2 of something to get the price, I wold have really been hot. There were also people waiting and it is very stressful and irritating. I'll use my GC no doubt, but I won't be shopping there much anymore. I'll shop Rite Aid and wish I had a CVS.
I had the same problem several weeks ago, been a cvs girl, thought I'd give walgreens a try ecotrin asprin on sale for $2 had a $2.25 coupon and I bought a few candy bars. manager refused to adjust it, at every other stor they adjust or give the overage, they get paid either way! I never include my real phone number, however no emails (ohio)
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