Save All The Money

[Pixi_kitty]

My store has a policy where if you forget your coupon, you can bring the receipt within two weeks and get the price adjusted, no problem. It's a little annoying because I have to return all the items, then type in the numbers to resell it, but not a big deal. However, this lady...

A couple days earlier the store was running a promotion where all clearance was an extra 25% off the ticketed price. Apparently, this person had bought a bunch of 97 cent items, so her total for each one was 73 cents. The total of the receipt, with tax, was a little over $16.

On Friday, she comes to me, having bought about 20 items, asking for it to be adjusted with her coupon. I do, but internally groan. Each item has a 14 digit code I have to type into the computer, and we've been having keyboard issues. It takes literally about ten minutes to complete. Guess who much she saved? This crazy long transaction get her back? $2.67. Two dollars and sixty seven cents!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

But of course, it's the principle.

Frankly, I'd probably spend more than that on gas so that 2.67 just ain't worth it to me.

And there again, you have a class of people who would argue over a single penny. To me, they look cheap and stupid but of course they don't see that. They're too caught up in being right and, of course, the principle of the matter.

They just see the wrong principle.

[HawaiianShirts]

I dunno. I might do something like that. If I was somehow desperate for the extra money (assuming the clearance items were necessities) and if I happened to be in the area of the store (shopping there weekly or passing by on my way to or from work). Then the $2.67 might be worth MY effort.

I'd like to think, though, that I would have the decency to apologize or at least feel a little guilty after seeing all the work I had just made the store employee go through to get me that refund.

And there again, you have a class of people who would argue over a single penny.

True. When I sold computers, I often had customers ask me for a quote of what their final total would be with software, warranties, accessories, etc. I would give them estimates, but I always made a point to specify that my estimates were never exactly right and that I always rounded up.

For one customer, my estimate was five cents higher than what the register said the total was. He got mad and walked out without buying anything, claiming that I was untrustworthy.

[Trixie]

We sell these cheap knee-hi stockings 2 for $1 but will have them on sale 4 for $1. One time I had a lady come up and say she was charged for one more than she got. I was going to ask her if she wanted to just grab another one because well, they are cheap and it's not always a bad idea to have an extra set. She never stopped complaining about she was over charged. I called a manager to take care of the return. I'm kinda glad that was before the cashiers were able to handle returns. Honestly I may have slipped and said something unprofessional.

[Catwoman2965]

We get that in my store too. Technically, we ONLY do price adjustments when something goes from full price, to the FIRST markdown, and it must be within 14 days. Other than that, a second markdown, or if the % off the markdowns goes say from 40 to 50, we aren't supposed to do anything. However, corporate's philospohy of doing whatever is best for the customer, contradicts the policy of no adjustments.

So, we will, if they bring in their merchandise, with tags on, and receipt, unworn, return it all, and repurchase it, at the lower price or % off. its annoying, but unfortunately the customers all know we'll do it for them. Sometimes though, they save literally a dollar or two, since an extra 10% off a less than $20 item doesn't amount to much.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ugghh, price adjustments. They need to DIAF.

And of course, the same people who come traipsing back in with their receipts to save a whole 5 bucks off something they bought a few days back bitch when they can't find anybody on the salesfloor to help them, or have to wait in a long line to check out. Do they think that price adjustments somehow doesn't count against our sales?

You can have clean, well-stocked stores full of friendly, knowledgeable employees to help you out, or you can come back the day a big sale starts to save a few bucks off your previous purchase because your timing sucks. Pick one. Only one.

[infinitemonkies]

When the hell did retroactive couponing become a thing, and more importantly, why?!?

Here's the item. This is the price. If you like both, we can make a deal. If not, better luck next time. What's that? We're sold out of the thing on sale? Well, yes, that was the point really.

[Catwoman2965]

When the hell did retroactive couponing become a thing, and more importantly, why?!?

Here's the item. This is the price. If you like both, we can make a deal. If not, better luck next time. What's that? We're sold out of the thing on sale? Well, yes, that was the point really.

I totally agree. I've bought things, then gotten a coupon, or seen them discounted or marked down. You know what, oh well. My feeling is if you buy it, and you think you paid a fair price, so be it. But it really irks me when my store has a promo, or sends out a coupon, and people who have JUST bought soemthing think they're now entitled to the discount. its the luck of the draw.
You miss out this time, you might catch the next one, so STFU and go away.

[Dreamstalker]

The new registers at my store don't scan all coupons (despite what the manager said about the new system--grrrr). Sometimes the system won't even let us force a coupon through that we know is valid...that's when the customer gets sent to the desk with their receipt to get the cash back. That type of thing makes sense; we should only allow cash back if the customer returns the same day.

I did catch a customer using the same receipt with multiple coupons (over many weeks) to get cash...no policy against that. It stopped when the veteran desk associate marked the receipt one day, SC tried again with a newbie using the same receipt and a supervisor saw it.

[KatherineB]

There are a couple of places now in Australia that advertise they will meet a lower price within six months (I think, it might be three) of purchase upon presentation of receipt. I can only imagine how that is being abused!

[EricKei]

When the hell did retroactive couponing become a thing, and more importantly, why?!?

When stores decided that retaining the customers that don't really make them money was critically important...After all, custys like that eventually all shift over to constantly buying high-profit items without coupons or sales going on, right....right?

Places like Wal-Mart used to accept pretty much ANY item (whether it was something they carried or not, apparently) for refunds, without receipts (iirc, they have this tendency to literally force their vendors to accept this questionable merch anyway and refund it -- "What? You guys don't wanna give us a refund on this item? I guess you don't want to have anything you sell stocked in ANY of our many thousands of stores then, do you?"). Stupid, stupid policy. They stopped it a long time ago due to the blatantly obvious abuses of it. They have yet to reinstate it...I hope x.x

There are a couple of places now in Australia that advertise they will meet a lower price within six months (I think, it might be three) of purchase upon presentation of receipt. I can only imagine how that is being abused!

Some places in the US have been doing this for many years, but it's normally only within a few weeks, with *precisely* the same item, on a paper flyer (internet doesn't count), from a store within 20 miles...

[otakuneko]

This is the first I've ever heard of such a policy. Most coupons though aren't worth the time and gas money to go back to the store to have retroactively applied. If I forget a coupon, it's, "oh well, I'll use it next time..."

[Aethian]

Meijer's here used to have a 14 day policy.

[thatcrazyredhead]

Best Buy will do a price adjustment within 15 days of the purchase. We got $40 back on the computer we just bought. That's worth it to me (also Best Buy is two blocks away). Couple of bucks, not so much. I don't see anything sucky about taking a store up on this kind of offer, as long as you work within their policy (time frame, receipt, etc) and aren't belligerent about it.

[Jay 2K Winger]

The wholesale club would sometimes allow retroactive couponing, but it was generally only if the managers decided to allow it.

And we never allowed retroactive couponing for our Black Friday Weekend coupons. (In lieu of actually marking down the products, the store handed out BFW coupon booklets in the weeks leading up to it.) People sometimes complained, but our stance was "If you want the deals, come in during that weekend and buy it." They'd whine, "But I'll be out of town that weekend," and we'd say, "Then go to one of our stores where you're going." "But they don't have any out there!" "Then you can't use the coupons."