Okay so I've been milling this around in my brain for a few days, and I have to admit I'm stumped. What is so hard about this? And why didn't I come up with the ultimate winning answer in the first place?
I get a call from a cashier - he's new, so I'm glad he called instead of just assuming he knew what to do. He asks me "this lady is returning the item she bought about an hour ago, can I give her the coupon she used back?"
Wait! What??? <record scratch>
Let me get this straight. You are returning an item you bought a little while ago. You used a coupon when you bought it (therefore making your payment due lower than the sales price). Okay, so to me that means .... you get refunded the PRICE YOU PAID after coupon.
She could not understand this. "But if I return this, then I should get the coupon back, because it's like the sale didn't happen!"
Ummm no.
"Ma'am, you USED the coupon when you bought the product. You paid <price of item> MINUS <value of coupon> for the product. That means you paid P-V=S (okay I didn't say it like this, but that's what it is!) We are refunding you S, so you have gotten back exactly WHAT YOU PAID.
"But I wanna use the coupon again!"
"No you can't do that" repeat repeat repeat ..... then it hit me!
"Manufacturer coupons are all coded digitally. Even if I gave it back to you, "the system" would recognize that the coupon had been previously used. No coupon can be used more than once". Okay, so I made that up, but she doesn't know that!
She seemed satisfied with that explanation ... when my brilliant math skills and excellent customer service skills <LOL sarcasm> didn't penetrate her brain.
"You have a nice night ma'am"
I get a call from a cashier - he's new, so I'm glad he called instead of just assuming he knew what to do. He asks me "this lady is returning the item she bought about an hour ago, can I give her the coupon she used back?"
Wait! What??? <record scratch>
Let me get this straight. You are returning an item you bought a little while ago. You used a coupon when you bought it (therefore making your payment due lower than the sales price). Okay, so to me that means .... you get refunded the PRICE YOU PAID after coupon.
She could not understand this. "But if I return this, then I should get the coupon back, because it's like the sale didn't happen!"
Ummm no.
"Ma'am, you USED the coupon when you bought the product. You paid <price of item> MINUS <value of coupon> for the product. That means you paid P-V=S (okay I didn't say it like this, but that's what it is!) We are refunding you S, so you have gotten back exactly WHAT YOU PAID.
"But I wanna use the coupon again!"
"No you can't do that" repeat repeat repeat ..... then it hit me!
"Manufacturer coupons are all coded digitally. Even if I gave it back to you, "the system" would recognize that the coupon had been previously used. No coupon can be used more than once". Okay, so I made that up, but she doesn't know that!
She seemed satisfied with that explanation ... when my brilliant math skills and excellent customer service skills <LOL sarcasm> didn't penetrate her brain.
"You have a nice night ma'am"
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