The first time I have EVER complained as a customer

[notlovinit]

I would like to preface this story with that while I use coupons in this story I am one of those people that is extremely nervous about doing something wrong with coupons. Because of this I read my coupons before I plan my trip, I read them again at the store to make sure I am getting the right product and size, and then I go through them again in line to make sure I got everything that I am trying to use coupons for. I am not one of those extreme couponers, I never try to use a coupon past it's expiration date, and I am not crazy about it.

So this happened at Target. Usually when I go there most of my coupons go through and a few beep and the cashier has to override it. This trip was no exception. The register decided to beep on one coupon that I had for super glue. The cashier then asks me if I had bought one or two bottles. I tell her only one. She then informs me that I can't use two coupons for it. Thinking that she just didn't look at the coupons correctly I let her know that one coupon was a Target coupon and one a manufacturer coupon so I would be able to use both on the one bottle. She then looks really cranky and says, "Yeah, but it's one coupon per purchase." but then accepts it anyway.

I didn't say anything to her because I was thinking that maybe Target changed it's policy and she took it anyway so no reason to fight. Then I went to guest services and asked them about the policy and they said that what I was doing was perfectly okay so I let them know that the cashier told me it wasn't and they said they would talk to her.

So overall it was a happy ending, but really? If you work at Target and you are a cashier how can you not know the policy? Or do you think she was just trying to find a reason not to accept coupons? IDK, but it was the weirdest thing to me, because that policy is pretty common knowledge.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I think every store gets complaints about coupons nowadays. We get a lot of them at the swamp in our customer surveys and also on the company facebook page. It sounds like one of those areas the employees are not trained in enough, so they don't understand what they're supposed to accept or not accept. Even though coupon use is really on the grow nowadays.

[Kogarashi]

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she just didn't know the store's policy all that well, especially if the register's trying to tell her that the coupon's invalid. I know during my stint of cashiering at Walmart, false negatives were few and far between on the coupon scanning, and we could only take one coupon per item regardless of who provided it. Also, the cashiers had no reason to try to turn down coupons. It's not like we were dinged for taking them if they were valid or anything.

That said, she shouldn't have given you a cranky attitude about it, and you were right to approach the service desk to verify the policy like you did.

[notlovinit]

That's true, I guess maybe she thought the register couldn't be wrong or something. But in my experience at Target, that things beeps about 40% of the time on valid coupons. It just struck me as super weird that she wouldn't know their policy since I have a friend that works there, as a stock person (never even touches a register), and he told me they told him that policy in his first couple of days.

[Kogarashi]

Yeah, definitely weird. At least you got it straightened out, and she'll probably get a bit of retraining in that regard, too.

[wagegoth]

Target has its coupon policy online, so print out a copy and keep it with you.

[bainsidhe]

If you work at Target and you are a cashier how can you not know the policy?

Just another point of view, I worked 3 years at WalMart and every month or three the coupon policy would change. Yes we take internet coupons and then no, and then yes, and then only one per item type, then yes then no etc etc etc. Regular coupons we had to be careful with, because some managers made a point of cracking down on cashiers overriding the system willy nilly, so we had to read the coupons carefully if they didn't scan. If the customer persisted, we'd generally override the system anyway (and of course not every customer reads coupons correctly ). I can understand why my store took things so seriously because the store doesn't get reimbursed for fraudulent coupons.

It's a balancing act of knowing store policy, and then choosing between keeping the customer happy or enforcing the policy. *shrugs*

[AriGriffin]

When I worked at a general merchandise store, we didn't have a coupon policy beyond make sure it wasn't expired and follow what the coupon said.

The September 23, 2011 edition of the magazine called 'All You' has a helpful article about couponing. It can be found at Walmart or online and they have a lot of coupons in the magazine.

[sweetj82]

Coupon policy changes so often and every manager has thier own ideas.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

A lot of times, coupon policies change in response to fake coupons going around.

Coupons used to be so easy. You had to clip them out of a newspaper or a magazine, or those Val-Pak envelopes they used to send around. Now you have internet coupons, coupons that appear on your cell phone, Groupon, and computer graphics programs that enable a person to create convincing-looking fake coupons.

There's a rather spirited debate going on in my company over whether or not we accept internet coupons. Last I heard, we did. But so many people complain via social media and our surveys that their internet coupons weren't accepted.

[fma_fanatic]

I ran into this a couple of weeks ago. One of the local grocery stores doesn't seem to know what their coupon policies are. One location will take anything you hand them, another will scrutinize every coupon.

Case in point - I had a BOGO coupon for Sundrop/Diet Sundrop 20oz. One store absolutely refused because they don't accept coupons for free items, despite my pointing out that I was buying an item to get the free one. Nope, wouldn't have it, no way, no how. So I said forget it, and bought everything but the drinks.

Stopped by another location, actually went up to the customer service, showed them the coupon and asked if I would be allowed to use it. The manager gave me a funny look and said "Of course, why?" I told him why, and he said that they should have accepted it at the other store.

Trying to get a copy of the coupon policy from corporate is like pulling teeth. I've given up asking and just go to customer service before I shop now to make sure all the coupons will be accepted.

[bainsidhe]

Trying to get a copy of the coupon policy from corporate is like pulling teeth. I've given up asking and just go to customer service before I shop now to make sure all the coupons will be accepted.

If I may make a suggestion? I recommend getting a manager's say-so as well. My WalMart was a supercenter with over 500 employees and every manager had a different opinion on what the current policy was. The service desk was manned by regular cashiers who would be overridden if a manager disagreed. At least in my store, it was better to get a manager's ok because then the store had to follow through.

[hotelslave]

Where I work you can go to website and get coupons without having to get the newspaper or whatever. What gets me is people will have 10 coupons and 10 items. Then will get upset when we can't take more then 1 coupon a transaction. So they will want to make 10 seperate transactions. Technically I can get fired for doing more then 1 transaction just for coupons with a customer. Do customers care?

[Carsomyr]

It sounds like one of those areas the employees are not trained in enough, so they don't understand what they're supposed to accept or not accept.

This. My first job in a customer service position in a video store, no one said ANYTHING about coupons until I had to find out how to put them through. Turned out that we were supposed to accept competiters coupons. But I didn't feel any need whatsoever to snark at the customer who had it. o.O
I don't have a clue how I was supposed to know that. They didn't advertise it on any of their signs and I'm not in the habit of taking coupons to competitors. Looks like it's common practice in a few places, though. Just so very glad that I don't have to deal with them now. (Touch wood - bosses are getting more adventurous.)

[EricKei]

The manager gave me a funny look and said "Of course, why?" I told him why, and he said that they should have accepted it at the other store..

I can see not accepting coupons for flat-out FREE stuff, as they're a prime suspect for being fakes (I believe I have mentioned the DaddyJim's Pizza Free Card of Death here before ~_~), but a BOGO is just a normal coupon as far as I'm concerned.

Do customers care?

...*Looks at the URL*...No. Their 50c coupon is ALWAYS more important than your job.