Help! Tesco coupon policy? I've been banned!

MyUserNamesTaken · 5 August 2005 at 1:51PM

My opinion is that the way the whole situation was handled was terrible, regardless of the legalities of it all. Igloo should contact Tesco HO to complain about the disgusting way her and her two young children were treated. In terms of Customer Service, this is an absolute disaster for Tesco. If the press were to get hold of this story, Tesco would come out looking very bad indeed. I would suggest that it's probably better for Igloo to follow this line, rather than get into legal battles with the Tesco lawyers. Bad press for Tesco is worse than any legal threat.

Igloo, if you don't get what you want from Tesco HO, contact their publicity dept and tell them that you will be going to the National Press (I'm sure the likes of The Sun would love a story like this!). Also, it would be a good idea to get them to secure any CCTV footage of the incident.

RogerPJ · 5 August 2005 at 2:12PM

Tescos get funny about manufacturer's coupons (i.e. not their own) as they don't bother claiming them back. A friend of mine worked for Tescos and said they just ditch most of the vouchers as it costs more to process them than to claim them back. So, if you are buying £20 worth of goods and claiming £10 worth of vouchers Tescos are losing 50% which is probably the whole of their profit. That's why they introduced the 10% rule i.e. you shouldn't pay for more than 10% of your bill with vouchers.

SPARKLYBLUE_2 · 5 August 2005 at 3:38PM

This is a bit random, but on subject of vouchers, I was in Boots and handed what I thought was a double points voucher, the sales assistant scanned it and and kept looking at the items, I then suddenly realised I had given her a TESCO double points voucher and it had come up as an item and had charged me! she was that baffled and said in the 3 years working for Boots that had never happened.These bar codes definitely have a code of their own, good job she noticed.
And a message to IGLOO have read all the threads, feel very much for you and your children, no one should be treated like you were. keep us all posted, we are all in your corner!

ben500 · 5 August 2005 at 4:53PM

RogerPJ wrote:

Tescos get funny about manufacturer's coupons (i.e. not their own) as they don't bother claiming them back. A friend of mine worked for Tescos and said they just ditch most of the vouchers as it costs more to process them than to claim them back. So, if you are buying £20 worth of goods and claiming £10 worth of vouchers Tescos are losing 50% which is probably the whole of their profit. That's why they introduced the 10% rule i.e. you shouldn't pay for more than 10% of your bill with vouchers.

I'm sorry but your friend is mistaken Tesco do indeed redeem all of the coupons, the only coupons that are binned are competitors coupons ie Sainsbury 10% total bill etc as Sainsbury are hardly going to re-imburse them.

bagand96 · 5 August 2005 at 5:22PM

ben500 wrote:

I'm sorry but your friend is mistaken Tesco do indeed redeem all of the coupons, the only coupons that are binned are competitors coupons ie Sainsbury 10% total bill etc as Sainsbury are hardly going to re-imburse them.

I can verify that his friend is not mistaken, a lot do get redeemed but for quite a few, its not worth the hassle.

The official Tesco head office line to stores about the coupon policy is that we accept manufacturer coupons, 1 of each kind if product is not being purchased. However, if stores feel that customers are abusing the policy they can use their own discretion and take action if deemed neccesary.

Tesco can ban you from their stores, they don't have to prove anything to anyone, they are a private business and can ask you not to return to their property. They can also take your clubcard from you as per the t's and c's.

Igloo, I sympathise with you for what was obviously not a pleasent experience. You fealt you were treated unacceptably, and you have taken the correct steps by complaining to Head Office. Keep at them until you get a resolution you feel is acceptable - "take it to the top".

Unfortunately, I would say to everyone else that bombarding Tesco with letters or emails wont have any affect. Tesco have become so big they can afford to be arrogant - if you choose not to shop with them, thousands of others still will. Its sad, but thats the way Tesco work these days. This matter is between Igloo and Tesco.

And before I get flamed:
YES - I work for Tesco
NO - I wasn't involved in the incident in anyway
I do not feel I am in a position to support or condem the action taken by staff during and following this incident.
*Puts on heat resistant jacket*

Fifer · 5 August 2005 at 5:54PM

No need for the jacket. It's good to get some insight from Tesco's side of the fence.

They can also take your clubcard from you as per the t's and c's. ... I do not feel I am in a position to support or condemn the action taken by staff during and following this incident.

Your comment about the card is true but (and I know you didn't say otherwise) they had no legal authority to detain her until she returned the card as retrieval of same would be a civil, not criminal matter. If igloo refused to give up the card, Tesco's only legal course of action would be to take her to court. She did not steal the card, it was issued to her by Tesco voluntarily. Thus, the behaviour of the staff not allowing her to leave the office (indeed, even in compelling her to go to the office) against her will was illegal, in addition to being unnecessary and unbelievably OTT.

ben500 · 5 August 2005 at 7:12PM

Somebody might like to inform NCH that Tesco don't redeem coupons seeing as how they have a team specifically to deal with their redemptions. They could lay them all off and save a fortune.

raeble · 5 August 2005 at 7:23PM

newfoundglory wrote:

Definitely!

If they breach the DPA make sure you do them for it. It would be a *BIG* kick in the balls to Tesco. The Data Protection Act is extremely powerful, more so than people realise, and is enough to bring even the largest companies to their knees.

You would be surprised how bloody fast a company with zero customer service gets its act together when just the threat of a report to the Information Commissioner comes into the equation.

However you'd better first make sure that when you signed up for the club card you didn't agree for your personal information to be used in this way. Companies tend to have something in their t & c stating that your information will be used for such and such, if you don't want this you need to opt out. If you haven't opted out they are fully entitled to use your information as they have stated they will in the t&c.

thepearce · 6 August 2005 at 12:58AM

raeble wrote:

However you'd better first make sure that when you signed up for the club card you didn't agree for your personal information to be used in this way. Companies tend to have something in their t & c stating that your information will be used for such and such, if you don't want this you need to opt out. If you haven't opted out they are fully entitled to use your information as they have stated they will in the t&c.

...and I'm sure they would check this out *before* snooping around.

bylromarha · 6 August 2005 at 10:03AM

OP- I asked tesco to clarify this ages ago and got their response yesterday. Here it is. The last email is the most interesting...

Me

I believe that you accept 1 of each different sort of brand name coupon if
you haven't bought the product. i believe this is different to if they are a
tesco specific coupon as in the Tesco mag.

This policy varies widely in the many stores around here. Some insist that
you can only pay for a %age of the bill in coupons. Other will only take 1
coupon. Some stores get grumpy when I ask them to ring your HO to clarify the
policy as they are telling me something diffferent each time I go i there
(the same store this is!).

Please can you clarify the points above...all of them...so that when I am
told something again at the checkout I can be sure what your policy is on the
matter.

ie: if I had £10 of different brand name coupons and £10 shopping I could
use all those coupons for my shopping, even though I had bought none of the
products listed on the coupons.

Please can you post this response to me on headed paper so that stores can
see I have not just typed out a pretend email from you.

Thanks

Tesco

Thank you for your email.

Any coupons, which display the Tesco logo, are Tesco specific. We only
accept these if the products referred to on the coupons are purchased. This is
because we negotiate savings with our suppliers on the condition that these
actual products will be purchased.

With regard to coupons from brand name manufacturers, we are happy to accept
one, even if you have not purchased the product. The coupon must be in date
and Tesco must sell the item. If you present more than one identical coupon,
then you must purchase the same number of products.

This also applies to coupons printed from the Internet. These will only be
accepted at the discretion of the Store Manager.

I do hope that this clarifies our policy and thank you for your enquiry.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at
customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting

Regards

Kara Allan
Tesco Customer Service

Me

This is what I thought.

So can you also confirm that there is no maximum percentage of coupons that
you will take towards one shop? ie I can use a £3 coupon on a £5 shop.

Thank you.

Tesco

Thank you for your reply.

You can use vouchers to pay for the entire cost of your shopping. However, change can only be paid in cash if less than £0.99, any change over £1.00 will be paid in vouchers.

I hope this helps.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting

Regards

Jaimie Smyth
Tesco Customer Service

Ben500- Did you know you can get change from your coupons?!:D

Help! Tesco coupon policy? I've been banned!

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