How to use coupons as cash discussion

Janina79

gt568 wrote: »

Sorry to be a muppet but what is an MOC?

It means Money Off Coupon.

kayl

I was Asda last night, and was told by the checkout girl that their rule was that I could only use 8 MOC's. She was very helpful about it, and looked through them to take off the ones with the greatest value

peasouper

Read this thread with interest. Would you lot go out shoplifting?

When you misredeem a coupon at Tesco it's not them that pays, it's the manufacturer of the product. In my opinion Tesco are complicit in this because they know that the brands are scared of upsetting them, they just pay up and the fat cats at Tesco still make their margin.

So next time you go with the intention of misredeeming coupons, bear in mind that you are STEALING!

loopylilo

That is ridiculous! Suppliers and retailers fully understand what is involved and the respective risks attached with vouchers.

Yes, we consumers shouldn't abuse 'the system' (and most don't)............ but suppliers and retailers have lived with vouchers for years (and the many benefits they create such as encouraging purchases etc)!

There is a credit crunch out there with many people struggling to make ends meet! Suppliers and supermarkets are still making their millions in profits!

Wake up and smell the coffee.:beer:

peasouper wrote: »

Read this thread with interest. Would you lot go out shoplifting?

When you misredeem a coupon at Tesco it's not them that pays, it's the manufacturer of the product. In my opinion Tesco are complicit in this because they know that the brands are scared of upsetting them, they just pay up and the fat cats at Tesco still make their margin.

So next time you go with the intention of misredeeming coupons, bear in mind that you are STEALING!

joey119

Are you saying that because of the credit crunch it is ok to steal?? Use the coupons for what they are intended and we will see more offers being made available. Continue to abuse the system however, and the manufacturers will stop using coupons!

Because of attitudes / encouragement / justifications displayed on sites like this (and possibly the credit crunch) the coupon abuse is increasing, and therefore it won't be long before we start seeing less coupons out there. Stop ruining it for all of us!!

Stealing is a criminal offence, blaming the credit crunch won't hold up in a court of law.

loopylilo wrote: »

That is ridiculous! Suppliers and retailers fully understand what is involved and the respective risks attached with vouchers.

Yes, we consumers shouldn't abuse 'the system' (and most don't)............ but suppliers and retailers have lived with vouchers for years (and the many benefits they create such as encouraging purchases etc)!

There is a credit crunch out there with many people struggling to make ends meet! Suppliers and supermarkets are still making their millions in profits!

Wake up and smell the coffee.:beer:

Coupon-mad

Hello to joey119 and peasouper ('both' newbies who joined in August 2007, both with the same sad and blinkered attitude, what a coincidence?!).

In case you (both) hadn't noticed, this has already been discussed at lenth on MSE (yawn). The customer is not committing any offence at all by offering coupons as a method of payment in a store that will accept such coupons.

It would be different if I offered coupons in Sainsburys without buying the right items -as they don't have this policy and I would probably be guilty of deception (trying to deceive the Sainsburys cashier).

But in Tesco AND WAITROSE they have a policy which they know full well overrides the t&cs on coupons. They have done it for years and it's nothing to do with the credit crunch. So a customer uses that method of payment then it is fine with Tesco and Waitrose, and the customer isn't stealing.

Couponers are not stupid (far from it!).

We do realise that Tesco and Waitrose take a risk when they then redeem coupons knowing full well at a higher level that they won't have taken them all for the right products. But that's their decision - it's a business practice they have obviously decided is worth it for them to bring in and retain more customers, encourage a higher spend, etc.

Apart from anything else, on the odd occasion when I do use Sainsburys - because I sometimes take my elderly Mum there - their high-handed, pedantic attitude to any coupons makes me very glad I don't shop there myself any more. They have lost my business (I used to spend £150 per week there) specifically because of the coupon policy their rivals offer.

Often, among her £100+ of shopping, my Mum has a couple of products that she has a coupon for, and it annoys me hugely when the cashier makes a song & dance of rifling through my Mum's packed shopping bags or scrutinising the receipt - just to check that she can actually have her 20p off! That's the sort of coupon policy that I would criticise.:mad:

peasouper

Hey Coupon-mad
What are you trying to infer? Thousands of people would have joined in August 2007, so sorry to deflate you but it is a coincidence.

Whatever spin you want to put on it, misredeem a coupon at Tesco and you are helping them steal from the manufacturer. If you didn't do it, they wouldn't be able to do it.

The point that I make is that Tesco is, in my opinion, complicit in fraud. I agree that they encourage consumers to misredeem by accepting coupons that are clearly not in the basket. It would not be so bad if they covered the cost themselves, but they don't. Tesco scan all their coupons before sending them to the manufacturer's clearing house (ususally Valassis). They then deduct the value of the coupon from what they owe the manufacturer for product. This means that the manufacturer has no choice but to pay and it also means that Tesco get their coupons paid for immediately. Strangely enough, you try and misredeem a Tesco Clubcard coupon - they wont let you get away with it. I was turned away the other day because the coupon start date was not until the following day.

Joey119 is quite right, couponing is a valid and proven sales promotion tool. Manufacturers will eventually turn away from coupons in general. They could exclude Tesco from the list of stores where coupons can be redeemed but none of them have had the bottle to do it yet because nobody wants to upset Tesco.

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Hello to joey119 and peasouper ('both' newbies who joined in August 2007, both with the same sad and blinkered attitude, what a coincidence?!).

In case you (both) hadn't noticed, this has already been discussed at lenth on MSE (yawn). The customer is not committing any offence at all by offering coupons as a method of payment in a store that will accept such coupons.

It would be different if I offered coupons in Sainsburys without buying the right items -as they don't have this policy and I would probably be guilty of deception (trying to deceive the Sainsburys cashier).

But in Tesco AND WAITROSE they have a policy which they know full well overrides the t&cs on coupons. They have done it for years and it's nothing to do with the credit crunch. So a customer uses that method of payment then it is fine with Tesco and Waitrose, and the customer isn't stealing.

Couponers are not stupid (far from it!).

We do realise that Tesco and Waitrose take a risk when they then redeem coupons knowing full well at a higher level that they won't have taken them all for the right products. But that's their decision - it's a business practice they have obviously decided is worth it for them to bring in and retain more customers, encourage a higher spend, etc.

Apart from anything else, on the odd occasion when I do use Sainsburys - because I sometimes take my elderly Mum there - their high-handed, pedantic attitude to any coupons makes me very glad I don't shop there myself any more. They have lost my business (I used to spend £150 oper week there) specifically because of the coupon policy their rivals offer.

Often, among her £100+ of shopping, my Mum has a couple of products that she has a coupon for, and it annoys me hugely when the cashier makes a song & dance of rifling through my Mum's packed shopping bags or scrutinising the receipt - just to check that she can actually have her 20p off! That's the sort of coupon policy that I would criticise.:mad:

Janina79

Another one for joey119 and peasouper

ruthiejane wrote: »

Coupons are part of a marketing campaign. The fact that you print off or cut out the coupon, carry it in your wallet or purse etc means that you have taken some sort of notice of the marketing. If you don't then choose to purchase the product then the campaign has backfired a bit on the brand, but in no way is it fraud or stealing to use that coupon if a retailer takes it.

joey119

Coupons usually have separate terms & conditions for the retailer and consumer, and most websites where you can print off coupons state these terms very clearly.
If you choose to breach the consumer terms then there is nothing stopping the coupon issuer from coming after you, regardless of whether the retailer decided to ignore / breach the terms concerning them.

My whole point is just that you should use coupons for the products they're intended for!
Abusing the system will ruin it for all of us and reduce the number of coupons being made available.

Janina79 wrote: »

Another one for joey119 and peasouper

IanRogers

If Tesco are breaching the T&C on the coupon then they're effectively money-laundering! Just because they're big enough to get away with it doesn't make it right. Coupons are NOT cash, they are a discount offered by the manufacturer for a particular product.

You try going into Burger King and claiming 10% off a burger with a McDonalds coupon and see how far you get...