Coupon Question

sparklya

Hi,

I'm afraid this isn't a tip but merely a question. I've been trying to understand for ages, but I'm still a little confused - when people talk about money-off coupons for specific items, e.g. £1 off Zest magazine, and then say they used them to get money off their shopping which didn't include a Zest magazine at all, how does that work? Is this really the norm, is it possible / legal etc, and what shops accept it?

Thanks in advance

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Hello sparklya, there is alot of debate on these forums about the use of vouchers and the inconsistency in the supermarkets of their acceptance of these vouchers.

If I had a voucher for £1.00 off Zest I would do my normal shop and hand the voucher to the cashier, she scans it and as long as my store (Tescos) sells it I get the £1.00 off my shopping bill without buying Zest. Tesco then sends the voucher away and gets their £1.00 back plus a small handling feee. It is common practice to do this yes, and alot of cashiers will readily take them without any comment. Of course, you may come across one or two who will not but you can always use your vouchers at another time. Best advice, is think of your vouchers usage as a bonus BUT not an automatic right.

I believe that Asda, Tescos and Waitrose accepts vouchers without the purchase of the items, some say 10% of the shopping bill but I spent £28 last week in Tescos and used £16 worth of vouchers. Again, depends on the store and who is serving you.

Hope this helps

sparklya

Thanks welsh-dragon, that clears things up a little. I just wasn't sure whether the use of vouchers in this way relied upon cashiers just not noticing, or whether it was a legitimate thing that they condoned. For instance, is it OK to use more than one of the same voucher per transaction? Also, does anyone know if they scan on self-service machines?

Thanks again!

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Sparklya - when my vouchers were refused at a Tesco till I emailed Tesco Head Office and this is the reply I received:

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. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain our policy.

So, you can see that Tesco HO are OK with people using vouchers, but if I used 2 vouchers for say Andrex then they may not accept them as only one voucher per manufacturer (but again depending on cashier). Last week I handed over 6 copies of the same voucher with no problems at all.

You can use vouchers on the self-scan but I believe that sometimes an operator is called to authorise the vouchers going thru.

Using my vouchers has saved me a considerable amount of money, once you know a cashier that accepts your vouchers use that cashier again on your next visit - Good Luck and Happy shopping ! :rotfl:

sparklya

Thanks, that's great, now I understand.

Just one other thing - I've heard of people using Sainsbury's vouchers (those in the back of the magazine, right?) in Tesco. Is that true or did I misunderstand?

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Hiya sparklya - yes I believe people have used their Sainsbury's vouchers at Tescos. I haven't personally as we haven't got a Sainsbury's nearby and I think Asda have accepted them too.

Basically, it is all down to the store you shop in, I could say, yes no problems to you but when you get there they don't accept them - they may have stricter or more lax policies than say my home store.

Just give it a try, worst you may have is a refusal and at best you have some saved some bucks !!

If you need some vouchers try this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=81758&highlight=voucher+mail

Dormouse

My local Tesco, who have been excellent at taking vouchers, suddenly decided last weekend that they aren't going to take them anymore (for things you haven't bought, obviously). :eek: CS said the HO are getting stricter... Will have to see if this is indeed a new policy that's going to stick, and if it is, either start shopping at Asda or go to another Tesco further afield...

Not a happy bunny

RAMBLER

Dormouse, quite a few other MSE's have been saying that their Tesco's policy has changed recently. If this is a changing of (if not company, than a larger group of stores) policy, I wonder the effect it will have on shoppers spending habits? Raises alot of questions.....

RAMBLER

Ems!

Have to agree re tescos getting stricter on coupons.... have been using them for ages on self scan tills and operated tills, the other day i handed assistant 3 x £2.90 coupons and 2 x £1 coupons, and said .. do u accept any of these... she put them all through.
2 days later in the same store I was on self scan, scanned 1 x 2.90, 1x 30p, 1x 25p , 1x 20p. I had bought the 30p product. All went through ok, didn't ask for authorisation or anything, was just abt to swipe deb card when the guy watching the self scan tills came over, got all my vouchers out, said I could only have the 1 I had bought (30p), and 1 other which had to be the cheapest - ie 20p- I said - well if I had only put through the £2.90 and no others u would have let me have that - he claimed he wouldn't have let me have any in that instance and he was doing me a favour by letting me have the 1. I just said ok, u just gotta regard them as a bonus I suppose so u can be happy wen they go through - i had been spoilt by never having had a problem b4! Sooo, the point to this waffle is yep think they are getting stricter!!!

RAMBLER

Cotsvale. there's no point contacting Head Office because it comes down to the discression of the Store Manager. Try asking at the Customer Service Desk and get the name of the person so you can name drop for when it happens again.

It is frustrating, and like you I see coupons as a bonus, so speak to your customer service desk and get a concrete answer one way or the other.

mhoc

Stafford Tesco yesterday said they only take one single coupon per transaction. I suppose then if you wanted to make a point you could buy just a couple of items, say £1s worth through each till and give them one coupon each time - my biggest coupons are 50ps. You would have to use a seperate till each time so as not to annoy the till girl!

Well at least the petrol is cheap there and you get 3 hours free parking which you might need if you were doing the above!

Mary