voucher embarassment at asda!!

stebiz

Elzo wrote:

I have to wonder, is all of it worth the hassle? Getting worried as you enter the store, having to try several stores to find one that will accept your coupons, dividing your shop into two, getting shouted at by sales assistants, having to speak to the manager on a regular basis...

Saving thousands a year. I often wonder myself:D

Elzo. It really can save you a lot of money if you do it right. By the way I understand your point and am in no way having a go at you - and it is a bonus I agree. Happy Christmas.

Stebiz

chipbeck

Elzo wrote:

I can't help but think that the stores have a point, that you should only use the voucher if you are buying the product. Food manufacturers aren't wanting to lose money and not even have people buying the product. If you manage to use a coupon without buying the product, then well done and you should see it as a bonus. But to complain when this is not the case, I think is in bad taste.
I have to wonder, is all of it worth the hassle? Getting worried as you enter the store, having to try several stores to find one that will accept your coupons, dividing your shop into two, getting shouted at by sales assistants, having to speak to the manager on a regular basis...

Just my opinion, but don't get me wrong, I know its all with the aim of saving money

In a word Elzo yes it is worth it.

With regards to complaints my only gripe is that if a store has a policy it should stick to it.

Elzo

I'm just a bit concerned that sooner or later, manufacturers will probably stop offering coupons at all, knowing that their products aren't getting bought with the coupons.

Happy Christmas to you too!

Carmina_Piranha_3

i tend to see the ten percent off (when i have coupons) as a bonus but sometimes there are stories on here of people using more than 10% and i wondered if it would work. i justified it to myself by saying that they will accept 10% off anyone's shopping and there will be lots of people shopping that day who didn't use any vouchers at all.

KittyKate

I must say I agree with Elzo. I would never cut out a voucher for Yoghurt and think 'oh great I can save 16p on bread'. I totally understand a saving is a saving and if a store is daft enough to accept a coupon without the product being bought then you have every right to give it a try and good on you if it works. And I bet it is annoying to be told 5 different things by staff but at the end of the day I wouldn't complain to the manager if I hadn't even bought the product - it doesn't look a good argument to me!

sandybrag

Interesting discussion, although by definition when you hand over your coupons you are doing nothing more than giving an invitation to treat, even if you were willingly handing over coupons for things you had not bought whatever they might be for.
If you are ever stopped and asked to goto the "Security office", challenge this and refuse, as it is wrong an merely an attempt to intimidate you now, and in the future..

Now, if you were handing over say forged bank notes that would be a completely different situation.

Elzo

Yes I agree with KittyKate that if the store is stupid enough to accept them, then that's their problem.
But if some of you are saying that you save 'thousands' of pounds a year by using these coupons, surely that is certainly an abuse of the system and is more than just a bonus.
As for store policy, what about the T&Cs on the coupon? Its always pretty clear that the money off is for when you buy the actual product.

To be clear, I'm not getting on at anyone for trying it on, its really that I don't see the justification in complaining when they are not following what it says on the coupon in the first place.

jellyhead

i wasn't complaining, just letting people know that i've been warned against using more than the 10% allowed. i would be gutted if security spoke to me, and i'm guessing that most other voucher users would too. i just save a small amount, over the course of a year it's less than ten percent of my shopping and that's certainly not thousands!

for a couple of weeks i tried to get away with more than i should have done, but won't be doing it again. to be honest the only reason i use the self check-out is because the ordinary checkouts have sweets and chocolate along the side where you stand and it's a nightmare trying to stop the baby from grabbing and eating chocolate (and then vomiting over him pram because he's lactose intolerant). i'm going to use the ordinary checkouts from now on though, i don't want to embarass my mum. i'll have to stand back until it's my turn, then dash through the choccy to the packing area.

(or shop in tesco, my brother works there but won't care if i embarass him lol!)

Jazzyjeff_2

I think there are a number of issues with coupons and IMHO it boils down down to some people taking it too far as always:

- people who use normal manufacturers coupons - nothing at all wrong with this, the head office of the stores are absolutely fine with it and it should cause no loss to the store etc etc

The reason why people get annoyed is that:
a) policy varies between stores
b) policy varies on a DAILY basis
c) policy varies between operatives.

Most of the problems would be solved by stores simply implementing a nationwide policy rather than head office saying one thing and stores saying another.

- people who use out of date / store specific vouchers are 99% in the wrong I believe and are ruining it for others. There are lots of threads on here saying £40 somerfield vouchers this month and people rushing out to grab loads and find some 'young lad' to palm them off on or shove them in the self-scan. IMO this is no different than handing over fake notes (the only exception to this is some say their store managers are willing to accept a certain amount of these even without the product being bought - I assume this must be a competitive area and they are wanting the extra customers badly).
I mean come on if you give over £40 of somerfield vouchers in tesco/asda - what are they going to do this them, I know for a fact that in my local asda this is the main reason for them clamping down on voucher use on the self-scans so it really is ruining it for everyone who sticks to the rules.

On the whole MSE is an excellent/friendly resource however I do think there are some bits which are less acceptable. The big thread on who gives vouchers if you complain is another example. Why is this information needed if its not to complain intentionally even if you have no reason to - surely a thread where company who DON'T take complaints seriously would be much better, then these companies could be lobbyed to improve / people will be aware of their bad customer service.

As MSE gets bigger and bigger as well as being an invaluable resource to lots of people it is also running the danger of ruining things for people aswell because even though some threads may have an honest reason for starting - if not properly managed they will/ and are being exploited by more and more people until companies say enough is enough.

Starb

I have a relative who works for one of the big supermarkets and a friend of hers on checkout has just been suspended for taking too many coupons from the public. Please spare a thought for the checkout assistant when using them, or better still, use the self scan.