money off coupons- going overboard

before_hollywood

i have to get this off my chest.
i work on the tills for a well known chain of supermarkets, and today some "customers" (if you can call them that- they tried not to spend any money) wanted to pay for expensive items completely with money off vouchers.
i am talking top of the range bedding (£26 a throw), a dvd player (£60), steam generator iron (£50 odd), clothes, you name it.
when i tried to make sure they paid SOME MONEY (i mean, like £5 an item), they started harassing me, really giving me verbal abuse. we have no zero tolerance policy- which i think should be law in all retail environments (along with greater powers for trading standards and quicker action on businesses who rip us off), so i get insulted, ripped off and humilated and these parasites get away with ripping the rest of the world off.

they held the queue up for a good ten minutes (store was v busy) and because of the supermarket price war, our company WILL NOT IMPOSE A PROPER NATIONWIDE LIMIT ON HOW MANY CAN BE TAKEN :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

so, they effectively rob my company, and harass me, and what can i do- nothing!!!

my company and my supervisor can't/ won't back me up on this.

scrounging ********, get a job and log onto mse, and save money legitimitely, if it's good enough for the rest of us...

sorry- will chill out now

quoia

Whilst I appreciate you feel upset and aggreived, and of course customers shouldn't harass you and I'm sure there will always be those that push rules (if any exist) to the absolute limit, I'm not sure that it is up to you to decide company or even store policy.
Can't see why it's your job to make sure that a "customer" has to actually pay some money at the checkout.
If your store manager allows redemption of coupons to 100% of the bill, then that's up to him/her. Whatever the store policy is just stick to that. If customers think that it should be different just politely send them to customer service or ask them to contact the manager.

Also I'm not sure how these "customers" (however unruly or obnoxious) were ripping you off personally or robbing your store.
Money off vouchers & coupons that are valid (in date etc.) and are for products that you have on your shelves, are as good as cash to your company.
Those that ARE being ripped off (technically by YOUR COMPANY COMMITTING FRAUD) are your suppliers and manufacturers like Proctor & Gamble, Nestlé, Cadburys, Heinz etc. All those that expect a tin (or perhaps an extra tin) of ABC tomato thingies to be sold for each 20p off ABC coupon that your company sends back to them for redemption.
You don't think that all the money off coupons get thrown away do you ?

Your company claims the value of each one in full and "lies" to suppliers & manufacturers saying "yes we accepted this coupon as part or full payment during the actual sale of one of the products to which it applies".
The only way this cannot happen is if no coupons are ever returned and redeemed (and I don't believe that for 1 minute) OR coupons are marked by checkout operators for sorting and segregating at a later stage. That is, if a coupon is taken but the product has not been purchased by the customer then a big red cross is put on it, but if the product has been purchased then you mark it with a big green tick. Later all coupons bearing big red crosses are thrown away and only those with green ticks are sent of to claim their redemption value. Yes, as if !

As for scroungers, parasites and "log onto mse, and save money legitimitely", I presume you have never handed in a coupon for a product that you haven't actually purchased and commited fraud yourself? It's only by different degrees !

I personally hand in as many coupons as possible, knowing to a reasonable certainty, what is allowed at a particular store. I do query it when it is suggested that it is less than I am expecting but only for an explantion and clarification of why it is different to previous experiences. Usually a supervisor confirms my expectations and allows further coupons, or they point out a change that has happened. Either way I'm happy that they've taken any coupons at all!

Regarding trading standards and greater powers, be careful it's not your store or company that gets the wrong end of a $hitty stick waved at them for their coupon acceptance policy.

m00nie

sorry to hear you took abuse.

but as for the rest well....

Companies try to screw us for profits. Money saving shows you how to screw them back.

taken from the main site of mse..

i say no more

shrek101

Also it is well known that supermarkets take advantage often on farmers exploiting them. I can understand at times your frustration and taking abuse from customers is not on.

mrcow

before_hollywood wrote:

and because of the supermarket price war, our company WILL NOT IMPOSE A PROPER NATIONWIDE LIMIT ON HOW MANY CAN BE TAKEN

My local ASDA will only take up to 10% of my total shop in vouchers and my Mum's local Safeway/Morrisons won't take any vouchers at all unless they are for the actual product.

Where do you work?

I want to start shopping there!

Anya

I work for a supermarket and though I am loyal to the company, if a customer can find ways of cutting the cost in there - good on 'em!! I even congratulated one the other day as she managed to get some fresh minced beef for 1p! I use vouchers that I find on here to get money off my shopping, from my supermarket, including the online ones. Thats what vouchers are there for. Like quoia said before, the supermarket won't really lose much money at all so I see no real problem.

Addy

One of the nicest cashiers in the store I shop in is as delighted to see how much money I save with coupons as I am. My coupons are snatched out of my hand and as the savings mount up her smile gets bigger!! I stick to the rules, no printed vouchers and no duplicates so can't be accused of fiddling the system.

If your shop's policy is to accept coupons without an upper limit I don't see what the customers were doing wrong though - although I'd agree there's no excuse for them to verbally abuse you.

before_hollywood

well...
coupons come off store takings, which in turn affects staff bonus (we are already paid just over minimum wage).
our company won't impose upper limits, but if customers take advantage, we get a right tongue lashing as a department if takings are not up to target.
a previous poster asked if i used coupons- no i don't, i can never get them, and i would only use them for the product. i use mse to save money, and i save so much that i don't feel the need to.
they were using vouchers that were valid for only a couple of days and for a rival supermarket that closed down, they had obviously amassed such a volume of the same ones, that other customers could not take advantage of these offers.

Our managers and supervisors provide NO BACK UP WHATSOEVER and if they mention anything to me about this incident i will say the same as i have on here.
They would tell me to accept the coupons as head office will not come up with a national policy.

I have no problem with customers saving money legitimitely i.e buying special offer items, as i do it myself but i thought these ones were "taking the mickey" out of our lack of policy.

I agree that supermarkets give farmers a raw deal, but how else am i supposed to buy meat and veg- i work on market days and the butchers up the road closed down.

I would personally prefer to see coupon fraud treated as such, it may make me unpopular on here to say such though.

Take an example- i log onto mse and find an item i want down from £100 to £50.
I go to store and they have a promotion that you get £5 off with voucher when you spend £50. I would pick up a voucher, check small print and if i get the extra £5 then good, either way i have saved a huge bundle of cash, and no harm done.

THAT is how I save money, and i like it, no-one is harmed, gets abuse or gets into trouble. whats wrong with that?

Spendless

before hollywood- who is your vent at? The customers that gave the vouchers or your store for accepting them? Or HO for allowing the policy in the first place?

You could always work your way up the ladder to become store manager or operations director so you can change the policy ; - ).

Addy

before_hollywood wrote:

I would personally prefer to see coupon fraud treated as such, it may make me unpopular on here to say such though

How can it be fraud if it's allowed by your company though?

robin7667

before_hollywood wrote:

they were using vouchers that were valid for only a couple of days and for a rival supermarket that closed down,

i work on market days and the butchers up the road closed down.

Now really how many stores around you have closed down?

I wonder why?

MAYBE ITS YOUR STORE THAT FORCED THEM TO CLOSE DOWN????????????

Keep using vouchers I say..............