money off coupons- going overboard

Anya

There's nothing wrong with that, but if other shoppers have coupons that the supermarket is happy accepting, even if they haven't bought the product, there is nothing wrong with that either. Let people shop the way that they want to so long as it is legal and don't give any grief to the shop workers. Your problem should really be with the supermarket, if they are happy for such customers to abuse the system, the customer cannot be blamed for doing so. If you can get free shopping, you'll get it. Be angry about the supermarket's system, but you can't really moan about people using vouchers illegitimately when the bosses allow it. Why don't you work for a different company if it bothers you that much?

Bogof_Babe

Re-iterating an earlier post, it is the suppliers who should take issue with the supermarket concerned, as they are the only losers ultimately.

I worked for a major supplier, and not only did we have to reimburse the supermarket's head office for the value of the coupons, plus a handling charge for each one (and we used a central coupon handling agency that cost us a fee as well), but we also had to pay the retailer a lump sum just for (allegedly) promoting our product at all. If it was a new line for a particular branch, that cost us another lump sum, and if part of the deal was that it had a prominent display spot, yet more cost back to the supplier. A tiny advert in a leaflet going out with the weekly free paper would be charged back to us too - sometimes £500-£1000 depending on the paper's circulation.

It worked (or should have) on a sort of gentleman's agreement, and we would not have risked challenging a large supermarket chain in case they delisted us. However I think it is close to fraudulent for these shops to blatantly flaunt the agreement that the supplier has (literally) bought into. :mad:

before_hollywood

lets get one thing clear shall we?
what the company i work for does is it's own business, i work there because 5 years ago, a previous employer made me redundant, and i decided that i needed a job and took the first offer i got!
it's not my local supermarket, there are 5 (at least) that are nearer, this one simply gave me a job, which i am grateful for.
I get annoyed when people give me grief for trying to stand my ground, when no-one will back me up.
This group targeted us when we were at our busiest (deliberatly), only yesterday did i find out the coupons were unredeemable, turns out we were conned into giving £200 of invalid discounts between us.
We have so many versions of what we can and can't accept it is unreal, you would have to see it to believe it.
Before anyone says anything, first chance i get, i will take a job elsewhere, won't just quit out of pride

before_hollywood

of all the things i thought i would never have to do, high on the list was being defensive on mse.

quoia

BH, reading the last 2 posts it looks like you have a bigger problem with your employers than the "customers" that came in and hassled you.

Re the coupons - why were they unredeemable ? Out of date or what?
If they are unredeemable why were they accepted ? (Not blaming you)
Where I use mine (ie ASDA & Tesco) they do not seem to have any problems in recognizing which ones they are "very happy" to accept and those that they reject (product not sold for example)

before_hollywood

1. the customers the other day highlighted a much larger issue on this subject.
2. since i mentioned what i do for a living i have had anti-supermarket statements flung at me left right and centre on this board
3. the coupons were for another store, some we accept, some we don't. it's only when non accepted coupons are shown as a short on the terminal that we got dragged in the back and get yelled at.

does this answer everything?

coupon_king_2

Again BH I am also a little confused by some of the points you are stating .....
Is it ANYONE you personally have issues with redeeming coupons when you know the product has not been purchased ...or did you notice something amiss with the particular coupon this group of people were trying to use

I would also expect your store taking coupons would have the opposite of affecting your staff bonuses .....i.e. a customer buys.. bread,eggs,shampoo,fish & butter but hands in coupons for say crisps,dog & cat food, soap powder ...not only will your store be making profit from items purchased ( which have to be re-stocked ) they have the added bonus of redeeming monies + handling fees for the coupons handed in ..... and lets not kid ourselves if your store manager was not getting EVERY penny back from the manufacturers there is no way he or she would be allowing them through the tills.

before_hollywood

i have a problem only with people who are
1. pushy and rude
2. accuse me of things i have not done
this goes for my work life and my personal life, anyway back to subject.
At work i am more tolerant of coupons than most, my point was that these people were going massively overboard with coupons (hence the title of the post), were holding other people up, were rude and aggressive towards me, and then later i ended up in trouble because our companies policy on coupons is not stipulated properly to customers and staff.
THATS RIGHT CUSTOMERS AND STAFF.
i just think everyone should know where they stand.
i just want a quiet life at work, i am pleasant, polite, friendly and popular, it's just the odd one or two that send me over the edge.

They can't get any money for these back from the manufacturers, thats why myself and the other colleagues targeted ended up in trouble

BrokeBrokeBroke

So it sounds as though you're angry your bosses never told you you couldn't accept them rather than the people (who aren't psychic and wouldn't know the poor supermarket couldn't get any money back). Although I do agree with you, no-one should be rude. I think the problem here is the lack of communication within your workplace. Maybe think about joining a union if people are getting in trouble for accepting things they aren't told they shouldn't ????

BrokeBrokeBroke

before_hollywood wrote:

At work i am more tolerant of coupons than most,

It's not 'your' money anyway!!!

Surely time goes much quicker at work/you'd be less stressed if you just smiled nicely, took the vouchers, wished everyone 'have a nice day' and let the powers that be worry about things like that. Surely it's not for a cashier to worry about.