money off coupons- going overboard

coupon_king_2

TOO RIGHT... BH you neither deserve or have to accept abuse from ANYONE while serving customers and with regards this your supervisor should be backing you up !

I think I see where your coming from with the coupons that have been used in your store ( store specific ones ) I dont have that problem where I live as none of the stores I use accept each others.... only branded manufacturers

I also dont think anyone meant to have a go at you ( I certainly didnt anyway ) however I have to say your original post did come across a bit strong .....

Hope you have a much better day next time your at work

quoia

before_hollywood wrote:

At work i am more tolerant of coupons than most

I'm not sure I'd like to deal with any of your colleagues

before_hollywood wrote:

my point was that these people were going massively overboard with coupons (hence the title of the post),

Again, not sure it is down to you to determine levels of acceptance.
If someone hands in £10 worth of coupons on a £50 shop and all the coupons are NOT redeemable by your store back to the suppliers/manufacturers (for whatever reason) then your company has LOST £10
If someone hands in £40 worth of coupons on a £50 shop and all the coupons ARE redeemable by your store back to the suppliers/manufacturers, then your company has LOST NOTHING

Sounds to me like it's more important to determine the VALID and INVALID vouchers than worry about the quantity

before_hollywood wrote:

were holding other people up,

That's not your problem. All you can do is deal with one customer at a time and be efficient at what you do. I'm frequently held up at checkouts for all sorts of reasons and handing in vouchers is down the bottom of the list of annoyances. High on the list is large families that take all 6 or 7 kids with them plus a couple of nieces, nephews and a few friends, as though it is a trip the zoo/funfair/park, many of them screaming or crying or running amok with almost zero adult control.

Anyway, surely your attempt to prevent these "customers" handing in so many coupons actually exacerbated the situation and if you had not tried to impose what appears to be a self determined voucher limit, the other people in the queue would ultimately have been served more quickly.

before_hollywood wrote:

were rude and aggressive towards me,

As we have all said, NOT ACCEPTABLE.

before_hollywood wrote:

and then later i ended up in trouble because our companies policy on coupons is not stipulated properly to customers and staff.

Spend longer on validating coupons as being acceptable (in your own eyes at least) and any that are in any doubt refer to someone in a more superior position to verify acceptance or rejection.

Referring back to a previous point, surely it's QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY that's important ?

before_hollywood wrote:

They can't get any money for these back from the manufacturers

Back to checking and authorising by yourself or others

cardtart_2

Ifind it hard to believe that staff bonus is affected by redeeming coupons,it is my understanding that manufacturers pay a redemption fee to the stores for accepting these coupons therefore it PAYS the stores to accept.Okay no one should accept abuse but some jobsworth going against the stores policy will get some peoples back up.

Addy

OK, to be perfectly honest I think the people most in the wrong in this situation is your employers.

As you've said, in the past they've encouraged the acceptance of coupons, so unless you've been clearly informed NOT to accept certain ones, then they truly can't turn round and criticise you for doing what they've told you to do!

To me it sounds like you instinctively knew that it was wrong to accept all those vouchers from the customers, sort of like a hunch, BUT with the lack of direction, training and backup from your employers, was uncertain about how to NOT accept them. You were put in a difficult position, made worse and even more frustrating by the lack of clear store/company policy. None of this is your fault really. I'd also say that nobody here was attacking you personally, just putting across the other side of the debate - maybe having a go at the supermarkets but not you yourself.

Lastly, I'd say the customers were almost certainly trying to take advantage of the lack of clear policy within your store. Even the most ardent coupoholics here wouldn't dream of attempting to buy £200 worth of stuff all with coupons in one go! Little and often is my motto anyway

coupon_king_2

Addy .... I dont know if you ever came across my own reason for starting to use coupons ....

a long time ago I stood behind a woman who had £600 worth of shopping in her trolley ( apparently for her daughters wedding do ) and she paid for the LOT with £1.00 coupons ..... which the store took NO PROBLEM ....

I was AMAZED .... and have used coupons ever since

before_hollywood

My anger is aimed at both parties. The store put us all in a position where this was inevitable, they were just waiting for somebody to do it, and when they did, they turned it around and blamed it on me.
I would like to think that this will highlight a situation that needs addressing. then again, i would like to think that the sky is green, the world is perfect, i am married to ashlee simpson, and hunger and poverty are eradicated.

Anya

Ok - why would you like to think the sky is green?!!!

raeble

I think some people go overboard with coupons among other things. (Another example is the greedy blighters that rush round stores with great big trolleys and block the aisles when they are reducing the price of food, so no-one else can get a look in.)Yes the Supermarket can well afford it, but who do they make sure pays for it? Their suppliers, staff etc. I will not be surprised to find in twenty years time only three shops on the high street - Tescos, Sainsbury's and Asda. I do not believe that coupons benefit the customer, they benefit the retailer. Coupons entice you into a store to spend money in that store that you may or may not have spent in that store. Most likely the later.

humph_2

vent (vĕnt)
n.
A means of escape or release from confinement; an outlet: give vent to one's anger.

Sometimes its nice just to have the space to offload when you've had a bad day at work. Its not about whether you are right or wrong. I could not work in a supermarket. You deserve respect BH for going out and earning an honest crust for your family.

I dont care if i agree with you vent or not - I am just glad you have an opportunity to release you feelings so you can move on.

aliasojo

Wise words humph.