BANNED FROM TESCO

coupon_king_2

Ten years ago I watched a couple in front of me at TESCO`s put 3 trolleys full of food through a checkout and pay for the LOT with over £600 in MONEY OFF COUPONS .... and since that day I have saved every coupon I could find in mags,papers,packets,tins,store promotions Ect and used them as part of my shop every week ... HOWEVER over the years Tescos policy regarding coupons has changed several times in my store Unlimited amount to 1/2 your shop to Max 6 of any one coupon to Max amount of 15 coupons total to Max 8 coupons no duplicates ...Ect ... and I have altered my shopping habits accordingly .. once a week to twice to three to 2 shops per time to splitting my shop... HOWEVER my stratergies have not gone unnoticed by certain checkout operators who have felt the need to pass sly comments about what I do INFACT it was these who gave my nickname COUPON_KING ( I have learnt who to avoid so just leave it at that ) .. but today out of the blue all that changed,after splitting my shop into two £8.00 lots and paying twice handing £4 coupons each time ( stores policy 1/2 shop in coupons ) I noticed floor supervisor watching me with 3 of the staff who I have sly comments from, upon finishing my transactions she immediately pulled me infront of the whole store claiming I could not do this and where did I get all my coupons from ( I must admit to be taken by suprise & it took a few moments for me to compose myself ) but I asked what was the problem.. whereupon she stated I was and have been for years ABUSING Tescos policy .. getting more & more annoyed with her attitude towards me ( by now many onlookers ) I also got louder stating how rich it was of Tesco to accuse me of abuse when THEY ALSO claim back the money + handling fee for the coupon I have handed in knowing I HAVE NOT purchased the item,by now I was in full flow telling her to mind her own business to where coupons came from so she called security when they arrived she told me in the future I am only allowed to go into the store ONCE a day & I am not allowed to split my shop .. I demanded to see store manager but SUPRISE ! SUPRISE ! he was not around.. As I hope some of you will agree I was STEAMING so I left before I did something silly .. Have phoned 3 times since to speak to manager but he is still not available to take my call .... MY QUESTION IS TO YOU ALL .... AM I DOING ANYTHING WRONG !!!

IvanOpinion

OK lets kick this off. From me the answer is 'yes with a no, and no with a yes'. Money off coupons, vouchers and schemes are there to primarily attract customers who will come in to buy the cheapo item and hopefully then pick up another couple of items. Therefore if people keep coming in to only get the cheapy then the store does not make the required revenue (yea, like Tesco doesn't make enough money).

However I do agree that some of what you do is 'abuse' of the system. For example, splitting your shopping at the checkouts.

The reason that they keep changing their policy is probably because others are 'abusing' the system differently and so they have to find new ways to protect their revenue. If (e.g.) you make a big scene about Tesco accepting coupons when you have not purchased the product then Tesco could change this policy - and think of how many other MSErs that would !!!!!!.

These policies are in place as incentives to try to get people in through the door. If they are (perceived to be) abused then they will be withdrawn which, in my mind is detrimental to the majority of people.

Ivan

16011996

unsure as to whether your doing anything wrong. i've done similar myself, with 3 for 2 offers, (i.e. books, 3 @ £6.99 means - £6.99 at the till but 3 @ 6.99, 3 @ 4.99 means minus only £9.98 at the till). But she should not have spoke to you like that in the middle of the store. that is appalling behaviour.

chowster

Sorry to be pedantic but were you actually banned from the shop..as your subject line would suggest?

Spendless

Well agree with Ivan, you are shall we call it `beating`the system - but hey that is what this site is about

160 is right you should not have been spoke to that way in front of rest of store.

I would suggest letter of complaint to HO and cc to store manager, but keep it more to do with the way you have been humiliated in front of whole shop rather than who is right or wrong about coupons.

Let us know how you get on.

All the best

16011996

i agree with spendless on course of action.

Swattie

Coupon,

I also agree with Spendless.

The supervisor should not have tried to make a public spectacle of you and that should be the focus of your complaint.
If they can't/won't put you throught to the store manager - ask whoever's on the phone for the number of the Directors office (which in most large companies is where the unresolved complaints end up) -I doubt the store will want the Head Office involved.

A small plea though.

Please don't upset the shopping trolley apple cart for the rest of us using as many vouchers as we can get away with.

coupon_king_2

Well have just arrived back from an interesting chat with store manager..... upon meeting him he straight away informed me he had heard of yeserdays events.. to my total SURPRISE he immediately apologized for his floor supervisors manner toward me ( seemingly the young lady who served me & operator next to her had spoken to him on my behalf stating her attitude and that of the 3 other checkout operators with her had been uncalled for ) ... so fair enough on that point.. I did however take this opporunity to ask why a certain number of his checkout operators seemed to take it upon themselves to makeup THEIR own rules on how many coupons could be handed in & why should they question how many of any one item I could buy and indeed what methods I employ when I do my shops .. PLEASE bear in mind the following points I put to him are my own personal views regarding the use of coupons .. The only reason I shop in tesco is due to the fact they accept coupons as part of my shop it helps me to getting items cheaper than anywhere else.. BUT it also benefits tesco TWICE because not only do they make profit on redeeming the coupons from the manufacturers for the product I havn`t bought but they also make profit on the items I have in my basket which I would not normally buy from their shop when restocking their shelves ( and lets not kid ourselves tesco WOULD NOT take coupons if they weren`t getting every penny back from the manufacturers indeed is it not right they are now refusing to take the £2 durex coupon for this very reason ) I also class myself as a clever shopper i.e. cinema tickets on toilet rolls , 30p coupon on tin of 29p hotdogs,£1 coupon on 59p of pickle , buy multipack chocolate bars with 50% extra in to makeup xmas selection packs for our kids school club ( cheaper than RIP-OFF selection boxes, B.O.G.O.F s or 3 for 2 all using coupons.. YET on several occasions over the years again certain checkout operators have told me I am not allowed to buy so many items and the only reasons I could see for their attitude was the fact THEY ARE JEALOUS .. again I was delighted to hear he agreed with me and that indeed 2 of his staff were only employed to sort out coupons ..as to being only allowed to shop once per day that was lifted as he pointed out the shop is open 24 hours so what was to stop me going at 10am & again at 10pm ( I had already worked this ouy for myself ) as to splitting my shop & coupons again HE as the STORE MANAGER could see NO PROBLEM WHAT SO EVER with this as long as I followed the store policy of 50 % of my shop ( coupons are good for his profit margins ) ... as to any problems from certain members of staff he also agreed 1 or 2 members who had been there for several years DO seem to get ideas above their stations but ALL would be made aware of the stores policy .. while some of you will think much of what he said was only said to pacify me I did get the feeling he was genuine towards me ...... SORRY if this has read a bit like war & peace but I do hope most of you understand the points I have been trying to get across !

trafalgar_2

"I do hope most of you understand the points I have been trying to get across ! "

Absolutely.................well done ;D

vinnieboy

correct me if i am wrong, but can u use coupons on items say 50p off shampoo even if you dont buy that shampoo? Or just 15p off tesco butter say?

If so, what if the checkout operator says, you havent bought that shampoo to get the discount? What do u then do?

Vinieboy

16011996

;D really pleased for you coupon king ;D