Real-life MMD: Is it wrong to be a supermarket voucher vulture? 9 May 2013 at 12:09PM edited 14 May 2013 at 12:27PM in MoneySaving polls 53 replies 10.4K views

Former_MSE_Debs

Money Moral Dilemma: Is it wrong to be a supermarket voucher vulture?

Lots of people don't realise they might get a price-match money-off voucher (printed at the end of the transaction) and leave before collecting them. Is it wrong to use someone else's voucher, especially if they're still walking away, or is it fair game to assume they don't want them?

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[Deleted User]

As soon as they walk away from it, I'd say it's fair game. By the time scanned your stuff through, they'll be long gone, so it's not like you'll be snatching it from the printer before they have a chance to pocket it.

Smurfette80

If the person is still close I tell them but if they are off I use it you snooze you loose!

Darren_lane_2

if they walk away. it becomes free game surely...

scotsbob

Maybe the person doesn't know, or realise, they get a voucher. If I saw them walking away I would take it to them. Same as I would do if they left their change.

I hope other people might do the same for me.

kittymott

I lifted a voucher which was lying at a self checkout in a small Tesco store. I was approached by the check- out supervisor who then called for the manager. I was told this was fraud, that if I used the voucher, in spite of the fact that it would have been binned, it would be theft!! Talk about overkill! Personally, I would have no objection to someone using my unwanted vouchers. If I have, say, a £4 off a £40 spend voucher which I know I will not use before it expires, I give it to someone with a full trolley. No problem.

Talent

Yes, use it.

dan2097

It's wrong, the discount wasn't intended for you so it is a form of fraud. Imagine it as a cheque from the store to the person who has walked off which you are trying to cash.

gloriouslyhappy

kittymott wrote: »

I Personally, I would have no objection to someone using my unwanted vouchers. If I have, say, a £4 off a £40 spend voucher which I know I will not use before it expires, I give it to someone with a full trolley. No problem.

I agree, if I get a coupon I won't be able to use or one for a product I don't use, I pass it on or leave it on the shelf by the product. If the person ahead of me says no to the offer of school vouchers, I will sometimes ask for them - depends on what the person looks like, I'll only ask if they look like they might be amenable - and I've never had the staff say I can't have them. At the trolley pick up point, I have a quick look for trollies with coupons left in them and select one if it's near the front of the stack.

As long as the vouchers / coupons have been discarded and not just absentmindedly forgotten and the person about to return for them, in which case I'd point them out like you do when you see someone drop a glove, I think they're up for grabs and OK to use. After all, you do have to buy something in order to use them, and you're already in the store preparing to shop, not just lurking on the off-chance of a freebie, so I think there's no moral dilemma here.

tia86

kittymott wrote: »

I lifted a voucher which was lying at a self checkout in a small Tesco store. I was approached by the check- out supervisor who then called for the manager. I was told this was fraud, that if I used the voucher, in spite of the fact that it would have been binned, it would be theft!! Talk about overkill! Personally, I would have no objection to someone using my unwanted vouchers. If I have, say, a £4 off a £40 spend voucher which I know I will not use before it expires, I give it to someone with a full trolley. No problem.

I have had the opposite happen - at a self check out till I went to someone had left a voucher (less than a £1 off I think) - the person supervising these tills suggested I use it, as he would only put it in the bin otherwise!

primrose04

I think some people do not realise it is a money off voucher because they often look quite similar to the ones that say how much you have saved! Initially it was the staff that explained the difference to me!