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

ShakeyStacey

I work in retail in a shop that regularly gives out vouchers. I find it incredibly rude when people run off without taking their change, receipt and voucher. If I could I would gladly redistribute these vouchers to people who will use them, but as mentioned above this is fraud apparently. We are told to bin all unwanted vouchers.
In cases where they say they do not want the voucher I ask them if they would pass it on to someone else. Most often they say no but sometimes they pass them on to the next person in the line.

midwinter

ShakeyStacey wrote: »

I work in retail in a shop that regularly gives out vouchers. I find it incredibly rude when people run off without taking their change, receipt and voucher. If I could I would gladly redistribute these vouchers to people who will use them, but as mentioned above this is fraud apparently. We are told to bin all unwanted vouchers.
In cases where they say they do not want the voucher I ask them if they would pass it on to someone else. Most often they say no but sometimes they pass them on to the next person in the line.

Excellent! Spread the love/money saving.

Wish there were more SA's with your perspective

Saetana

Running out of moral dilemmas again MSE? If someone has left a voucher behind then they obviously weren't interested and I see no reason why someone else shouldn't use it - common sense people!

Womble_Queen

If it was an old lady, I would run after her. If it was anybody else, I'd pocket it.

trinity_enigma

I wouldn't mind at all if I had left it behind. And in the case of school vouchers and the like my dad used to ask the checkout person to leave them on the end with the bags so anyone who wanted them could have them.

NBLondon

If it's still in the self-service till when I get there... I'll have it. If it's left in the bottom of the trolley when I collect one... I'll have it. If it's lying on the floor... I'll have it. Don't think I'd actually ask someone for it though. I wouldn't usually be so close as to chase them.

I have noticed some SAs will ask the next person in line if they would like leftover vouchers etc. and some won't. I have also seen a SA on self-service tills leap in and grab an ignored till spit before the next customer gets there.

So I don't have a moral problem at all.

emiai

I would use it, especially if it a conditional spend voucher.

The system is at fault for not offering everyone the same money off conditional spend vouchers. The systems - especially the nectar system does not reward long standing loyal customers, but aims to entice new customers into the store with often outragous offers

I have picked up and used £3 off a £20 spend, £4.50 off a £30 spend - and heard of an £8 off a £40 spend in store!! Its worth shopping around, and well worth using these coupons if you can find them.

The price promise ones - are slightly different. They are generated a result of the store overcharging a customer. Saying that, If I found one on the floor - I would still spend it without any second thought.

Would you not pick up a pound coin if it was on the floor?

dstanden

Supermarkets actually deducted the value of the voucher from your current trolley instead of printing a voucher to spend on another visit.

Personally, I think that the vouchers on price difference highlight how much cheaper shopping could be if we all shopped around. I've had vouchers for £5 upwards and I once saw a person in front of me get a £13 voucher for a price promise.

If it is possible to tell you at point of sale how much cheaper it would have been elsewhere, why not deduct it there and then, but print a voucher to say that you have been price-matched to a discounted figure.

In my experience this will never happen because unclaimed vouchers are profit for the store. Certainly they would not want people gathering them up and using them.

Sadly, loads of people that I know have pocketed these vouchers or put them in the grocery bag with the shopping and have forgotten all about them. Hundreds of pounds worth of cash in the trash.

Look seriously at where you shop. I love receiving the ones that say, by shopping here you saved £1 or more today. When I see a voucher to claim cash, I know that I am shopping somewhere that is too expensive and overcharging me.

David

Dolly_DD

Oh my days, what is the world coming to? For goodness sake! I agree, it's like someone walking off without their change. What if they left their debit card in the machine by accident, would you take that as well? It is from someone else's transaction. End of.

aljojoal

The vouchers are printed for one reason only; to generate more sales. If the person it was issued to clearly doesn't want it, and the store passes it on to another person who may then may increase spend to benefit from the voucher, then why worry?
We share our weekly shop between Asda, Tesco and Morrisons, but if we had a voucher to spend in one for a product we used then that's who would get our spend.