Local Asda told me today, the price guarantee voucher is no longer accepted, why?

simesb

simesb wrote: »

Hi Fifeken
I will see this week if any no scan = no acceptance applies at my store.

No issues lately scanning self printed vouchers, and scanning till receipt barcodes / typing in TC#, has all been working fine. Occasionly helper 'hovers' to check on me but no problem.
NB Asda have 'promised' / 'threatened' an Asda Price Guarantee/APG voucher review for Spring 2016, allegedly to counter Aldi/Lidl.

simesb

STOP PRESS ! - end Mar 2016 (No, not April Fool)
As you might have guessed it wasnt too broken a system, but theyve had a go at fixing it.
APG vouchers are by default now 93mm wide not 116mm as at mid March ie a 20% reduction in size, and less readable by their scanners
If your store is fussy about them scanning (no scan = not acceptable) then the easiest way to defeat Asda's change is to print the voucher at a 'custom scale', if your printer driver will do that, of 125%. This will then print the barcode at the same size as mid March (ie relatively big). [Barcodes are not absolute size dependent].
[if you struggle with percentages and maths, 20% size reduction = 25% increase to restore it]

wishus

simesb, I've been printing at that magnification and that seems to be better!

simesb

Anyone else heard this one?
I've heard a suggestion this month (May) from an Asda employee, of a new policy, Asda APG vouchers are being/will be rejected if you dont pay a certain amount of your goods total, in cash or card.
eg you can't/won't be able to buy £5 worth of goods with £5 worth of vouchers ?
Not had it confirmed at all, nor any suggestion of minimum amounts / percentages.

Loobyloo1us

Anybody having problems getting vouchers on the Asda Price Guarantee site. I have requested a new password to be reset 5 times as it keeps saying that the password is wrong. I have tried to re-register 4 times and of course it says there is someone with the same account (YES ME!). What is it with Asda websites. Every week I try to get a voucher and every week I have the same problem yet when I tell them in the store where I shop EVERY week the customer service say that there is no problem. For goodness sake who do I have to contact to get this sorted? I like Asda and have shopped there for many years but this is just getting frustrated. One of the vouchers was valued at £5.21! a lot of money to just throw away.

Loobyloo1us

Forgot to say that after requesting password to be reset I haven't yet received a new password and checked junkmail every time. Still waiting.....

fifeken

Another "incident" yesterday with a Price Guarantee voucher at Asda. The till receipt voucher scanned, but the till responded with Invalid Data, or something similar. After several attempts and resetting the till, the operator reluctantly overrode the system and applied the discount.

During the attempts he mentioned that the Price Guarantee system was being subcontracted and not being ran by Asda, so if something went wrong they couldn't fix it. His ability to override the system was likely to be removed very soon.

It seems very strange to me, but that's what he said. Any recent incidents from other users?

simesb

fifeken wrote: »

Another "incident" yesterday with a Price Guarantee voucher at Asda. The till receipt voucher scanned, but the till responded with Invalid Data, or something similar. After several attempts and resetting the till, the operator reluctantly overrode the system and applied the discount.

During the attempts he mentioned that the Price Guarantee system was being subcontracted and not being ran by Asda, so if something went wrong they couldn't fix it. His ability to override the system was likely to be removed very soon.

It seems very strange to me, but that's what he said. Any recent incidents from other users?

Hi Fifeken

Yes, at my local Asda if it doesnt scan through as 'APG' the operator can enter it manually as 'Manufacturers Discount' and it may be this is what your checkout has done, ie what you describe as over-ridden. Obviously if this 'secondary' method is to be unavailable in the future thats bad. I would suggest stick to your guns at Customer Service if this is to happen. Seems ridiculous we cant be told why the APG is invalid.

(I find it helps to suggest nicely to the checkout operator to use their infrared? hand held scanner especially to read the old till receipt barcode which is smaller and can be crinkled faded or not printed very well. Their static scanner in front of them can very easily get dirty or greasy. Staff are happier not to have to type in lots of numbers).

The thing I hate is often the rejection of a valid voucher even with its valid till receipt, only registers on the till at the very end of the transaction, by which time if youve said you didnt want the old receipts back they could have been torn up. So I say, "I dont need old till receipts IF they all go through OK"
.
Ive had one occasion where a perfectly valid APG and receipt failed. The checkout supervisor took me to the Customer Service till, who gave me the value in cash. I think Customer Service operators (unlike checkout staff) have more leeway in what they can accept and refund, especially if you're nice but resolute.

On another occasion again a pefectly valid APG and till receipt was rejected (invalid). I asked for them back and they sailed through checkout no problem two days later.

It could be you have to get to know and pick your ('good') checkout operator from the miserable dont-care-computer-says-no ones.

Dont give up!

simesb

Another incorrect thing I'm often told by Asda 'colleagues' is when talking about APG vouchers I offer:
"Oh thats a big one" (!) or "All that shopping for 23p!!", as if somehow its luck, rather than the fact that the vouchers are only issued when they charge higher prices than elsewhere.
Of course I dont say that, I always smile and say "Yes its good". (Min wage 0 hour) Staff working at supermarkets generally have performance targets (£ through the till per hour) and no say in pricing, so please everyone remember that and be nice

fifeken

simesb wrote: »

Yes, at my local Asda if it doesnt scan through as 'APG' the operator can enter it manually as 'Manufacturers Discount' and it may be this is what your checkout has done, ie what you describe as over-ridden.

Just looked at the receipt again and it has been put through as Manufacturer's Coupon and not APG. I'd never paid attention to the text before.

simesb wrote: »

(I find it helps to suggest nicely to the checkout operator to use their infrared? hand held scanner especially to read the old till receipt barcode which is smaller and can be crinkled faded or not printed very well. Their static scanner in front of them can very easily get dirty or greasy. Staff are happier not to have to type in lots of numbers).

In my case, he was using the hand held scanner without any prompting.