What % do Waitrose allow off in vouchers?

compmad1

Apparently Waitrose accept vouchers, and I have read somewhere that they accept the King Shave ones. Does anyone know what percentage off your bill they allow?

sparky61

I used a lot of vouchers in Waitrose today. First of all the cashier said I could only use 1 so I showed her my email from HO and then she called a colleague who said we only accept 1 or 2 coupons so I showed her the email, she then went to get a manager who confirmed that I was right.
As Charlotte said they had to check that they stocked the items first.
They stocked the Men's King of Shaves but not the Women's, they should stock in larger stores though.
Even though it all took a while I was never made to feel awkward or embarassed and they closed the checkout until the transaction was complete.

Caixta

My local Waitrose (South Woodford) is great at accepting coupons!

I carry a copy of their email on coupon policy in my coupon envelope, but I have not needed to produce it yet! It actually states: "Cashiers may accept any quantity of coupons provided the coupons are valid."

So for example, I was in there this morning and my bill came to £10.29. I handed over a dozen coupons and the total came down to £3.44. The cashier was very helpful and said it was good that I'd been able to use up my coupons (Yeo Valley, etc) as she could see the expiry date was not far off.

Just for information, that branch has been accepting the King of Shaves Coupons, including the pink ones, even though I could only see the men's products on the shelves. It is a fairly large branch though.

compmad1

Could anyone please post a copy of the Waitrose e-mail regarding their voucher policy? I have never seen it and I would like to have a copy before venturing into the shop to try out some vouchers.

Caixta

Yes here is the text of the email Waitrose sent me on 16th June 2005:

"Cashiers can accept suppliers’ coupons for any product which we sell including
Waitrose Food Illustrated coupons, whether or not the customer is purchasing the
item for which the coupon was issued. Cashiers may accept any quantity of
coupons provided the coupons are valid.

I hope this information helps. If you do have any further problems please do not
hesitate to contact us on freephone 0800-188884.

Regards,

Benjamin Dowsett

Waitrose Customer Service."

I believe another member of this forum had exactly the same reply, but I thought it'd be handy to have my own personalised copy to show to cashiers.

Let us know how you get on, compmad 1.

compmad1

My Waitrose only take 10% of the bill in vouchers. I checked that they sold all the products for the vouchers I had. At the checkout the woman was not sure so she rang for a customer service advisor. (Which is fair enough.) The customer service advisor told me that they took unlimited vouchers if you actually buy the products, otherwise it's just 10%.

knitwit

I had a different reply than Caixta, mine wasn't so good, this is it


Thank you for your e-mail

I can confirm that we do accept coupons within their terms and
conditions. You can submit them even if not buying the product on that day
provided that it is an item we sell in that store. As for the number this
is at the discretion of the checkout manager but we politely request
this is kept to a reasonable amount
Regards,

Cheryl Mackenzie

Waitrose Customer Service.

Caixta

Just got back from Waitrose, where I did a medium sized shop and handed over 6 small-value coupons at the end. These were for items I hadn't bought.

Before today, I have had no problems using coupons at Waitrose. But today the cashier said that he could not take more than six coupons per customer. He also checked this with the supervisor. Dunno why he did this, as I only gave him six, but anyway...

I thanked them for letting me use the coupons in the first place, as I know it is a privilege. The young man on the checkout did say that there is a man who comes into that store every week and hands over 20 coupons at a time and tries to get his shopping virtually for free. I wanted to ask whether this man wears a safety pin on his lapel (the secret "badge" of the MSE'er)

But I did come away wondering what to do in future, as the email I had from their Head Office a few days ago said:
"Cashiers can accept suppliers’ coupons for any product which we sell including
Waitrose Food Illustrated coupons, whether or not the customer is purchasing the
item for which the coupon was issued. Cashiers may accept any quantity of
coupons provided the coupons are valid."

Should I stick to a maximum of six coupons in future, to avoid getting extra attention? I don't want to be greedy but I do want to make the most of any coupons I am allowed to use.

What would bluep do?

bluep

I always ask at the Customer Service desk (or welcome desk) at Waitrose before doing my shop - that way I know exactly what that store's policy is, I don't get any nasty suprises and if the cashier says anythign different, they are who she calls to check so no problem there!!

SO saying that, my waitrose are great and regularly take 70% off my bill with coupons (£70 worth of coupons etc...). But I am holding my breath incase they suddenly change their policy!

So, in terms of your local waitrose, why not telephone up and say that you'd been told a certain coupon policy by central customer services and you wanted to check that the same policy was in force in your local store, and if not, what their policy was. Mine seemed to take pride in that they knew the central policy and stick to it - almost as if they thought I might be a mystery shopper sent by head office LOL). I am a firm believer in accepting what their CONSISTANT policy is and sticking to that - and so deciding how often I go there and how much of a shop I get (i.e. extravagant! or budget!). I quite happily stop off at the welcome desk just to check there have been no changes in policy and say to the lady that the reason I ask is that it determines the size of my shop and what I buy!

Addy

Being totally teeeeed off with Tesco over their inconsistencies with accepting coupons for items not purchased, I phoned my local Waitrose, the CS lady I spoke to wasn't sure, so took my phone no & called me back very quickly. She told me they will take 3 or 4.

Seeings as even CS (nice as she was) wasn't sure, it's unlikely cashiers would be aware of this policy - in my store anyway. Might give it a go though....can't be any more humiliating than my recent efforts at Tesco

billieboy_2

Well, I've been shopping in my local Waitrose for the last 17 years and never realised they would take vouchers for stuff you haven't bought! Presumably they will only take the manufacturers' vouchers and not other stores'? Anyway, I'm going to try it next week. Thanks for this very useful info.