Help! Tesco coupon policy? I've been banned!

bylromarha

Thats appaling..again!

Good on you for following it through to the bitter end and bringing the matter to a conclusion.

Tesco (you must employ people to read these things...)-PLEASE just let us know what you are willing to accept from us, your profit givers...aka your customers...and make it a standard in all stores as picking on individual customers to make an example of is unfair, uncalled for and downright rude.

thepearce

Thanks dawny10. My own experience hasn't gotten that bad (yet) but it highlights what is obviously going on all over the place.

Back in March when I first argued this policy the store I had been in, when contacted by HO,informed them (totally untruthfully) that I had tried to pay for my entire shop in coupons. In actual fact it was £6 or £7 from a £27 shop. Most staff (esp the higher levels) get pretty shirty when you argue the policy with them.

It's pretty bad when they won't even call HO to check. I asked HO exactly what I should do today if I get refused, and the only advice is for the store to call legal & trade. That's assuming they will of course. What is annoying is that nobody is actually concerned about customer service, or apologising when they have things wrong. They do seem happy to bat you from store to Ho and back.

I'm off to Tesco now......who may or may not have been advised

droopsnout

Well, on my infrequent visits back to Blighty, I think I'll be giving Tesco a miss.

I have another story (I have no personal way of knowing whether it's true or not, but I normally tend to believe the relative who told me the details) which puts them in a bad light, concerning site development, and the pressure they put on development agencies when they don't seem to be getting their way, but I'd better not go into it here as it could put the Board at risk.

That, along with the stories from Igloo and dawny10, persuades me that the ethics of the company do not tally with my own, and I'd rather go elsewhere.

Roger_Rampant

Off to Lille now, don't have time for a long post, but I'm sure that Tonight With trevor MacDonald or Watchdog would be interested to hear about dawny's experiences, as it clearly demonstrates that the high-profile public image of the coupon policy is really a sham

thepearce

Well, another day, another Tesco sorted.

I'm just back from a successful trip to my local (city centre) Tesco. This time I got to meet the real store manager to discuss coupons. He was a very nice chap. As promised HO also called the store this morning to educate them on policy.

He showed me an extract from a manual regarding "supplier coupons" and we discussed the problems in using coupons. He stated that the coupons shoud be accepted on a "per product" basis - ie one of each unique coupon if you aren't buying the product, but no problem if you have many, different coupons. This was a relief to hear. He spoke to an experienced colleague at another store (where they take coupons) and they have a limit of £5 in coupons. He is going to make enquiries about any limits as he agreed the policy (whatever it is) should be applied accross the board.

Af for today I could use as many unique coupons as I like with no limit (I used about £11 on a £21 shop (I have a lot at the moment through not being able to use them). The till supervisors were advised.

It seems when I came in last time and had grief, it was because the policy as related by HO had been misinterpreted. He also wants to see this policy advised across all the stores. As mentioned he's going to call tomorrow to update me with any news on limits.

I was very impressed. This must be one of the first times someone as actually listened. With my experience so far I think the problems are down to an unclear policy, which someone with *some* supposed authority misreads, and then goes on to train others (till operators) incorrectly. This misinformation is then self-perpetuating almost. It's like chinese whispers I think. Someone else has also stated that when they actually got to speak to the store manager (proper) the problem was resolved. Again my experience so far (with today being an exception) is that staff will do/say many things to prevent you from speaking directy to the manager.

thepearce

This is the reply to a query I made to ASDA about using coupons. I also asked them about any limits, and have replied querying this aspect again.

Thank you for your email

Coupons produced by suppliers/manufacturers (the sort of coupon you find on the back of packets, in magazines, amongst junk mail at home, for example) are acceptable at the checkout provided the item referred to on the coupon is stocked by ASDA. The customer does not have to purchase the specific item referred to in order to redeem the coupon.
ASDA coupons (which bear ASDA's name and can often be found in the ASDA Magazine) can only be redeemed if the customer has actually purchased the product referred to.

I hope this was helpful.

droopsnout

Thanks for the added info, thepearce! Nice to know there are some decent people employed at Tesco!

thepearce

droopsnout wrote:

Thanks for the added info, thepearce! Nice to know there are some decent people employed at Tesco!

Well, credit where credit's due Of course I would say this because he has agreed with me on this topic. Some of the people in store at Tesco have been very helpful and pleasant and the poor woman at HO who I have been dealing with is very patient, and must be sick of me... but I really shouldn't need to keep contacting her I suppose.

ben500

thepearce wrote:

Well, credit where credit's due Of course I would say this because he has agreed with me on this topic. Some of the people in store at Tesco have been very helpful and pleasant and the poor woman at HO who I have been dealing with is very patient, and must be sick of me... but I really shouldn't need to keep contacting her I suppose.

Obviously one of the wiser managers who tend to take a more clinical view of the use of coupons rather thant the more popular passionate view that others adopt.

From the point of view of the manager it is a win win situation with coupons if they accept them they lose no revenue whatsoever but generally gain on the situation for a number of reasons, people using coupons actually increase their visits to a store and more importantly their £ spend per visit as the ability to use coupons allows for this, also many are on low budgets and without the benefit of coupons would be purchasing low profit items such as staples and no frills products, the coupons allow them to both select more luxury items and branded alternatives to no frills products, again this type of consumer is normally geared towards savings which can be greater when purchasing in bulk from other types of supplier but usually cash as opposed to coupons/cash they tend to alter their buying patterns accordingly and slip into more mainstream shopping patterns and more importantly buy from the supermarket rather than the alternative cash supplier, this is important bonus trade, the problems arise with people who do not understand the reality behind a coupon, all they see is a coupon, take the recent best offer, one of the coupons was for king of shaves £2 off, as long as supermarkets will exchange goods for it, it is effectively a £2 note! a 30p note 50p note etc etc etc if it gets you what you want it is currency as simple as that, bear in mind this is the reality for the manager also if only he recognises the fact it will help him meet targets otherwise unattainable realise bonuses otherwise hard if not difficult to achieve, in fact smart managers in the industry even use it to climb the ladder knowing full well if they take over a branch not currently adopting the policy and introduce it that the yield for that branch is GUARANTEED to increase and they will get recognition for that increase. In fact the only real risk to such a manager is that he gets hit by invalid coupons which have to be written off as unredeemable such as competitor specific, out of date, forged or mutilated coupons, a store can withstand a certain degree of loss but if a large number had been handled then it would draw unwelcome attention from head office, contrary to what you may think that stores are likely to withdraw such policies Tesco's competitors are actually loosening their own policies on accepting coupons and are indeed questioning whether or not their refusal to adopt such a policy in the past has cost them market share.

trickytrolleys

Can I just suggest that next time somebody is in this position and the manager refuses to call HO - just walk over to the public telephone and call them on their freefone number - let all the other customers hear your conversation and they pay for the call!!