Food Lion ~ Vent: So embarrassed by Food Lion

[justincase]

I have never been so embarrassed by a store clerk in my life. I am very new to this whole couponing thing and rightly excited about it. Who doesn't love a deal? Well, I went to Oreo's on Facebook on March 1 and "became their fan" and received a coupon for a free pack of Oreo's wyb 1 pack and a gallon of milk.
Simple enough.
Well, when I was checking out, the cashier scanned the coupon, the register needed an amount. He looked back through the receipt, found the price and entered it. Well, then the register said something to the effect of the price not matching. He tried it twice. After the second failed attempt, he called over some one with authority to assist him.
Well, this woman walk over, scans the coupon, she enters the amount that the cashier told him, register did the same thing. She looked at the coupon, and very loudly said. "This is a counterfeit coupon. This says smart source. We don't take them. Didn't you read the memo? (Talking to him of course, I wouldn't see a memo, lol!)

I was SO embarrassed. I simply told him, it most certainly is not a counterfeit coupon. I had to "become a fan" on face book to get that coupon.

I asked her to take the cookie's off my bill and give my coupon back. Harris Teeter will GLADLY accept it.

Sorry for the rant, I am just steaming. So embarrassing.

[oscamaya]

Sorry that happened!

In Food Lion's defense (and other retailers) there was a huge ordeal with counterfeit coupons on Facebook last year. THESE coupons and other coupons we now get from facebook are printed from smartsource and coupons.com which is more secure. I am not sure why the register wouldn't take it, and I hate that they treated you that way.

It is funny that they said they don't accept smartsource coupons though since there are tons of smartsource coupons that come from the newspaper.

I would be sure to send an e-mail or a phone call to the corporate office to let them know how your store handled the situation.

[leqet]

Sorry you had that experience. Just a heads up to you that Harris Teeter probably won't take it either. HT's policy is to not take IP's for free items, even if the coupon requires you to buy something else to get the "free" item. Hope you can find a place to use them.

[dizneemum]

Nabisco's Facebook wall is filled with comments from unhappy fans. It's not just that many retailers refused the coupon because it was an IP for a free item, but the expiration date is for today. That gave fans all of 4 days to find a retailer that would accept the coupon for it to be worth the effort.

Sorry for your embarassment, OP. You have nothing to be ashamed of. However, Nabisco has good reason to hang their head. FWIW, I was able to use mine at Target with no problem.

[justincase]

Yea, I thought it was weird she would say they didn't take SS coupons, especially since I had handed the cashier a fistfull of them! Guess SHE wasn't going to take a SS coupon! Thanks for the heads up on HT. GLad I didn't run all the way there just to find out they wouldn't take it!. I did call the 800 number on my receipt but they didn't seem to care much about the ordeal.
And I completely forget about the expiration date today! Man, kinda bumms me out. I would have gone to target if I had more time.
Ah well- thanks for all your understanding. I just needed a place to vent. Not a nice experience for a newB. Good thing I'm dedicated. Not to mention, I was hooked after my first "coupon trip". Before store loyalty card and coupons; 237.82. After card and coupons; 121.91! Woot, woot!!!

[compmomnc]

I have one of those "stores" that gives me a hassle with smartsource coupons, especially high value or free ones. Give them a coupons.com coupon and they are happy and feel like they have avoided the counterfit coupon plague...lol

I do feel for that manager because she showed me a whole binder of "fraudulent" coupons that people try to pass off as real. I guess, that they feel like there are more secure ways to identify the coupons.com coupons, then what are provided on the smartsource coupons. To me too many people who are greedy have ruined it for the honest coupon shoppers who frequent sites like this, seriously trying to save their families some money on groceries.

I hope that smartsource takes the clue and updates their printable coupons to a higher standard. In the mean time I am afraid we are at the mercy of the whims of each individual manager at FL or any other store trying to weed out the fraudulent coupon activity. We can all do our part by trying to follow the rules and not try to add fuel to the fire. For each manager who is strict, there are at least one or two who might be considered more open minded and fair. Sorry you had such a tough time, but I had 2 HT and 2 FL not accept that oreo coupon either.

This is either going to be an isolates problem , occurring at random retailers or it will get really bad and then they will have to reinvent to existence of online printable coupons.

[MysticWench]

I had a similar experience at a FL with the Save $6 off Pork wyb charcoal and bbq sauce last summer - I emailed CS and the manager of that FL called me within a few days apologizing and wanting to know who the cashier and asst mgr on duty was.

I'd email CS and tell them about this. Whether or not it was counterfeit, there is such a thing as discretion and not needing to announce it loudly to everyone.

I have taken IPs to the customer service desk and asked if they will accept it before I start shopping - it saves hassle at checkout.

[everprincess]

I never get the q's from facebook because I have heard sooo many complaints about them. Sorry this happened to you. Sometimes managers and cashiers can be so rude about q's. Keep on couponing though it's a money making hobby that is so worth the time.

[RockyGap]

I signed up for Helluva cheese on facebook and they mailed me a free coupon on colored paper and it does not look like an internet coupon at all.I wish companies that offer a free coupon would mail one that passes for a real coupon .Any free coupon I get that looks like it came from the internet I don't even bother with.

[mayanfire]

the reason she said they don't take smartsource coupons (and called them counterfeit) is because of this: http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums...now-156-a.html

some people just ruin it for everyone, and people that don't use printable coupons just don't understand. You have no idea how many people think ALL smartsource coupons are fraudulant. They don't understand there is a legitamate printable site (hence the reason the bad guys ripped it off)....