Kroger refused coupons from mother of 10

[ChrisMiss]

lMother Of 10: Kroger Manager Refused To Take My Mountain Of Coupons - The Consumerist

I saw this on Fox News this morning. I'm sure there's more to the story than what is here. But still I don't see why the store would refuse the coupons, maybe just refuse to double.

[434Teresa]

i am sure there is more to it than that also, they never tell the rest of the story.

[$Saving!]

Very poor coverage of the situation, I agree, there is more to this story than is being told.

[Gardencook]

Don't know how representative of public opinion this site is, but the site itself seems to lean toward the consumer, rather than against it. Despite that, the comments at the bottom give some idea of how public opinion is swinging against couponers because of recent television programing.

[TeePee]

Don't know how representative of public opinion this site is, but the site itself seems to lean toward the consumer, rather than against it. Despite that, the comments at the bottom give some idea of how public opinion is swinging against couponers because of recent television programing.

Exactly! Another one that needs to fly under rader for fear of messing it up for the rest of us.... Opps she already messed it up for the rest of us

[Gertie2u]

I'm really surprised a website promoting coupons of all things is hopping on board on the side against the consumer. I agree, we may not know the whole story, but it may very well not be a reflection of this particular consumer at all. We simply do not know.

I know there can be many things that put pressure on a manager causing them to swing against coupons having nothing to do with that particular consumer and were they properly used. Perhaps he discovered just before she arrived someone else improperly used coupons on body wash in such a way the store is going to have to eat a significant expense due to being unable to redeem the funds from the manufacturer. He then sees this woman with 20 body wash and a pile of coupons, and assumes she's playing the same game that other person did.

One store in my area is negative in the extreme regarding coupon use. I myself overheard the store's manager ranting a stock person out in the back room for having restocked a shelf with 4 of an item people were getting free after application of store and manufacturer savings wherein he called the use of coupons legally sanctioned theft and stated he was not going to have his store encouraging that behavior. I don't think he realized shouting in the small stock area off a small retail shop can be clearly heard throughout the shop. He also told the stock boy if they sold too many free after coupons, he would be arrested and the entire chain's state tax certificate put in jeopardy as too many frees would mean they were selling wholesale to persons without tax permits to buy wholesale. (Last I checked, sales tax is required to be collected on the item from the consumer, even if coupons then make the purchase price free, so this is obviously absurd.)

Based on a little delving, I believe the actual issue this fellow has with the free after coupon is based on his bonus. The way his sales bonus is written in his contract, he doesn't get any on the amount off obtained using coupons, most probably. I say most probably because of course I have not seen his actual contract, but it is normal in the company's standard contract. Of course, even if this is how his bonus is calculated, for all I know this man actually believes the nonsense he told the stock person. Not everyone has 25 years of making a living handling sales tax for small businesses and major companies to fall back on.

The manager may also have noticed the empty body wash shelf then seen her with 20 of them and a pile of coupons. He may have assumed rather than being a mom with a bunch of kids who actually needs a lot of body wash, here is someone hoarding a pile they'll never use and making it hard for me to keep my shelves stocked. I'll just put a stop to that.

The manager may even simply have recently heard of the improper use of coupons by that one woman on a certain TV show. I can certainly see how a manager would hate to see that going on in his own store, and he may very well have jumped to conclusions.

Of course, it is possible the woman was misusing coupons, either accidentally or on purpose. Even if that were the case, I find his solution unfortunate. He hasn't made the situation better for anyone with his approach at all. He has created a negative picture of his store and the brand in the minds of some. He has alienated at least one and probably several customers away from his store and possibly the chain. He has reinforced the negative stereotype many have of those who use many coupons engendered by the misuses displayed on a certain TV show. The woman has not received any correction to her belief in how to go about using these coupons and will just move to a new store and do the same thing, thus alienating more stores for the rest of us out here doing our best to use coupons properly. I really see no positive benefit from this whole thing whatsoever, and that makes me sad.

[$Saving!]

There simply is not enough information in that article to assume anything, either on behalf of the manager or the coupon user.

Very poorly written article and given the environment surrounding coupon use currently due to the *show that shall not be named*, are any of us surprised at the news even addressing a singular issue such as this?

Worse, they did a lousy job on covering it and left more questions than answers, but that is to be expected when a "reporter" who obviously does not know the ins/outs of proper coupon use or the store policy and therefore blows off the details that are highly relevant to this matter.

[Gardencook]

Very poorly written article and given the environment surrounding coupon use currently due to the *show that shall not be named*, are any of us surprised at the news even addressing a singular issue such as this?

Worse, they did a lousy job on covering it and left more questions than answers, but that is to be expected when a "reporter" who obviously does not know the ins/outs of proper coupon use or the store policy and therefore blows off the details that are highly relevant to this matter.

That's what happens when you run all the real journalists out of journalism! Corporate America is too busy saving a buck hiring cheap labor to bother with qualified reporters. It is happening everywhere.

[434Teresa]

I am not on the side of the store for say. I just think there is alot more to this than is being told. I think that maybe the writer knows this person and maybe knows that the person was doing some coupon fruad and who knows maybe the writer dose it with this person. For there is a reason the store would not take her coupons and being that the writer left that out of the story I am about sure it was either because they get fake coupons from this person or that she is doing some kind of fraud or maybe they have found her out reselling the stuff(not really the stores bizz tho)...There is a reason..If it was a silly crazy reason they would have wrote about that I am sure but if there is fraud going on I can see leaving it out to make kroger look like a bad store for not letting the mom with such a huge family use her coupons..

maybe its just a writer that wanted to be talked about...lol if so it worked

[Gertie2u]

I dunno, I think the reporter was just lazy is the most likely reason the story lacked details, and given my experience, I'd bet my last week's savings from coupons the refusal had nothing to do with anything the woman has done. They've definitely gutted the news business. I'm not sure it is entirely about cheep, though that's a huge part of it. I think they also like having people who will tow the corporate line. That's another reason I think my coupon savings would be safe in a bet the woman didn't do anything wrong with her coupons. If she were doing something wrong, don't you think it would be in the best interest of the corporations to get that information out there? It would certainly help them back up their reasons for changing coupon policies to become more stringent lately.

I have had store managers, who really ought to know better, say the most ridiculous things to me or in my presence, never mind the idiot store manager bawling out a stock clerk in the teeny tiny back room with walls made of tissue paper at one small shop. Either they don't know their own company's coupon policy and state all sorts of completely wrong information, or they have some personal axe they're grinding. Often some of both. The manager in the tissue paper back room had his own company's policy wrong, state sales tax laws completely wrong, and about six personal axes to grind, plus no management skills and poor anger management issues. Thankfully, as of this past week, he is no longer at with the company. I happened to have to go in there for something I just couldn't procure anywhere else for my physical therapy and I swear it could not have been more obvious what the staff thought about his leaving if they'd set up dinner theater and performed "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" repeatedly.