COMMISSARY more comsy issues

[tinamsuarez]

recently i posted about coupons being scrutinized. now it seems like every good coupon i come across the price rises once they notice. examples are: chinet plates with the $2/1 coupon, the prices rose. kashi entrees with the $2/1, the prices rose above $3!!! razors and toothbrushes with good coupons, the prices have risen. i could go on and on. i have seen them duplicate my receipt a few times so i am wondering if they are seeing what i am getting and then adjusting prices. oh yeah, they also stopped selling marcal single rolls and chinet beverage napkins once they seen those coupons come through. do you think my commissary is doing something they should not be? i sent a complaint to deca yesterday so we shall see what they say.

[ebonyannette]

Originally Posted by tinamsuarez recently i posted about coupons being scrutinized. now it seems like every good coupon i come across the price rises once they notice. examples are: chinet plates with the $2/1 coupon, the prices rose. kashi entrees with the $2/1, the prices rose above $3!!! razors and toothbrushes with good coupons, the prices have risen. i could go on and on. i have seen them duplicate my receipt a few times so i am wondering if they are seeing what i am getting and then adjusting prices. oh yeah, they also stopped selling marcal single rolls and chinet beverage napkins once they seen those coupons come through. do you think my commissary is doing something they should not be? i sent a complaint to deca yesterday so we shall see what they say.

You know I tend to agree with you! I have gotten a couple of freebies from the commissary then i got back and the price is higher. Now I know they dont do the "sale" signs that other stores do and thier items do go on and off sale. But it was my understanding that their prices change monthly not weekly. I havent seen them duplicate my reciept but I DEFINATELY think something fishy is going on. I mean why have a place that gives the military a break on the cost of living but have them raise thier prices just as high as the competitors. I mean they charge a surcharge so its not like your saving "the tax" anymore

It makes me feel like they dont appreciate our business. I have a lot of friends that dont even shop at the comissary becuase they feel its too expensive. IDK if there is anyways to prove it and of course they are going to deny that this is going on.

[PMFan]

the regular prices for the kashi frozen entree at my store is $3+. and has been as low as $2.

i was able to get the 1.79 chinet at one comm but not another. afaik, that item is still available at 1.79.

afaik, the marcal single rolls were indeed removed from the DECA inventory. or at least at my stores.

i don't know if my store still has the chinet beverage napkins.
any item(s) in the DECA database can be special ordered for you upon request.

i agree with the s/c being 5%. i can pay 2.5% downtown and find better deals on many items.

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By law, commissaries are required to sell goods at prices that are set at a level to recover the cost of goods, with no profit built into these prices.
Commissaries.com - No Profit Operation

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so, they cannot raise prices simply because there is a manfacturer coupon that creates overage or free/cheap items. i assume though that a store director has the option of removing an item from inventory as they deem fit. i do not think they would if it were a popular item or without replacing it with an equivalent item.


i'd be interested to know DECA's response to your inquiry.

[pmorse]

My commissary always duplicates my receipts to check against the coupons to make sure the cashier is accepting the right amount of coupons for the right items. I use a lot of coupons and the cashier told me that is why they do that. I just found out more about the person who is going to ruin overage. Two different cashiers have complained to me about her because she is ordering excessive amounts and getting HUGE overage. She is getting GC's with them, she is also misusing some coupons. My fav. cashier accidentally let two coupons go through for the wrong product and she left, came back with more coupons and tried to get 2 cases of that item. She just yelled at the cashier when she tried to tell her she couldn't use them, saying she let her before. And because she is ordering large quantities of special orders, no one else is getting their orders in. For example she ordered 16 cases of vivarin at 45$ overage for each case. That is 720$ in overage. She ordered 30 cases of razors for over 1300.00$ in overage. She is very rude to the cashiers. And they even said she goes to all the surrounding commissaries. They are mad because the manager here makes them get their special orders last after customers and they can't get any in at all because she is getting them all. I haven't gotten a special order in in about 3 weeks. If she is reading this, YOU NEED TO STOP.

[PMFan]

para 3.5 of the deca directive 40-6, suspected privilege abuse, gives these types of purchases as examples of possible abuse (excessive quantities and frequent special orders).

it's at the discretion of the store director to report suspected abuse.

Originally Posted by pmorse she ordered 16 cases of vivarin. She ordered 30 cases of razors. she goes to all the surrounding commissaries.

[tivaclare]

Originally Posted by PMFan para 3.5 of the deca directive 40-6, suspected privilege abuse, gives these types of purchases as examples of possible abuse (excessive quantities and frequent special orders). it's at the discretion of the store director to report suspected abuse.

*sigh* I'm going to throw in my 2 cents here and hope it doesn't make anybody too angry at me...

What this shopper is doing sucks. I don't approve of her misusing coupons or committing fraud, and I can't believe some stores are letting it happen. I think it is terrible (and unfair!) that she is being so greedy and placing huge orders all the time, but I fear that is a lot of complaints start coming in to DeCA about people like her, it is only going to cause more problems. I could see the higher ups just deciding to get rid of the whole issue by not letting us get overage or placing orders like we do if it becomes too much of a hassle to deal with.

In other words, I think it should be left alone. If the manager at that stores feels fit to report her to the necessary authorities or place limits on her, fine, but I don't think any of us should launch a campaign to end things like this.

I'd also like to know where she shops so I can have a word with her and get her to chill a bit. I'm sure she is trying to provide for a family, but please don't be so greedy!! You didn't figure out all of these deals on your own, it was a group effort and I think we should all repay one another by sharing the wealth!

[PMFan]

i was mearly pointing out the directive regarding abuse of privilege to educate those who may not be aware. hopefully this shopper will read this and realize she is putting both her personal priviledges and the overage policy at risk.

Originally Posted by tivaclare I don't think any of us should launch a campaign to end things like this.

[tivaclare]

Thanks PM, I knew that's what you were saying. :-) I can also see that people are getting pretty upset though and while we all want a solution to these issues, I hope people don't go off and do anything rash.

I really hope that particular couponer comes here and see these posts.

[ebonyannette]

I think she should be reported in some way, not only is it not fair but she is a liability! the commissary still needs to make a certain amount to stay in business, i mean yeah they recieve gov't funding but you cant give away the bank.

My husband said there is a DFAC here on post that is closing because they are in debt. I guess they owe too much money to the food vendors. How can you close a DFAC where are the soldiers going to eat? I guess they have to buy thier own food or go clog up another one.

Just because our BENEFIT of the commissary is gov't subsidized and goods contracted to a reasonable amount or "at cost" doesnt mean that someone should be able to walk away with cases of dental floss and GET $700 for taking it out of the store, come on now. thats just wrong. I mean do we really think a person like this is a good steward?

And of course she wouldnt show her face in here because a person that would do that has no integrity.

I think that DeCa doesnt need to hear bunch of complaints about overage But maybe if they see that NOT all of us are taking advantage like that they will just revoke "her" privelidges and let us continue to get some overages or maybe put a cap on it. Overage is given up to $xx.xx any further overage will not be granted. I also think a STORE credit should be issued, not a voucher that she can just hand over to people or possibly SELL! a store credit for her name no greater than $xx.xx amount.

[tivaclare]

I agree with the store credit in a person's name. The idea of vouchers makes me a bit nervous because of the huge possibilities for abuse.

As far as reporting her goes, at least in regards to the large orders and overage, she isn't necessarily breaking any rules. She is being greedy and unfair to other shoppers, but as long as the coupons are being redeemed properly the commissary isn't losing any money. They are still getting face value plus .08 for each coupon.

If she is actually misusing coupons as some have reported, then that is something that management should certainly address because they will lose money on that.

Sad.