Why so much abuse of couponers???

[belinda2]

I"m with Gardencook. The past few weeks almost every single purchase has included a mistake by the store or cashier. Items are mislabeled or registars don't add the way items are entered. I've gotten where I will really watch the cashiers because there are so many mistakes. Randall's is an example. I watched each q double as they were scanned but the receipt was strange. I was shorted $2.40 because what was entered didn't make it to the end of calculations. I have seen mistakes at WM, Target, Dollar General, Family Dollar, HEB and Kroger. It's exhausting.

I usually don't have problems with the cashiers being rude but there have been times when they act like I'm stealing from the store. We are more likely to catch their and the stores mistakes because we are watching closer than the normal customer. I make mistakes but it has been nothing compared to what is happening at the stores.

Everyone seems to be blaming TLC but I think they are showing us trends. People are having a hard time. I've been approached by several in stores who want help. They are struggling to eat.

[dani113077]

If cashiers know you are paying with food stamps they can get upset....So.....Try using food stamps annnddd coupons. Lots of fun!!

[n2save]

i have good and bad experiences. The worst experience i have is with Safeway employees and managers ! they are horrible... not only that they are very unfriendly when you use the coupons, but they make rules and policies " as they go " when i ask them to show it to me in writing - it never seems to be available.. if i bring their coupon- policy and show it to them they tell me " oh that's not updated we got a brand new one just last week " ..
2 times i have been accused- loud and clear in front of other customers that my coupons are " photo copies " - i had them printed from my printer.. i would have only one or two of them.. and they are like " oh.. this can be a photocopy " .. i look at them "do you honestly think i would comit fraud and risk to deal with the law for 3-4 $ ? well we don't know maybe ! I have been so discraminated by the store manager that the last time i have left the store crying and other custmers have followed me to the parking lot to calm me down and confirm to me how rude that man was to me.
Still i' m waiting for the corporate to ever give me that phone call back i have mailed to them these " what you think about us envelope " and asked them to call me but .. it's been over am onth and they are not calling.

and i agree with almost everything all of you allready said. - yes we need to be patient with the cashiers and explain it to them- i see that as a " common sense and ettiquete " but what to do when a cashier won't even bother hearing you out- just going straight to " talk to my hand " attitude and beeing rude ? i had one that took my coupons and each one of them threw after she scanned it like a pc of garbage just to show me how much she hated doing it ! .. yes you show me disrespect- sometimes i can smile and try to be nice.. but how much longer are we supposed to take that abuse and try to make them understand that we are customers just the person behind us and that we deserve respect ?

[Gertie2u]

Gardencook especially makes some good points. I remember that whole coupons are the reason for inflation thing. Even prior to that, couponing was really looked down upon. Having to use coupons was like admitting you were poor to many people.

My ex's grandmother chewed me out once when I tried to give her a $3 off coupon for a chicken place to help pay for the meal. According to her, even admitting I looked at a coupon was an embarrassment to the family, and I should have sense enough to be ashamed to use them. When that whole thing was on the news of P&G announcing coupons were the cause of them having to raise prices, of course I happened to be sitting on the sofa at that woman's house. So I had to listen to another chewing out. It was made clear to me in her book, using coupons was right up there with stealing. My use of a coupon was clearly just taking money right out of someone else's pocket as proved by the news announcement.

I run across the occasional person who feels that way. I've listened to a store manager express pretty much exactly those sentiments while chewing out an employee in the back room for unknowingly restocking an item the manager was holding back from the shelves because it was the free item of the week after coupons at Walgreens.

At another store I've been told employees are graded on how fast they run through transactions and that's how they get their raises. They use a very basic means of establishing how much time should be allotted per transaction and that is $ purchased. No matter how the customer chooses to pay, the employee is trying to beat the clock for the best averages or no raises and maybe even they are fired. Thus, if you buy $200 and pay for half with coupons, they know there is no way they're beating the clock on your transaction. Their grade is going to be expressed as dollars sold verses transaction time for all transactions. Obviously, it isn't going to take many heavy coupon transactions to ruin their grade. This is the policy at a major national retailer, but I am uncertain if that is just the local store manager or the policy of the entire chain.

I'm always as careful as possible to do my deals correctly, but occasionally I make an error. I have had more than one clerk thank me for not yelling at them or getting angry at them over the issue. Apparently some people are trying the whole be annoying and maybe they'll give it to you your way just to shut you up and make you go away on the clerks. I try to keep this in mind when I deal with a clerk who does not know what they are doing and try to take a firm tone but never angry or rude if I know for certain I am right.

If one protestation gets me no where, I simply ask them to take the item off my bill and return it. I usually have DH with me, and he knows to run through another lane with the item. So far, we've always found that fixes the problem. If I am alone, I will just run through another line with it and my cart with my sacks I already paid for. If things aren't too crazy, I'll explain to the new clerk after she's run it through correctly, so that the clerk doing it incorrectly can be told the correct information.

[jkljkl]

If you want to use coupons, that is your business.

If I get behind someone in line who is taking too long, I just join another line! The other day, I went to the customer service desk to have them ring up my stuff because I'd been standing in line behind one person for half an hour. She wasn't using coupons, though - she was arguing about the prices of the food she had bought.

[Nyx]

Maybe it is just jealousy at these deals

From my experience, I think they don't much like a couponer's attention to detail: for example, when you keep a close eye on the register screen. Perhaps it makes them feel like you think they are inadequate at their job or are trying to cheat you. I always try to be nice, and if a store's employees are particularly nasty, I vote with my feet and just go to another store.

[Doglover8180]

I think couponers sometimes get treated poorly because of the following reasons:

It's partially because of those couponers who abuse coupons that they lump all couponers into the category of bad apples because a few bad apples have ruined the bunch.

It's also partially because some cashiers feel that if you dont pay that full $2 for that item and you have a $.50 cent off coupon, somehow that is taking money of the store's pocket and therefore out of their pocket.

I also think it is partially because when they see a couponer, they think, well geez this is gonna take a while... it slows them down. Someone with no coupons makes their transaction alot easier.

I also think some couponers are apologetic (I know I have done this), I start off saying, "Sorry I got alot of coupons" I don't know why I apologize, I just do. I try not to do that.

I have also learned that making small talk with the cashier - whether I am using coupons on that transaction or not, tends to make them nicer to me (because I am being nice to them), and it makes them view me in a good light - whether I have coupons in my hand or not - and thus makes the transaction typically a better one, overall. Think about it, I have seen people who the cashier says "how are you today" and the customer, never gets off their phone, never looks up from their blackberry to even acknowledge the person talking to them - we all want to be acknowledged.