Why so much abuse of couponers???

[SMR80]

I apologize if this doesn't belong here, or needs to be removed. I am not trying to but I really do want to know...

Why do we as couponers put up with the abuse we get from checkers and stores over using coupons? They look at us like we are scum of the earth or 2nd class citizens.... yet the next person in line could be using food stamps and there is no problems with that! I don't qualify for food stamps or public assistance of any kind. But lots of weeks I am lucky if I have $100 to spend on groceries for the next 2 weeks!!! I have to use coupons or I would really be screwed.

I am NOT taking the money out of the cashiers pocket, the store is getting reimbursed plus some... Half the time around here walmart don't give overage... they adjust the coupon down... so you know they are keeping the extra cents!

Please, if I am seeing this wrong, someone let me know. Or if someone else feels like this, let me know I'm not alone! The stores keep abusing us and we just roll over and take it! I wish I could figure out how to screw the stores!!!

Climbing down off my now and !

[3timesoccermom]

Well if you do this: "screw the stores" that would be wrong too.

Maybe try saying something super nice to them when you first come up to check out and see how that works.

[Smee]

I suspect it's because of people screwing the stores, though I'd bet that our definitions of abuse would differ. That's a lot more plausible to me than the notion that stores have a hate-on for customers with coupons because they're just big meanypants doodyheads.

You can probably thank unethical couponers for a lot of the tougher policies and cynical store employees.

[SMR80]

meanypants doodyheads.

Too funny! I needed that!

[$Saving!]

I haven't ever experienced (except once at Wally World and I never returned) any type of scrutiny over using coupons or treated poorly because of it.

Then again, I've been couponing just shy of 30 years now and know to appreciate the job cashiers do too, and I let them know it. I get in line prepared with rain checks on top, and coupons for free items on top, all coupons neatly presented. I let them know that the ones on top (free and rain checks) are there when I hand them the stack so they can find those items first and enter them and not have to go back and 'find' them on the receipt etc.

I thank them honestly and sincerely for what they do and their kindness and patience too.

I've moved many times in those years and just never had a problem.

I AM sympathetic currently to the cashiers because I KNOW they're being driven to madness by the influx of new and ill informed coupon users who are trying to mimic stuff they've seen or bad advice from someone who "taught" them how to try to game the system.

I couldn't do their job currently without getting fired for telling off some of the coupon abusers

[everprincess]

#1 You can blame of it on new couponers who do not what they are doing. Don't know the stores policies and nasty with cashiers because they watched some show that people were allowed to do it all! I've seen it will my own eyes at my local stores. And I can understand why cashiers get moody. See not every cashier knows you know the rules and follow them to the letter.

#2-Some cashiers just don't care about couponers. They think we are a pain and they don't the hassle. I've had the rolling eyes and I avoid those cashiers like the plague.

But I will say this-be nice and kind to cashiers it does help alot. The one store I shop at the most has a little shelve to pull the cart up to no rolling counter. When I get ready to checkout and the other person is almost done I start to put all the like items together on the little counter that I pull the buggy up to. If I have a free coupon for a item I put it on the item so the cashier doesn't have to search for the price later at the end of the transaction. And lastly my husband bags all my groceries. I feel that if I'm getting good deals I should do my part and help out the store.

This store at shop is very nice to me and I have to believe it's because I've been nice to them.

[kschick96]

I don't think it is about couponers being abused, it is about people abusing coupons.

[3timesoccermom]

at Smee.

[434Teresa]

if walmart has to adjust the coupon down even if you have the coupon policy in your hand make them mark threw the amount and write in what the anount they gave you was and soon they will stop adjusting the coupons down. Tell them this is the only fair thing to do since other wise they get the full amount that is on the coupon for the company dont knwo what amount they gave and and will refund the full amount of the coupons.

As for being treat that way most of the time I dont get that that cashiers. I get dirty looks from poeple behind me and now I get are you one of those couponers from that TV show? I hate that question so much and that show.

[Gardencook]

Like $Saving! I've couponed for more than three decades. Unlike her, I have suffered abuse for all those years. Our city is about as Q UNfriendly as they come. I've come to several conclusions:
1. People who don't want to be bothered by clipping deeply resent the money we save. They will latch onto ANY excuse to blame us for ALL the problems in the world.
Back in the 1980s, Proctor & Gamble claimed couponers were the cause of rising prices. The corporation announced it was cutting back coupons. Non-clippers latched on and all you heard was how "we" were the cause of inflation! Sound familiar?
2. Many clerks don't have a clue how their cash registers work. Don't know how many times I've had to explain why the register is beeping and how to fix the problem. I've actually had store managers admit I know more about it than the employees.
3. A lot of people will back down when intimidated, so many clerks feel a raised voice will cause you to forget the whole thing and save them work.
4. An underlying anger is seething within this nation and many people care about no one else. They'll pop off at the drop of a hat about anything. Their time is too valuable to be "wasted" by someone who actually needs to save a few dollars on groceries to survive.
My elderly mother (with an excellent driving record) was recently screamed at in a parking lot by an abusive jerk who felt she had taken a parking space he (an able-bodied man) wanted!
I try to avoid problems if at all possible. Plopping down a huge wad of Qs is asking for trouble. Sure you can get a great high from saving hundreds in one trip, but the joy is fleeting when you have to argue over every Q.
Place things on the conveyor belt in an orderly fashion. It is much easier to prove you can legitimately use five Qs, if all five packages went into the register together. If a Q gives you free produce for buying salad dressing, you'll have less hassle when the produce is right next to the bottle of dressing.
If I'm using frees, I place them at the end of the conveyor belt, so the items don't get rung through before I can get there. That puts the items within easy sight on the computer screen when the amount must be subtracted. Then before the first freebie is scanned, I warn the clerk. I do the same thing on B1G1s.
If I use a Q that has to be adjusted down, I hand it to the clerk with the product and explain it will be necessary. The clerk usually looks back at me and asks, "What does that mean?" I smile sweetly and patiently walk them through it.
I rarely shop at Walmart here, because I've had SO many bad experiences, but when clerks in other cities don't want to give overage, another sweet smile comes with an explanation that the policy has recently changed and an offer that I "just happen" to have a copy if the clerk would like to see it.
Usually, they don't want to be bothered and call a floor manager, who also gets a big smile from me. Most managers don't want to be bothered reading policies and just authorize it.
Generally courtesy will solve most problems. However, I won't tolerate being disrespected -- which happens A LOT around here! If a clerk begins to argue, I am polite, but say I refuse to argue and want to speak to a manager. Since they don't want the manager involved, that often settles the matter.
If the assistant manager is also rude, I will contact the store manager or the corporation if necessary. It is a tiring process, but eventually employees learn that if they treat you with respect, they don't get reported.