Coupons - possible self sighting! Warning ~ Long!

[Peppergirl]

Ok, so today I did something I rarely do...I called and complained to a store about their coupon policies. The offending store is Target, conveniently located within walking distance of my house. Also, keep in mind when reading that I havent had this issue with any Target besides this one.

Come to think of it, 'policy' is probably not an accurate word for what this is. It doesnt seem to be so much a 'policy' per se, as a feeling I have that the cashiers are possibly being browbeat and or harassed by management about bogus coupons.

On to the story:

Yesterday I checked out approximately 35-40 dollars worth of items and had a grand total of 4 coupons. The coupons were for the following:

~1.00 off two snickers, 3 musketeers or twix bars. There was no size limit on these, so this is a good coupon, considering (even at full price) candy bars are only about .60 a piece.

~1.00 off one single bottle of starbucks frappucino. I had 2 of these. Also a good coupon, even at full price they run about 1.75 each.

~1.00 off tidy cat litter. No size restriction, but I bought a big one.


So the cashier (who was perfectly friendly) scans the order, then I hand her the coupons. I had my target credit card out and ready to pay, like a good customer.

Problem was, the cashier proceeds to spend at least 15-20 seconds reading each coupon BEFORE attempting to scan it. This might not sound like a big deal, but when there is a line forming behind you, its a bit off-putting. Also, I completely understand the logic of scrutinizing a coupon IF it beeps after scanning it, but this lady studied each one BEFORE scanning it.

So we get to the candy one and it beeps after scanning. She scrutinized the offending coupon more closely and proclaims it not valid. I politely disagreed, and pointed out that I have items that the coupon requires. Then she reads it some more. By this time I've turned to the person behind me and apologized, even though it's clearly not my fault. The person was good natured about it, but looked at the cashier like ?

Finally, as I was opening my mouth to tell her to nevermind, that I'd just use the coupon another time, she overrides the register and accepts it, after having scrutinzed the damned thing for at least a minute.

I finished the transaction, thanked her, took my stuff and left. T But, the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became because this is the second or third time this scrutinzation thing has happened recently at this particular Target.

So I called today and spoke with a front end manager. I laid out my concerns and pointed out that I got the distinct impression that it WASN'T the fault of the cashiers and asked if they've recently been instructed to scrutinize coupons BEFORE scanning them. I also pointed out that it seems to be indiginous to THEIR particular Target, which makes it more frustrating.

She advised me that there wasn't anything in particular said to the cashiers about coupons, but that there had been an influx of bogus coupons in the area lately, and that perhaps there was a communication to the cashiers that she wasn't aware of.

I advised her that I understood the need to study a coupon for validity if it beeps as invalid *after* being scanned, but that there had to be a better way to keep the line moving by not studying EACH coupon BEFORE scanning it.

She said she understood and would check into it.

So my question to retail workers: If a coupon scans, doesn't that mean it's valid and will be accepted (and therefore reimbursed) by the manufacturer? Or are there bogus coupons floating around out there now that are scanning as valid, but then being rejected by the manufacturers? Its been a long time since I've worked retail and I know scammers are more and more clever nowadays, so I figured I'd ask.


I wonder if I was sucky about all this? If there are scammers out there pawning off coupons, I guess I should direct my frustration toward THEM rather than the store itself, but it just seems odd that its ONE particular location that this happens at.

Oh well, at least I was careful to point out that I didn't fault the cashiers themselves, because they appeared to just be doing what they're told. God knows I hate it when people bitch at/about me for doing something that my managers make me do...so I didn't wanna become one of THOSE SC's.

[sprocket79]

I'm not a cashier and I've never worked with coupons, but I am reminded of a story from one of the coupon sites. There was a coupon that made the rounds a while back for free Juicy Juice or some really REALLY good discount - I can't remember. The coupon came from a small publication and it was never meant to be a really big promotion.

Well, it ended up on the coupon sites and people were making sheets of the coupons and taking them to Target, Walmart, etc. I remember Target in particular got pretty hard hit and they stopped taking them. The coupons were perfectly good, in that they scanned, but they weren't legitimate because they were being misused.

So I think there are cases to be made for when coupons scan, but are invalid for various reasons, abuse just being one of them.

I do think the policy of scrutinizing the coupon so much it a bit nuts though.

[Jay 2K Winger]

You weren't sucky. You were polite, kept your cool, and followed up on the problem in a reasonable manner.

From the other direction, I also scrutinize coupons at the wholesale club, because the store takes not only company coupons, but manufacturer's coupons as well. We get a lot of attempted coupon scams-- expired coupons, coupons from other stores, coupons for items we don't carry, etc. etc.-- and it's not unheard of for a cashier to get caught out later when the coupons and tills are tallied in the office later.

So I check all the coupons to cover my own ass.

But I agree, the cashier in the OP was being a bit excessive with it.

[Food Lady]

I don't even look at the coupons until they are rejected. Then I check them. About 60% of them are valid, but rejected by the system, so I'm constantly overriding it. No big deal--I'm at the top of the speed scores consistently. The only thing I can tell you is that you weren't sucky, and that your transaction probably felt mich longer than it actually was. Check-writers amd penny-diggers are the ones holding up the line, not you.

[ArcticChicken]

So my question to retail workers: If a coupon scans, doesn't that mean it's valid and will be accepted (and therefore reimbursed) by the manufacturer?

Not necessarily. Expired coupons still scan, and sometime coupons for a free whatever with a price limit on them will ring in at the full price, rather than the maximum price. (Ex: Free (whatever) with purchase of (other thing) up to $3.99. If the whatever rings up at $4.10, the coupon will take off $4.10 instead of the $3.99)

That being said, all I bother to check is the expiration date and the price limit if it's for a free thing, unless it beeps at me.

[Peppergirl]

Thanks for all the info, guys. I appreciate it!

I had no idea that expired coupons scanned.

[Fufu487]

And some systems will accept whatever you put in them. Like you could scan a coupon for $5 of kitty litter when there no kitty litter in the purchase at all, some systems are designed to trust the cashier and do as they are told, so its the cashiers responsibility to ensure the coupon applies.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

And some systems will accept whatever you put in them. Like you could scan a coupon for $5 of kitty litter when there no kitty litter in the purchase at all, some systems are designed to trust the cashier and do as they are told, so its the cashiers responsibility to ensure the coupon applies.

Such a system would probably accept a totally bogus coupon as well. Or any system might as long as the barcode on it is good.

I wonder if I was sucky about all this? If there are scammers out there pawning off coupons, I guess I should direct my frustration toward THEM rather than the store itself, but it just seems odd that its ONE particular location that this happens at.

1. No you were not.
2. You would be surprised. Some scams seem more prevalent in some areas than others. For example, in my neck of the woods we have a problem with quick-change artists that doesn't seem to be happening as much in other cities. It could only take a few bogus coupons being passed at a store for management to take notice and do something.

[greensinestro]

My philosophy has always been this: Due to those dishonest people out there who do things like present bogus coupons, or black out the expiration date, or mass produce hundreds of copies of the same coupons good for mass amounts of ice cream, honest people like yourself and others get a hard time by cashiers for using legitimate coupons.

You would also think by now, computer systems would not allow a coupon to be accepted for an item the customer did not even buy, but it happens. It tells cashiers to pay better attention for sure.

[bainsidhe]

Were these online coupons? This seems to be the biggest problem at my store, because fraudsters will "create" their own super OMG terrific coupon. $10 off of a $9.99 bottle of Tide, for example. We also started receiving perfectly legitimate-looking online coupons, but the manufacturers refused to honor them. Which means we lost money. Something about a particular coupon center or something. This means I read the fine print on each online coupon so I know where it's coming from before I scan it. And then if the coupon won't scan, we can't take it. Yeah it sucks and I really do blame the fraudsters. Problem is, a lot of decent people download these coupons, thinking they're legit.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't see how you were in any way SC in any of this.

I use my share of coupons when I shop, but having worked most of my retail days in bookstores, I don't have much experience from the other side of the counter. Most of the coupons I've gotten were my own company's coupons, which in my experience I've never seen a problem with people trying to scam with them (though I'm sure it's happened; just hadn't been a big issue in my stores). Most of those coupons are either emailed to people who have provided email addresses, or sent to people who have member cards.

The only manufacturer's coupons I've ever dealt with were the occasional coupons for magazines, but I didn't see them all that often.

[Peppergirl]

Thanks, guys.

Nope, they weren't the online coupons. With all the fraud and bad press on those things, I use them, but at my own risk. Meaning - if they scrutinize them or give me crap on them, I understand and will drop it, because I know it's not their fault that all these online coupon scammers are out there.

But no, in this case - these happened to be 4 legitimate MFR coupons that were well before the exp date. I also had the sizes and quantities required.

Looking back, it's still annoying, but the girl was just doing her job. It's just unfortunate that we all have to suffer because of scammers.

[Chromatix]

I remember the days when coupons were something you had to cut out of something you'd already bought. A sort of loyalty discount, if you will. Now it's a market segmentation tactic.

[fma_fanatic]

Not sucky at all. I've had coupons sent to me from the manufacturers that for whatever reason won't scan. They are the coupons with the holographic images where the expiration is. I've ended up going to the customer service desk to get it taken care of.

Sometimes those scanners just don't want to scan. In the case of Target, if you've read the complaints over at Planetfeedback, Target is not the best place to use coupons. By that argument, neither is Wal-Mart. I say if you're going to use coupons like the snickers, go to the grocery store.