I Hate Coupons...A Guide For SCs

[csever01]

I really hate coupons...and I hate the idiots who can't understand how they work even more!

We ALWAYS have a bunch of coupons out roaming around at any given time, and it never fails that one or more of these coupons will somehow completely confuse many SCs whose hands they fall into.

One of the best examples is our coupon that says the following:
Any Omelette
Only $5.99

Now, PLEASE tell me it is completely clear to you all that you would be PAYING $5.99 for your omelette! I don't know how it can be that hard. I often have 10-minute arguments with SCs who insist they're supposed to get $5.99 OFF the omelette.

Me: $6.39 please. (total after tax, of course)
SC: That can't be right.
Me: Yes, that is correct.
SC: Well, it's a coupon for $5.99 off.
Me: No, it's a coupon to get the item for the price of $5.99.
SC: How do you figure?
Me: Well, it says "Any Omelette Only $5.99." It doesn't say "$5.99 Off Any Omelette."
SC: Well that's terribly misleading.
Me: I'm sorry you feel that way, but the omelette is still $6.39. (Oh, yes, I can totally see where she would have mistaken the word 'only' for the word 'off')
SC: Well, where's that extra 40 cents coming from??
Me: Tax, ma'am.
SC: Oh, so now you're going to charge me TAX, too?!?!?
Me:

So, after that, I thought it would be nice to offer a how-to guide for SCs on coupon etiquette.

1. Detach each coupon you plan to use from any non-coupon material. I don't care if you tear it, cut it, or BITE it off as long as I don't have to do it for you!
2. Adhere to the expiration date. It expires for a reason. Trying to use it two days after expiration is like trying to return something two days after the return period has ended. Oh wait, you've probably tried that, too.
3. Take the coupon at face value. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Why on EARTH would we give you $5.99 OFF of an omelette with a regular price of $7.99???? Oh yes, ma'am, $2.12 is your new total.
4. Nearly all coupons are ONE per person, per item, per visit. This means that you can't come in with twelve coupons for $1 off a 12-pack of Coke and expect the store to give to you free or pay YOU for taking it! At the very most, they might allow you to buy twelve 12-packs and use one coupon for each, and even that's being generous.
5. Read the small print! Every coupon has small print. Included in this is usually the statement that coupons are not combinable with other offers. Meaning you can't use the $5.99 omelette coupon AND a 20% off coupon on that same omelette! I'll even help you figure out which one is a better deal, but I'm not letting you use both at the same time.
6. Coupons are PRE-TAX. No one can escape the government's wrath, and that includes us. We are going to charge you tax, and it will often be on the PRE-COUPON PRICE, according to the LAW.

Anybody else hate coupons?

[Alexandra]

Also--drive-thrus and coupons are sometimes a lethal combination.

I have coupons, I go inside.

[BookstoreEscapee]

How can they charge tax on the pre-coupon price? Shouldn't sales tax be charged on the amount you are actually paying? I've never seen it done any other way...

[csever01]

Almost Forgot This Part

The other thing I forgot to mention is that SCs need to realize that the employee is RIGHT about the coupon and how it works 99% of the time. No, this is not the first time I've seen this coupon. Yes, I see the same one all day every day. Yes, in fact, we do get memos and e-mails about each coupon that goes out so we know what it's actually valid for and how to ring it up.

To answer BookstoreEscapee, we actually do charge the tax based on the final price AFTER the coupon, but I have seen other places that do it on the pre-coupon price. I'm not sure why, but I think it might have to do with different tax laws in different states. I'm sure some states out there think they're entitled to their cut of the money no matter what, and that it's our problem if we want to offer a coupon.

Either way, the point of the whole tax thing is that we have no control over it. Oh yes, ma'am, I WANT to make you give even MORE of your money to the government! Whatever the tax law is, people behind the counter have no control over it, so I just wish people would quit harrassing ME about it and go call their government representative instead.

[smileyeagle1021]

on the point of the charging before discount... I don't know how it works on coupons but on "complimentary" whatever for like frequent travel rewards etc the state collects tax at what the rate would have been if it had been paid for. Oh that pissed people off when I worked at the airport for car rental and people would use a frequent traveller comp and still have to pay taxes.

[Imogene]

Anybody else hate coupons?

No! I f*cking love coupons!
F*ck, F*ckity, etc.
No, you can't use that coupon a week before it actually is valid. No, you can't use last week's coupon either. No, if you don't have one of our super secret 100% off your purchase, internet only coupons in your hand, you can't get your order free! Particularly when they weekly coupon is 40% off one regular price item. No, I can't un-sale that item and give it to you with your coupon. Yes, I know the coupon's better. No, I still won't/can't do it. I don't like you/have no way of finding the original price. No, I won't let you split your transaction of two items in half so you can use two coupons. Read the fine print: "ONE COUPON PER CUSTOMER PER DAY!" Yes, I know the Fritzville store lets customers do it. Last I checked, we're not in Fritzville, we're in Plano! The next time I see our DM, I will tell her that Fritzville is breaking our coupon policy. And she will march (okay... no, not march... perhaps waddle...) to the Fritzville store and bring the hammer down on their rule-breaking heads. Congratulations, now none of the stores will do it.

[Andara Bledin]

1. Detach each coupon you plan to use from any non-coupon material. I don't care if you tear it, cut it, or BITE it off as long as I don't have to do it for you!

Are you really sure you don't mind SC spittle on the coupons? They're grubby enough as is.

6. Coupons are PRE-TAX. No one can escape the government's wrath, and that includes us. We are going to charge you tax, and it will often be on the PRE-COUPON PRICE, according to the LAW.

How can they charge tax on the pre-coupon price? Shouldn't sales tax be charged on the amount you are actually paying? I've never seen it done any other way...

Yeah, I'm fairly certain that charging tax on an amount that wasn't actually paid is not legal. I could be different where you're from, but around here, you can only charge on the actual amount charged.

on the point of the charging before discount... I don't know how it works on coupons but on "complimentary" whatever for like frequent travel rewards etc the state collects tax at what the rate would have been if it had been paid for. Oh that pissed people off when I worked at the airport for car rental and people would use a frequent traveller comp and still have to pay taxes.

Comps are different, though. In the case of a comp, the full amount is being paid, but by the business (or another business) on behalf of the customer. The tax still has to be paid, and in many cases, it's the customer that has to pay it.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that SCs need to realize that the employee is RIGHT about the coupon and how it works 99% of the time. No, this is not the first time I've seen this coupon. Yes, I see the same one all day every day. Yes, in fact, we do get memos and e-mails about each coupon that goes out so we know what it's actually valid for and how to ring it up.

That's usually true. Except when Nekojin went to Best Buy to take advantage of a print ad they had. Unfortunately for them, the ad hadn't been written properly and was offering more than it was supposed to. He had to call in to corporate to get them to make the manager at the local store actually abide by the rules of the advertisement before he got the rest of the offer from the store. They must have gotten a lot of calls, because they sent out a memo the next morning on how it was supposed to be handled until the updated ad (with the corrected verbiage) was released.

^-.-^

[csever01]

That's usually true. Except when Nekojin went to Best Buy to take advantage of a print ad they had. Unfortunately for them, the ad hadn't been written properly and was offering more than it was supposed to. He had to call in to corporate to get them to make the manager at the local store actually abide by the rules of the advertisement before he got the rest of the offer from the store. They must have gotten a lot of calls, because they sent out a memo the next morning on how it was supposed to be handled until the updated ad (with the corrected verbiage) was released.

Ah, but as you can probably imagine, I'm talking about myself, and I actually have a brain, apparently unlike that manager at Best Buy. If a customer handed me a coupon or ad or whatever and it was clearly misquoted on said ad, I would make sure we abided by the ad. Of course, immediately after catching it, I would call someone in marketing to inform them of the error.

[simplyanother]

SC: Oh, so now you're going to charge me TAX, too?!?!? [....snip...]

Anybody else hate coupons?

Dude....

Don't you love how it's YOU charging her tax?

No! I f*cking love coupons!
F*ck, F*ckity, etc.. (Juwl's helpful list of things you can't do with the coupon)

Don't forget "No, you can't have your coupon back so that the next 14 people in line can use the coupon. And, yes, it's totally because we don't like YOU! "

[StevieJD]

There are tax code issues that could allow sales tax, depending upon jurisdiction (state, city etc) that would require the sales to be collect pre-discount OR allow the sales tax to be collect pre-discount should that transaction be easier for the merchant (and taxing district) to compute.

The sales tax on pre-discount price comes into play when the manufacturer's coupon discounts the item down to zero or near zero (like some of those coupons at big box discounters), or a price ticket that allows you to receive a free burger and fries at McD.

[Evil Queen]

um... I like coupons. I use them at the grocery store (always before they expire) and I love when people bring me Coupons for my hotel. See, you can't use the <company> hotel coupons at my particular hotel because we're the cheapest one of that type in the city anyways, so corperate said we can't take them. I adore how people will bring the other hotel's coupons in and say "But it's the same chain!"
"But we still can't take them! Bye bye!"

[Imogene]

Don't forget "No, you can't have your coupon back so that the next 14 people in line can use the coupon.

Once again: No, we don't take internet coupons from competitors! We will take OUR internet coupons, but they happen very rarely, and are currently only a way for corporate to decide if there is interest in online coupons.
Why don't we take competitor's internet coupons? Could it be because ocassionally they don't even accept their own internet coupons? Could it be because we don't have a way of making sure they're legit? Could it be because: "I Hate you?"

Yes, Gods Damnit! You have to sign the log for your competitor coupon!

No, I don't have extra coupons lying around at my register. If we have any (ANY) in the store, they're over there, under the display board with this week's coupon mounted to it. If it's any day but Sunday or Monday, No, we don't even have those. People will come in and grab handfuls of our coupon stack, and hoard them.

Unless you say the magic words: "I want to sign the log" I'm not supposed to bring it up. You have to know about it. Asking for a coupon because you don't have one will not get me to bring out the log for you. It's a pain in the ass to run our coupon that way.

No, Bed, Bath and Beyond is NOT our competition. However, they happen to be just down the strip mall from us. Waddle your ass over there and see if they have yarn.

NO! It's not scanning because our registers run on PSII technology, we're in the fucking dark ages of computing here. It didn't scan because I regularly move faster than the computer can process. I have to type your shit in! Shut your hole about it being free for thirty seconds, or I'll make you wait longer.

Remember your damn bag when you leave. I try my damnedest to remind you to pick it up, but even still, I overlook it ocassionally, since the thing's right around my crotch level...
</end general ranting>

[Millahtyme1983]

Part of me loves coupons because they give me my current job (I work for a marketing company, and my job is to put all of their clients coupon offers onto an excel spreadsheet) But as a former retail slave I can't stand them.

please tell me you have the coupon BEFORE I tell you the total and swipe your credit card, forgetting is fine we all do it, but so many people will wait till after I tell them the total, hand me their card and then casually hand me a coupon after I swipe said card, leading me to have to void out the transaction (the system sucked and was still on DOS and you couldn't backtrack after swiping a CC, or remove items off the order after hitting total). I would usually watch to see if they showed signs of having a coupon but there would still be a few people that would manage to slip through the cracks.

And yea, please read the fine print, and even the not so fine print, if it says off a $10 purchase don't argue with me that your $8.50 purchase counts, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the guy with the $9.90-$9.99 purchase but not for any less.

[Imogene]

I would usually watch to see if they showed signs of having a coupon but there would still be a few people that would manage to slip through the cracks.

Had an older lady complain to me once that I rang her out 'too quickly' because I got through the whole thing before she even mentioned she had a coupon. I went "" and said, "Ma'am, when I told you your total, why did you not say, "I has a coupon!' At that point, I could've waited for you to dig it out of your enormous, black hole of a purse, scanned it for you, and I wouldn't have to do your 'return and resell' for the piddly 36 cents you'll be 'saving' with the coupon."
Yeah, corporate told us recently we can't do 'exchanges' as one transaction any longer, as somehow, customers were abusing it... How? Everything's very clearly marked: "These are returns, these are purchases, no, you can't return something on the 'return' side."

[bainsidhe]

I'd just like to mention that the manufacturer's coupons we take at work (retail/grocery store) do not reduce the amount of tax a customer has to pay. Customer still has to pay taxes on the pre-discount amount. I suspect it's because the store is getting reimbursed for the coupons by the manufacturer and someone is still "paying" the discounted difference. Therefore Uncle Sam still gets a bite. This isn't the in-store-type discount coupons, where you are typically taxed for the after-discount prices.