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Petrol vouchers are the bane of my life. -.-
First, some explanation. Every so often, Orange Bag supermarket does these petrol vouchers which entitle you to 5p off per litre of petrol. They come out after the receipt and then have to be taken to the petrol station to be scanned in after you pump your petrol. They have a barcode and a date. The date is important. These coupons are out of date after fourteen days, so we have to check the date every time to make sure they're not out of date.
This woman came in the other day with half a coupon. It just had the top part of the barcode and the top part of the coupon. Nothing else. I told her I couldn't accept it, cuz there was no date on it. This is what happened next.
SC: Why can't you accept it?
Me: Cuz it doesn't have a date on it.
SC: The cashier told me that you could accept this coupon! The machine cut off while printing it out and she said to just take it to the petrol station and they would accept it!
First of all, it is indeed possible that the printout machine would do this. Cashiers are not allowed to take out the receipt roll til it runs out completely; this is a direction from management to save money. So that means that a petrol voucher might well be cut in half or have the date cut off. However, the cashier then has to direct the customer to Customer Services, where one of the people there will write the date on the back of the voucher and sign it. The cashier might or might not have done this; however, if she didn't, it's nothing to do with me. Irritating it might be to lose out on the petrol voucher, it's not my problem.
Me: I'm sorry, but I can't take this coupon. I could get into trouble if I did cuz the manager has told us not to accept petrol vouchers without dates on them.
SC: Are you calling me a scammer? I'm not a scammer!
Maybe she was, maybe she just went to Customer Services, saw the queue and couldn't be bothered getting her signature... maybe she was the innocent victim of one of the cashiers who didn't tell her about getting the signature. But I still can't accept this coupon, cuz I'd get such a bollocking from the mananager if I did. And sorry, but I don't like anyone enough to take such a risk for them.
SC: Oh, I don't believe this! You should go and tell that girl to do her job properly and not treat paying customers this way!
Me: I'm really sorry about this.
The woman paid, and stormed out. Of course, I'm not telling the cashier anything. For one thing, I don't know who it is. Even if I did, how do I know if the customer is telling the truth about not being told? And finally, it's not my job. This was a difficult experience; on one hand, I sympathised with the customer cuz of the situation. On the other, as I said before, it's not my fault and I don't see why I should be yelled at. She might not have sworn or called me any names, but she was still screaming at me and using a nasty tone of voice.
I told her she could still get her voucher signed if she went to Customer Services with her receipt, and she said she'd thrown it away already. In which case, there's nothing I can do. No shop would accept a coupon in this state in any case. Not even the manager would accept this coupon. I hate being shouted at when there isn't anything I can do about a problem.
First, some explanation. Every so often, Orange Bag supermarket does these petrol vouchers which entitle you to 5p off per litre of petrol. They come out after the receipt and then have to be taken to the petrol station to be scanned in after you pump your petrol. They have a barcode and a date. The date is important. These coupons are out of date after fourteen days, so we have to check the date every time to make sure they're not out of date.
This woman came in the other day with half a coupon. It just had the top part of the barcode and the top part of the coupon. Nothing else. I told her I couldn't accept it, cuz there was no date on it. This is what happened next.
SC: Why can't you accept it?
Me: Cuz it doesn't have a date on it.
SC: The cashier told me that you could accept this coupon! The machine cut off while printing it out and she said to just take it to the petrol station and they would accept it!
First of all, it is indeed possible that the printout machine would do this. Cashiers are not allowed to take out the receipt roll til it runs out completely; this is a direction from management to save money. So that means that a petrol voucher might well be cut in half or have the date cut off. However, the cashier then has to direct the customer to Customer Services, where one of the people there will write the date on the back of the voucher and sign it. The cashier might or might not have done this; however, if she didn't, it's nothing to do with me. Irritating it might be to lose out on the petrol voucher, it's not my problem.
Me: I'm sorry, but I can't take this coupon. I could get into trouble if I did cuz the manager has told us not to accept petrol vouchers without dates on them.
SC: Are you calling me a scammer? I'm not a scammer!
Maybe she was, maybe she just went to Customer Services, saw the queue and couldn't be bothered getting her signature... maybe she was the innocent victim of one of the cashiers who didn't tell her about getting the signature. But I still can't accept this coupon, cuz I'd get such a bollocking from the mananager if I did. And sorry, but I don't like anyone enough to take such a risk for them.
SC: Oh, I don't believe this! You should go and tell that girl to do her job properly and not treat paying customers this way!
Me: I'm really sorry about this.
The woman paid, and stormed out. Of course, I'm not telling the cashier anything. For one thing, I don't know who it is. Even if I did, how do I know if the customer is telling the truth about not being told? And finally, it's not my job. This was a difficult experience; on one hand, I sympathised with the customer cuz of the situation. On the other, as I said before, it's not my fault and I don't see why I should be yelled at. She might not have sworn or called me any names, but she was still screaming at me and using a nasty tone of voice.
I told her she could still get her voucher signed if she went to Customer Services with her receipt, and she said she'd thrown it away already. In which case, there's nothing I can do. No shop would accept a coupon in this state in any case. Not even the manager would accept this coupon. I hate being shouted at when there isn't anything I can do about a problem.
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