The Coupon Lady

[pbmods]

I've worked now at two stores within a rather well-known pharmacy/drugstore chain, and I see the same phenomenon from time to time when I am a customer at other stores:

You ever get a customer who uses your weekly sales paper as a shopping list, and won't buy anything that's not on sale?

Last week, this lady walks into my store and starts using MY COUNTER (I work in photo) as her shopping cart. She would walk around the store for awhile, then come back with something and put it on my counter.

Now granted, she tried to keep the stuff in a small pile out of the way. But wtf lady? There's shopping carts right by the entrance. Of course, when I thought to ask this, she was done and ready to be rung up.

I will give her credit for going to the back of the line when she was done instead of foolishly thinking that her pile was a placeholder. But she more than made up for it during the transaction.

First step, she hands me an 8-pack of soap. "Is this on sale?" I check the price at the register. "Nope." "Ok, I don't want it."

Ok.... I start ringing everything up. And the lady reminds me of the sale prices for *every single item*. Just watch the display, you stupid

Then it comes time for her coupons. And she forgot one. Of course, I wasn't about to tell her. Company policy, I mean. Nothing personal... really.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, she grabbed the wrong kind of tuna. This is important.

So I give her the total, and she gives me the cash. Then she WAITS UNTIL I GIVE HER THE CHANGE before she says, "This is too much. Why is it so much?"

So I start going over the receipt with her. Instead of looking at the receipt, she keeps looking in the bag and adding up the prices (real or imaginary? we'll never know for sure) in her head. Every time, she looks back at me and says, "No, that's still too much."

So she starts listing off the items that have coupons, and I look on the receipt. "Ok, it looks like the tuna you got wasn't the right kind, and you forgot to give me the coupon for the paper towels. I'll call a manger for you so he can process your refund. Please have the coupon for the paper towels out so he can help you faster."

So then the coupon lady immediately puts the tuna away, grabs the correct kind, and she even rips out the coupon that she needs and has it ready, with a big, friendly smile on her face, by the time the manager gets there, right? HELL NO!

It took my manager 20 minutes, plus several voids and *2* refunds, to get this lady straight. I'll give him credit; he's got more patience for these leeches than I do.

Now I will admit; having my register occupied like that did free me up to do what I really needed to do at that point - run the lab. But it just pisses me to high heaven to think that my company is now losing money on this lady's sale, but we've still got to treat her like a human being.

[wagegoth]

Semi-hijack

A co-worker told me about a recent encounter with a coupon happy SC.

The SC has piles of coupons, doesn't use his discount card until after everything is rung through (because, he stated to everyone in line, that he likes to watch all the savings go by on the screen together), and then wants to stand there at the check-out lane and check his receipt for everything before leaving.

My co-worker asks him to move so he can be rung up. The SC tells him no, that he's going to check everything before he moves. My physically imposing co-worker then informs the SC that the SC is going to take his groceries and receipt over to another counter so everyone else in line can get checked out. The SC then decides that would be a good idea.

While my co-worker is being rung up, the SC suddenly announces, in a voice of EUREKA!, "I knew it! You didn't credit me for the thirty-five-cent coupon here." He then wants to hijack the line to get his credit. At which point, my co-worker steps in between the SC and the cashier and says firmly, "Take your receipt to the manager and they will give you your change." Once again, the SC realizes that my co-worker is making very good sense and tromps off triumphantly to find the manager.

And everyone else got happily checked out and the heck out of the store.

[One-Fang]

I wonder if, in that sort of case, it's not about being petty over the 35 cents, but about "proving" that the "idiot on the checkout" can't "do their job right". No so much petty penny-pinching as embracing the joy of pointing out others' shortcomings.

[AmericanZero8503]

I JUST LOVE THESE PEOPLE....uggghh

We always have things that say in big bold print, "SELECT VARITIES." Or they don't grab the right size. Then blame me for the ad being misleading.

For instance when 20 oz. of Frosted Flakes are on sale, they always grab the 25 oz. box. Or we have a sale on coke, but you have to purchase $15 worth of groceries.

I also think that if you're complaining for a refund that is under $1.00 you should be never allowed to shop by yourself again.

[Byronthebanker]

At the grocery store we had a lady who was fond of coming in Wednesday mornings with a stack of coupons. Finally one Wednesday my office staff decided to help the cashier with the coupons by putting them into 4 piles.

After the order was rung, she confronted the customer with the piles telling her, "this pile is expired, this pile is items we don't carry, this pile is things you didn't buy, and these are the ones we can take."

After a bunch of, "Can you take this back?" and "I don't want this now," they finally got the order squared away. . .but not before coupon lady wanted to vent to the manager. So, having seen all this go on, I listen to her "but I do this every week" and "nobody else ever gives me a problem" . ..

Finnally I just told her, "All we ask is that you please don't commit coupon fraud at our store."

I did her in the store after that, but nobody noticed stacks of coupons from her again.

[One-Fang]

I also think that if you're complaining for a refund that is under $1.00 you should be never allowed to shop by yourself again.

Well can we have that both ways then? The store can't complain about my shoplifting items under $1.00 either.

Not that I want to shoplift, but I don't think we can tell a customer they're ridiculous for complaining about a few cents when we will happily prosecute someone who steals, say, a 67c candy bar.

Small amounts of $1.00 or less add up, whether it's the store or the customer. If one should be held to exacting standards, the other should too.

[Kogarashi]

Finally one Wednesday my office staff decided to help the cashier with the coupons by putting them into 4 piles. She confronted the customer with the piles telling her, "this pile is expired, this pile is items we don't carry, this pile is things you didn't buy, and these are the ones we can take."

Where was this helpful office staff when the Wal-Mart Coupon Lady plagued the store I worked at?

We had this lady of noticeable foreign descent (noticeable via accent, though I couldn't place it specifically, and it's only important because it made communication a bit difficult) who always came in with a mountain of coupons. Now, I generally prefer it when customers present me with a coupon right after the item it applies to, or before I begin ringing up items at all. This gives me a chance to check that:

1. The coupon is not expired.
2. The item for the coupon is the right brand/size/quantity/etc.
3. The coupon is something we can take (unlike a %-off or "Buy one, get one free" without a barcode or listed price).

This lady would always have a large purchase, and never dig her coupon swamp out of her purse until the very end of the transaction. When I say large purchase, I mean it took at least one full shopping cart without grocery bags (groceries always seem to take up more room once bagged). She'd then hand me the whole pile and wait.

1/4 of the coupons would be expired or unacceptable (the %-off and B1G1F offers), which is what I checked first because it was easiest. Every time I'd point this out (before throwing it away), she'd dig out the offending/corresponding item and ask me to void it. ::grumble:: I had to spend a while explaining why Wal-Mart doesn't do % and B1G1F offers (without a Buy One At $___ stipulation), despite the large signs posted at both entrances and over the registers explaining this rule.

After that, I'd have to go through her bags to find the matching items for each coupon. 1/4 of the coupons would be for items she didn't even purchase. I'd hand these coupons back, and she would look confused for a while, then pocket them. The next 1/4 would be for items where she'd grabbed the wrong size, brand, etc., or forgot to buy the requisite item (like coupons where you get free chips for buying soda or something). Half the time she'd ask for these to be voided, other times she'd run back into the store to fetch the correct item and leave me waiting with a line and a purchase in progress. ::sigh::

The remaining 1/4 of the coupons would be valid and quickly rung up, thankfully. And this lady never thought to double-check all the coupons before she got up front. At least she never argued for long, though I'd usually have a small mound of perishables that I'd have to then get a CSM to return to the shelves for me before they spoiled. The worst was when this Coupon Lady came to my express lane (clearly marked "20 Items or Less") when it still had the full-length belt instead of the dinky load-deterring counters they have now.

[Zinjadu]

We also used to have one of those Coupon Lady types who had to wait till the very end of the order to hand over her stack.

My way to check that she had the correct item for each coupon was to print off a duplicate receipt (we can do that anywhere in an order - very handy!) and go through it to verify everything. You wouldn't believe (okay, you probably would!!) the amount of wrong coupons this woman would always have. At least half of them were either expired, for the wrong item, American (we don't take American coupons in my province), or the coupon would say 'buy 2, save $1.00' and she'd only have one. What a nasty scamming b**** she was! I'd actually have to point out all her wrong items on the receipt, too, cuz she wouldn't take my word for it.

So glad she doesn't shop in my store anymore!

[air914]

Oh I feel sorry for the cashier once when I was at a Meijer's store - first of all, I avoid the store as it is almost always BUSY and ALWAYS understaffed (not the staff's fault, I understand -more mgt. problem). Anyway, it must have been Triple Coupon Sunday or something - there was one other person in front of me in line and then the COUPON GUY! He must have had at least 50 (NOT EXAGGERATING) coupons and was going one by one and checking that he got the "triple" discount...... he was holding up a huge line and all of the registers were packed with people. I actually switched lanes....... and STILL my entire checkout process took at least 1 1/2. I am NOT Exaggerating! That's how packed the store was and understaffed and this guy just HAD to get his extra little $0.03 or something - I really did want to see just HOW much this guy saved after going through all that...... I felt so bad for the cashier - but I was equally frustrated with being a customer and waiting for an hour to check out! My cold stuff was starting to de-frost or melt! This is why I avoid that store as much as possible - it must be something I REALLY need for me to go in there.... and I will NOT go in on a weekend. And you know what, the whole thing could have been avoided if they just had scheduled enough people to handle all of the customers instead of trying to get by with the very bare minimum........

[Becks]

At my store, they have nice little signs at each register that say, "Please give all coupons to the cashier at the start of your order". I guess it's so they have time to check them/make sure the customer doesn't take a billion years to find them at the end/whatever.

[Tria]

I did her in the store after that,

I wouldn't admit to that.... *Ducks*

[Dragon_Dreamer]

The ones I usually get are the people who buy a bunch of things without coupons, then watch as the register prints several out. Then they expect me to let them use these new coupons on the items they just purchased. I always refuse, since it's against the rules, but I've heard of coworkers doing it anyway. -.-