I'm new as a cashier. And there was this lady that came to my line. Now it's REAL busy and there's people waiting out into the aisles on all registers.
This lady presents me with this 45 cent coupon for for like a box of tissues. I scan them, and it tells me quantity not satisfied. I ask her to show me the stuff and turns out she didn't get the right brand on one of them. So I tell her it's not accepting the coupon and she gives me this snarky attitude with the response "hey, it's your choice if you want to hold up the line for 45 cents. I didn't know I had to get that brand, but hey, your choice." So I'm standing there going wtf, and there's no CSM in sight to override it.
Other experienced cashiers, and even the CSM, would just give them the coupon by entering it in manually when I asked them for help. But there was nobody to help me. So I had to make a decision and I decided to enter it in manually.
Now, I'm just wondering, is this right? Giving customers coupons that they don't actually deserve?
It's only .45 not a big deal. However if it's a larger amount, if ask your csm for assistance. But technically your not supposed to. But I highly doubt theyre going to freak out over a .45 loss
It depends, store coupons I generally say "close enough" and let it through.
Manufacturer coupons are a slightly different issue. I've come to be more strict over manufacturer coupons. If they don't get the right brand or amount I'll explain, "you needed to get ___ brand/ ___ amount of this item. I can't accept this coupon." Sometimes if the customer is being really nice or is a regular that I enjoy checking out for, then I might just run the coupon through no questions asked.
Usually customers will be understanding, might even apologize (which I appreciate but think is unnecessary since it happens every now and then eh?).
Every once in a while you'll get a customer who flips out over the 45 cents. At this point I'll insist that I can't take the coupon. If they continue then I'll get the red vest running floors to come over and tell me to just accept the coupon, ocassionaly they'll say the exact same thing that I've been saying and deny the coupon. This varies between red vests but either way, at that point I'm just there to waste said customers time.
It's a judgement call. Five bucks..get the red vest. Forty-five cents...not worth wasted time. I coupon stuff off alllllll the time. Nobody here cares. I also use the dept code list frequently when items won't scan.
Now if it is one of those crazy couponDrs with ten items and ten non-matching coupons then forget it. I don't take coupons for trial size items when they are supposed to be regular size. I also usually don't take them if it says it was already applied electronically.
Usually, unless they are jerks or extreme couponers.
I'm past caring about $.45. Management doesn't care either, I get to pretend to give good customer service, I don't have to argue with the customer, and it's usually an honest mistake anyways.
If they are being a jerk or otherwise rude, then it doesn't apply. Sorry. Would you like to remove it from your order? Or I could send a courtesy clerk to get the right one.
From that response, it sounds like the woman was both being a jerk and possibly an extreme couponer testing you. Extreme couponers specifically target new cashiers.
Extreme couponers cause so many problems that you should never, ever, help them at all. Read the fine print on the coupon and your store's coupon policy, and enforce it with an iron fist.
It's illegal/fraud to accept coupons that don't match the items listed or are expired. Some places accept store coupons 30 days past the due date but not everywhere.
Check with your head cashier for policies specific to your area.
If you do make an exception then never speak of it to anyone. It's between you and the customer.
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