Last week I went shopping at my local commissary. Before checking out I handed the cashier my stack of coupons. Most of them were from tear pads in the store, but I did have a few coupons I clipped myself. The cashier proceded to go through each coupon and thoroughly examine every one of them. I had about 25 coupons and this process took him at least 5 minutes. I loaded almost everything onto the belt and he was still going through my coupons.
I understand that cashiers have the responsibility to check coupons and make sure they are all valid, but this cashier seemed to be taking extra care to examine each and every one of them. After examining the coupons he rang up my groceries. My total was about $200 before coupons. He started taking off the coupons and when he got to the last coupon ($0.75 off worchestire sauce) he stopped. He looked at the coupon and then asked me if I purchased this item. I confirmed that I had purchased the item and expected him to scan it.
Instead he asked the bagger if I had purchased the item. She also confirmed that I purchased it. After she confirmed it, the cashier made the bagger unpack all my groceries until she found the sauce, proving to him that I had indeed purchased it.
At this point I was a little irritated. I had already witnessed a fight between a customer and a stock clerk and was thinking about how the commissary really needed to work on customer service.
After the bagger showed the cashier the sauce he scanned the coupon and I paid and left. My total coupon savings was $20 off a $200 grocery bill. There was no extreme couponing going on in my lane.
I can’t help but wonder if the increase of extreme couponers has created some extreme cashiers. Never have I had my groceries unpacked to find an item to prove I purchased it. A few times the cashier has asked me or the bagger and when we respond “yes” the coupon is scanned and the transaction is completed.
I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed a change in their shopping experience because of the increase in coupon use. I completely support and encourage coupon use, but I wonder if extreme couponing has made it more difficult for people who use coupons in general.
Have you noticed a difference when you used coupons? Has the popularity of extreme couponing made it easier or harder for you to use coupons at your local store?
I’ve noticed a big change with the stores I deal with ever since Extreme Couponing started. Our Walmart now checks and double checks the coupons. They were going to refuse a $1.00 off coupon for 3M Scotch Tape that I had printed off the internet. It didn’t want to scan so the clerk called over a manager who looked at the coupon and announced it was a fake!! When I told her that I printed it right off the 3M website she still insisted that it must be fake because it didn’t look real (this coupon had $1 printed in all four courners and they usually don’t do that). I informed her that if I was going to print phoney coupons it wouldn’t be for $1 and I would be using more than 1 coupon. She did give me the $1 credit but not until she told me the would not honor anymore of them if I brought them in.
I am waiting for the stores to stop taking internet coupons in the near future. There are so many people who are printing off the coupon and then making copies of them, that it’s going to ruin it for everyone. At Rainbow Foods last week I had a cashier almost call me a crook. I had printed off two coupons for bags of candy and also had two coupons that my dil had printed out at her house (same coupons as mine). When I presented the four bags of candy the clerk told me that I couldn’t use these because they were all the same coupon. I showed her how the id codes were all different on each coupon so they couldn’t be the same coupon. She still wouldn’t give me the coupon credit so I had her call the front end manager over who said did give me the coupon credit but wasn’t too happy.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest…….I love using coupons but really do hesitate now when I have more than one or two…..
Yes, I have had this happen to me at 3 different stores in the past couple of months. I have had the same type of experience with the cashiers thoroughly examining each coupon, and having me go through my items to make sure I have bought that exact item. I find it frustrating because I have to take my 2 children shopping with me, ages 18 months and 4 yrs old, and it is hard enough getting through the shopping trip without the drama at the register. I am NOT an extreme couponer by any means, I usually have 10 coupons or less per trip, so I have gotten ticked as well. This is not on your post, but I have also noticed a TON of shelf clearing in our area on sale items, my husband ran to the grocery store yesterday to get a couple packs of split chicken breasts on sale for 98 cents a pound, and he bought the last 3 packs in the store, this was the first day of the sale, by the way!! Wondering if anyone else is noticing that happening more often?
I had a cashier take several minutes looking for a couple of items one time. After that, I always give them my coupons BEFORE they scan the groceries. Haven’t had to wait since then.
The commissary has it’s up and down days here in NC. Some will spend so much time looking at my coupons that I just want to scan them myself, and others will glance and pass it through. …I think your situation is an extreme reaction and says a lot about their lack of customer service.
My biggest problem is Target since the show if the coupon beeps a manager is called so silly especially since all their target coupons beep wish they would fix that.
i havent read all the comments so forgive me if i am repeating, but the extreme couponers are extremely irritating to me and they must know it because they always have a sheepish look on their faces… needless to say i know who NOT to get behind in a line. ive watched a woman argue about a mascara because she couldnt get it free, ive stood behind a woman buying 20+ cans of formula and using a separate coupon, code and transaction for each stinkin one AND the ultimate piss-me-off was when i went to the store completely exhausted just needing a small pack of diapers cause i was completely out, and couldnt get them because, you guessed it, they were on sale and extreme hoarders swooped them all up with their coupons!!! i am still angry about this (cant you tell) and this happens at both major retailers near my house- i guess its popular around here. if you wanna challenge yourself to the fruits of frugality, go ahead, but
be considerate to the everyday people who are just trying to get their everyday things done in a hurry!!!! thanks.
Yes, I have also noticed that cashiers at the commissary are looking at the coupons closely – and yes, they have also gone through the bags to prove that I did in fact buy an item. On one hand – good. On the other hand? Annoying. By the time I get to the cashier, I am ready to get home, get all the food put away, and then put my feet up! And a snack. As a reward for livign through the commissary.
I had the experience of dealing with a rude customer that I deem a little extreme in the couponing. I was checking out of Target with my 4 kids and she came up to the cashier I was with and demanded he missed a $1.00 coupoon for her body wash. He said he thought he scanned it, but she was very rude to him. He told her to wait after I was done. So, she proceeded to roll her eyes at me and make a rude comment under her breath about all my stuff -I was back to school shopping! Then when I was done, I overheard him admit his mistake and tell her to go to customer service. Well, of course, I had to go there too b/c of a register error and there she was huffing and puffing at the employees over $1.00!!!! She had spent 20 to 25 minutes of her time huffing and puffing so she could get her $1.00 back! I thought she was extreme and very rude over a little bit of money. She could have been kinder to the employees. Extreme couponing from customers and rudeness can lead to the behavior you are speaking of with the cashier. I do not condone the behavior of the cashier though. THat was ridiculous.
You ladies are lucky there are coupons to be had. Very few to be found here in England. If you do use the few you can find, you are treated as an oddity. I had one cashier berate me for using a viable coupon on some clothes detergent that was on sale, said I was ‘taking liberties’. Absolutely despise shopping in the UK- dreadful customer service and empty shelves.
Ashley, I wouldn’t get angry at the shopper who had all those cans of formula & a coupon for each one…irritating sure to have to wait, but that’s how the coupons work that she had, is she not supposed to save money because it takes awhile to do the transaction? I’d do the same thing. It’s like people who get pissed because you write a check-tough, that’s how someone is paying & it’s legal so that’s what they have to do.
silverilex,
Wow that sounds really really nasty how they treat you with a coupon! That other lady’s response made it sound like you were getting welfare illegally or something! Outrageous!!! I’d ignore them & use any coupons you can get. And it sounds just awful how you can rarely get one and the shelves are so bare.
so i have had the same problem with my couponing experience. i started shoping at 3 different stores and then when walmart changed there ad policy. so i started shoping at walmart. i did great at first doing my extreme couponing. i dont clear shelfs. lol but this last month i have had trouble with the managers at the walmart. claiming i misuse coupons. let me tell you if it doesnt have a size on it you can get any size. tide in the single use is the travel size not trial. okay laundry detergent and shampoos dont come in trial at stores. lol. so just let them know about it. its all you can carry on a plane. but i have suggested to eveyone i know that coupons to go to a store that doubles. there coupons. i have come to find out that walmart associates dont even understand there coupon policy as how to work the register. one employee told me they dont double coupons. lol i know this. she said then that doubling coupons means that you cant stack coupons. like a .50 off with a b1g1 free. well let me tell you that is called stacking coupons and yes you can. you can also use .50 off on both items even if you are getting one for free. doubling coupons means they wont take a .50 coupon and match it with .50. not hard to understand but some ppl dont get it. i had a cashier fired bc the managers at the walmart say she knew i misused my coupons. well let me tell you if it rang thru the system then how did i misuse a coupon. lol. i dont think they get it at all. and if you have a high dollar coupon with no size limit then they think you are trying to pull one over on them. well i think walmart is begining to be a pain in my butt. good luck
ashley. let me apologize for rude extreme couponers. i am an extreme couponer but i dont try to clear shelves. if i need 6 items of diapers and there are only 5 left. i will only get 4. i try to leave some and i dont ever try to clear shelves but i do know how irritating it is when the shelf is empty. and when you drive to more than one store to find the same thing. all i can say is sometimes well all of the time if you dont buy a certain amount than you dont save. i am a stay at home mom of two boys. my husband works full time and i do couponing. i dont do it like the ladies on the show. spend 40 plus hours a week. i am a stay at home mom to be with my babies. but i do want to save and will do extreme couponing til i am old. lol. i am only 26 now but it has saved my family way over 4-5 thousand in the last 6 months or so. saving that much made it easier to do other things with my family and to save. so i would highly suggest you get into couponing even if you dont do it extreme at least you could save on what you do buy. sorry for all the irritating ppl out there in your area.
some stores dont allow more than what the item is but at walmarts it just comes off the end balance but at the end if there is an overage they will pay you cash. they are not losing any money they get all the money back when the company of the coupon sends them a check. now at drugstores they wont pay you if there is an overage they just make you get more stuff. lol. and if more and more customers are waitting in line ususally if you tell the manager on duty that you have more than one transaction and you are extreme couponing then they usually will open your own line for you. stores get paid for all the coupons they send in so they will make money off of the coupons just not as fast as they would if you just paid cash. if prices do go up so do coupons. in some parts of the country like washington prices are higher so that means coupon values will be higher. and i dont know where harris teeter is but there prices are high bc of where they are. how they interact with there reps for there product and what and how much they get. walmart has low prices bc. they order so much and say they will order double in a certain time. thats how stores get better prices.