(I am serving a regular customer who is notoriously fussy and demanding.)

Me: “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

Customer: “Yes. Oh, and I have a coupon for a free mug. Let me find it…”

(While we did have a promotion for our rewards program members for a free mug with a purchase over a certain price, it ended several weeks ago.)

Me: “Unfortunately, that particular sale ended, and the promotion code was taken out of the registers.”

(Since she’s taking so long scrolling through her email, I flag down the only other employee on the floor, the manager on duty, to help ring up the line behind the customer.)

Customer: “No, no, I have a coupon. I want my free mug!”

(She finally pulls up the email from last month’s promotion. The date the promotion ends is clearly marked on the advertisement.)

Me: “Unfortunately, the promotion requires a code on the register. When it ended, that code was removed from our system. I can try to honor it if you’d like, but it might not work.”

Customer: “I want my free mug!”

(I try to ring up the mug with the promotion and type in the coupon code. Unsurprisingly, the register rejects it as invalid.)

Me: “I’m sorry about all this; I can void the mug if you’d like.”

Customer: “This always happens! You send me all these expired coupons!”

(My manager comes over to see if she can help.)

Manager: “Can I see the email?” *the customer hands her the phone* “This was sent several weeks ago, just before the promotion began. The dates are clearly listed on here, so there’s no way the coupon was expired before you received it.”

Customer: “I didn’t read the email until yesterday! You should’ve told me to check it last time I was here!” *petulantly* “Fine, I don’t want the mug.”

(I get her rung up and she goes on her way.)

Manager: “That customer always makes me want to tear my hair out.”

Me: “It’s our fault she doesn’t read her emails?”

(In Slovenia we have student coupons; the government gives 2,63€ toward your meal as many times a month as there are working days in a month, up to twice a day, with a four-hour cooldown, between eight am and nine pm. The coupons are tied to your identity and phone number, which are confirmed by devices, kind of like the ones for paying with mobile phones, hence the term ”calling” for coupons. Since eating out with a coupon is often cheaper than cooking at home, students end up being the majority of customers in a lot of places. One day after work I go to a kebab place just down the street. It’s already 20:50, so I’m in a hurry to use my coupon since the price difference can be more than 5€ for a full meal.)

Me: *in Slovene* “Hi. I’d like to order with student coupons.”

Cashier: *English* “Huh? I don’t understand?”

Me: *English* “Student coupons?”

Cashier: “I don’t know how to do that. The guy who knows just stepped out. Would you mind waiting?”

Me: “No problem, but could I just call for coupons? It only works until nine pm.”

Cashier: “Sure. So, what do I do?”

Me: “I call—“ *pointing to the machine* “—and then you confirm my identity.”

Cashier: “Okay, do that.”

(I try but I see that it’s turned off. He has no idea how to turn it on, so I do it. When it comes to confirming my identity, however…)

Cashier: “So, what now?”

Me: “You look at my ID and hit confirm.”

Cashier: “Can’t you do it?”

Me: “Not really; it has to be you. I can’t confirm my own identity, can I?”

Cashier: “I guess that makes sense.” *hits confirm* “So, what would you like?”

Me: “Menu five, please.”

Cashier: “What comes with menu five?”

Me: “Kebab and fries, and since it’s a student meal it should have soup and salad, too.”

Cashier: “We don’t have any soup or salad.”

(They do; offering a menu with soup and salad is. a requirement for entering the program.)

Cashier: “But I guess I could make something. Uh, it looks like the other guy is not coming back. How much do you owe me?”

Me: *already regretting my decision to eat at this place* “3,30€.”

(Note that without student coupons a combo would cost 7,50€, so I could easily be trying to fleece him, but he doesn’t even question it.)

Cashier: “So, you give me 3.30€?”

Me: “Yes, and you give me a receipt.”

Cashier: “I only know how to do receipts for normal orders. Do you really need it?”

Me: “It’s the law that you have to give me a receipt and I have to take it. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Cashier: “Oh, right. But I don’t know how to do that for student coupons.”

Me: *trying to remember how these terminals worked from my old job* “There should be a button saying, ‘student meal,’ or something like that. They’re all the same price regardless of what is being ordered.”

Cashier: “I think I found it. It says 5,93€ for a student meal, but you said 3,30€. Am I doing this right?”

Me: “The government gives 2,63€, so I give you the rest. You should apply the student discount to the meal.”

Cashier: “I see. Sorry about. I’m new here, and I have no idea how the system works. I’m not from Slovenia; I just moved here a month ago.”

Me: “It’s all right. I’m just happy I got my food.”

(The food was all right, but I still don’t understand why would they leave an untrained worker to work alone without even an explanation of how the student coupon system works, especially when that is where most of your revenue comes from!)

Related:
The Couponator 10: Expiration Day
The Couponator 9: The Passive Aggression
The Couponator 8: The Fabric Of Reality

Customer: “I have a coupon, and I’d like to get a price adjustment for my blanket and pillow I already purchased, please!”

Me: “Sure! Just let me okay it with the manager, first!” *since it’s slow, the manager on duty comes up to the register to observe* “Well, since you purchased this a month ago, it’s outside the window for a price adjustment.”

Customer: “Can’t I just return it and rebuy it?”

Me: “Sure, then you can use your coupon!”

(We go through the return for what she originally paid, and I repurchase the items. Since these were bought on an old sale, the items returned to regular price and ring up for those amounts.)

Me: “Okay, now I’ll enter the coupon code.”

Customer: “Oh, that’s different from what I paid before.”

Me: “That’s because they’re no longer on sale.”

Customer: “Oh, okay, then.”

(She gives me her coupon and I scan it. She pays the difference and goes on her way with her items. She ends up paying at least ten dollars more than she originally purchased them for!)

Manager: “Did that really just happen?”

(I am a manager in a well-known store which has a well-known coffee shop inside. It’s Black Friday, and we are very busy. A woman comes up to the coffee shop counter, and the cashier calls me over to verify a coupon.)

Customer: “I have a coupon from [Web Coupon Company] for a buy-one-get-one-free coffee. See?”

(She shows me her phone and I can tell it’s obviously not a legitimate [Web Coupon Company] coupon. It’s a scanned version of my store’s coupon that was mailed out months ago. Each coupon has a unique barcode, which allows it to be used only once. The coupon states “[Store] coupon” at the top, and the image is crooked as if it was hastily scanned. I inspect it, and knowing it won’t work, ask the cashier to scan it. Unsurprisingly, it shows it’s already been used.)

Me: “Ma’am, this coupon has already been used. We cannot accept it.”

Customer: “It hasn’t already been used. See? You’re just doing that on purpose!”

(She shows me how she just tapped on her screen to bring it up.)

Me: “Ma’am, we aren’t able to accept it. If you want both drinks, you’ll need to pay for them another way.”

Customer: “You’re doing that on purpose! Now you’re doing that on purpose!”

(The line is getting much longer behind the customer, who is quite irate. I know the coupon isn’t legitimate, but I don’t want to directly accuse her of trying to scam us.)

Me: “Ma’am, it does not matter to me personally whether you use a coupon. But this is not a coupon we can accept. I’m sorry.”

(With that, I walked back to my post. She didn’t get the free drink.)

This story is part of our Black Friday 2023 roundup!

Read the next Black Friday 2023 roundup story!

Read the Black Friday 2023 roundup!

(Our grocery store recently added coupons to other stores on the back of our receipts. It helps offset the price of till paper, because other companies are paying us for the advertisement space. Apparently this is a brand-new concept to some. A customer places five blocks of cheese on the counter.)

Me: “All righty, sir, that will be $23.54.”

Customer: “I have a coupon.”

(I start looking for anything indicating a discount, which some of our receipts will print, if you buy gas from our adjacent gas bar. He reaches over and tugs the receipt out of my hand, and turns it backwards.)

Me: *immediately aware of where this is going* “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t see anything—”

Customer: “Right there! $20 off in-store purchase!”

Me: “Sorry, sir, this is for [Family-Owned Music Store], not our store.”

Customer: *tugs the receipts over again* “It’s says, ‘[Our Store],’ on the front! Right there!”

(I kept trying to explain the advertisements on the back to him, and he kept getting angrier, until I finally snapped, “It’s not our store!” He then grabbed his cheese and marched off in a huff, and I was forced follow him because I needed to rescan the cheese to get it off my till.)