(I have an app to get deals at [Store]. I always read all of the fine print and exclusions, but about half of the time, the register won’t accept the coupon. The cashier will always adjust the price accordingly or get a supervisor who can, so I’m not missing out on any deals, but it’s still an annoyance. Even though I never blame, fuss, or raise my voice, I’m still sometimes treated with attitude. On my most recent visit, the cashier informed me that I could scan the items into my phone to find out if the coupon applies. Now armed with this new information, I scan all of my items with my phone and sure enough, two of them won’t go through. Aiming to find out WHY this keeps happening, I forgo the regular checkout and go straight to customer service.)

Me: “Hi. I have these two products that should be eligible for [App] deals, but they’re not scanning into my phone, so I know they won’t scan into the register. This happens pretty often. It’s very frustrating, so I’d just like to know if there’s something I’m missing, and how I can avoid this issue in the future.”

Customer Service: “I need to see the coupons.”

Me: “Of course. Here, see? This is for [Brand] mac and cheese. Excluding gluten-free.” *hands off the phone, and pick up the product* “And see, this is [Same Brand] mac and cheese, and it’s not gluten free.”

(She hands back my phone and begins ringing up the mac and cheese and applying the discount. At no point did I ask her to do this.)

Me: “And here’s a coupon for [Brand] undergarments, excluding clearance. This is [Same Brand] undergarment, and it’s not on clearance.”

(Again she looks at my phone and starts ringing up my other item at the discounted price.)

Customer Service: “Okay, I gave you the discount.”

Me: “That’s fine for this time, but I’m really interested in why this keeps happening and how to prevent it in the future.”

Customer Service: “Did you have any other items?”

Me: “Yes, just these things.” *as I’m handing her my few other things* “I just try to plan my shopping ahead of time, and I keep running into this issue. I was really hoping to figure out what’s going on with the app and how to prevent this in the future.”

Customer Service: “Cash or credit?”

Me: “Oh, credit.” *as I’m running my card through* “It’s just been very frustrating, you know? Do you know who I could talk to about this issue?”

Customer Service: *handing me my receipt, completely deadpan* “Have a nice day.”

(I stood there, dumbfounded, for a second before wandering off to my car in a daze. I know she doesn’t have any authority over the app and I totally understand it if you don’t know the answer to my question, but could you at least acknowledge that I’m talking? I had to call my husband to make sure my voice was still audible!)

(A customer comes in to my store on a very busy holiday afternoon. Most of the store is on sale, all of it carefully marked and constantly checked because we have a lot of customers who would be happy to argue about a signage error.)

Me: “Good afternoon! Welcome to [Store]! Are you shopping for a special occasion today?”

Customer: “Do you have any coupons?” *not “Hi,” or “Good afternoon,” or “How are you?” or any other greeting*

Me: “Ma’am, you would have received any current coupons either in your mail, or by email, or text if you are signed up with us. We do not keep coupons in the store.”

(We never have, and anyone who has ever shopped with us knows this, but I have found that doesn’t keep even regular customers from asking anyway.)

Customer: “Hmph!” *points to full run of dresses on a rack with no sales signs* “Is this dress on sale?”

Me: “No, ma’am. All the sales dresses, and everything else on sale, are on racks with signs on top or have a tag hanging on their hanger.”

Customer: “Well, why not?!”

Me: “Ma’am, that’s a brand-new arrival.”

Customer: “Hmph. Well, I’m just looking.”

(She wanders through the store for nearly an hour, slowly collecting clothes and badgering the manager-on-duty and me as to whether each garment was on sale and how much the sale price is, and repeatedly asking about coupons and getting the same answer each time from both of us. After she’s tried on and made her selections, she brings her clothes to the counter and starts digging through her purse while I get the information I need to start ringing up her purchase and begin to do so.)

Customer: “I know I have a [Store] coupon in here! Where is it?” *she dumps what seems like hundreds of mailers from stores and other coupons on my counter* “I had a 15% coupon for this place. That woman! That woman at the [Other Location Store]; she took my coupon. Mm-mm-mmh! She took my coupon!”

(I continue ringing up clothes with a blank but smiling face during this monologue, saying nothing and refusing to take the passive-aggressive hint that I should come up with a coupon code.)

Customer: “Let me ask you something. Why would that woman take my coupon?”

Me: “Ma’am, our coupons work just like at the grocery store or any other store. You can only use them once.”

Customer: *showing absolutely no surprise that she got that answer* “Mmph. I still think I should have a coupon.”

Me: “I’m so sorry you can’t find one. Your total is [total]. You’ve rolled over your reward points with your purchase today; here’s your certificate. Have a great holiday!”

(We found out when clearing the fitting rooms that she’d left all her unwanted clothing in a pile, too. Afterwards, I told the manager-on-duty that there was no way I was going to hunt for a coupon code for her, given her behavior with the two of us before checking out. The MOD said she’d enjoyed watching me refuse to cave in to the woman at the register, and didn’t understand why people couldn’t figure out that being rude wouldn’t get them any favors.)

Related:
The Couponator 8: The Fabric Of Reality
The Couponator 7: The Forgotten Coupon
The Couponator 6: The Coupon Awakens

(The owners of the store where I work happen to own two other stores in the same shopping center. To convince people to go from one store to another, we have a promotion going on where you show your bag from one of the stores to get 10% off at the others. I work at the most expensive store, and on this particular day a woman is making a very large purchase.)

Me: “Have you been to our other stores today?”

Customer #1: “No, I haven’t.”

Me: “No problem. If you’d like to go to our other stores, just show your bag at checkout and they’ll give you 10% off!”

Customer #1: “What? Wait!” *takes her card back* “Can you hold my things here? I’ll be right back.”

(I am confused, but hold her items for her, anyway. After a while she returns.)

Customer #1: “There. I went to your other store!”

(She now has a bag from our other store, with a purchase of less than $4. I begrudgingly give the 10% off. Afterwards, my general manager comes to speak to me.)

General Manager: “I understand that you had to give her the 10% off, but from now on I want you to stop asking people if they’ve been to the other stores. They’ll only get the 10% if they show their bag and specifically ask for the discount.”

(I’m not a fan of this idea, but follow the instructions, anyway. A few days later another woman comes in to make a very large purchase. Note that she does not have a bag with her.)

Me: “All right, your total will be [total].” *rings her through* “If you’d like to go to our other stores today, just show your bag at checkout and they’ll give you 10% off!”

Customer #2: “WHAT?! But I just went to your other store! Where is my 10% off?!”

Me: “Well, ma’am, as I said, you have to show your bag. They should have told you at the other store.”

Customer #2: “You should mention this before I buy anything! You’re just trying to take my money!”

Me: “I’m very sorry, ma’am. If you would like, I can refund your purchase and ring you through again with the discount. I’ll trust that you have been to our other store without the bag.”

Customer #2: “No! That will take far too long! You took long enough the first time! I want [product worth more than her 10%].”

(At this point my store manager comes to help out.)

Store Manager: “That’s no problem, ma’am! We’ll get that [product worth more than her 10%] for you right away!”

(After a very long rant and rave about how we should have told her, and how we were trying to take her money, she finally leaves. Later I tell my general manager about the situation.)

General Manager: “Well, I still don’t want you asking people. You’ll just have to do the math in your head and issue cash refunds whenever something like this happens.”

(Whenever my managers aren’t around, I just ask about the bags, anyway.)

(I am a cashier in the express lane. I call the next customer in line to my cash register station. I am of Chinese descent.)

Me: “Hi, sir, how is your day?”

Customer: “Good. I want to price-match all these toothpastes for $2.00 each, and everything else is regular price.”

(He has about ten toothpastes and five other items in the cart.)

Me: “Sure, just let me check the date on the flyer and the toothpaste size.”

(The dates and sizes match the ones he chose.)

Customer: “I have ten coupons for $2 off each of these toothpastes, too.”

Me: “Can I see these coupons, please?”

Customer: “Sure.” *hands it to me*

(I notice the coupons are obviously photocopied and are blurry.)

Me: “Sir, these coupons are photocopies of the original.”

Customer: “Oh. I printed them off my printer.”

Me: “Well, I can obviously tell these coupons are reproductions, and they are invalid. Trying to use photocopied coupons is illegal, and it can be considered fraud, sir.”

Customer: “Well, how do you know they are fake?”

Me: “These are newspaper insert coupons, sir, and plus, they are really blurry.”

Customer: “Well, you know what? I didn’t know cashiers were so smart. I didn’t know you could see so well, because I can tell you are Asian.”

Me: “Well, obviously I proved you wrong, sir.”

Customer: “You know what? F*** you!”

(I don’t say anything. He leaves all his unpaid goods and his cart in front of my till, and I have to clean it up. He also leaves his fake coupons with me.)

Me: *shows coupons to one of my coworkers* “Look what this dumb customer did to me.” *I repeat this story and show her the coupons*

Coworker: “You should have told that dumba** to go f*** himself, too.”

(It is a fairly slow Saturday. It is the rainy season, and we are out of Snow Bird season. A customer is making two separate purchases; one is for her and one is for her daughter, who looks approximately my age — a young adult. The first transaction goes smooth as butter, and they seem nice enough. The second transaction is all foam, like the kind you would put in a couch or restuff a chair.)

Mother: “And use this coupon on it, as well.”

(She pushes forward a coupon for “50% off one regular-priced fabric.”)

Me: “Oh…”

(I study it a moment, then look at my screen to see if the entire purchase really is just foam. Then I look at her, smiling.)

Me: “I’m sorry, this only works on fabric, and unfortunately foam doesn’t count.”

Mother: “Do it anyway.”

Me: “All right.”

(I scan the coupon, because it doesn’t hurt to try. I hit total. The coupon doesn’t take anything off.)

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am. It doesn’t work on foam.”

Mother: “Yes, but it says one cut of by-the-yard merchandise counts.”

(She points at some teeny tiny text under the big word, “FABRIC.”)

Me: “Yes, ma’am. I understand that, but it’s a fabric coupon.”

Mother: “They always honor this. ALWAYS.”

(I have no idea what else to do, as it would be a huge discount; foam is pricey.)

Me: “Since this is a rather large discount, my manager will have to authorize it.”

Mother: *pleasant* “That’s fine.”

(I call my poor manager to the front and help other customers that got in line. My manager looks at the coupon, looks at the lady, says, “All right,” and lets her explain before making any assumptions.)

Mother: “The coupon won’t take off, but it specifically states that a cut of by-the-yard merchandise counts for this coupon.”

(The manager blinks and tries the totaling again; of course ,the coupon doesn’t work.)

Manager: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’s for fabric.”

Mother: “I used to work here. We would always honor this coupon. It specifically states a cut of by-the-yard merchandise works.”

Manager: “Yes. But it’s for fabric. They put that there so customers know it will work on only one cut of fabric.”

(I was left wondering why she thought that was right when the title of the coupon says, “FABRIC,” very clearly on it and she zeroed in on the tiny text.)

Related:
The Couponator 7: The Forgotten Coupon
The Couponator 6: The Coupon Awakens
The Couponator 5: Online Decline