WYCN Week #3

If you haven’t been following the When You Cashier Says No series, you can read the original post HERE and HERE.

We all know it can be tough just understanding what it means when a coupon says get $1.00 off when you buy 3 of the any of these 6 products. That is just enough to make your head spin!

Chrissy emailed me to ask me about the fine print on coupons. I mean the really small print on the bottom that no one ever reads. The legalese stuff that sounds like jibber jabber when you read it out loud. Chrissy has run into a cashier who wants to throw out the legalese fine print as a reason as he can’t process a coupon. I want to talk about some of this fine print and get your feedback on what you may have experienced.

Limit one coupon per purchase.

Chrissy’s cashier initially interpreted this to mean that I could use only one manufacturer coupon even if I was purchasing a cart full of different products.  When I argued, then he interpreted this to mean that if I purchase 2 identical products, he won’t honor a second coupon for the second product.

What is really means – This is generally interpreted to  mean one like coupon per item. So if you purchase one shampoo, you cannot use four shampoo coupons on it.  However, there are cases where you can combine a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon. What this cashier was confusing was one coupon per transaction or one coupon per customer. If the coupon says one coupon per transaction, then he has a valid point.

One coupon per transaction generally means that if you have 5 transactions at a store you can use 5 coupons. Of course, use your discretion when doing this.   Lastly, one coupon per customer generally means one coupon per customer per day, period. For example, I recently had meat coupons for Giant Food Store. I specifically wanted to know what one per customer meant. The manager said that every day I come back to the store, I am considered a new customer. So one coupon, per customer, per day, until my next visit was what Giant Food Stores was anticipating.  One exception to this may be when  you use a store card, it usually means one coupon per customer period.

Void if prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law.

Chrissy’s cashier refuses to adjust the coupon down, even when the store’s policy is to adjust the coupon. For example, sometimes after applying a Walgreens store coupon, the remaining price of a product will be 99 cents.  If I have a $1.00 manufacturer coupon, Walgreens policy is to reduce the value of the coupon down to 99 cents.  He refuses saying that doing so is coupon fraud and therefore he won’t redeem the coupon at all.  He says that the extra penny would be applied to the sales tax and that is fraud because the fine print says “Void if prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law.”

What this really means – This cashier takes things extremely literal. Most stores will adjust a coupon down. Most stores will not give overage, which is understandable. However, unless it is explicity written in their policy, management may not be required to adjust a coupon down. Is it fraud if you ask them to? No. It is commonly accepted practice to adjust a coupon to the sales price.  Do you have any grounds to get them to adjust down the coupon? Unfortunately, no. I would ask that cashier to take the manufacturer coupon off first. This way there is no silly verbiage that he can get hung up on because the Walgreens coupon has no verbiage like such on it. Many register systems charge you tax on your pre coupon price anyway!

Any other use constitutes fraud.

Chrissy has called the Walgreens District Office in my area and they e-mailed their coupon policy to me.  The assistant manager still refuses to follow Walgreens policy claiming that the fine print on a manufacturer coupon overrides Walgreens policies, at which point he reads aloud, “Any other use constitutes fraud.”

What this really means -  Using a coupon for the product it was intended is not fraud. If you purchase the product at a business establishment that accepts coupons with a valid manufacturers coupon, one that you did not photocopy, make at home etc, does not  constitute fraud. I would consider talking directly to the District Manager and say that you have been accused of coupon fraud. This behavior on the part of managers is unacceptable. I would suggest asking the manager what part of your transaction is fraud.  By the way for more on coupon fraud, you can visit HERE.

Why can they adjust the coupon without it being fraud?

Chrissy knows that many stores including Target, WalMart, Walgreens, and CVS all reduce the value of a coupon if the sales price is less than the coupon value.  I don’t understand this because, for example, if a store reduces a $1 coupon down to 99 cents, doesn’t the store ultimately receive the full dollar from the manufacturer (in addition to a processing fee)?  Why is it legal for the store to do that, but if the customer gets the extra penny, it’s coupon fraud?

This is a tough one. I am not sure that there is a good answer here, other than I am happy to have the store adjust the coupon down so that they will take it. I would rather have them adjust it to $.99 so I get the product for free, than not adjust it down. I know that it doesn’t seem fair at all, but I am never seeking overage, because I am happy to get it for free. If I get overage, great.   Wish I had a better answer for this one!

Got a question about coupons? Had a bad experience with a cashier – go ahead and leave it in the comments. If you want your question featured, use the contact form to send me your question. As long as the questions keep coming, I will keep writing!

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