Thinking about sending this to the head-honcho at Coopers

[Chantel]

I went in on the 2nd and though they had BOGO EVENT plastered everywhere, I was denied my coupon because apparently the event is not actually an event. The cashier was kinda rude to me, and looked at me like I was dirt. I was wondering if you guys might wanna take a look over my possible letter, and point out any changes you'd like to see made. After all, I want to represent us all.

Hello!

I'm writing to you today to express my thoughts about the Cooper's Foods store in Valleyview square, in Kamloops BC. I have had issues with this store in the past. For example, I purchased frozen food that was over a YEAR past its' expiry date, but still on the shelves. I got very sick from it, but was not contacted back about it. I simply let that one go, because I felt that it wasn't worth my time or the manager's to try and figure out why food a year past expiry was even still in the store. That's all in the past now, I'm still alive so it's fine by me.

The issue I am writing to you about happened April 2nd. I went into the store and found tags hanging off the shelves all over the store saying "Buy one get one free event". So, I picked up two 6x710ml Pepsi products(which had a "buy one get one free event" tag in front of them), and found the coupon I had in my folder (I am a 'coupon queen', if you've seen the TLC special for 'extreme couponing', I'm kind of like that, but not so extreme. I just like to get the best value for my money.) that said when I purchase two 6x710ml Pepsi products, I get a free 6x710ml Pepsi Max.

When I went up to the till, the cashier told me that I was NOT allowed to use a coupon with my purchases because the "Buy one get one free EVENT" is not actually an event, it's a coupon. An in-store coupon that I did not know existed. She quite condescendingly said to me "That would be like getting three for the price of one!". I had to laugh a little, because that is the point, for me to get as much as I can while spending as little as I can. While I may only pay for one, the store gets paid for two. The store wouldn't have been out a penny had they allowed me to do this, in fact, the store would have made an EXTRA $5-and-something had I been allowed to use that coupon. And had I been allowed, I may have come back for round 2 and bought another three packages of pop. And there again would be another EXTRA $5 in the pocket of your store, plus the actual price I was paying for the pop. Essentially, because the 'event' was really just an offer-with-store-coupon, your company lost out on about fifteen dollars from me, PLUS the handling fee for the coupons.

After that, out of curiosity, I phoned around. I asked managers of Zellers, Walmart, London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart, Safeway, Real Canadian Superstore and others what they defined an "event" as, and NONE of them mentioned an in-store coupon as being synonymous with any sort of event.

I thought it might be of interest to you that one of your largest competitors in the city, the Loblaws company (Superstore and Extra Foods) has boards of store coupons located inside. These, without fail, can be combined with ANY manufacturer's coupon. The store coupon policy is one store coupon plus one manufacturer's coupon can be used on a single item. The store doesn't lose any money at all, they MAKE money off of this process, because people like myself are more inclined to purchase items that they can get for relatively cheap with a store coupon plus a manufacturer's coupon. I have bought hundreds of dollars worth of items that I would not otherwise have purchased from there because of this.

I want to support Cooper's Foods because it's a company I've grown up with, but I can't justify paying more money for things by shopping at your store when I can get most things at your competitors' stores for much less. I'm on a budget (aren't we all?) and if I can't successfully coupon at Cooper's then I think I will just exclusively grocery shop at Superstore from now on.

There are about twenty or thirty "coupon queens" in Kamloops (with that number growing all the time), and we're all looking for a place that we can get a great deal. You'd be seeing a lot more business from us, and if a good coupon policy was released chain-wide all across the province, I would estimate you'd likely make an extra few hundred thousand dollars a year easily, just from couponers. There are thousands in BC.

If you have any questions regarding making Coopers a more coupon-friendly place, please contact me. I would love to see Cooper's Foods survive in a market of massive national chain stores, and I think with the coupon craze being so rampant, taking a cue from the Loblaw's company in terms of store coupons would be a great business move and would certainly bring in more money.

[MommyOfAustin]

I think you should send it. It is not your fault that the signage is confusing, nor it is your fault the cashier gave you such a bad experience. I would not tolerate that and I hope you send the letter off. I have gone into the Cooper's in Merritt when I am visiting my parents and am usually met with mean/rude cashiers (whether I am using a coupon or not!). Now I always head to Extra Foods if I need anything while visiting.

[Murren]

I would send it. It sounds really well written. Using coupons at Coopers is hit and miss. I don't try to use them there. Let us know what happens.

[mattysmom]

Excellent! I've never had any problems with Coopers in Brock. The ladies there are pretty good. Good luck with the letter. Looking forward to hearing the response

[Chantel]

Sent it off yesterday, no response as of yet. I got a read receipt but nothing else. Fingers crossed!

[momof3heathens]

Nicely written.

[.calliecat.]

have you heard back from them yet?

[Chantel]

>:[ Nope, not a word.

I'm getting anxious, I've checked my junk mail folders like 20 times today!

[lilkaiser]

I am only a few blocks from valleyview coopers... my family has used it for years!! I will actually go OUT OF MY WAY to not go there! they are soo expensive.

[Chantel]

I know! My dad and I were discussing how they've changed over the years. We both agree they went from being a family run store to a big corporation that's pretty greedy. EVERYTHING there is more expensive!