Customer Service Attitudes

[akajw]

I am new to this price matching and couponing and have had a variety of experiences with customer service. Some are happy to help when I want to price match and use coupons, while others have made me feel like I was stealing from the store. Has anyone else been made to feel this way?

[johnb56789]

Oh trust me, I know the feeling. Almost every time I shop I feel like they are judging me/ making me feel like I'm stealing. But I always think of it this way, for the couponing side of things, so long as I don't do anything illegal (Never have and never will) like using an incorrect or photocopied coupon, what do they have to lose?? They get back the full value of the coupon PLUS a fee for accepting the coupon, so THEY are the ones making money off of it. And when it comes to price matching, they don't have to do it, so if they get upset when I do it, I just think to myself; "If you don't like me following your stupid policies to the letter, then get rid of the PM'ing and I'll shop elsewhere"

[Mamabearrina]

I am new to this price matching and couponing and have had a variety of experiences with customer service. Some are happy to help when I want to price match and use coupons, while others have made me feel like I was stealing from the store. Has anyone else been made to feel this way?

Ya always happens . But im the one with cupboards full of free and cheap products my family needs.i honestly just think those people are jealous and dont want to ask how or they just served a couponer who gave them fraudulent coupons and ruined it for the rest of us. So just keep that in mind and itll just fly over your head because it will happen on the regular if you continue to coupon and price match its just part of the territory.


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[akajw]

I've had to tone down my enthusiasm about my couponing and price matching with family and friends, because they are definitely jealous. However, when I share how I go about it, they aren't willing to do the work or say "that wouldn't work for me"".

[Anna Michele]

I've had to tone down my enthusiasm about my couponing and price matching with family and friends, because they are definitely jealous. However, when I share how I go about it, they aren't willing to do the work or say "that wouldn't work for me"".

Nothing is free even if its your time and money keep it hush hush and don't let them come and raid your stockpile when they need something. It's your time gas money stamps if trading. Don't get me wrong I love giving away my stock but when people ask for it it's always stuff i paid out of pocket for or stuff we really use. I keep my stock in various places so it doesn't seem like a stockroom or store them people feel they can take what they want.
Enjoy yourself couponing is fun and rewarding. You will learn which cashiers are cheerful and happy to help and stick to those ones. I find certain stores even within the same chain are better than others. You do what you gotta do for your family. Like others have said they are generally jealous and lazy to learn themselves

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[Arjon]

I am new to this price matching and couponing and have had a variety of experiences with customer service. Some are happy to help when I want to price match and use coupons, while others have made me feel like I was stealing from the store. Has anyone else been made to feel this way?

I only PM'd and couponed casually until a couple of months ago, so while I can only speak to a far more limited amount of experience than some other people, I've never had a problem with a cashier.

This isn't to say I haven't had a few issues. They've just been other types, like a store took 4 of the same printable, then a few days later, another store in the same chain would only take 1. The most common occurrence is simply that a cashier doesn't know what to do when presented with multiples of a particular printable, and has to ask another cashier or a manager. Most times, but not all, they take them, so it's only a matter of a brief delay; i.e. not much of a problem.
IMO, you can help yourself by getting into the habit of doing a few simple things. One is to be personable. I've seen people who are downright rude. Yes, it's the cashier's job to serve them the same as anyone else, but let's not fool ourselves... that doesn't always happen. When customers are unpleasant, it has to be tempting to serve them a bit slower, not to bend stores rules in their favor, etc.

Another is to be ready before you go to the checkout. Have your coupons out and visible, and have your PMs ready. Don't be like the people I've seen (thankfully not many) who only pulled out their coupons after the cashiers, thinking the transactions were finished, asked how they were going to pay. The worst case I've seen (thankfully just once) was the person who pulled out a sizeable folder at this point in time, and then still had to go through it to get the coupons they wanted to use.

If you PM to paper flyers, know or preferably mark where the items are in those flyers so you don't have to find them while the cashier and anyone in line behind you has to wait.

Another part of being ready is to make it easy for the cashier to find the expiry dates on your coupons. There may be other ways, but I use a highlighter. It takes a bit of time, but it's easy to do it when it doesn't take any additional time; e.g. when you're watching TV.

So, you can't guarantee you'll never have a bad experience, but you can do these things and more to help reduce the likelihood.

[Arjon]

Oh trust me, I know the feeling. Almost every time I shop I feel like they are judging me/ making me feel like I'm stealing. But I always think of it this way, for the couponing side of things, so long as I don't do anything illegal (Never have and never will) like using an incorrect or photocopied coupon, what do they have to lose?? They get back the full value of the coupon PLUS a fee for accepting the coupon, so THEY are the ones making money off of it. And when it comes to price matching, they don't have to do it, so if they get upset when I do it, I just think to myself; "If you don't like me following your stupid policies to the letter, then get rid of the PM'ing and I'll shop elsewhere"

Maybe your situation is different because you sometimes PM or coupon far larger quantities than I ever have. (I think the most of a single coupon I've ever used in one transaction is 8.) I've never had cashiers do anything that made me think they might feel I'm being judged or stealing. Actually, quite the opposite; on a few occasions, they have commented that they PM'd the same things themselves and/or that the deal I'm taking advantage of is a very good one.

I can see how cashiers would probably prefer not to have to deal with coupons, and how that attitude could sometimes be externalized so customers see or feel some kind of negativity. However, I don't see any real connection between that and stores getting reimbursed plus a handling fee.

[elmaasheley147]

Great post