Kmart Assistant Manager Hates Your Coupons, Will Not Process Your Transaction
If you're one of those really smart coupon hoarders, you know to save up for double-coupon offers, because then you can get things for next-to-nothing. Nicole has used this strategy at Kmart in the past without problems, but this time she ran into an assistant manager who refused to honor the promotion, saying, "It's not our policy. It's not written down, but that's the policy."
First, here's some info on how to double up coupons for maximum savings. If you've never done this before, you can thank Nicole for the quick recap.
- Sometimes, maybe 25% of the time, you'll get a coupon for $.50 that you want to use to purchase an item that costs $.99 or $1. If the store doubles coupons, the coupon will automatically ring up as another $.50 if the item is $1, or $.49 if the item is $.99. Every store I know, including Kmart, has programmed their registers to do this. On Harris Teeter triple coupon days, even more coupons do this and you can get a ton of items for free.
- Every self-respecting frugal knows this and there are myriads of blogs listing the "free after coupons" items at various stores.
- Kmart is having double coupon days this week. They normally don't double at all, but for a limited time are doubling coupons up to and including $2.00. There are some restrictions on this—no more than four of the same coupon, no more than 25 coupons per day, etc.—but they're easy to follow.
That seems pretty straightforward, right? But not if you run into the Assistant Manager at this particular Kmart, who makes up policies on the spot to avoid completing sales that confuse him.
I went to Kmart (960 Kildaire Farm Road; Cary, NC) Monday night and spent about 45 minutes gathering up the items I wanted to buy. All of them were free after coupons. It took me awhile because about half of the items were completely gone—other shoppers had gotten there Monday morning (or Sunday night) and used their coupons to get the items for free. The other half of the items were almost gone and I was able to get the last or next to last item.
I went up to the cash register and the assistant manager rung me up. If the coupon was valued more than the item, the register automatically adjusted the value of the coupon to match the value of the item. When he got to the end of the transaction, he frowned and said, "I can't process this transaction."
Me: Why not?
Joseph: Because it's saying your total is -$1.46.
Me (laughs): No problem. I'll just pick up these cough drops—that will bring the total over $0.
Joseph (frowning more): No. I can't process this transaction.
Me: What do you mean?
Joseph: I'm not giving you these things for free.
Me: You're telling me that if I had brought these items up here with $20 of other items, you would not sell me those items.
Joseph: Not these items.
Me: So it's Kmart's policy not to accept coupons on items like this.
Joseph: No, it's our policy.
Me: Our?
Joseph: Our store.
Me: Could you show me that policy?
Joseph: Oh, it's not written down, but that's the policy.
It went on like that, and I maintained my cool and was exceedingly polite. I asked for his name (Joseph), he refused to give me his last name, and had no employee ID number, but I did hear him give another employee his manager code (5003-1) so that the employee could clock out a third employee.
What he told me was either unacceptable ignorance on the part of a manager at best, or a downright lie at worst.
Half the items I was looking for had already been purchased. You can't tell me that people didn't use coupons to purchase them, that they needed chapstick and just happened to choose Nivea over every other brand, and Vaseline lotion over every other hand lotion, and so on.
If it was truly the policy of this Kmart, wouldn't their registers be programmed to flag those items, and not ring them up, instead of adjusting the coupons down? And why was I able to purchase items like these previously?
I decided to go to another local Kmart, and I made sure to purchase two items that would put my total over $0. The cashier rang me up, took my coupons, and checked me out. No comment, no problem. So it's obviously not the policy of that Kmart not to take those coupons.
If this is truly the policy of this particular Kmart store, that they won't take a $1 coupon for a $1 product, it's not noted in the ads. It's not noted anywhere in the store. Joseph couldn't produce anything in writing. The cash registers aren't programmed that way. The clerks aren't educated about the policy.
I wouldn't be so irritated if it was not clear that other people had used their coupons without a problem, or if he had been able to produce a policy, or if it had been written in the ad, or if the other Kmart had the same policy, or if the registers refused to accept it, or if someone, anyone, in the blogosphere had noted this was a policy of of Kmarts...if any of these things were true, I'd be in the wrong. As it stands, I don't believe I am. I can't help but think that if I had purchased something that had put my total over $1, he would have accepted the transaction.
I definitely won't go back to this Kmart again. I may or may not return to the other one when double coupon days roll around again. I'll tell you one thing: I will not spend over $3 per transaction at a Kmart ever again—I'll make sure I have coupons or I won't shop there.
Nicole, there may be laws in North Carolina that Joseph broke by refusing to accept your coupons. You should contact your Attorney General's office and ask about state laws regarding coupons.
(Photo: tedmurphy)
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Comments:
I think I am in love with this OP. Handled the situation perfectly.
I have never been to a Kmart that didn't have some kind of issues. The one in Poplar Bluff, MO is especially nerve-wrecking as they practically refuse to let you return anything.
Hearkening back to my days in retail - stores get compensated for taking coupons. Have things changed?
@CreativeLinks: I agree - she maintained composure very well. The manager on the other hand...I hope someone straightens him out.
Obviously the ast. manager went broken arrow here. Likely because he saw the negative amount on the register and knew the impact on his stores P&L.
The women reporting this could put address to this via Kmart corporate.
What I find laughable is her comment:
"I definitely won't go back to this Kmart again. I may or may not return to the other one when double coupon days roll around again. "
Lady take the freebies and forget about one unpleasant experience. Would you rather pay for these products?
Get him fired, then get him fined so they'll take out a lien on his house. Then with little money, he'll be forced to use coupons he finds in the gutter, wait for double coupon day, then go to k-mart to use them and hope they work.
Coincidentally, there's a story running today on our local ABC news website (www.wpvi.com) where a woman purchased $211 worth of items at Acme and paid only 42 cents by combining coupons.
They usually get the face value + a small incentive. Not sure how doubling affects this though.
I just love managers like him. His store his rules. You don't like it? Take your business somewhere.
I hate frugal (cheap) people that slow everyone down at the register.
A question about coupons, though: Can a store refuse to take a coupon that doesn't appear to be a manufacturer's coupon (on the glossy or magazine-type paper)? I imagine many avid couponers also been using Web coupons or print-from-email coupons from manufacturers. Can a store refuse to accept those types?
I've stopped using many coupons b/c my local Walmart refuses to take the ones that are on regular printer paper.
@Raekwon: Most manufacturer coupons under a dollar will give the store twice the value of the coupon.
As to the OP, it looks like the machine messed up and took off too much. The first couple lines of the conversation made sense. There shouldn't have been a negative value in the first place. So just buying cough drops to make up the difference isn't going to fix the problem.
This happened to me once when I was a cashier. A woman came up with a ton of coupons, which confused both me and the computer, resulting in a negative balance - meaning we took too much off from the coupons. The manager figured the amount of time it would take to figure it out wouldn't be worth it, and we'd get the money back anyways. So we just gave her the money.
@2719: I'm sure those awful cheap people would be happy for you to buy their items for them since you don't mind not saving a few dollars on a shopping trip.
But I'm with you.... I can't believe some people just refuse to stop using coupons! Why stretch your dollar the farthest it go when you have impatient and extremely important people behind you in line who have somewhere to be? Why does Consumerist insist on *helping* consumers by publishing articles like this?
COUPONS?? The nerve of some people....
I understand that it's the spirit of the matter more than the $ amount, but seriously? For $1? Stop arguing, pay the extra buck or whatever, and don't let it ruin your day. (IMHO, of course)
Would consumerist prefer people never disagree with their stories? I honestly get that feeling. It doesn't seem to jive with analytically looking at consumer issues... very one sided.
@Chris Walters: You should check out their activity page:
"No big deal"
"This is not news"
"Why do people care"
@Vanilla5: A store can refuse any coupon they like, but they have to be careful not to discriminate and to not tick off customers.
If any store can afford to lose customers these days, it's clearly Kmart...
While I don't blame the OP for getting in on these deals, I don't blame the manager for not wanting to just give things away for free. Kmart is moreso just being stupid, if they had half a brain, they would add a disclaimer, something to the effect of: double coupons, cannot exceed 75% of the total purchase price or something.
Well, you not that they have the right not to accept the coupon. Its sometimes found on them and sometimes its not. It usual reads that if they accept the coupon, they will be given the face value plus other handling charges. I am pretty sure there is no law anywhere where the acceptor of the coupons has the accept it.
@darkjedi26: They aren't giving it away for free,they get reimbursed for the value of the coupon. On double days it might be like a 401k where they're kicking in a matching amount, but they aren't losing the full value on the deal.
@Raekwon: Generally, the store eats the doubled portion of the coupon. They assume you will buy other stuff that will make up the distance.
Whenever I end up with a negative balance, the store usually just calls it even, though I have had them pay me a small amount before. I think most of the confusion happens with (1) computing taxes - states have different rules on charging tax before or after coupons or (1) coupons for more than the value of the item ($1 for a 99 cent item) aren't properly adjusted down.
I'm all for using coupons to save a buck.
But, man, some of those crazy couponers (no joke) are crazy. The majority of couponers are legit, but there are a few that wow.
I once had a lady come through buy like 100 dollars worth the stuff and then she gave me the coupons to scan (after everything had been bagged).
Of course not remembering what I had scanned I took everything out of the bag to compare. (Of course the people behind her were upset as well as her).
Turns out out of like 20 coupons which would have brought her bill down from $100.00 to like $20. Only 2, yes 2, were valid. The rest were for items she didn't even have, expired, or said, "May only be used once per transaction".
Needless to say when I pointed this out she blew up on me, grabbed the coupons out of my hand and power walked to the door, leaving everything there.
The people who had been in line behind her were shocked, myself included, and badmouthed her for trying to abuse coupons.
*shakes head*
I wish i had a lot of legit coupons. I'm almost afraid to use them, lol.
Egads!! I live in Cary and that is a horrible Kmart. It's a pit in a shopping center that has seen better days. I'd rather go to that other pit of a Kmart further over off 64/1 in Raleigh, which is I bet where the OP went. It's a student market one and I'm sure they wouldn't blink an eyelash at anything.
@philmin: We encourage healthy debate, but we also fight for the consumer, not the corporation/utility/service provider/etc. A comment like 2719's implies that the consumer is doing something wrong for following the rules and maximizing them to her advantage. This is *exactly* what a good consumer should do.
Hinting that her behavior hurts other customers in some way--either by driving up prices, or (in this case) by delaying their check out experience--plays directly into the hands of the business, which has a vested interest in making sure consumers "know their place" and don't try to stand up for themselves.
This is a pro-consumer blog. The idea that assistant managers should be able to make up rules that counter company policy is anti-consumer.
There's a difference between thinking the consumer was wrong and just being flatly anti-consumer.
I know the K-mart location that Nicole is talking about... it was a horrible (dirty, unkempt, poorly-stocked, disorganized, poorly-run) store the last time I was there.
Of course, that was over ten years ago.
In fact, that visit is the very reason why it's been ten years since I've been inside a K-mart. Good riddance.
Can someone point me in the direction of one of those "myriads of blogs" she mentioned?
I didn't realize coupon-fu involved a Magic: the Gathering-esque kind of epic combinatorics for success.
How do you coupon lords recognize such "broken" coupons that give you stuff for practically pennies on the dollar?
@processfive: When you can't even keep a Pizza Hut alive in Cary, you know the Kmart behind it sucks ;)
@Jabberkaty: Yes, they do. Which is why the assistant manager's reaction to the sale is even more baffling.
@menty666: Someone needs to explain that to the asst. manager. I bet that they were thinking the same think darkjedi26 was (I did too).
Oh man, I feel a lot better about those last two coupons I used!
@Jabberkaty: Maybe not - but they're doubling the value of coupons - are they getting compensated for *that*?
Was probably thinking he was commenting on this site [notalwaysright.com]
Anyways though, I wish I used coupons more. I always hated it when my mom used them when I was younger. But when I read stories like this, it makes me cry that I don't use em.
@It's Segador's birthday and all I want is a ★: How much of story did you actually read before you posted your comment? She wasn't trying to save $1. She was purchasing multiple items that were free after her coupons were doubled. She doesn't give the exact number of items or their retail value amount, but she does mention Nivea lip balm and Vaseline lotion, and she also says it took her about 45 minutes to pick up all of the items in question. I'd guess she was saving considerably more than $1.
@CreativeLinks: Almost perfect -- perfect would have been immediately returning the two extra un-coupon'd items for a refund!
:)
Sick Roy Cooper on that store. It's absolutely illegal and Mr. Cooper just loves to do this kind of thing!!
KMart isn't the same down here as it was up in NY. Or maybe it's just the people. But since Cary is considered 'the corral for renegade yankees' I'd think y'all would demand better service.
Wow. write K-Mart corporate headquarters please! What a jerk to not ring up your coupons.
@Applekid: Generally speaking? They'd consider it a loss-leader, the idea being they get you to buy stuff at that store either during that trip or because you're used to shopping there to make a profit.
@Jabberkaty: Not necessarily the "doubling" of the coupon, though. If a store doubles a $0.50 coupon, they'll only get $0.50 back, not the full dollar the customer got.
@Jabberkaty: They aren't getting reimbursed for the doubled value, but you expect when Kmart runs a promotion, they are going to honor it, regardless of what the items cost.
@Applekid: If you search "coupons" here on Consumerist, there are a lot of tricks to getting your money's worth on them. Certain things are predictably on sale at certain times, and if you hold on to the coupons and wait for the right time, you are frequently permitted to combine a sale with a coupon. Sometimes the rules of the coupon or sale prevent this, other times not. I don't think it's an issue of "broken" coupons (whatever you mean by that) or a scam - the companies easily have it in their power to prevent it if they choose.
Yeah, that manager was totally out of line. I have come to realize that despite being part of a chain, there are some stores that are out of the loop when it comes to chain wide policies. Or even regional. This is what probably happened at this location. They probably don't pay attention to corporate or regional memos and just go about their business.