Cashiers: The Good, the Bad, and the Incompetent.

Hey everybody!

I hope you're having a great week!

Today, I just wanted to talk about an important aspect of the couponing process- your cashier!

If you're serious about your savings, sometimes that will mean doing more than one transaction at the register in order to use manufacturers coupons to purchase multiples of discounted items. 

This will mean that you need a cashier who is willing to cooperate with you and be patient as the process may take awhile.

As my title may suggest, not all cashiers are created equal.

Some are great and some not so much.

Today I went to three different stores, and the cashiers who helped me fell into three distinct categories; The Good, the Bad, and the Incompetent.
Here are the experiences that I had with each, and how I think it's best to react to each given situation.

The Good: Cat, cashier at Rite Aid

Rite Aid has had some red hot deals these past couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of other couponers in my area have noticed the deals too.

The two stores that I usually shop at have been fresh out of almost every deal advertised the last few times that I've visited, and that gets super frustrating when I'm pressed for time.

Today, I visited a store on the outskirts of town and it's safe to say it's my new fave! 

They had every deal I needed, and a great cashier as well-Cat!

To say that today was not my most organized  trip would be an understatement.

Having been to two stores prior, I'd bought what deals I could find there and had to rearrange what was left to buy at location number three into new transactions in order to properly use my +Ups to get the best deals.

I also recently got to the 250 point mark on my +Up rewards program, so that means that I get 10% off of my store brand items now. 

I didn't realize this prior to making my list, so I also had to grab filler items as I went, making the process even messier. 

Cat was very understanding.

She was patient with me, helped me grab cheap filler items, and answered some questions I had about bogo deals.

Fillers, for those of you who don't know, are cheap items you use to make the dollar mark to be able to use your register rewards at Rite Aid and other stores. 

Unfortunately, you're not able to use register rewards towards tax at many stores, so at a minimum, you pre-tax total must equal the value of your register rewards.

Anyhow, I had Cat ringing for about 30 minutes, and she was friendly and cheerful the whole time. 

Cat is the ideal cashier to have when you're on a couponing trip.

The Bad: Shay, Cashier at Walmart

Sometimes you get a cashier who just plain stinks.

They could be grumpy, rude, or flat out uncooperative.

Shay was all of these things. 

I was already not in a great mood because the Walmart I went to was out of stock of a lot of the items I wanted- apparently they don't even carry most of them.

I grabbed the couple of items I was able to find and headed to the register.

I had two transactions and four items total, not a lot to handle. 

Two of my items were Neutrogena face wipes in travel packs.

I had coupons for $2.00 off of any Neutrogena face product, which made the wipes free.

These coupons have been ringing incorrectly, so the cashier is required to manually enter a code to allow the use of the coupon.

I've had the same issue with Neutrogena coupons before, and cashiers have fixed it without question.

Such was not the case with Shay.

She initially refused to accept the coupons, at which point I explained to her that the coupons were in fact applicable to the items that I wanted to purchase.

She again refused, at which point I asked to speak to a manager.

I asked several more times to speak to a manager, and Shay continued to ignore my point and insist that the coupons would not go through.

I finally told her that I would find a manager myself and see what they could do about it, at which point she keyed the coupons through and allowed me to get my items at the appropriate discount.

Some cashiers don't like couponers, but some just don't like to do their jobs correctly.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, stick to your guns!

If you know that a coupon is being used correctly, don't accept a 'No' without speaking to a manager first. 
Though most employees are more than willing to help, occasionally you get someone stubborn or ignorant of coupon policy.

Most stores policies are available online, and lots of couponers find it helpful to carry a copy of the policy with them just in case a discrepancy arises.

In this case, however, the discrepancy was with the coupon itself. 

Avoid problems by making sure that you read the fine print on your coupons thoroughly before redeeming them, and make sure to use them correctly.

The incompetent: Matt, Cashier at Target

Sometimes an employee just straight up doesn't know what they're doing.

They may be new, poorly trained, or just incapable or performing their duties for some other reason.

I had a few issues with Matt the incompetent.

I had coupons to make some crackers free, but was only able to find one package, which was on the wrong shelf. 

When I asked where I'd be able to find more, Matt just shrugged his shoulders and told me he didn't know, but that they were "Maybe with the crackers and stuff". Helpful. Not.

I also had the same problem with him that I had with Shay- he refused to accept some of my perfectly legit coupons.

In this case, I just bought the other items I came for and decided to deal with it another day.

I had left a stack of coupons at home, and knew I'd need to return to Target tomorrow anyways, so I didn't see the point in arguing about it.

My advice when you find yourself in this situation is to politely excuse yourself and go talk to someone who is more familiar with store inventory and coupon policy.

There's no point in wasting your time trying to deal with someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, it's as simple as that. 

Make sure that you find someone who will give you the assistance that you need. You deserve it.

I hope this is helpful to any of you who have dealt with similar situations.

What do you do in similar situations?

Have a great day!

-Madeline

Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Twotip:Be loving to your cashiers, even if they don't treat you the same way! A bad cashier may just be having a crappy day, and being rude back to them won't get you anywhere good. If you have a great cashier, let them know! Lots of stores have suggestion boxes, online surveys, and other ways to give reviews as a way to get feedback from customers. It may be five minutes out of your day to recognize the hard work of an employee, but they certainly deserve it they're willing to put up with your crazy couponer behavior;)