I talked briefly about my Walmart experience last week. To recap....
I was attempting to make several purchases of which I had coupons for every item. The clerk rang it all up and proceeded to the coupons. The first one beeped and she handed it back and said "you didn't buy this". I reached over to lift it from the top of the bag she just finished packing and showed her it was right there. She told me since the register beeped she could not take it and handed it back.
More items, same story. One of the items were a Tide coupon which stated "$1 off any size Tide". She told me that I couldn't use that coupon since I didn't have the same size bottle that was pictured. I assured her that since the coupon read any size, it means any size. She called a manager over who agreed with her and said it had to be the size pictured. Clearly this is WRONG.
The manager got a little pissy with me as well and told me that she was in charge so if she said no, I could not use it. I told them that I have bought other items with that coupon in this same store and did not encounter this problem but the manager insisted that the previous cashier was in error.
Another coupon I tried to use was an internet printable from the Arm and Hammer website for a cleaning product. The clerk again called the manager over because my coupon 'didn't look right'. She stated the coupon looked copied and was fraudulent because there was nothing on the back. I explained that it is printed on a home printer so there wouldn't be anything on the back. They refused to also take that coupon.
I highly take offense of being accused of fraud when using coupons. I strive to be honest, truthful and to use coupons as they are meant to be used. Needless to say, I had flames shooting out of my head by the time I was leaving.
I made them give me back my coupons and take all the items off my bill. I also told them I would be calling their corporate office as I knew I was using my coupons correctly.
Fast forward to Saturday when I received a call back from Walmart corporate. The woman apologized and gave me a chance to explain my story. We reviewed what happened and she stated that they have a list of fraudulent internet coupons that the clerk should have consulted had they feared my was not legitimate. The final outcome is they are sending me a $10 gift card for my troubles and have apologized.
My reflections on the matter
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1. When I approached this clerk initially, I got a pit in my stomach that she might give me a hard time and be difficult to work with but I was in a hurry. Next time I will follow my gut instinct and try to work with a clerk who will at least listen to me.
2. Will I shop there in the future? Good question. I hadn't had a difficult time using coupons at Walmart except that it is always busy, people are rude, etc. As it is, I don't shop there often as I am able to get better prices/deals at Pierce's by shopping their weekly sale ads. Plus, Target has such a wonderful coupon policy and I have not experienced any problems with a cashier ever. As of right now, I can't think of a single thing that Walmart has that I have to buy there. I am planning to shop Target once a month and Pierce's in between and that will probably work for my family at this time. So no, I don't plan on shopping there for now.
3. You should never accuse someone of doing something illegal if you aren't sure. Upon further review, thanks to my sister, I realized that the bar code numbers on the internet coupons were different (as they are when you print them from the internet) and I should have pointed that out to them at the time to prove they weren't copies.
4. Customer service still matters. People talk about their experiences, and make decisions on how to spend their money and where.
5. It is my money and I don't have to spend it at Walmart where I am not appreciated.
6. I went to a different Walmart that same day and bought the items in question without a problem, it wasn't the coupon, it was the individual.
Sorry to go on so long but I was really affected by this experience. I'm glad it is over as I spent too much time talking about it. Time to move on.
