I thought it might be fun to swap stories. Couponing often comes with the issue of having to deal with people who just don’t get it! I tell people all the time that couponing is hard work. We spend a lot of time looking through ads, sorting, organizing and clipping coupons only to be met with ugly looks from people behind us in line and often having to justify coupons and explain that the terminology “one coupon per purchase” is not the same as “one coupon per transaction”.
I am lucky that the majority of stores that I shop are filled with trained cashiers and super friendly management. My biggest issue these days is finding ways to keep my boys entertained while I check out. I mean I can only justify oh so many suckers 🙂
I did receive an email yesterday from a person who quite apparently did not take time to read or bother to request an explanation and instead chose to say that I was cheating and using coupons fraudulently. It is always fun to deal with closed minded people who refuse to believe there are actually honest people still walking around 🙂 It has been a while since I had an encounter with a closed minded person in the stores but this experience sticks in my head and makes me chuckle when I think about it…
I was in a drug store trying to get a deal on some make up. The gal rang up my purchases and started scanning my coupons. One coupon beeped and so she said that the coupon was not valid. I took the coupon and checked to make sure I had not made a mistake. Once I made sure all was OK, I handed it back saying that it was indeed valid and asked her to please use it to discount the item purchased. After several minutes of going back and forth negating all of her excuses why the coupon was invalid. I pointed to the picture on the coupon and showed her that the nail polish I was attempting to purchase was actually pictured on the coupon. She looked me straight in the face and said–“yeah, but the one in the picture is a different color!” I could not help but laugh hysterically. After realizing that I was dealing with someone who would never “get it” I nicely requested a manager. Of course I got my free nail polish and a great story that still makes me laugh when I think about it.
We all have stories so I thought it might be fun, and even a bit cathartic to share stories. Let’s make it a giveaway too. I will randomly choose one person to receive a $10 Publix gift card. I will also include an envelope filled with great coupons to make sure that $10 covers as much as possible! All you have to do is share your story. I will choose a winner on Wednesday (8/12) around 11pm. Good luck and I can’t wait to hear your stories!!
57 Comments
I was at Publix yesterday doing my weekly shopping and using my multitude of coupons when one of the Publix coupons didn’t scan. The lady who was bagging (the customer service mgr) said it was probably an expired coupon which is why it didn’t ring up, but I politely said no, it was not due to expire until September 14 – which is true. She went by the cashier to double check me as I had a wad of coupons to go through. She apologized and said I was correct and they took it..as they should. I also had over $14 in coupons that wouldn’t scan and came back later that afternoon and talked with the assistant store manager and she gave me my money.
Heidi
Once at CVS I was trying to do the great Sobe B1G1 sale + B1G1 Q combo for free Sobe’s and the cashier balked when she saw my coupons. First she thought I couldn’t use the Q in combination with the sale, then she decided that I couldn’t use more than one Q per transaction (exactly that 1 Q per transaction vs. 1 Q per purchase confusion), then when I said, fine, could we do a couple of transactions, they took my entire stack of Qs, called cvs customer care and finally twenty minutes later (after making me wait at the register for half an hour while everyone else had to squeeze by me to check out– it was miserable) came back and decided that I couldn’t use ANY of the coupons because they couldn’t prove that they weren’t fake or copies (and these were beautifully clear color prints of the coupons that each had a different barcode, proving that they weren’t copies). Luckily I was able to use my Qs for the deal at another CVS (and was more clever about only using 2 at a time so as to not raise suspision– which should be unneccesary when they are all valid!). I tried that first CVS again, hoping that it was just one bad day, but had another similar experience, so had to stop going to that particular location since they were so antagonistic against couponers.
Well first of all I love your website. I went to publix one evening with my mama which I have help teach her the way to buy grocreys with coupons. I went around and got my items and helped her. We got in line I went first the cashier gave me the total which was around $120, my mama let a gentleman go infront of her. She said we have coupons. i handed the cashier my coupons and she was scanning them. i only had $15 in my purse. i told my mom i might need some money. Well the getelman said wow u have alot of coupons. I told the man i was sorry. we got done my total was less than $12 and the person behind me was shocked. he said i thought the $160 was my total not my savings he said he needed to learn.
My favorite couponing experience so far was around the Memorial Day weekend (this year). My husband was embarrased to check out with me & threatened to leave me @ the register! LOL I had gotten about 10 or 11 inserts for a friend that works @ the local paper & was hoping to use the $1.50/1 Kraft dressing + $2/1 A1 sauce coups. They went BOGO that week @ Publix, so I used my sweet Publix shopping list to completely plan the trip. I had all of the numbers written with the types of dressing to grab (since we didn’t need that many for FREE, I asked family members what they’d like). We spent longer than I had planned @ Publix getting the items, but finally got in line. I warned & apologized to the cashier… she was so great about being meticulous about scanning each of the 50+ coupons (I’m paranoid about them all scanning since I usually have at least one not scanned)… then when my savings hit $150 off… the woman behind me (which I already apologized to LOL) was asking how I did this. I think hubby was proud, too. Which was cute since he was worried about going through the line with me. I also had the cashier asking for all the blog addresses to tell her Mom. I was so happy. Used to shop @ WM since it was the cheapest way (I thought) we could grocery shop… not anymore! I’m so happy with Publix, they are so great to me & shopping actually is a pleasure now. I get anxious & frustrated walking into a WM anymore! 🙂
Last night I was at our local Publix with my husband. Fortunately for me, they are always very courteous about handling transactions with a lot of coupons. By the time we were finished, I had actually spent $89 (mostly on fresh meat, vegetables, and such) but my savings from using coupons combined with sales and BOGOs was $63. An elderly couple had been waiting very patiently behind us in line, and when the cashier announced the total and that we had saved $63, the man said to my husband, “I didn’t know you could save that much with coupons!” My husband just smiled, pointed at me, and said “She does all the work.”. This very genteel-looking old man then looked at his wife and said, “You better get your @$$ clipping coupons!” I laughed until I nearly cried, but I hope they really do start clipping!
My family often complains about my love for Publix and the time I spend clipping coupons. Until now, they have never understood what the big deal was. After the last few trips to Publix in which I was blessed with their company…. They finally “get-it”!!! Long story short, I was up till 2am this morning getting coupons together for the trip that they are making to Publix today while I am at work. I was also instructed to get 2 or 3 more list together during my lunch for another trip tonight after football practice!
Another story…. I was checking out at Publix about a month or 2 ago. The cashier was amazed at how much I saved. He just kept going on and on… when my 10 year old spoke up and said… “That’s how my Mom ROLLS!”
I have been using coupons for a while, and my mom was pretty impressed. I told her I would help her gather her coupons, and take her to the store. We went to Publix at 9pm to avoid taking my 3 children, so the store was pretty empty, and we were able to take our time. I checked out, with a pretty impressive total savings, and watched as my mom waited excitedly for her total. She stood there clutching her checkbook, with a check already made out to Publix. (Yes, she still writes checks for everything). The smiling cashier looked up and said, “Your total is 31 cents). She looked at me, shocked, and said, “I don’t have any money!!” We both frantically dug through our purses for change, laughing hysterically the whole time. Here she was with a cart full of groceries, and we couldn’t come up with 31 cents in change to pay for it. Before I had a chance to offer my debit card as a solution, the pizza delivery boy behind us in line handed the cashier 31 cents. We laughed the whole way home that her first real coupon experience could never really be matched.How often will your total be so low that you don’t have enogh to pay for it?
The only problem that I have ever had at Publix was because a raincheck wasn’t rung in correctly so the cashier tried to fix his error by denying my coupon. Basically I was buying six items that were buy one get one free (on a raincheck) so he only actually rang in three at full price. Then when I wanted to use six coupons he didn’t want to let me. I nicely explained that if the product had been available in their store on the day that I came to buy it I would have been able to use all six coupons and it wasn’t fair to penalize me for them being out of the product. That seemed to satisfy him so he voided them off or something and then rang them up half price (which is how it should be done) so that I could use all six coupons.
Now we won’t even talk about Target. There is only one cashier in that store with any sense. If he isn’t there I just walk out because it just makes my blood boil. A few months ago they had a Target coupon out for a Quaker product and it had some kind of bars pictured on the coupon. I wanted to buy another type and they wouldn’t let me. They said it had to match the picture… even though the one I was getting was actually more expensive. There have been other problems with Target but they are too many to list. My husband is GM at a retail store and says that he would never let his team treat customers the way he has seen the people (other than my sweety cashier guy) at Target treat me.
I was at Publix a couple of months ago when the Pepsi 8 packs were BOGO. At that time Publix had a B2G1 free store coupon. So I went into several stores and got 6 at a time, paying for one. One cashier looked at the coupon then looked at me and said, so snotty, so… you want your soda for free??? I said no, I’m going to pay 2.99 for it. She actually rolled her eyes, didn’t say anything, I said, “hey it’s a PUBLIX coupon.” She did’t talk to me the rest of the time. I think some of them think they are going to lose money out of their paycheck for each coupon they accept!
A couple months ago I went to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. I just had a a baby in May (we also have a four year old), so my husband met me at Kroger on his way home from work to help with the kids. I don’t like taking the whole crew shopping and my husband gets impatient before the kids do. I had my list, the ad and my coupons matched up and ready to go.
While we were shopping my husband put a few items in the cart that weren’t on my list. No problem. When we went to the register I punched in my Alternate ID in place of my Kroger Plus Card. The keypad says “Thank you Loyal Customer” after the number is accepted. And the cashier started to check me out.
I was watching the screen intently as she scanned my fist full of coupons. I only had a couple that were under 50 cents and needed to be doubled. I didn’t see the coupons double on the screen so I asked her about it. She kind of shrugged me off and said it will come off. When she told me my total was about $84.00. I was shocked. How did I go over my $45.00 budget that much. My husband said it is probably his extra items and just paid the bill. He was anxious to leave. I told him something wasn’t right. He really didn’t care, he was ready to go home.
While he put the groceries in my car I scanned the receipt. I could tell even my receipt seemed different. I realized that a $3.00 Kroger Catalina for Ensure that I had handed the cashier didn’t come off. I said, oh my gosh, they didn’t take off my $3.00 I have to go back. Again with the newborn and four year old, he begged me not to worry about it and head home. We both got into our separate vehicles and headed home. At the first red light I started to analyze my receipt further. It turns out the cashier had somehow not processed my Kroger plus card – which is why the $3.00 coupon didn’t register and my low value coupons didn’t double.
I went right back and customer service had to give me a $39.85 refund for the sale items and my double coupons. Then I went over to the cashier and had her search through her little booklet to get my $3.00 coupon and customer service refunded me another $3.00. It turned out the cashier was new and most likely had reset her screen after I entered my number and before scanning my first item.
I went home and handed my husband the full $43.00 (with a big smile on my face) and told him to do something nice for himself! 🙂 He has never questioned me and my couponing again.
Oh I have a great one that just happened to me this past week! It’s pretty ridiculous…
I went into Target to grab some Electrosol since the 15 coupons I had left were about to expire and at Target each 20 count box costs me a whopping 99 cent after coupons…so, having my binder handy, I also grabbed some All & Tide samples, kashi cups, batteries, a few free candy bars for the kids, and a pack of diapers. As I’m scanning the cashiers to see who looks less likely to give me a hard time, a young boy taps me on the shoulder and says “I can take you on 3”. So, I start directing the 4 kids towards lane “3” (brave, I know…I had my neice & nephews with me as well as my 7 month old!). I ask the cashier if he’d like the coupons with the items, or after the whole transaction and he says he’d like them after. He scans everything and my total was $94…something. I hand him the coupons and as he picks each one up he starts playing matchy match with every item. I’m thinking “ok, here we go…” Of course everything is fine until we get to the tide samples (.97 at my store). The stupid register beeps (as it always does) and the boy looks at the coupon, then at the tide, and then says “Oh I can’t accept this ’cause the coupons is for more than the item price.” I told him I use them here all the time and he literally says “well, that cashier was an idiot.” I was kinda surprised and didn’t really appreciate him using the word idiot in front of my 3 y/o nephew who repeats everything he hears so I said “I’m sure if you bring Steve (the manager of the store who I’ve met many many times…) over here he’ll straighten things out”
He calls for a manager and sure enough Steve makes his way to the check out line. The boy told Steve I was trying to use 10 coupons that were too much for the item and that I was getting mad at him for not letting him use them. He also said that I said I had used them before but that couldn’t be because the register just beeps and won’t let the coupon scan. Steve then explained that when a coupon beeps but actually matches the coupon that all he had to do was press 1 button and it would go through. The boy looked at him and said “So, you’re gonna let her get all of this for free? I can’t believe this. I sit here all day and work for my money and she’s gonna make my job harder by making me scan a million coupons and she’s getting $100 worth of stuff for less than 20 bucks? This is BS (he actually said the word though…)” and he walked out the front door.
I couldn’t believe that just happened. LoL I’ve been couponing at Target for a long time and have never had a problem like that. It was embarassing (although I was right) and stressful, and I was so annoyed.
However, Steve scanned my coupons, took my money, and handed me a $20 Target card for all my trouble.
I wonder how the cashier would feel about that. 🙂
Sorry so long!!!
On more quick story. This past Friday, my mom asked me to go with her to set up new cell phone service at T Mobile. My mom is not big on technology so wanted me along to be sure she got the best deal and phone available. I had my 3 month old and now five year old with me. My five year old aked his Nana if she can get him a cell phone. As he was asking her: her current cell phone was ringing in her purse. She told my son “Hold on Baby” as she searched for the ringing phone in her purse. My baby’s response was: “Nana are you looking for a coupon?”. It was so cute, we laughed so hard. My boy knows that Mommy and Nana check for a coupon before making a purchase and thought that is why she couldn’t answer him right away. LOL.
Ok. I have to tell one of my stories. It isn’t too long so don’t worry. I always use coupons when I go to Publix. Sometimes more than others. We live in an area where there are a lot of retirees. Some “to put it nicely” don’t have a lot of patience. So, I get a lot of nasty whispering behind me in line.
Anyway, on one of my better shopping days I had a cart and a half of groceries and a stack of coupons. My total was $45 and I saved $225. The woman behind me was in shock! She said, “You are like one of those people on the Today Show! I am gong to have to tell my husband about this!” It was too cute! Needless to say, I am always proud when I can save that much on groceries.
I have had my share of horror stories too, but I am sure you hear plenty of those!
I started couponing because I was trying to quit smoking, and I needed something to keep me busy. I found a couple of websites and I was off! Of course, my husband thought I was CRAZY when I started buying multiple papers and graduated to a binder for organization… until he saw the savings.
As we rang out at Publix a few weeks ago the cashier was complimenting my coupon shopping and talking about good couponers vs. bad couponers. She said she had a woman come through her line earlier who openly admitted to copying coupons and didn’t understand how that type of fraud makes it hard for others. My husband only caught the tail end of the conversation and said “My wife is NOT a shady couponer!” The cashier and I burst out laughing and explained… But I was so proud that he obviously got it!
My husband has always laughed at me for clipping coupons. A few weeks ago, I started reading your blog regularly. I began printing coupons and searching the papers for weekly ads and additional coupons. I decided to try shopping at Publix since it is new to my area, to see if I could save any money. I spent hours getting my coupons ready and matching everything up. Again my husband laughed…
I went to Publix and filled my buggy with tons of food and went to check out. I warned the lady behind me that I had coupons, because I hate the looks people give you when they see you pull out coupons from your purse! I watched every item ring up… over $250. Then, the cashier started scanning my coupons. I was so proud to watch my total come all the way down to $101, tax and all! The lady behind me got excited, too. She asked me how I did it, so I told her about your blog, clipping coupons, and printing them online. Everyone around me, including the cashier and bagger, were amazed at how much money I saved.
When I got home, I showed my husband how much food I bought. I wouldn’t tell him how much money I spent until he saw all of the groceries and guessed the amount for himself. I told him up front that I saved tons of money, and he guessed $175. When I told him $101, he got excited, too, picking up boxes, telling me how much he thought it probably cost, and asking me how much I paid for it.
I don’t think he’ll laugh any more. In fact, this Sunday he offered to go buy my paper for me!
My most recent memorable Publix experience was when I took my sister-in-law with me to shop. (She is one of my many family members who think I’m crazy with coupons) I had already planned a “quick trip” and promised her I wouldn’t be there for my usual hour or more. Everything on my list I was buying was both on sale/raincheck with coupons. I told her that the hardest part was standing in line, but fortunately she knew the woman and her daughter who stood behind us, so she had someone to small talk with. My cashier was my favorite and he was quick and thorough. I ended up spending $36.22 with tax and saved $130.76. (All were amazed!) In this trip I bought 16 bottles of the infamous Kraft salad dressing. The funny part was ia we were still loading up my groceries when the lady and her daughter came strolling out. (I assume no coupons makes for a speedy transaction!) So, she was saying her “see ya laters” when I offered her some free salad dressing! It was so funny and unexpected, but she gladly took three bottles!! I LOVE being able to give back and donate some of the free items!!
***My other favorite transaction was when I bought 8 bags of cat food and I don’t even have a cat! My sister-in-law laughed histarically when I told her I bought cat food….everyone knows my non-affection for those little creatures!!***
Most of the time, I have no trouble using my coupons, manf. and IP at Publix. A few weeks ago, for 2 grocery trips (on separate days, separate cashiers), the cashier refused to ring up any of my IP coupons. I explained that they are legitimate and pointed out the separate bar codes etc. In one case, they called over a manager and they reviewed and said ok. In another case, that person flat refused and handed them back to me. I just took them right to the customer service desk and got the $ back in cash. The manager made a comment that there are some fraudulent printed coupons out there and showed me a picture of ones that are out on the lookout for. Fortunately, mine were not included. I am guessing that maybe they had a store meeting as it was recently a problem. Since then I had no trouble.
I have been a coupon person for many years, but thanks to websites like this, I have been able to take my savings to a new level. This has been a lifesaver since my husband lost his contract job back a few months ago. At a recent trip, I paid around $33 and saved $76 and even the cashier said WoW! Plus, I used a $10 giftcard for transferring a prescription so it was only $23! I responded that it takes a great deal of planning.
Though, I have seen folks roll their eyes and silently express impatience. My thought is – I make sure I am not in the express lane. If someone gets behind me with only 5 things and is upset my coupons take so long to ring up, too bad, they should be in the express lane.
One thing I have noticed is that I watch the coupons just as close as watching the food ring up. Sometimes they do it wrong, or go to scan the coupon and it doesn’t beep, etc.
With so many people using more and more coupons, maybe they will create a “coupon lane” where the cashier is knowledgable, the line takes longer and it is ok. One can hope 🙂
Last Saturday was my daughter’s 5th birthday party. As all kids do, she enjoyed opening all the great presents. She came across a card with a gift receipt in it and immediately handed it to me saying, “Mom, coupon!” Everyone laughed!
Here is my worst experience. When I first started couponing I was at Publix and the cashier as loud as she could said to me “Did you buy anything that isn’t Buy One Get One Free”? The lady behind me gasped. Then when she was done I handed her my coupons and she told me I had to hand them to her before she rang up my groceries. How was she going to know if I had purchased those items. I told her I didn’t know of this policy since I didn’t hand them over prior to check out before. She made me take out everything out of the bags to compare them to the coupons. It was so embarrassing! Six months later, I don’t go through her lane “EVER” and I’m saving tons of money!!!!
I have had so many great days with coupons that I won’t go into one singular one, especially since I don’t save nearly as much as you guys do (average = 41% of MSRP). I do, though, have a funny experience every time I’m at Publix.
Before I go shopping, I always put the coupons I intend to use in an envelope in my coupon binder along with the printed version of your weekly ad previews with coupon match-ups. When I’m almost done, I tend to find an empty aisle and go through my envelope and binder, pulling coupons I need and taking out coupons I’m not going to use. Every time, I get comments from passers-by about my binder. They always ask, “Where do you get your coupons?” and “How did you find out about all of those coupons?” I tell them all about your blog and the websites I use to find coupons (like coupons.com). I think you may need to distribute business cards so I can refer people here. I have even had the cashiers ask me the same questions and then look astonished when I mention that you have this site. I have had a couple of them write down the web address so they can look and find information that they apparently may not be aware of!
I started couponing after my breastmilk supply could not keep up with my son. I needed to coupon so I could afford the formula we had to use for him. Even since then, this has become my hobby as I work to make our dollars stretch farther, especially in light of my really measly salary (I teach college part-time). Thanks for everything you do! It has helped my family immensely!
I’m a single mommy to a 5 year old, and I have only been couponing since mid-may. I’ve used this blog as well as others to take my savings to another level. I was one of those non-believers, huffy ladies seeing how others would save all this money, while I waited patiently behind them. Then I got in on a deal and I’ve been hooked for life! It all started with the Target/Swiffer refill rebate deal back in may…
My publix experience was about a month after I started couponing, and hadn’t really got the hang of things. I got all my coupons together, my list, spent like 2 hours preparing. I then went to publix after work (I’ve since discovered bad idea, too busy)…and they had the BOGO sales, I had $1/2 coupons for several things, and my inexperienced self, I tried to use like 1 of those coupon for every product that I was trying to buy LOL, Bad I know…
Cashier looked at me like I was crazy, and kindly reminded me that I could only use $1/2 for each BOGO unless it was a strait 1-1 type coupon, and luckily I was only buying about $30 worth of stuff, so I just paid, and jetted out of there. Lesson learned.
I’ve learned very quickly though, and now I shop publix, and spend no more than $15/week there…usually with $50+ worth of stuff
CVS, even less…no more than $1 per transaction, and I do 2+ transactions a week!
Right before summer Publix had the Pepsi 8 pks B1G1 and the yellow flyer had Dr.Pepper B2G1. The deal was use 2 yellow coupons and get 6-8pks for $2.99. I was hitting all the stores in my area as to not deplete the stores but get about 12 to 18 per store. Dh goes through these like crazy! At one store a lady I happened to strike up a conversation with another lady. She was buying Dr.Pepper for a party. I went and got flyers for her to show her instead of paying for one at $2.99 she could use two coupons and get 6. She did not get it and did not believe you could get that good of a deal. She walked out of the store with 1 Dr. Pepper for $2.99 and I walked out with my 12 packages for $5.98.
I had something similar to the original story. I was shopping at Target and had this cashier who gave me a hard time about buying the trial size bottles ($.97) and using $1.00 off coupons. She said, “I’ll let you do it this time but in the future……” Whatever. The kicker comes when she sees my Kashi coupon and tells me I’m not going to be able to use it because the product is not the same. The coupon reads “Any Kashi cereal bar” and because the picture is merely a different flavor, she isn’t going to be able to use it. I was going to fight tooth and nail on that one, but luckily her manager came by and said, “just take it!”
Publix is by far the friendliest and most coupon-friendly place to shop. On most trips I save around 80% off my intial bill. The other day, I was shopping with my oldest son 11 and my youngest son 2. I approached the register with all of my coupons ready to go and my young son had a diaper explosion. So, I left my older son with all of my coupons and a gift card to pay for my purchases while I went back to the car to resolve the diaper problem. My son came back to the car about 5 minutes later and told me about how the cashier would not take one of my coupons! I was about to walk back into the store until he told me that he just handed the coupon back to the cashier and said that it was valid and should be taken. The cashier called over the manager and she accepted the coupon. I was just so proud that even my son didn’t back down. It makes me proud that my son is not embaressed to use coupons and waited for a manager to approve the coupon that the cashier denied! It’s never to early to learn how to save! Thanks so much for your website, I have told so many cashiers about this website that I’ve lost count!
I haven’t been couponing too long, and I still get nervous when I have a lot of coupons to use (even though I only use them legitimately). Well, one time I was at CVS and had lots of good deals and coupons to go with them. I got the slowest cashier ever and a line of other customers quickly formed behind me. Well, the cashier rang up my products and then gave me my total. I handed her my wad of coupons and she rang them in and then gave me my new total which was considerably less. An old man a few people back hollered “I don’t know how you did that but I’m proud of you” and everyone laughed. I was both embarrassed and proud! Thanks for this site! It is the best Publix site I have found (I only wish we did the penny item in Florida!…I am jealous every week when I see it!)
I was shopping with Kerry (whom you see frequently posted on this site) and she was teaching the finer points of couponing. We made a stop at Wal Mart for some free Popsicles and free Q-tips. The cashier said the coupon specified “one per purchase” and would not allow me to ring up more than one coupon per transaction. Now we all know how few cashiers they put on at night, so you can imagine the line. Kerry and I could not get it though to the cashier, CSR or the Manager that this was absurd! Kerry ended up leaving with out her purchases. I stood there for half an hour while the cashier rang up my transactions, BUT only because I was sending the Q tips to soldiers and wanted the darn things that much. The CSR even went so far as to open up another line to take care of all those other people and left me stuck with my single transactions. I was so mad I was shaking by the time I got home. I sat right down at my computer and wrote a letter to Wal Mart customer service.
I have a good and bad story on coupons. I had bought some five pack boxes of mac-n-cheese for our church food pantry late one night at Kroger. I had my list of things I had signed up to bring and just ran up and down the aisle. There was a peelie for a free Capri Sun on the mac-n-cheese and I asked the pastor if it was okay to get it since I was bring snacks one day for VBS. I was hoping to use it at the local Publix and got the Capri Sun. The cashier refused to take it since I had not purchased macncheese. I explained where I got and all and she told me that they could not take coupons from another store. I actually laughed out loud since I had some competitors coupons in my batch. I asked her to check with the manager but he was doing something and I just did not want to wait. I had her take them off rather than keep argueing and used them last week with all the mac-n-cheese I bought. Only time I had a problem there.
I bought a ton of stuff at Ingles triple coupon days and saved about $120.00 for had a lot of frees that upped my price. I bought the long resigster tape in to work and showed it off. My boss could not belive it and I told him that it took me about 2 1/2 hours to do this, the cashier was new I had to tell her which coupons to triple, she was going to do all of them and I did not want to be dishonest. He said you made about $50.00 an hour. WHen I was leaving for the day he stopped me and asked me if I would care to explain to his wife how I did it. I explained the basics and gave her a few websites.
Some highlights are;
Once I had a cashier refuse to give me my 2.00 overage. Which fine whatever, but she was so worried about my coupons causing an error on the register tapes, she didn’t realize not giving my my 2.00 was going to make the register over! I tried to point this out, but she wouldn’t hear it.
I once had a Publix manager take my cart from me (after I paid) pull me to the front of the store with everyone watching and accused me of coupon fraud. He told me I was robbing Publix and one per purchase meant I could only use 1 coupon total, and using 2 coupons on b1g1 was fraud because I was only paying for one. Everyone who was checking out was eyeballing me like I was on America’s Most Wanted.
Ignoring my instincts I kept my calm, stepped around him, grabbed my cart back, and explained coupon policy. Then politely told him I would be contacting Publix Corporate and putting in a complaint and getting a copy of the coupon policy to show him his mistake. I pointed out the .08 the store makes for every coupon I use.I also informed him I was in several couponing groups who would hear of this and avoid his store like the plague.
Corporate had a district manager call me back who tried to very rudely tell me the same thing! I stood my ground, and put in a complaint on him as well.
I hadn’t been back to that store, until a few weeks ago. I went to customer service and lo and behold that same manager was working. I asked for the Unilever coupon booklet and he very excited gave me several different coupon books and told me how now they keep the coupons behind the counter to make sure they protect their coupon shoppers.
I guess my complaining worked. =) Since then, I haven’t had a problem with Publix.(knock on wood)
I don’t have any great stories, but as a relatively new “couponer”, I find it hysterical that we all critically eye the cashiers for the one who looks the most coupon savvy!
I just had a terrible exp at Walgreens … Of course it is Walgreens. I was trying to do the Listerine deal. I also got like 4 cans of soup and 2 healthy choices. The Listerine items did not ring $3 each. Instead one of them rang $4.99, the other $3.99 and the last one $4.99. I had to tell the cashier about it. They should ring up $3 each or a total $9 for all of them. Then the cashier had a great excuse. Well the $9 is after the coupon prints??? Excuse me the ad said I should pay $9 and get $6 RR back. Is it just me who can do the math or what? Obviously $4.99+$4.99+$3.99 does not add up to $9… or does it???
Ok the cashier now is angry and she calls the manager who tells me that I grabbed the wrong items… NONONO I did not I made sure that what ever the ad said I got. SO she offered to adjust the prices then when I give her my coupons $5 off the Listerine and so on she tells me the ultimate biggest lie ever: THE RR WON’T PRINT BECAUSE YOU ARE USING COUPONS….. Please laugh with me…. NO NO NO They better print. I pay for my transaction with a gift card. I paid like $0.70 after all coupons and yes the RR did not print… I am not going out of here before I get my RRs. The manager then gives me that look and said that I should call the Catalina Company? NO, why should I do that? To waste more of my time? Then I decided that I want all my coupons back, my $0.70 back and I will go to another store.
The manager opens the register, gives me back all my coupons and RR except of one $5 coupon. She does not know where she put it? Well that is too bad but it’s not my problem. I won’t leave until I have all my coupons, RR and mu $0.70 as well. The manager looks everywhere for the coupon, the line behind me is bigger and bigger. The store wasted like 30 minutes of work of 3 employees.
After 45 minutes, the manger could not find the coupon so she offered a $5 gift card instead. I took the gift card, my 70 cents and all my coupons to another Walgreens.
Walgreens just sucks.
I love couponing and my family is pretty much “trained” when it comes to making purchases… if I don’t have a coupon, the answer is more often “no” than “yes”! Well, my son’s girlfriend surprised me the other day! They were celebrating their 10-month dating anniversary and wanted to go out for dinner. Being teens, they are on limited budgets but wanted to do something nice. Kenzie, the girlfriend, turned to me and asked if I had restaurant coupons for their date! I laughed! It just so happened that I had a coupon AND a gift card for Longhorn’s Steakhouse so dinner was on me that night! She’s been converted.. and now my son BELIEVES me that it’s cool to date-on-a-coupon!!
I’ve been couponing for awhile now, and have been teaching several women at church (and my mom). I’ve long since learned that shopping at Walmart is NOT the pleasure with coupons that other places are.
Well, one of my friends new to couponing told me that she was trying to use a coupon at Walmart and the total for an item after coupon was going to be like 49 cents. The cashier wouldn’t let her use the coupon, saying “that would be like giving it to you for free!!! We can’t do that!!” We laughed so hard at that statement. She just declined the item and took back her coupon. She later told me, all she could think about saying back, but didn’t was “So? we do that every week now!”
I was at Wal-Mart one afternoon and was checking out with lots of Qs, including IPs, and was hoping that the woman cashing me out had some idea about coupons…boy was I WAY off the mark! She first tried to tell me that they don’t take IPs anymore, so I politely told her that they did. AS I am saying this another cashier says very rudely ‘no we don’t’. I said to myself, ‘who asked her?’ Anyway, after the usual go-around about ‘purchase vs. transaction’, we come up on the $6 pork Qs WYB participating items, along with my $4 charcoal Qs and the other participating items Qs as well. Short of the long is this…we had a CSM called to come to our register and she had the nerve to call us back and ask what we wanted. My cashier got her to come down to our register and she started her tirade about fake and fraudulent IPs before she even sees any of mine. This is the most hysterical thought for a Q: She actually thought that I couldn’t use my $6 pork Q on pork, because to her and the other person she phoned in the store ‘the other white meat’ is actually chicken breasts…yes! chicken breasts! I think I must have looked like a man with his last child off to college and his wife telling him she was pregnant, because they had to say ‘ma am’ twice to get my attention. By this time I have been running around in circles with them for 20 minutes and my kids are climbing the walls, so I told them to give me ALL my Qs back and that I would shop at my other local Wal-Mart where they know that chicken is poultry and pork is meat. I also left my FULL buggy there for them to put back, just for wasting my time. Still makes me laugh when I tell that story!!!
My story begins the first time I ever tried my hand at using coupons. I had joined a couple of websites and got my lists together, my coupons sorted and headed off to the store. We purchased needed items as well as started stockpiling items we used weekly. Let me tell you My husband was a skeptic from the beginning and just didn’t believe we could save a ton of money each week on food. We emptied the cart and watched as the total got higher and higher. We both just looked at each other nervously as just becoming a SAHM the paycheck’s were smaller and we were on a strict budget. Once the cashier was done scanning all the items, she started taking the coupons from the total. The total did go a lot lower but not as low as expected. We both left the store and I just polietly said ” I guess I did not do it right, I am sorry” and will try again next week. I told him I would just give it one month to see the difference before I would stop. We got home and as the bags came in my husband started laughing. We had twice as much stuff for about the same amount of money we were spending each week on our need items. He still laughs each time I come home from the store and gets excited to see what I got deals on each week. It has been 4 years since that first coupon shopping day. I have dealt with a ton of problems, ” not a valid coupon”, “One per transaction”, “I will let you use them just this one time” and my most priceless one is ” buying all this is hoarding and causes rodents”! This was from a lovely Kroger cashier who was po’ed she had to give me all those free items durning a mega event sale! Through all the problems, I still enjoy using coupons. It does take a lot of work and with two little kiddos under 4, some days it takes a lot more work than others but well worth it in the long run. Hey I still amaze my husband each week so that is saying something!
Thanks for all you do Michelle. I love both sites~!
I started REALLY clipping coupons and “scoping” out deals when my husbands company of MANY years filed bankrupcy without bothering to mention it to their employees. My hubby got up and went to work as usual one morning to find the door to his company covered in notices and taped up….ON PAY DAY! There we were with 3 small children (one with C.O.P.D.), a mortgage, 2 car payments,insurance payments of numerous natures, and suddenly we were left with only our funds in the bank (he never did get his paycheck). I googled and googled and finally found Michelle’s website. I knew right away that this was the site for me as I have always been a Publix shopper!
After we paid what bills we could I purchased the matching coupons from Michelle’s list off of ebay ( I did not have a coupon stash like I do now) and prepared to go shopping. I only had $20.xx left in my checking account and I was very nervous because I did not yet understand the “lingo” yet and kept my fingers crossed that all would work out fine and that I would have enough money because the list was HUGE.
My hubby went with me through the neighborhood Publix store (we left the children with my friend because we knew we could not afford the treats they would ask from us)and we did our shopping…very slowly and carefully. When all was scanned & I gave the cashier my coupons she was VERY, VERY rude and told me that she can only take one coupon per item per transaction. I was CRUSHED! I knew I did not have enough money! Needless to say my husband requested a manager and he said the same thing and VERY loudly told us that it was COUPON FRAUD to submit more then one coupon per transaction! We left the store empty handed! (I was in tears from being sooo embarrised by the time I got to the car)
When we were in our car getting ready to leave a WONDERFUL stranger (an older woman) knocked on my window and told me that she had been in the checkout behind me and saw/heard everything and that she KNEW they were wrong because she works at a different Publix but lives in my neighborhood. She told us to go to her store and promised us all would be fine and that they take all the coupons…even for the bogo items- like Michelle’s site said! We rushed over to the other Publix and I am soooo very proud to say that I got everything on my list-my list was from Michelle’s scenerios and bogo deals and was over 60 items long- for under $20.00! The cashier was “sweet as pie” and kept telling us what a fabulous job we were doing with our savings! My hubby and I were tickled pink and we giggled when we got home -with almost two weeks worth of groceries! We decided to let the boys stay over at my friend’s house. Wink-wink.
I know that this story is not really “FUNNY” like everyone elses story but it did teach me a valuable lesson in life…when things seem at their worst there is ALWAYS a WONDERFUL stranger who comes along and embraces the spirit of humanity and makes things seem a little less bleak.
I have since started to “over buy” in bulk & look for all the FREE items so that I can donate as much as I can to food banks and women in disress centers. “Blessed are those who share”.
My husband recieved a new job offer promptly and we are back on track and doing super well due to Michelle’s help! I am even putting money into my boys’ savings account again!I am and forever will be a “COUPONER”.
My kids are so used to me saying “I will buy it the next time it goes on sale and if I have a coupon,” that they don’t even ask for anything at the store without saying, “when it goes on sale or you have a coupon can we have….” My 3 year old daughters carry around small pieces of paper calling them “coupons”. I guess I spend most of my time clipping coupons and looking at sale ads!!
I have had many good and bad couponing experiences, but the most recent was this: I was in Target just the other day and with my receipt printed out a Target coupon for a free Dove deodorant wyb a Dove body spray. I was excited because I still had the free body spray wyb a Dove deodorant MFR coupon. So these two coupons should get me the deodorant AND the body spray for free, right? WRONG….
I put the stuff from my first transaction in my car, and went back in to grab the deodorant and the spray. When I was checking out, the cashier said, “oh, for some reason this isn’t working. Let me call someone for help.” The manager came over, investigated my coupons, and said, “Ma’am, you cannot use this coupon, we are not allowed to give you items for free,” pointing at my Target coupon that had JUST printed out. For some reason I could use the MFR coupon, but she actually had a problem with the coupon that printed out from her own store just minutes before.
I asked her why, since it was a Target coupon, and she just stated that I couldn’t just get something for free like that. “You can’t have a transaction that is less than zero dollars”, she said. I explained that it was not less than zero dollars, and that two free items EQUALS zero dollars. She did not understand the math. “If you use both of these coupons, your total will be less than zero dollars.” Again, I explained.
“Ma’am”, she said, “You DO understand that it is ILLEGAL to not pay tax, right?” WHAT??? Where did that come from??? She continued, “If you get an item for free, you don’t pay tax, and it is the law that you have to pay tax.” “I understand – there is no bypassing paying tax. Normally the computer figures out what tax you pay on the pre-coupon price”, I say. She stared at me blankly and insisted that two free items is less than zero dollars and not EQUAL to zero. I looked at the people behind me, apologized to them for holding the line up, and then looked at the manager and said, “Just give the coupons back to me. I’ll call your corporate office and let them deal with your math skills.”
I was so mad I could almost feel the smoke coming out of my ears!
My proudest moment shopping was at Publix. My husband ended up coming with me to to shop and I warned him about all my “coupons”. He insisted he was ok with tagging along (really just so he could get some things he wanted!). I did my normal shopping and pricing and finally we made it to the check out. AFter the cashier totaled my order it was $190, so I handed her my coupons and my husband just put his head down in embarressment. AFter coupons my total was $34 and my husband was so funny! He started smiling and telling the lady in the line behind us “she goes to all these sites and gets list of what to buy for so cheap”. He started bragging about couponing!!!
I have quite a few, most very similiar to ones already mentioned. My favorite so far has been a close tie with an experience at Walgreens and Target. I actually try not to shop Walgreens because they are all so negative. One weekend I went into Walgreens to get my free aluminum foil. It was on sale for 0.99 cents and there were $1.00 coupons, thus free. I went in really early and the Beauty Department person was ringing up all the customers. She told me I could not use the coupon and we went back and forth. I told her to adjust it down to 99 cents, she said it was illegal…haha. Next I told her to charge me 1.00 for the foil, I was willing to pay the extra penny (not really though since the coupon was 1.00 off, but she did not catch that joke). She treated me like I was stealing the foil. I explained to her how manufacturer’s actually pay Walgreens this dollar back…the store is not losing money. She was all bent out of shape and I asked her to call the Manager. The Manager comes up and also tells me he cannot adjust the coupon down. We went back and forth for quite a bit and finally he told the cashier to give them all to me for free! I was shocked that after 20 minutes of back and forth he just hands them to me. I wish I could have taken a picture of the cashier’s face….PRICELESS. I told her to keep the coupons to get the reimbursement…to be fair. I am not trying to abuse, just get what is right.
Target for me has been an up and down battle. I really think Target guest relations needs to do a better job educating their cashiers and managers on their coupon policy. I had the unfortunate event to get a cashier that is not normally a cashier, so each time the coupon beeped…and every one beeped…she called the manager. On this transaction I had quite a few travel/trial size items. Which, we all know is allowed, so long as the coupon does not exclude it. The Manager tells me the machine is beeping because it is over the price of the item. I said, “Yes, you have to adjust it down to the price of the item.” I then received the normal response, We can’t do that. So we went back and forth quite a bit. She then went on to tell me that the item did not match the picture….even funnier because the descriptions was ANY Vaseline Lotion – apparently there is a picture rule I am unaware of! Then I bought a regular item and the coupon excluded trial size, she tried to tell me I bought a trial size and that is why the coupon would not work. That was fun, I had to explain to the TARGET MANAGER that the item only came in one size, there was no trial size and the coupon was valid. She continued to tell me how she is fully up to date on the store’s coupon policy and they have a large amount of fraudulent uses. Long story short, I just asked her to take all the ones that she thought were wrong off —- and I bought them (or should I say got them for free) at Wal-Mart. I now keep Target Guest Relations 800 number in my wallet, because they asked me to call them from the store the next time it happened because the Manager was completely wrong.
Oddly enough, my story just happened this past Saturday at Target with haircolor. The nice young girl checking me out was very chatty, I had my husband and two kids with me, so I was a little frazzled. I also had a couple in line behind me that were all up in my personal space, standing in front of the card swiper and preventing me from seeing things as they rang up (grrrr). I was flustered but determined to get my deals. I had a Target Q for $2 off Tidy Cat ($10.99) and an IP for $3.50 of Purina cat food ($10.99) and if I purchased two items (which I did) I got a $5 Target card. I also had 2/$4 off Natural Instincts haircolor which happened to be on sale that day for $6.99. I patiently watched as the girl starting scanning my coupons, the cat food and cat litter went well and I got my giftcard. And then we hit the haircolor Qs – which beeped “not found.” She said I must have picked up the wrong boxes and started to hand them back to me – and I almost gave in and accepted them back. But then my money saving side took over, and I assured her that the coupons were for the dye I was purchasing. She scanned again and they beeped again. She stared at me and I stared at her. I knew I was right and asked that she either get them from the bag and check or try it again. Finally she dug them out and said “Nope – these are for Natural Instincts and not what you have.” I took the coupon, which had the pictures of several different varieties of hair color on them and showed her that my box was the exact box shown on the coupon, right down to the redheaded model. She input them by hand after that and I got my haircolor for $2.99 a box. I cannot believe that I almost folded and paid full price!
I have used coupons for years, but have only been a true couponer for about 5 months. Crazy how a few of my favorite cashiers at the nearest Publix already refer to me (fairly affectionately) at the “crazy coupon lady.” One in particular even had me write down my e-mail address so that I could teach him mom how to do it!
My friends and family call me multiple times a day for coupon advice. I love coaching them through it when they’re in the store trying to figure it all out. The best part has been helping others and the wonderful, talented and frugal ladies I’ve met.
Earlier this month, we were getting ready to celebrate my grandfather’s 81st birthday. My older two sons and I baked cookies for their great-grandfather, and the eldest wanted to make him a card. So, the 3-year-old decided he needed to make great-grandpa a gift too. Somehow I wasn’t paying a ton of attention as I packaged up cookies and cleaned the kitchen and didn’t notice that the 3-year-old had wrapped up something in construction paper he decorated.
He came to me, clutching the precious package asking for tape to help keep it closed. I said to him, “Is it something very special for a very special birthday?” He replied,”It’s the best present Mommy, it’s coupons!” He keeps his own folder to ‘clip,’ and he’d carefully cut out coupons as the birthday gift. Later that night, over cookies, he proudly showed his grandparents each coupon he’d selected. He’s going to make one great shopper one day!
Not really a story…but a proud coupon moment. My 3 and 4 year old play store with a Princess cash register…”thank you princess shopper, have a magical day…”. And when my son finished ringing my daughters items up (15 bottles of kraft bbq sauce and countless kraft salad dressings 😉 ) he said, do you have any coupons you would like to use and she said no, I don’t. He replied, you have to…those things ALWAYS have coupons!!
LOVE IT–they actually do pay attention!
I am new at this couponing thing, but I find it such a challenge. I was low on money this week but couldn’t stand the thought of not getting the “deals”. So I take our last 60.00 and head out to Walgreens and Publix. Walgreens had Highlighter Pens advertised for .99. I had 1.00 off coupons.
Register lady tells me coupon won’t work because it is l.00 and pens are .99. She also says picture on coupon has 5 pens and these only have 4. I go and politely ask a manager if this coupon will work. He says,, Yes mam, no problem. I’ll just adjust the price to 1.00 and take 1.00 coupon off. Register lady was so mad. She rolls her eyes. I said I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to go above you. I just didn’t understand why you won’t honor your own coupon. She says, Don’t matter to me what you do.
How’s that for customer service?
I held a small private coupon class for a few friends from my church. I invited them to come with me on a shop after the class. We walked the aisles and I talked with them about overage, stockpiling and adding in items that they might need for the week. We then approached the register. There was a new cashier working that was training for the new Publix store in my area. After she rang up everything, I handed her my coupons one section at a time while my friends stood gawking at the computer screen. I could hear them exclaiming as the balance got lower and lower. Then they did something that I really wasn’t expecting.
They clapped. Really loudly.
Can you imagine having a group of people staring at the Publix screen in awe and then clapping in front of everyone in the store. I felt both a mixture of embarrassment and pride. On the one hand I didn’t want to draw attention to myself but on the other hand it was nice to see them get so excited about something that I knew was going to help them all save money.
It was one of my first trips to Publix and the coupons. I had purchased 5 Dr. Peppers, 20 ziploc bags, tons of BBQ sauce, some cereal, a Publix sub (can’t lose) and a few other things. My total before coupons was $178.00 or something like that. There was a retired couple behind me watching the cashier (a manager) ring up all my items and coupons. When he said that total was $13.81, the old man replied, “That’s it???!!!” I couldn’t help but smile as I was happy this system worked for me. Since then I look forward to when I don’t have to pay too much for my shopping trips. Some weeks are better than others.
My story is about best friends that don’t understand:
I started couponing when I was 24 years old. While many girls my age are sleeping in from a late party, I am up early on Sunday morning clipping my coupons and making my grocery list. I tried to share my savings with my friends; however, my friend Lauren swears that it’s a waste of time. My friend Rachel scoffs and says, “I’m too young to clip coupons!” So, I clipped, clipped away and bragged to my husband about our savings–a little disappointed that I couldn’t share my savings with my best girl friends.
Well, at 26, I bought my first house with a large down payment. Soon after moving, I invited both Lauren and Rachel over for dinner. They both wanted to know how I was able to save that down payment so quickly. I pulled out my purple coupon file and waved it in the air. Don’t you know they had me driving them to Walmart to get their very own coupon files 15 minutes later. Now, they call me every Sunday morning to share their coupon savings!! 🙂
Well once again our WalMart is up their old tricks. For some reason they think that the limit one coupon per purchase at the beginning of the small print means I can only use one coupon and no more on like items. I had seven identical coupons this morning and was told I could only use one of them. After telling the cashier that I didn’t mind if she rang up my order seven times she backed down and took the coupons, All of the items were free so all I would have been doing is standing there and watching her and would not have even paid tax as it was all food. This gets frustrating. I have many times split up my order and coupons just to keep them happy. They are doing the work so if they want to do it that way they can!!!
Love your site, you are the #1 person/site for Publix deals.
Here is one of my stories:
A Wal-Mart cashier questioned my use of internet coupons and called the manager over to approve, and he actually said “no” at first. Now just imagine:
The buggy was full of grocery bags, people were standing in line (one poor lady stuck it out the entire time, I think she wanted to know the outcome, I gave her one of my yogurt coupons for being so nice), my child is fussing after being in the shopping cart for over an hour (it can not be the most comfortable place to sit), my husband is looking on with encouragement (he knew that it would all work out), and I am digging around desperately in my coupon folder for the Wal-Mart policy. I am usually very organized (or I like to think so), guess I was in shock that they were going to refuse the printable coupons and my worst fears of others was going to happen in this store. We have heard that some Wal-Mart stores will refuse to take these coupons.
All in all it turned out just fine, the ASM reviewed the Wal-Mart corporate policy, the coupons were “approved” and my husband and I laughed about it on the way home.
Here is the link to Wal-Mart’s coupon policy: http://walmartstores.com/7655.aspx. Print it now and keep it with your coupons. I printed mine twice and put it in two places. 🙂
Thank you for this opportunity to tell my story.
Frances
Most of my coupon experiences have been good, but sometimes a bit time consuming. Not long ago in Publix, a cashier I had not seen before (nor since) spread out all of my coupons around him before he began scanning my items. After he scanned each thing, he would look over all the coupons to see if there was one to match the product. On this particular trip, I did have a coupon for most of the items, but thankfully it wasn’t one of my big stock-up trips or we would have been there a very long time!!
I am relatively new to couponing. I just started in March and have saved so much money with it. All of my friends and family think i am insane, but my husband is finally starting to come around with the idea. Recently he told me he was going to the store and told me the items he needed…for 2 out of the 3 items i had coupons for them. so, he took the coupons and purchased the products. When he came home he was so excited by how much he saved. I believe it was around $3…but he also came back with a couple of blinkie coupons and a couple of coupon booklets on display!! Yeah…i cheered for him..now I think we are starting to get on the same page when it comes to couponing!
My other quick story is i went to kroger. i had my husband check out in one line and I did another. i got done paying and went to his line. we were almost done with the coupons he had handed the cashier. the store mgr came up to me and the cashier and started inspecting the coupons and counting my items. He told me that i could not use all the coupons. i asked why he told me because that i could only use 2 on each type of item. they were coupons put of the paper not printed ones. He showed his butt and was rude. I told him ok that is fine hand me my coupons back and ill gowhere they will take then. he then said well you can do it this time. with all the hassle i paid 2.20 for 60 dollars and walked out with my head high. My husband said you showed him that you new the policy and I am proud the way you shop
I just started couponing about a month ago and have really enjoyed what doors it has open up for me. This weekend, my boyfriend and I did our bi-weekly grocery shopping at Publix. After shopping, we proceeded to get in a line to check out. Once we were at the register, I waited until the cashier ask me for my coupons, which were in my hand. The very first one he saw which was the free milk with $100 purchase, he said that he wouldnt take it. I asked him to get his manager, he did, and she said it was okay, as long as it was under $5 (I called before hand to make sure-I hate to be embarrassed). This was taking forever, with the manager checking the coupons and the cashier, that I polietly turned to the woman who was next in line to apologized. She said that it wasnt a problem, and she went on to ask what websites I used to print my coupons and I told her. By this time the cashier was 3/4 of the way through and a bagger walks up and starts looking at the coupons and was like I could’nt use them. The cashier proceeded to tell her that I could because the manager had just approved them. Well, she goes to get the manager and comes back which the manager again said that it was fine. The bagger was so rude that my boyfriend said that he would take over our groceries and she could leave. The lady behind us said that I was a inspiration to her, which made me feel great.
All in all, I saved $105.75 and paid $53. With some of the money we saved, my boyfriend and I are buying school supplies to fill up a box we have that we are going to donate to either a school or local a teacher. I have learned that even though others try to make me feel like I am doing something wrong, even though it is not, I am going to continue because it will allow myself (us) to bless others who are less fortunate.
My least favorite store on the planet is CVS, and here’s why. About 6 months ago I went to buy several items like I had dozens of times before. Of course, I always get followed because in my tiny town nobody uses coupons, let alone as many as I had that day. The guy refused to take the coupons because they read “One Per Purchase”. Couldn’t ask for the manager because it was the manager, and all my explaining went to deaf ears. He said if I wanted to use more than 1 coupon I’d have to do separate transactions. I was going to, and then he still gave me attitude and didnt’ let me. They were insert coupons, not internet printed. He accused me of cheating the system by using so many coupons, and when I wanted to return something he called me a thief. Many phone calls to his district manager later, I was given a gift card and an assurance it wouldn’t ever happen again, but we haven’t been back in there. We went to the other nearby store, in the same district, and my husband heard a cashier whispering to another “You have to watch those people”. I wasn’t even using coupons that day. You win some, you lose some in couponing, but CVS is just a complete loss to me in this area. Totally closed-minded about allowing people to save money when in fact I doubt they’d be in business if they didn’t accept coupons.
I have been tutoring a now fifth grade girl in math for nearly a year. Her mom asked if I could keep her for the full day when I tutored her this summer to which I agreed. On the days we had our sessions I would take her grocery shopping with me. This helped her to apply math to the real world. As for coupons, before going to the checkout, I would have her add up all the coupons. I showed her how it wasn’t difficult to do if you group like coupons together. She especially enjoyed using the free M & M coupons to get a treat. One of the best lessons using coupons was buyin Oxi-Clean at Target. I had intended to buy a small container which was on sale. As we walked away, I said, “I think I have a coupon for that.” I did, but it was for a larger container. We went back to the display, subtracted the coupon from the cost of a larger container. Then we compared costs by dividing each one by the number of ounces. She was able to conclude that with the coupon we got a better value by purchasing the larger size.
Ok I have to share… I have to admit I have just spent the last hour (had to go eat dinner inbetween) reading all of these GREAT comments and stories… I have not been doing the coupon thing for very long, only since June of this year. Oh and before I forget to mention it, I am the one who does the couponing, and my wife supports me very much. I have to admit that it is VERY interesting and FUNNY all the looks I get when I load my coupon box into the seat of the cart and have my “inserts” with me in another bag in the cart. I will tell you that I have a GREAT mentor and friend who has helped me get my savings going. I do not have any stories of bad cashiers, or bad experiences but I had to share that since most of the “couponers” are moms or women in general there are some of us guys out there that see the value and actually work at it. I just had to share the fact that it is VERY cool when my wife tells EVERYONE at work and when we are checking out that I do the cutting and planning and sorting and she just goes for the extra support and transactions. She has tried to get me to hold some “classes” for others who wanted to know how I was doing on my savings and why I sit at lunch at work and cut coupons. I just wanted to say thank you to my lovely wife for believing that eventually I will have a 97% savings trip. I am currently getting about 50-70% when I go. Thanks for allowing me to share.
Hi…I’ve been couponing for a while now and usually don’t run into too many problems with cashiers but when I do, it’s usually easily resolved when a manager is involved. Yesterday, however, was another story. I was at Publix, one that I’ve shopped at numerous times, purchasing some of the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers, which were on sale for $3 and I had manufacture coupons for $2.50 and a Target coupon for .50, so they would have been free. I had 5 Chef Boyardee coupons, which would have made them for free. I also bought some fruit and veggies to bring my total to $25 before coupons. Once the cashier was done, I handed over my coupons, one was a $5 off $25 purchase from Save a Lot. She told me that she couldn’t use the $5 coupon until all other coupons were scanned first. I proceeded to tell her that she’s supposed to scan it before other coupons, so she called the manager. The manager agreed with me but proceeded to tell me that she would not accept my $2.50 coupons for the Cafe Steamers because they were internet printables and the value was greater than $1. She also didn’t allow me to stack a competitor/store coupon with a manufacture coupon. She said that there was a new policy in place that would not allow them to take internet printables valued at more than $1. Also, she said that they would only be able to take 1 coupon per transaction, even though the coupons clearly states that it’s one per purchase. There was such a long line and I didn’t want to waste anymore time and energy going back and forth with the manager and cashier that I just took back all of the coupons that they gave me and just paid for my order. The next day (today) I called the manager at the store to ask what coupon policy was and she confirmed exactly what I already knew. I explained to her what happened to me the night before and she apologized like crazy and told me to come in with all of my coupons and my receipt. She would look to make sure that everything was valid and if so then she would give me my money back. When I went into the store she refunded me $20 and also gave me a $25 gift card just for the inconvenience of going through the hassle and having to make another trip back to the store to get it resolved. She assured me that it would not happen again. This is why I like shopping at Publix…for the most part 😉
im pretty new to the coupon cutting, but i love it. its has become my new game. the other week i was at a publix and i had a whole lot of coupons for the cheif-boy-are-dee plus a couple of other items i randomly decided to pick up. after rings up my order the cashier, who was im guessing new, looked at me and asked if i reliezed that he had to ring all those coupons up one at a time. at first he seemed really annoyed as did the lady who was in line behind me. slow my total droped lower and lower by the time it was all said and done i had around 40 cans of cheif-boy-are-dee plus 4 cans of chicken and a 100oz bottle of purex for less than 3 dollars. not only did the attitude of the cashier change but so did the lady behind me. when it was all said and done they were writting down the name of this web site. got to love those shocked faces.