Okay so I never vent on here but tonight was the absolute worst customer service I have ever seen and I was a retail manager. I can spot BAD customer service a mile away. Today started normally.. My hubby's birthday... got up posted, got ready took him to dinner, and he is a GREAT SPORT because he takes me shopping a lot where most men would fall on the floor pretend to go into convulsions while popping a alka-seltzer in his mouth so he can pretend like he is foaming! Anyway Happy Birthday to him <3 So I go to CVS see my old assistant manager from the store where I use to go. Catch up all good, great transaction as I listed below (on my FB Page). Heading to Walmart to PM my husband says "Did you remember the sales flyer? I said "Oh NO!!" Stop at Rite Aid, I'll grab the flyer and maybe I will see if they have the gum, "score!!" They had the last 58 packs I was picking up the cashier says to me we only allow 4 like coupons in a transaction. I say "fine, do multiple transactions" She said I have to call the manager.. Ughhh! The manager comes out and says we'll lose our jobs if we let you have more then 4 packs" Okay their policy is 4 coupons in a transaction, but the policy never clearly states how many transactions and it was only a hour or before closing last day of the sale..... and they still had 8 Full boxes after I was done picking out my flavors, but the manager choose to let me (since my hubby was there get 8 packs each, two separate transaction for each of us) At one point I had to calm the cashier down who kept saying "Go ahead and call corporate and complain!" I had to tell her "STOP! I am not calling corporate (I never even mentioned making a call, this came from her mouth) I was on my way to Walmart, they will price match no big deal. It is okay!" Then she calmed down, and switched sides... She said Go ahead and call them and complain I would it is not fair what they are doing to you!" After she started the major drama! The manager actually said at one point "This makes me so mad when people come in with so many coupons!" I told her also no biggie I was headed to Walmart.
I walked out with my 16 FREE packs of gum and left it go......
Now my Walmart trip!!........ I did not get everything I intended on getting there because of course they were out of stock (as usual).
I grabbed my 42 packs of gum (Rite Aid Flyer In Hand), I went and got my 4 Packs of All Might Pacs & my 4 Clorox2 Bleach Pens. I head up front - My Walmart has a policy, when you have a lot of coupons the CSM has to look at them before the cashier can ring you out. So I go up to the CSM and tell her I have a lot of coupons can you look at them before I get to the cashier. She moves me to a new isle and looks over the coupons... All good ..... AND THEN IT HAPPENED! I said I want to Price Match these to Rite Aid.... She looks at the picture and says "this gum is not in the picture" I said "No it is not but the ad says ALL SINGLE SERVE PACKS ARE 2/$2.00" She goes I will have to call. I said "I am not sure they are open I just left there but if you want I can send my husband out to the truck to get the gum and receipts from the store" She states "I can't accept that" I go but it is from the store I just left there before here.. Walmart promotes that you don't even need the flyer" Well if you don't bring one we have to call the store.. we do keep them in our drawer..*sigh*... "Okay but I am not sure when they close" She walks away and calls and then comes back and says "They are closed so I can't do the PM for you.".... I said very calmly "I want a manager now" She says "Fine I will get one for you". After waiting almost another 10 minutes (well over 20 now from the time I first started speaking with the CSM) a manager arrives and starts looking at the ad... She says the gum is not in the picture again I state "No it is not but the ad says ALL SINGLE SERVE PACKS ARE 2/$2.00, I can send my husband out to the truck to get the gum and receipts from the store to show I just got it for a $1.00 a pack!" Then she intensely looks it over again with the CSM and cashier. Once again she states "It is not in the picture" and again I say "No it is not but the ad says ALL SINGLE SERVE PACKS ARE 2/$2.00, I can send my husband out to the truck to get the gum and receipts from the store to show I just got it for a $1.00 a pack!" Then I add "It says ALL Single Serve Gum do you really think they are going to stand there and take a picture of 150 different packs of gum for a flyer????" She turns to the CSM and says "Give it to her!" I got my 42 FREE packs of gum (with a retail value of $62.16 before PM) with a lot of drama from Rite Aid & Walmart tonight! Then she looked over my $3.00 off coupons again... they were perfectly fine buy I could just tell she wanted to nab me on something... I am a honest couponer... Have I made mistakes along the the way??... Yes, I have! Never intentionally though.
Here is the grabber!!! On my way home I passed Rite Aid. They were OPEN until 10!!! She never called!!!! GRRRRRR!!!! All the Walmart Drama and 35 minutes it took me to get out the door could have been avoided!!
I can fully understand how you feel. This has happen to me many times with Rite Aid and with Wal-Mart. Not totally the same but very close. None were rude to me, but very persistant. If I were you I would call Rite Aid corporate and let them know what that manager said about the coupons. Better yet send them an email, I am sure you will get something out of that. As far as Wal-mart goes, they have the worst customer service I have every seen in those stores. They hate taking those coupons also because I have a few friends that work there and they have stated they hate to take them and the management hates them too. I think they think they can treat us like they want to because you will come back because of the prices. Well... I hate to tell them I will not..... I quick using coupons at the one that is closest to me because they have a very bad attitude toward customers who use coupons. I just go to the one near my work and use my coupons, they are very polite to me and never argue a coupon like the other one does and they PM with no problem either. Customer service with Wal-mart really sucks big time. Not all the store but believe me I visit enough of them around here, the majority of them suck at customer service. We all want the deals so we just keep going back to them. Oh well.... just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteSimilar circumstances for me at Walmart, except in my case, the CSM stood there at the register the entire time, forcing me to present each coupon individually as each item was scanned, one by one, rejecting over half my coupons (she didn't understand the wording of the coupons, such as 'per purchase' vs 'per transaction', and she didn't understand stacking store coupons with manufacturers coupons - she thought it was against the law, LOL!) and allowing me only two of my 30+ ad match requests (she denied them because she didn't have the ads, even when I pointed out the ad match guarantee posted above each register states the ad is not required, AND, she told me I can NOT do an ad match AND use a coupon together on a single item, that I can only do one or the other, which, again, I pointed out the policy hanging right above her head AND handed her the printout I had of Walmart's coupon policy and ad match guarantee). Needless to say, I was very upset - I was prepared to save $150 on groceries using coupons but by the time she was done with me I only saved $15 - I was FURIOUS, but I did not let it show, I didn't want her to know it - I remained calm and convincingly pretended to be genuinely joyful of my savings and I even agreed with her, suggesting that I may have misinterpreted the coupons and policies regarding their use. After getting her name and associate number through idle conversation I went home and prepared my complaint and presented it to the store manager the next morning and by the time I was done, I had received three apologies, was given credit for ALL my coupons and ad match requests AND I was allowed to participate in mandatory training meetings for all cashiers to learn everything about coupons.. I was amazed at their ignorance - not one single cashier understood the wording of coupons, and not a single cashier was aware of the fact that walmart gets paid the face value plus .08 cents per coupon by the company who issued the coupon - they all thought couponers were thieves cheating the system getting products for free. Nevertheless, I schooled them on coupons and now, I have no problem using coupons at my local walmart - they actually go out of their way to accept as many coupons as I can give them, even overriding the register when it freezes up with errors - the CSM simply turns the key and hits a few buttons and I'm on my way, regardless. It's incredible, really. Now, the cashiers have no reservations and do not hesitate to give me a discount when I tell them a product is on sale for a certain lower price at a local competitor, it's almost like naming my own price, although I always have the ads with me just in case there's a discrepancy. All in all, my experiences with walmart were at first awful and undesirable but all turned out for the better and I'm thankful for having the opportunity to teach an entire store-full of walmart cashiers and interested associates all the intricacies of couponing.
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