Discount coupons, oh how I loathe thee!
I hate dealing with coupons at work. Sometimes it’s the coupon which makes me want to tear out the little hair I have on my head. Sometimes it’s the customer who is driving me to an early retirement.
I know I’m not alone with this thinking. I know many many workers in the service industry share my gripes about coupons.
There is a multitude of different sizes and shapes of coupons, most of which I can’t stand. If I poured my heart out in one go, I would quite possibly commit myself to an asylum before I get to the (assumed) mid-point. Instead, I’ll go over the most common coupon offers one by one, presenting the most common mistakes consumers fall victim to with these coupons, as well as some really stupid and really bad examples. Bare with me. I’ll follow up these examples with a general guide to dealing with all coupons.
So, it’s time to begin. Let’s start off with the coupon I had to deal with today:
“THREE ITEMS FOR THE PRICE OF TWO”
This type of coupon is very popular in retail. There are several variations of this type of coupon-based offer, the most common one being “BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE”. Regardless of the variation, the keyword here is “FREE”.
“FREE” always has strings attached. There’s always a “but”. So people, READ THE FINE PRINT!
I had to deal with this kind of a coupon today at work. Bloody Christmas Sunday Coupons… I’ll use my experiences from today to highlight some customer hiccups.
The coupon deal we had was “Three Candles For The Price Of Two”. The fine print stated that it applied to all normal priced candles, and only 1 coupon per customer. Sadly, that left out one critical point: The three candles had to be under the product code, i.e. the same candle. Oh boy…
Most of the customers understood the rules and regulations either straight away or after we clarified them a bit. Most people didn’t complain since they were getting something for free anyway. Nevertheless, there were still misunderstandings and outbursts.
Nuisance #1: the coupon was for normal-priced candles only. So, not toys or stickers or gift wrapping. Just candles. So when I tell you that it has to be candles, don’t tell me that you don’t need candles. If you don’t need candles, don’t buy any. You don’t have to use the coupon. And yes, it’s just candles. I need coffee…
Nuisance #2: It’s December. ‘Tis the season for candles. So guess what? Most of them are on sale already! Most of them are somehow marked as being on sale, so if you’d just read the fine print, I wouldn’t have to tell you that it only applies to normal-priced candles. Three times.
Nuisance #3: If I have to clarify what you can and cannot use the coupon for, and you’re not happy with this, DON’T THROW THE COUPON IN MY FACE! I had nothing to do with the creation of the rules or the coupon itself and I have always hated this particular coupon. I’m sorry that you’re not happy with the terms, but is that my fault?
Nuisance #4: There is a date on practically every discount coupon clearly stating when the offer and the coupon are valid. It’s not my fault that you don’t have a calendar. I mean, come on! If you get a coupon which states at the top either: “Sunday 09.12.” or “Valid only on December 9th”, don’t looked shocked or get hissy when I tell you that you can use the coupon next Sunday, but not today.
As it goes with any coupons of this type, there’s always a catch. I think the most common one I keep seeing everywhere is the one that states “buy three items, get one free (of equal or lesser value). That doesn’t mean you get to choose which item you get for free. No, you can’t buy two $20 shirts and then get a $100 tie for free. It doesn’t work that way.
If I remember right, next Sunday is another Buy One, Get One day… Can’t wait! To pass the time waiting, tomorrow I’ll talk about coupons along the lines of “15% Off Your Purchase When You Spend More Than X Amount Of Money.”
What do you hate about coupons, either as a consumer or as a clerk?
If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, or anything to add to his chapter of The Consumer Etiquette Guide, let’s hear it!
The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at The Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!
