Chicagolandia
The days and ways of rolling a cat are slowly coming to a close. You know the cat, that holy grail of coupons - that which every couponer that can get them holds near and dear to their wallet? I may wax poetic, but wait til you hear my tale of woe. It all starts at Jewel.

I was gathering my tomatoes, catsup, pudding packs - almost like a normal person (except that I was buying one transaction of each), I had rung up my first (of 4 orders), everything went without a hitch. Rang up the second order, had the cashier come over to scan my coupon (we're not allowed to scan them ourselves anymore), and was told that I couldn't use my $10 on a prior purchase. I said, "That's fine, I don't see how you could anyway." The cashier then told me that you could not use the $10 on a purchase of products from the same company.

She kept pointing to the wording of previous purchase. I was assured that the coupon wasn't intended for the use I had planned on, the cashier allowed me the 2 transactions I had already rung up and would not allow me to ring up the next two transactions I had ready. Her logic, "Well, if I let you do this, you'll be here all day getting stuff for free." I hesitated to mention "Yep, that was the plan all along, but I wouldn't be here all day - you'd run out of stuff in about an hour anyway. I am still puzzling over how that cashier managed to grossly misinterpret the coupon, but as I have 3 other Jewel stores in a 5 miles radius, I left to visit one of them.

So I just popped over to the next one and ran 2 more transactions. The odd thing, the cashier asked me if I was doing "the same" transaction and I pointed out I was buying catsup first, then I was grabbing some snackpacks. This seemed to satisfy her and I receive no more hassle over the $10 cat. Keep in mind ,that doesn't mean I received no more hassle.

Now, the $3 off any grill meat, fresh deli, or product hangtag I grabbed from some wine bottles at the 1st Jewel gave her some problems, but after 5 minutes of her asking/arguing with her manager over what a "grill meat" is and reading all the fine print; they agreed that I was using the coupon according to the wording listed, but the cashier persisted in acting like we were doing something wrong.

Naturally, I was fed-up and beyond being friendly when it came to that piece of nonsense. I finally asked her (using my polite-yet-icy tone of voice), if she was done examining my coupons and was going to scan them. This illicited a dirty look, hand-on-hips, glare, followed by running the coupons and letting me pay for my order.

I left, frustrated, aggravated, and wondering - is Jewel not allowing the cats to roll aymore?
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11 Responses
  1. Amanda Grant Says:

    What jerks! I can't believe they hassled you like that! What is it with Jewel and their lousy customer service???? It's like they are absolutely determined to lose all their customers. x( Hugs to you!!


  2. That is just horrible customer service! I have a cashier at my stores who actually called me cheap one day because my bill was $.00 after coupons. You would have thought she owned the store. She was furious that I didn't have to pay anything. Her face was bright red she was so mad! So now, when I am spending alot of money on beef tenderloins etc.I go to another cashier. When I have an order that is $ .00 after coupons, I go to her line! Revenge is sweet sometimes.


  3. Helen Says:

    No, they just like to make up their rules just like Walgreens. For example, the last time the GM Cat gave you 3-$5, but the ad clearly said "Save $15 on your next order" the service desk manager was NOT happy when I said I could definitely use all 3 on one order. Her excuse was they said "no doubling" on them. Uh, since when is using two identical coupons "doubling"? LOL They just get mad when you know more than they do. It was on your next purchase, alright. They just wish you would leave after one ;)


  4. frugalsuz Says:

    Ugh, that sounds so frustrating. If the new cats printed on a transaction when you used the same cat to pay (did that make any sense?) then they're rolling. Just sounds like a case of the cashier-stupids to me.


  5. Thanks for the hugs, Amanda - I hate it when they make you feel like a criminal for saving a couple bucks.
    They act like it's deducted directly from their paycheck - which we all know better, even them.

    Precious - I love making a cashier mad - I go to Meijer for that. There a male cashier (smells really rank) that I've nicknamed Stinky FishFace. He despises me on sight, the feeling is mutual. I look for him and try to go in his section - just to screw with him. It's fun!

    Helen - I think your cashier is related to mine. Seriously! This is a case of the stupids something fierce. I'm afraid it might be contagious. That's okay - I've got 6 Jewels on my way to work, and I'll make the rounds tonight! Now, I'm just making my point. I have coupons - hear me ROAR!


  6. Frugalsuz - Cashier stupids are running rampant. I normally will attempt to educate, but this woman was seriously adamant is her ignorance. I left her there. Stewing in her own stupidity. Not that I'm judgmental....okay, maybe I am - a little.


  7. Gotta love the meanies. At least you had a nicey the other day!


  8. Helene Says:

    I've been abused like that here in the northern suburbs. Jewel, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens. Managers and cashiers. I've gotten the "double coupons" by using two of the same coupons argument too. One coupon wouldn't scan because they had to enter the free item price and the kid looked at it and said "oh that's why it's beeping, it's expired." It expires in 2010 and thankfully he understood we are in 2009. I've also heard "you can't do that, then you'll get it for free!" The list goes on.


  9. Central - the crazy thing? The meanie and the nicey are from the same store! It's insane.

    Helene - I've been told most of what's on your list, and I've even been told I cannot use so many coupons, even though I had an item to match with each and every coupon in my hand. When that happens at self-checkout, I typically ignore/argue while I continue scanning. I get really tired of being treated differently since because I use coupons.


  10. Helene Says:

    I got the too many coupons deal at Walmart. The girl yelled over to the other cashier "how many can she use??" She disgustedly ran them all through and I've also got the "just this one time" argument too. Some day we should all get together and write a book :-) I think my all time favorite has to be the coupon that says on ANY and they see the picture on the coupon and say the one I am buying is not the pictured one. Argh.


  11. Anonymous Says:

    It sounds as if you were in my neck of the woods. I get that a lot around here. It's crazy that they don't even want to take their own coupons! Fight the good fight!


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