I love the Greatland Target in the next town. I really do. They will scan any coupon you hand them, no b.s. required. The SuperTarget in my town...well, they are the Coupon Gestapo. Maybe that's a little harsh, but that is the nicest way I've been able to phrase it in my head. Here's why....
Monday, I heard that the Jewel (Albertson's) flyer had a coupon for $1 off 40 oz. bottles of Heinz ketchup. While I clipped 2 out of te flyers I had at home, it wasn't with any real expectation of being able to use them any time soon. That was, until I heard Target and WalMart had that very same brand and size (woo-hoo!!) on sale for $1. Hmmmm...visions of free ketchup danced in my head. Even though I'm not the biggest ketchup fan, it does come in handy for hotdogs and basic grilling. But, I digress.
After a (thankless) day at work Monday, I ran to Jewel to grab some flyers that have the manufacturer coupon in them...and another round of the ConAgra deal (7 boxes of Orville Redenbacher for $.54!!!). Then I was hot-footin' it to SuperTarget amidst a vicious snarl of rush hour traffic, compounded by road construction closing one lane of the busy street, and sweltering 90 degree temperatures. I get all excited when there actually is ketchup left on the shelf, and that should've been my first clue. Seriously, why did I get it??
I grab 5 bottles (trying to run the deal conservatively) and a package of tortillas - which we needed anyway and scamper (as much as I could at that point, anyway) to the register. I head for the spaced-out looking teenage boy cashier, but get waved over by a girl with no wait on her line. Which is fine, I'm hot, tired, and ready to be done shopping. She scans the items, scans the re-usable bag credits (love that) and I hand over my coupons while she bags.
She looks at the coupons. Then, she studies the coupons. First she tried to refuse because they were expired, until I reminded her of the current date. The coupons didn't expired until Wednesday. Her response was, "Oh..." and she flags down another associate and asks him about the coupons. At no point did she even try to scan them. It's like she had no intention of scanning the coupons at all.
The second cashier looks at the coupons and tells me I can't use them there. I ask as politely as I can at that point, "What is the problem?" He answers with, "Where did you get these coupons?" I realize at this point there is little chance of them even trying to scan the coupons, let alone allowing me to use them, so I try the educational standpoint - why aren't cashier trained in how to do their jobs? This is why I don't shop Target much anymore. I've had enough of their invasive incompetence.
I repeat, "What is the problem? Those are valid manufacturer coupons. Don't you accept manufacturer coupons?"
First cashier is trying hard to blend into the floor at this point, I'm speaking solely with the 2nd cashier (who I've had run-ins with coupons in the past). His reply, "We do accept manufacturer coupons, but we won't take them if they came from another store."
After several minutes of back and forth, I ask rather bluntly, "Are you refusing to scan these manufacturer coupons?" Finally, he admits it. He will not scan those manufacturer coupons. Then, and this is so funny even I had to laugh at this point, he asks if that will complete my order. I plaster on my biggest fake smile and tell me if you will not scan my coupons you will not get my business. I wait for the to empty the items out of my reusable bag and exit. Furious. I've now wasted nearly an hour at SuperTarget.
What's ironic? I go to the Greatland Target less than 4 miles down the same road and grab 8 bottles of ketchup, some Dove deoderant and hand over my stack of coupons.
The cashier scans every single one of them. And I had 2 coupons for each Dove item (store and manufacturer), plus for all the ketchup. It was that easy. No questioning, no arguing, no justifying - she simply scanned them.
All total, I spent $13.15 for:
4 Dove 2.6 oz. deoderant - reg. price $3.49
2 25.xx bottles Dove Body Wash reg. price $5.99
2 loofahs reg. price $1.99
10 bottles of ketchup reg. price $2.49
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