A few coupon pet peaves

There are a few pet peaves of mine and things that have been buzzing around me that I want to address.

1.  It upsets me to hear about readers who have been made to feel embarrassed or shameful by cashiers when they use coupons.  First of all, you are not taking money out of their paychecks, yet sometimes this is how they act.  Stores are redeemed the full face value of manufacturing coupons by the manufacturer.  On top of that they are reimbursed $.08 cents for each coupon for processing.  It costs the store only $.04 to process them so they are making $.04 on every MFR coupon you redeem.  That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up quickly for a store.  Find a store that is happy to accept your coupons and one that you feel good about helping them profit!

2.  Please do not copy internet printable coupons.  It is illegal and only hurts us in the end.  A MFR may only release 3,000 coupons to be printed, but if 6,000 are redeemed, they may stop offering them to us.  If we want manufacturers to continue to supply them, we need to use them properly.

3.  Most stores let you use 1 manufacturer coupon AND 1 store coupon on each item.  You can refer to my coupon policies page for more information.  Print and take it with you to the store.  Let’s face it, many cashier jobs are only part time and they really are not well trained on proper coupon usage.  In many cases, you will know more about their stores policy than they do.  If they call over a manager for approval, smile and wait patiently.  You are not doing anything wrong (hopefully ) so you should not have any reason to get mad.

4. Clearing the shelf.  Have you ever been into a store with your coupons in hand, only to find they are completely out of the item you went in for?   I’ve had it happen to me many times and it’s made me more considerate of others.  Try to purchase only what your family can consume in a reasonable amount of time.  We are all shopping the same deals so let’s be kind to each other.

5.  Hiding merchandise.  I’ve seen in done more than once.  I go into a store for a product and can’t find it.  The cashier looks it up and tells me the computer says they have 2 on hand but neither one of us can find them.  That’s my clue to start looking.  Lo and behold I find those 2 items hidden behind merchandise on a shelf.  It is not hard to get a heads up on sales for the upcoming week.  I do it all the time.  But it is wrong to hide an item so you can get the sale price before they run out.  Imagine how shocked that customer was to find their “bug spray” had been found and purchased?  Is it really that important?