Photo by zizzybaloobah
Every week I’ll pose a question for you to share your experiences and tips. If you have a question that you’d like me to post, I’d love to hear from you!
Recently on the Deal Seeking Mom Forums, Dizzy Mom shared an experience she’d had when trying to redeem catalinas at her local store where a store manager was not only unresponsive but actually rude. If you’ve been couponing long, you may have encountered this same type of situation before, either with a manager who is disregarding the corporate policy or one who is actually rude to you. I know I have!
What do you do in situations like this? Do you escalate the issue above store management and complain to corporate? Do you take your business elsewhere? Have you ever gotten an issue like this resolved to your satisfaction?
Join the discussion — add your two cents to previous Ask DSM Readers questions too!
JenniferH
I’ve been couponing for over a year now and I’ve never had any problems. I also have almost two decades of retail management experience, including being a District and Regional Manager. From that experience I can tell you that how you approach a problem completely affects the outcome, and that whatever leeway a manager at any level has is far more likely to be given to a clam, reasonable, polite customer. Stores want to keep good customers and make them happy, but if you choose to be one of those people who loudly create a scene, make threats and generally make the other customers in the store uncomfortable with your behavior, no matter how right you may be, Management would just as soon you leave an never come back. So they aren’t going to go out of their way to make you happy. Every buisness open to the public also has the right to tell you to never come back. When something doesn’t work the way I expect it to with my coupons I politely explain why I am confused and allow the person who is waiting on me to explain. Frequently, just by talking it through they realize if they happen to have made a mistake. If we can’t sort it out, I usually just let it go….is it really the end of the world if I don’t get $1.00 off on fabric softener? I’ve built good realtionships with cashiers in many of the stores I shop in and it is not in my best interest to make a big issue out of a policy hiccup. In the long run, I come out ahead by being respectful and remembering that even the best of us have bad days and make mistakes.
You should also know that in the event that you have a disagreement with a Store Manager and decide to contact their superiors, in most cases the problem will have already been reported and Senior Management will have heard the Store Manager’s recounting of the events. The last thing any Manager wants is for their boss to hear about a problem from a customer first. How they choose to remedy the situation will depend both on the Store Manager’s history of customer complaints, and the manner in which you speak when you contact them. No Customer should ever be treated poorly, and you should report rude, insensitve and inappropriate behavior when it happens. Managers who receive only a few such complaints against them will soon be out of work, and you will have done a great service to the store and your fellow shoppers. Just remember to keep things in perspective, and always be calm and polite.