What Do You Do When Stores Do Not Follow Their Coupon Policy?

I received an email from a reader today with this situation:

“Last night, I went to Walmart and tried to price match the $4.99 downy unstopables from Walgreens. They first told me they wouldn’t because it says “with card.” All of Walgreens sales are with card though, so she asked a supervisor who said it was okay. Then I handed her a coupon for it and she told me I couldn’t use a coupon on a price matched item. Has there been an update in Walmart coupon policy about this? I’ve never had issues with it before.”

The simple answer is this – the cashier and manager were wrong.  Walmart’s price matching policy clearly states “Preferred shopping card prices for specific items that are in a printed ad” are matched. This includes Walgreens.

In addition, the Walmart policy says nothing about not being able to use a coupon when price matching deals at their store.  The reason for price matching is to ensure shoppers always get the same deal at Walmart as they would any other store – which includes redeeming coupons.

What should you do if this happens to you?  Here are some things to always keep in mind when a store does not honor it’s own policies.

Show them their policy online.  It is a good idea to either print or have a quick link to the store’s policy on your phone.  You can show them what the policy states.  Sometimes, cashiers (and managers) tend to not read or know their own store’s policy clearly enough to enforce it.

Ask for the manager.  If the cashier is not wanting to do what you feel is right, immediately request a store manager.  They can come and help you and the cashier when it comes to figuring out the policies.

Stay calm.  Even though you know that they may be incorrect with what they are telling you, just stay calm.  (I know how difficult this can be).  When you are the voice of reason and cool and collected, you might have more success than if you are yelling at the manager.  When tempers flare, you get no where.

Leave the store.  Nothing says you have to finalize your shopping trip if they will not honor their policies.  You can simply gather your personal belongings, ask for your coupons to be returned and leave the store.   This is pretty drastic to leave your shopping cart and items behind, but if you find you just are too angry to stay in the store, it is better for everyone to leave.

Contact upper management / corporate.  Walmart stores display regional manager phone numbers at customer service.  You can ask the store for an upper manager’s number.  Call them or send an email.  You might often find that the store was incorrect and they want to make it right for you so you can come back to shop again.  I have had issues of managers emailing me back to apologize for the incident.  They want your business but if they don’t know there is a problem, they can not take the steps to make it right.

Shop elsewhere.  If you find your store does not want to listen to consumers, honor policies or treats you unfairly, avoid shopping there (if possible).  Nothing is worse than feeling uptight or angry when shopping at a store.  Just go somewhere else and give another store your business and money.

What do you do when a store doesn’t honor it’s own policies?