So, today I went to Family Dollar to use the $3/2 printable coupons for Suave Deodorant, to get them FREE that I told you about a few days ago.  I bought everything I needed and left for another store, once I was leaving that store I looked down and still had the coupons for the deodorant!  I had forgotten to get them, so I go back – I am making it sound worse than it is, they are actually in the same parking lot!  :-) 

I got my 4 deodorants, which were $1.75 regular price each at my store, making them $.25 each, not FREE.  I get in line, I give the cashier my coupons after she rings the deodorant up.  They Beep!  Uh-Oh – here we go!  She tries again, they Beep!  So, she gets the deodorant out of the bag and checks to make sure I bought the right thing, size, name, it all matches… She tries again – they Beep!  Then, she calls over the manager on duty.  He looks at them and says “We don’t take internet printed coupons.”  Well, I know many of you have already done this at your stores, so I knew they worked.  So, I told him, “I know other people have done this deal with these coupons”, he said “Well, they shouldn’t have taken them, because we don’t take internet coupons.”  So, I thank them both and tell them I don’t want the deodorant and leave.

I come home and look up the coupon policy, again, to make sure I am right.  The Family Dollar Coupon Policy is to take internet printed coupons.  So, I call the store and speak to the gentleman who told me they don’t take them.  I ask if the policy had recently changed, and he said “We have never taken internet coupons.”  So, I tell him I am reading their website and it says they do, my coupons met all of the requirements for internet printed coupons.  He gives me his store manager’s number – Barbara. 

I call Barbara and leave a message explaining the situation telling her I would still like to use them. Barbara calls me back within minutes, I was surprised!  She had gotten my message, contacted her District Manager, and called me back!  In minutes!  She was quick to resolve the issue.  We discussed if they met the requirements or not, then she called the store and told them to go ahead and take them  She did say, however, that her District Manager said, if they Beep – they don’t have to take them.  Keep that in mind.

So, I tell my husband I am going back to the store, he looks at the coupons and reminds me they have 2 barcodes and maybe they just need to cover the one.  Oh, Good Point!  So, I go back to the store, the cashier has the deodorant ready for me and she tries to scan the coupons again, she even folded them over so they only had the correct barcode showing and they Beeped!

So, the Manager on Duty came over and assisted her in taking off the correct amount (although, I think she knew how, but, he was telling her anyway!  🙂 – Men!  lol)  She was very nice and very helpful from the beginning, she tried to determine why they wouldn’t scan and asked for help from her Manager on Duty, she was great!

After I left I called Barbara to let her know that they were very helpful and everything went well, how I appreciated it and to have a great weekend!

So, the coupon lesson, I promised?  The same one I always try to instill – “You catch more flies with honey, than you do with vinegar!”  If I had been mad, frustrated – and frustrating – they would have NOT been so willing to resolve the issue and I may have had to go all the way to the District Manager myself!

I totally get how frustrating it can be sometimes – can anyone say Wal-Mart?  But, storming out just raises your blood pressure and makes it hard for a cashier to look kindly at any couponer again!  So, think about us all (the couponing community) the next time you have an opportunity – because there will be another opportunity – to choose – because it is a choice – to Be Nice or Be Nasty!  Which will benefit you and the rest of us?