How To Handle Cashiers That Won’t Accept Your Coupons

What To Do When Cashiers Won’t Accept Your Coupons

You’ve been planning this shopping trip all week. You received your flyers, saw the great deals, pulled your coupons and were prepared to bring home a ton of stuff for very little money.

Then, when sale day comes along, you head to the store and happily toss items into your cart. You finish shopping and head to a cashier to checkout – and that’s when it all goes downhill. The cashier refuses to take your coupons.

Here’s how to handle cashiers that won’t accept your coupons:

I can’t accept this coupon because it’s for $2 and the item is only $1.79.

Depending on where you are shopping, tell the cashier to just adjust the coupon to the price of the item (be sure to view the store coupon policy first to make sure they allow this).

If you’re shopping at Walmart or Giant Tiger, their coupon policies state that the cashier is to put in the full value of the coupon, regardless of how much the item costs.

I can’t accept more than 1 of this coupon because it says “1 per purchase”.

Tell your cashier that 1 per purchase, means 1 coupon per item, not 1 per transaction. Point to your 1 item and say “THIS is a purchase” and then point to the rest of your items and say “THIS is a transaction”.

That usually works for me.

I can’t accept this coupon because it’s in French.

Tell your cashier that Canada is a bilingual country and French coupons should be accepted everywhere in Canada.

If possible, bring the exact same coupon in English so they can compare the two and understand what the French one says.

I can’t accept this coupon because it’s photocopied/printed.

If it’s a photocopy, then the cashier is right. Photocopied coupons are illegal. If it’s a printed coupon, you will want to make sure that the store does in fact accept printed coupons by reading their coupon policy before you go shopping.

If they do accept printed coupons and your cashier tries to tell you otherwise, show them the coupon policy.

I can’t accept this coupon because the item is already on sale/you price matched it, and it says “cannot be combined with any other offer”.

Tell your cashier that “any other offer” refers to any other coupon. More than 1 coupon is considered stacking and you can’t do that in Canada, except at select London Drugs & Save on Foods stores.

Having a cashier deny your coupons, for any reason, can be frustrating. Unfortunately, some stores do not train their employees very well in regards to coupons, and that’s why we sometimes run into problems.

When you have a cashier that won’t accept your coupons, if the above scenarios do not work for you and you feel it is worth your time to speak to a supervisor – ask to speak to one. Explain the issue to them and if they say the same thing that the cashier did, that’s when you ask for a manager.

Most store managers just want to make you happy and will do whatever they can to fix the problem. However, there are some managers that are also not well trained in couponing. If you have problems with the manager too, ask for their name (don’t forget the cashier and supervisor’s names, as well), store number and then tell them you will be calling head office about the issue.

The important thing to remember is to always be polite and stay as calm as possible. As the saying goes, “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar”.

What do you do when a cashier won’t accept your coupons?