Dear King Soopers, Why do you treat customers using paper coupons like criminals? I have been a loyal customer for years and shop many of your locations on a daily basis. However, almost every time my friends and I use paper manufacturers’ coupons at checkout, we’re the bad guys.
You know grocery prices have skyrocketed recently and the number of coupons available has plummeted. Discounts are now few and far between for bargain hunters. So, when a paper coupon can save me a few bucks, why do your clerks act as if I am a scam artist out to cheat the store?
For example, I had a coupon for $1 off any two bottles of Suave body wash which I tried to use at the Monaco at Leetsdale store. At self-check, I scanned the coupon, but the system noted an error. The clerk informed me that I had to buy two of the same scent because there was a picture of a blue bottle on the coupon.
When I politely pointed out that the coupon was valid on ANY two bottles, she muttered something and approved the coupon.
Unfortunately, it didn’t end there. As I was walking out, I overheard her and another checker talking about me: “Yeah, she is trying to cheat the store using that coupon and she thinks she got away with it, but that won’t happen again!” (Yes, customers can hear you, when you’re three feet away from us.)
Once, a clerk told me that the item I wanted to buy was “excluded” and that I needed to buy the smaller size to use the coupon. Sorry, but that’s not what the word excluded means. It means I could not use the coupon on the smaller package.
Another time, I had an in-house King Soopers branded coupon for shampoo, but the system noted my product didn’t match the coupon. Uh, yes, it did exactly! The clerk agreed with the system rather than actually read the coupon. In this case, I simply voided the purchase rather than get into an argument.
As one of the country’s largest grocers, you know Procter & Gamble no longer offers paper coupons. If you want to get any coupons for their products, you have to print them from your computer and they expire within 48 hours!
A friend recently shopped your Central Park location off Quebec at I-70, hoping to take advantage of a sale on detergent and use those coupons for a bit of extra savings.
She has three different coupons for three different sizes and types of Tide — a 100 count tub of pods ($4 off), a small bag of pods ($2 off) and a large bottle of liquid detergent ($3 off).
Things were going well at checkout until another checker decided to intervene, telling my friend that she could only use one coupon per day for any Tide detergent.
When the intervening checker was politely told that these were three different coupons for three different products, she dug in her heels and insisted she was right.
She even called over a manager who didn’t even look at the coupons, but immediately backed up the clerk. My friend ultimately just voided out most of the purchase (which was actually going to a shelter) and walked away. Since the coupons were only good for 48 hours, they became useless.
Here’s the exact wording on the coupon. CONSUMER: Limit one coupon per purchase of products and qualities stated. Limit of 1 IDENTICAL Coupon per household per day.
Let’s break this down: One coupon per purchase of products means a shopper can use one coupon for the product specified on the coupon. In this case, Tide PODS Laundry Detergent 65 to 82 count.
Limit one identical coupon per household per day means a shopper cannot use two of the exact same coupon.
My friend has three different products and three different coupons, but because they were all the famous orange color on Tide products, the clerk saw red. Clearly, she either didn’t read the fine print or didn’t understand it.
Are you starting to see a pattern?
I will be the first to admit that working as a cashier is no easy job. And you have some who go out of the way to help when there is a coupon issue. (I’m talking about you, Hampden at Monaco location. Love ya!)
Granted, there are bad actors who counterfeit coupons or try to game the system. However, a majority of coupon users don’t cheat and follow the rules. We’re not shoplifters wheeling out hundreds of dollars in merchandise without paying.
We’re just trying to save a few bucks, so we can feed our families, keep our homes clean and maintain basic hygiene.
Why don’t we receive the benefit of the doubt? Blame the computer, not the customer.
I suspect checkers are told if they let a bad coupon slip through it’s on them. So every coupon is a perceived ding on their record.
And, let’s be honest, as manufacturers discontinue paper coupons, this allows you to offer digital coupons, as long as someone has the wherewithal to understand how to use your app and can afford a smartphone.
However, as a loyal King Soopers shopper, why do I need to shop a store 10 to 20 miles from my home to avoid hostile employees, who clearly see me as the enemy and themselves as victims if I use more than one paper coupon per shopping trip.
I have a suggestion. I teach workshops to consumers on how to effectively use coupons, with an emphasis on how to understand the fine print and not let the product pictures or legalese confuse.
I’d be happy to hold some sessions for your staff.
You know how to reach me.
xoxo,
Laura
Great article. And, there are just about no food coupons in the fliers anymore. Would love to save something on canned or boded goods….a package of hot dogs!! And they almost never go through if you swipe them and you have to have a clerk punch in all these numbers, etc. along with everything else they do.
Laura, I attended one of your sessions via zoom during the pandemic with the Arapahoe Library System and it was extremely beneficial!!! Loved your article and SO true regarding paper coupons these days. Please contact more libraries so that they may offer your seminars and we as consumers can benefit from your vast knowledge. Thanks for your GREAT service!!!
Thought you might find this of interest.
https://www.mouseprint.org/2022/11/17/digitalcoupons2/
King Soopers wants to own every store in the country, but do nothing for the customers. Worst carts on the planet. Don’t man the checkout stations so one had to use self check which I hate. Safeway looking better all the time.
And sometimes even their own digital download coupons will not work and they look at you like you’re crazy. Especially when you use their pick up option. I have to go in most of the time to collect my money from the cistomer service desk. They ask you for a receipt and they do not provide a paper receipt when you shop pick up. If there’s a bad connection in the store it’s hard to pull up your digital receipt.
I know I know Walmart stores at the coupons. I had a hassle when I went to Lakeside one. Don’t be a customer Service Lead not knowing coupons. It caused me to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy all the freeitems I had. Why they don’t understand what they really say? I have been using coupons for 40 years. I understand them read every store coupons. I will never go to Lakeside Walmart due to that causing such a problem. I wasn’t the Lead is younger shouldn’t have that position without proper training. It wasn’t a coupon from a computer it was a real one.
You might want to try another King Soopers. Mist managers know not to tick off the customer over a bottle of cheap shampoo.
I enjoy reading MHOTC every day but this negative rant left me very sad, this is no place for this kind of stuff! It’s supposed to be a fun way to get info!
LAURA, THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR EXAPERIENCE WITH COUPONS. IT IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT MANY, INCLUDING, MYSELF, OFTEN HAVE MET WITH. AND IT ISN’T JUST KS, – – I HAVE EXPERIENCE SIMILAR SITUATIONS AT SAFEWAY.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.
AND IF THE M ERGER IS APPROVED, THINGS WILL ONLY GET WORSE AND PRICES HIGHER.
Best Regards – Bill A., West Washington Park
This is the best (and longest!) post I have read here in years.
It seems most paper coupons these days are for items like cleaning supplies and hygiene, not actual food. The web sites for King Soopers and Safeway digital coupons both require a high-speed Internet connection, which many poor people do not have due to a combination of cost and a lack of the right technical equipment.
I take the weekly Soopers ad to the store when I shop because at least 1-2 of their advertised sale items end up ringing up at regular price, so I addition to watching every item rung up I also check the receipt before I walk out the door and usually end up at the service desk to get a refund for the error(s). Spot on about the attitude too.
Lost my comment. Every time there is a problem I suggest calling customer service at 1-800-KRO-GERS (1-800-576-4377) to establish a record of complaints beyond the four walls of a particular store. Enough complaints against one store the main office will take action. Complaints will help identify system wide issues. It also prevents the person who does complain being labeled a scammer when others identify the same issue.
I read to MHOTC on a daily basis and follow the leads quite frequently. I am loyal enough to enter you, also almost daily, in Westword’s Best of Denver during the entire rum of the voting..
I feel I speak for a large part of your readers when I say this..
You risk losing my loyalty when you run a lengthy diatribe, with several irrelevant comments, about one woman’s complaints about her experience with using coupons in ONE company’s stores. There are nine comments that have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF refused coupons.. Bad shopping carts and no hot dog coupon.
WHY???? WHY would you do this???
Do your content editors share the poison pen and ENDORSE her complaint in the only time in forever I’ve seen such a thing in MHOTC? Do you now think your service is an op ed page, and a format for complaining about other companies? Do you think this is enough of a problem that YOU have to support it? There are lots of other places for Laura to air her complaints.
I remind you that the almost daily posts about specials at King Soopers is a reminder that KS managers and execs read MHOTC too;
King Soopers digital coupon experience is worse, if anything. The search function often can’t find a coupon even when there is a sign on the shelf hyping the low price with a coupon. It is just so frustrating.
Laura,
I am curious if King Soopers or Kroger will respond to you and/or MHOTC. Please let us know.
Concerned grocery shopper.
The King Soopers website is so frustrating I gave up trying to use it. I found you coupon workshops ver helpful. Could you make a short video of to walk us through how to use the King Soopers website?
I have the same experiences but with the coupons in the King Soopers app! I use it exactly as specified but they almost always don’t work and the staff argues with me. I now almost always shop at Safeway because they are much nicer in my experience!
Heather. Thanks for the link. I actually have worked with Edgar Dworsky of Mouseprint and have interviewed him for some stories I have written for newspapers outside Denver. – Laura
I shop Safeway more often now because Kroger has ruined Kings. BUT, trouble with coupons not just a problem at Kings.
My friend got a DIGITAL coupon from Safeway for 75 cents PER POUND (clearly marked) for yellow onions. In the past few months, Safeway sneakily changed their pricing for onions to “per EACH” rather than “per lb” ( only noted in small print on price sign).
Well, when she went to use the Safeway-produced digital coupon, the checker said, no, the onions are priced per each now. Friend tried to show her the clearly written coupon on her phone that stated PER POUND, but clerk and manager refused to look at it, reiterating that onions are only per each.
I got the same coupon(a “personalized” coupon, which is one offered to particular customers, not in the general list for everyone – based on our shopping history, part of all the info they collect on us with digital coupons!) this week and encountered the same brick wall of “we won’t even look at the facts.” I went to the service desk and complained – the very nice person there (who has always been very helpful in the past) begged me to complain loudly to HQ/chain management, as store personnel were not allowed to adjust/fix problems in store on this! So, it’s an upper management problem, though the in store clerks ARE rather rude/accusatory when problems/errors like this occur. I just very loudly let them (and other customers around me) know WHY I am walking out without a sale. We customers have GOT TO push back and make a stink about this increasingly anti-customer hostility that stores are showing.
I will not accept being made to feel like a “cheat” when I try to get a legitimate deal! Unacceptable! I fear what grocery shopping will be like if the Kroger-Safeway merger is allowed. It will be the end of ANY competition and we will all suffer for it. Contact your senators and congresspeople NOW and register your objections. The merger is being debate/investigated now – let the government know it is unacceptable. Antitrust laws were gutted again in the last few years and consumers are being increasingly ignored and cheated. We’ve been marginalized and we’ve got to take back some power. We’re the consumers who people the economy – use that power to make your feelings known.
Chuck. It is unfortunate that you feel that way. While we appreciate your support of MHOTC, understand that this wasn’t some random person’s complaint. Laura is me. As in, I publish and OWN Mile High on the Cheap.
As a consumer advocate I feel it is my right, if not my duty to help MHOTC readers know that they aren’t alone when they encounter an issue using coupons. I shop a lot, at multiple stores and multiple locations on a daily basis as part of my charity work. This wasn’t a one time event at a single store, but a pattern of behavior across the brand.
And, if you read the post thoroughly, you would have noted my praise for those hard-working checkers who do put customer service first. If you speak for a large part of our readership, then so be it. But as you can see there are many comments from folks in agreement. If King Soopers and parent company Kroger take note, that would be great. That means our site is an effective means of communicating with corporate. — Laura Daily, Publisher Mile High on the Cheap
It isn’t just about manufacturer coupons. KS is stupid period. We are overcharged almost every time we shop there. Yes, they will make it right at customer service or online most of the time, but who needs the hassle? We call them King Stoopids for a good reason. Unfortunately Safeway is only marginally better. We find ourselves shopping at Walmart often because of their ridiculous prices and stupidity.
I use dozens of coupons at my kings without indecent, The cashier scans them and the one time I had a problem, they honored it.
Laura. When you use words like hate, and suspect many might think you take things personal. Then when you spew a hateful specific diatribe against one company it makes me wonder….. does a different company who advertises with you profit?
SO in a nutshell. King Soopers does’nt HATE this coupon savvy shopper. Good luck with your advertising.
Thank you, Laura! I have experienced similar problems at King Soopers and as a result, I shop more at Safeway now. They try to make things right there.
Thank you Laura!! I have experienced this along with my mother at a few different King Soopers in Denver. They always seem so nasty and so offended using coupons. The stores making money so that’s why I don’t understand why they’re making such a big deal. And they literally act like the coupon money is coming out of their paycheck. I think it’s dumb and this is part of the reason why I stop shopping at King Soopers because I don’t wanna deal with their rude staff!
Thank you for posting this, Laura! Somebody needs to know how king Soopers treats their customers. I don’t care what any negative comments say!! It’s an open form. You can write whatever you want. If people don’t like it they don’t have to read it. I have experienced this more than once with King Soopers and I am glad that somebody is finally speaking up. I hope that King soopers read this. They seem to have the nastiest staff and it’s like they teach them how to be rude.
I would rather go to sprouts and Safeway and spend my hard earned money! somewhere else than contributing to King Soopers. There’s no point even to use the coupons because they’re just gonna argue with you. I swear they have a sign in the break room that says we do not accept coupons. But yet the policy is still On their site to accept coupons. But it’s OK eventually they’ll run out of customers.
Dear King Soopers,
Treat your customers with respect. All of the staff is always so rude. I understand you don’t pay them a decent wage. So maybe that’s why they have such a bad attitude. Also take the policy down from your website if you’re not going online coupons. You’re just making it look like you accept coupons when you really don’t. I hope that you read this and make some changes!!
Sincerely,
Maria
I never use manufacturer coupons, however, most of the King Soopers coupons (mailed to me) I do use do not scan and give me an “error” message. Not to mention how frustrating the app is; most times it signs me out while I am in the store. :-(
Trying to save money is challenging for sure, especially when the clerks (mostly kids at the Arvada store on 58th) are put out.
Great post. As a long time Couponer I can attest to the same horrible lack of education surrounding coupons, that you have encountered with store employees. It is usually every time I shop that I have issues. I am far more knowledgeable about the topic than they are and have started to wonder if I should just work there and do it myself as I have to routinely guide them through the process when things don’t go as they should. The other day a clerk told me the manufacturer coupon that said King Soopers on it wouldn’t work at Walmart and I had to explain that it would (& it did!) because it was a manufacturer coupon and not a store coupon. It’s been awhile since the days of coupons doubling, but I used to be told I couldn’t use the coupon they had just scanned because then the item would be free, lol.
It’s a shame not all employees are empowered with proper training or the desire to learn. It’s understandable at the human level as it is an inconvenience but as long as manufacturers continue to issue coupons and stores continue to accept them, it is a necessary component of the job they agreed to do so they should be trained on how to handle them so they can perform their duties.
I definitely agree with this article! King Soopers used to proudly advertise,” Our people make the difference!” There are some thoughtful, helpful cashiers at King Soopers but many cashiers must have skipped the class on good customer servic . Now-a- days, KS cashiers DO make a difference but often NOT in the good way!