Thank you to Karrie from Happy Money Saver for this very helpful guest post. We had the opportunity to meet Karrie a couple of years ago and have been working with her since in the money saving world. She is fun and full of information! We loved this post that she provided to us while we are on vacation and hopefully it will be a help for you!
If you have been couponing for any length of time you may or may not have run into the occasional grumpy cashier at the checkout lane. You know the ones… they *sigh* when they see your coupons, or roll their eyes. I have personally even had a few joke or even harshly say how much they dislike coupons or couponers.
So here are some tips to help you handle these situations.
- Profile your cashiers – Before I choose which lane I am going to use I totally look at each checker before choosing which lane. (Yes…this is TOTALLY judging by look..but honestly I do this!). I normally choose a checker that looks happy, or choose someone I have already used before. I would rather wait in line for a checker that is NICE versus going for the quickest checkout lane.
- Be Friendly – Smile, be sweet and say hello! Ask them how their day is. A friendly gesture can go a long way.
- Have your coupons all organized before you get up there to checkout – Make sure you do not have any expired ones and that you have correct items for correct coupons. I find it best to just hand the cashier all my coupons at the end in a nice stack.
- If there is a problem, do NOT Yell or shout at the cashier – While I do think it is important to stand your ground if you know you are right, do so politely and kindly. Yelling at the cashier will typically end badly or make the situation worse. Consider the question, “Is this $1.00 or.50 coupon worth yelling over?” That checker will remember you as a mean couponing tyrant..and we just don’t want that now do we? Just kindly either ask for a manager or say nevermind on the item.
Following these four tips can help you avoid most bad experiences from grumpy cashiers. Happy Checker + Happy Shopper = a beautiful shopping experience.
Karrie is a chocolate-addicted busy stay at home mom of twins + 2 living in the Pacific Northwest. She has a recurring dream of finding something FREE while shopping. But hey..at least in her dream she is still wearing clothes!! She blogs over at happymoneysaver.com where you can find amazingly cool thrifty tips, recipes and hot deal ideas!
Sariah
I once had a mean cashier actually yell at ME when I tried to use an expired coupon that I didnt realize was expired. Wow…that was really embarrasing.
Penni Moe
I should have read the tip about profiling before I went shopping the other evening. My daughter and I hit a “grumpy” cashier. We should have pulled out of the line when the cashier saw that my daughter had WIC. It was only jars of baby food, so rather simple, but you should have seen the look on the cashier’s face. We knew what she thought of us. Then… my daughter had coupons, then… one of the prices was incorrect, then… I had coupons and an incorrect price as well. I tried to be pleasant and cheerful but unfortunately we ruined the entire evening of that particular WalMart associate. Profiling. Good plan!
Jessica
This post totally has me laughing. I have run into many a mean checker in my day. I love that you profile your checker because I totally do that too. Thanks for the post.
alicia
I mostly get grumpy cashiers when using my WIC like a PP said. yesterday I did a lot of couponing, mostly for formula (we nurse so dont get it on WIC but it is nice to have for the future JIC or to donate to the pantry). I had 12 bottles of similac and 12 coupons…after she had rung all of them up she decided that she wanted me to pay INDIVIDUALLY for each one…ugh!! thankfully the gentleman behind was a couponer too and understood and we were able to laugh about it. I wouldnt say the cashier was “grumpy” but she had already been yelled at about coupons before so she was being cautious and I wasnt in a hurry. Then off to Target where the cashier was extremely impressed with my couponing!! She was even asking tips and advice on where to find them so of course I had to tell her about this blog LOL!!
Trish
I love the profiling tip! I think I probably do that already without thinking about it 🙂
But without a doubt, the most important thing for me is to remain super friendly like was mentioned. It’s hard to be mean back to someone who’s being so nice and cheery as I try to be!