By Morris Dean
For today's interview, I want to try something different. I want to interview you. If you agree to be interviewed, please leave a comment with your response to a multipart question I will pose about a recent situation I was involved in.
Last week when I was checking out at a local grocery story, I received a printed coupon for $6 off my next total purchase of $50 or more. The coupon didn't specify that it had to be presented in order to get the $6 off. Because I have a store membership card and my cumulative purchases are tracked according to my member number, it was natural to assume that the printed coupon was simply "for information only"—a reminder to come back and shop at the store.
After dinner a couple of days later, I decided to return to the store—mainly to get just one item that my wife wanted for us to have for breakfast the next morning, but I decided to shop for enough items to use the coupon, even though I really didn't feel quite up to it. I was tired from yard work and was moving—and no doubt thinking—slowly. I nevertheless managed to keep a running total to know when I could stop and go check out. When I went through the line, I told the checkout person about the $6-off coupon and was looking forward to seeing the $6 deduction show up on the monitor.
But it didn't show up. I asked the checkout person why.
"Do you have the coupon?" she asked.
"I didn't bring it," I said. "Why do I need it? Doesn't it show up on my electronic account, same as the $0.05/gallon gas reward at [your partnering gasoline station]?"
"No," she said. "You have to present the coupon."
"Okay," I said, "I don't want any of these items." And I abruptly walked away and left the store, leaving everything right there on the counter, including the one item that I'd really come to get. I didn't care—I was miffed, particularly because collecting everything had taken almost half an hour, I was so tired and stumbly.
The next day I looked at the coupon and confirmed that it said nothing about needing to be presented. Then I went to the store's website and submitted a description of what had happened, concluding with the paragraph:
Anyway, why AREN'T such things as coupons handled electronically? If that isn't possible, then PLEASE include (IN BIG BOLD LETTERS) on the coupon that it must be presented for redemption. Also, why couldn't the clerk have said she was sorry but she would let me bring the coupon back the next time I came for a $6 refund? As it was, I was miffed, I didn't take the one item I made the trip for (besides the $6 reward); I had wasted the checkout clerk's time; the store had to deal with the items I had been meaning to purchase; and my reputation in the store may have been damaged. I'm actually a little bit leery of showing up there again.The next day, during lunch, I was surprised to receive a telephone call from the store manager. John was his name, and he was very apologetic about the situation, so sorry that he hadn't been called to the checkout counter to help.
"I would would gladly have taken the $6 off immediately, right then and there," John said.
I told him that I was sorry too, I felt bad about just leaving everything there and walking out. "I was just so tired," I said. "I wasn't thinking straight. It didn't even occur to me to ask for the store manager."
"And the clerk didn't call for me either," John said. "I'm so sorry." He told me that he didn't want to lose a customer. "I want to keep every customer I have," he said.
When we said good-bye, there was good feeling all around.
The phone rang again immediately. "It's John. I forgot to say: I'm going to mail you a $10 gift card. You can use it anytime, for any amount. No need to spend $50."
"Oh, John," I protested, "there's no need to do that!"
"I want to do it," he said. "You should receive it in a couple of days."
Now here are some questions, the gist of which is, What should I do, or what would you do?
Would you both go back to the store with the printed coupon to spend $50 and get the $6 off and, on a different occasion, use the $10 gift card as well?
Or would you use either the coupon or the gift card, but not both? (If not both, which would you use?)
And what is your ethical rationale for whichever option you would choose?
The coupon will be valid for a few more days, so comments left before Saturday could come in handy for my ethical decision-making. Thanks in advance for participating in this different kind of "Ask Wednesday" interview!
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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean
| Please comment |
I'll tell you this much; make sure you carry the $10 gift card with you the next time you go to the store. The memberships at these stores are not there for your benefit, but for the company's tracking purpose. They also sell the results. A lot of the junk you get in the mail is targeted at you because of this tracking. I do however cheer you for your boldness of taking on 'Big Brother'. Keep an eye on the sky---the next sound you hear maybe the black helicopters. (smile)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Konotahe. I'm not sure that boldness had anything to do with what happened, however. I'm sure that tiredness had a lot more to do with it. See the comment further down from my friend who wished not to be identified, on refraining from doing things when tired.
DeleteThe store voluntarily and with no deception on your part gave you both the coupon and certificate, so I don't really see any ethical issue. What I see is an unpleasant episode (which happens to all of us in one way or another) that I assume you would like to put behind you for your own peace of mind. My wife says you should give away both the coupon and the gift certificate to someone who needs them, thus realigning the karma (religious term!) involved. Whether that's practical or not in your situation, I agree with her for the pragmatic reason that you'll distance yourself from the event and maybe even do some good. Then you can thank your lucky stars (religious term!) that you are such a thoughtful person. A more interesting question to me is the paradox of ethical and conscientious people being burdened with guilt and regrets while unethical people breeze through life unaware and unconcerned about their impact on others.
ReplyDeleteThank you for pointing out that ethical conscientiousness lays a burden on people. It occurred to me in writing the post that some readers would likely think that I was making a lot out of a little—both readers who might "breeze through life unaware" and readers who might like to focus on larger matters of ethics than a few dollars worth of coupons.
DeleteLater I realized that the $6-off coupon must only be used by a person who can present the member card it goes with, so it's not practical to give it to someone else. I like the suggestion to give the $10 gift card to someone who needs it more than I do, however. I don't think I believe in "karma" (and I appreciate that you identified the term as religious—if not simply superstitious), but it's possibly true that in a community where most do believe in it, the people are more generous toward one another?
What is that old saying about how many wrongs it takes to make a right?
ReplyDeleteThe store probably didn't feel the need to print on the coupon that it had to be physically presented at checkout because it assumed everyone who had ever used a coupon knew that. So the store was technically wrong for assuming, even though it made that assumption based on a century or more of people handing over coupons to get their discount.
As for your walking out and leaving all those items for someone else to put back on the shelf...well...did you do it to make a point, or just because you were miffed? To me that gets at the heart of the answer to your question about the ethics of using the $6 coupon and the $10 gift card on future visits. If you walked out to make what you felt was a valid point, I would say go back and use both discount offers. If you walked out only because you were miffed and therefore created an uncomfortable situation for an employee who had no part in making the rules for coupon use, I would say don't use either discount and try to avoid going back to the store for a few weeks.
My rationale is any protest based on ethics should be directed at the people making the rules, not the employees who have to follow the rules or lose their jobs. You didn't ask this question, but the best way to have handled the situation may have been to have paid for the order instead of leaving it on the counter, and then followed up as you did on the store's website. That way you would have your discounts with clear conscience, the manager would be aware of the problem created by the lack of clarity on the coupon, and the store employees would not have been put in the middle.
Motomynd, while it's true that I was miffed, I honestly think that I was trying to make a point—even though I think it's even more true that I was simply tired (very tired, as I tried to make a point of conveying), and it really didn't occur to me to ask for managerial intervention.
DeleteI concur wholeheartedly in avoiding making it hard on an employee "caught in the middle." I'm not sure that that applies in this situation, however. I'm confident that the situation led to some valuable instruction for the checkout clerk, when John reviewed with her what happened and reminded her that the store's training had covered the importance of seeking assistance in such situations.
The situation (and the discussion here) have led to something valuable for me, too—beyond the ethics involved. Store management now has a human face for me, and I better understand the enterprise involved—both customers and store contributing to a fair exchange with better mutual understanding.
Use both and at a same time. Not unethical . Just good luck
ReplyDeleteSharon, I admire your ethical certainty with no apparent need to go into any technicalities whatsoever! Might your basis be intuitive rather than rational?
DeleteI think you should take them up on both offers. I think the manager showed excellent customer service ! Kudos to him !
ReplyDeleteYes, Dawn, I too was struck by the phone call. I commented back to motomynd how for me there's now a human face on store management and a new appreciation of being a customer there.
DeleteIs your basis, like Sharon's, possibly more intuitive than rational, or did you simply choose not to specify your rationale for advising me to take the store up on both offers?
Sorry that you had such a bad experience at the store. I totally understand how you felt at the time. The store manager was GREAT!
ReplyDeleteIf I were you, I'd purchase $50 worth of things I need and use the $6 off coupon and the $10 gift certificate at the same time or use the $10 gift at another times, which makes no difference in the total amount of money you will save since you will go there again to buy things you need. It's easy, I think. It has little to do with ethics because you deserve to save $6 when you buy $50 worth of things by using the coupon. The $10 gift certificate is a gift from the store manager who appreciates your business and says sorry to you for not being able to let you use the coupon the first time (He should be called to handle the situation then.). If you stopped going there, the store would lose a loyal customer, which means it would lose much more than $10 in a long run. Thus, you should gladly accept the certificate and use it whenever you like and continue to be happy shopping there. It's a win-win situation.
By the way, next time when you feel tired, don't force yourself to do anything, even something little. It can wait till the next day or after you take a break. Something much worse could happen to us when we were tired and couldn't think straight. It happened to me once. I had a car accident one time when I was very tired and couldn't think straight.
For me, the paramount value of this comment is the advice to hold back when I'm tired. In fact, I feel so strongly that this is wise advice that I urge all who are reading this to take it to heart.
DeleteRats. I am answering too late.
ReplyDeleteNo I wouldn't use the coupon. I would give it to someone who needed it.
But I wouldn't shop there again. I don't do well with people who look for ways to say no.
Deirdre, thanks for posting a comment right HERE on the blog! Good on you.
DeleteAs I commented in reply to someone else (above), the $6-off coupon is not good for anyone but the holder of its associated member card (namely, my card). And, in fact, I have now used the coupon, which means obviously that I have shopped there again.
I really don't suspect the checkout clerk was "looking for ways to say no." She (like several of the clerks in this store) was young—perhaps not even out of high school yet, and I give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was just trying to follow the rules and wasn't experienced and comfortable enough to remember to call the manager (or someone else with authority to intervene).
I hope to shop there many times in the future, with a new sense of sympathy and compassion for the people who work there, and also a nice sense of empowerment in knowing that the store management seems committed to doing the right thing.
Dierdre, your reply is intriguing in its clarity. I doubt the clerk had any choice but to say no, if she wanted to keep her most likely minimum-wage job, but congrats on your brevity in making not one, but two clear points.
Delete