Very bad, awful, aggravating-but-ultimately-good-day at Walmart

Today I decided to do a big shopping trip to Walmart.

I have coupons that are close to expiring for a lot of things that have not come up on sale recently at other stores, and that Walmart has had lower everyday prices for. Deep breath. I spent about an hour or more, going up and down aisles, looking at prices, making choices, and pulling coupons to match. I had a lot of good deals, and a LOT of coupons. I had read that Walmart coupon policy states only 40 coupons per transaction, so I counted to be sure I wasn't over.

Everything was great.

I found a very pleasant cashier with no line, unloaded my stuff, she rang it up and bagged it, we were good-to-go.

Then she took my coupons, and immediately separated out the printed ones. "We don't take internet coupons." I told her I had used them there several time with no problem. "We used to, but we had a meeting about a month ago, and we can't take these any more." I told her that according to what I had read on the internet, Walmart corporate policy is that they DO take internet coupons.

Call for CSM. Wait. Call again. Cashier takes coupons to CSM herself. CSM comes over, calls another CSM. "She's calling someone". "No, we don't take internet coupons".

I had read about this on some other blogs. Several of the "Walmart 11 Moms" bloggers had verified that corporate policy does allow legitimate internet coupons. Other bloggers had recommended having a printed copy of the policy with you, which I had never found to be necessary.

At this point, I politely asked for the transaction to be voided and my coupons returned so that I could take them elsewhere. They were very nice, and apologetic, as was I, but I was determined that if Walmart did indeed have such a policy, I was going to find it, and I was going to let everyone at every step of the ladder know, ever so politely, that I WAS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER.

As I left the store, I had a number of different emotions racing through me. I knew all of my coupons were legit, and I while I knew that they had no way of knowing that, I felt like I was being penalized for someone else's misdeed. I was embarrassed, I was frustrated, and I was angry.

I came home, I got on the internet, I checked a couple of blogs that I knew had mentioned this, and I found it.

So. Here it is. Walmart Corporate Coupon Policy. Yes, Virginia, Walmart does accept internet coupons. Here it is in black and white. Black and white and blue.

After I found the policy, and printed it (twice), I called the store where I had the very-bad-awful-terrible experience, and asked first for a customer service manager. There was apparently not one on duty, as the phone rang interminably and was never picked up. I then called back and asked to speak to a manager. The manager I was connected with was a very nice gentleman named Alan. I explained to him what had happened, and that I had a printed copy of the corporate policy in front of me, and that it contradicted the information that the CSM's and cashier had. He, too, was under the impression that Walmart had stopped taking internet coupons, due to fraudulent coupons. We had a nice conversation about legitimate vs fraudulent coupons. He apologized to me several times, and stated, that while he was very sorry for what had happened to me personally, he was glad this had come up, because they definitely needed to get the local store policies in line with corporate--as they thought they were doing, already. He assured me that he would look into it. At this point, I asked for a call back, one way or the other, when the issue was resolved.

I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever hear anything else about it, but I was determined to be an informed consumer. If Walmart didn't want my coupons, I would live without Walmart, but I WOULD NOT CAVE.

Less than an hour later, I received a call from Alan, the manager I had spoken with. He confirmed what I already knew. Walmart corporate policy is to accept legitimate internet-printed coupons. I had won.

So now, I feel very good that I have impacted a local store policy that affects not just me but many others. At the same time, I thought--I still have to go back and shop again to get my stuff. It probably won't be this weekend, because Walmart is having a big pre-black-Friday blow-out tomorrow, and I don't want to get caught up in all of that. So it will probably be next week before I go back. But go back, I will, armed with my coupons, internet printed and all, AND, a copy of the Walmart Corporate Coupon Policy.

My advice to you--click on it, print it, and put it with your coupons. (Even the manager told me that it would probably be a good idea). I'm thankful that none of my family was with me. My son and husband would have wanted to crawl UNDER the floor that I was CREATING A SCENE. I really didn't, and I am thankful that the Lord allowed me to maintain a calm and pleasant demeanor through out the whole fiasco.

I'm just glad it all worked out in the end. (I'll let you know what happens when I finally do decided to go back) For Part 2 of this story, see Walmart--the good, the bad, and the (not) ugly

Happier shopping. Until next time...

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