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Yikes, I'm so glad I don't have any sad tales to tell after reading all the threads here, I have always thought it was great that I have 5 M's and 4 J's within a 2-10 mile radius from my home, now I'm so grateful that they are nice ones too!
All the gals that I've encountered are all very nice, accept coupons readily, and once I too forgot my coupon, the gal told me it was no problem, all I had to do was sign my name to a sheet she kept under her register.
I might have to email corporate. Our M's won't accept competitor coupons at all!! That started about a year ago. Hmmph!!
Do it!!!! If we all email them hopefully it will cause then to unify their coupon acceptance. Well actually, they already have a police in place its just that the stores are so poorly trained that its random.
So is it Michaels policy or not to accept competitors coupons? Being new to US shops I never knew that they did this. I have a 40 percent off coupon for Joannes but we dont have a Joannes near here, we have a Michaels and also a Hobby Lobby and I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby to. Should I risk being an English mental women and risk being turned down and completely embarassed in the store!!!
Welcome to the wonderful world of US shopping! Where there is a sale because the sun rose! We have sales all the time unlike the crappy after christmas stuff in the UK. I remember shopping the day or so after Xmas in Edinburgh and it was like a famine was about to strike. Horrible!! My MIL will be here in a week and she's all ready to shop like she does each summer, but with the pound so strong she really will go to town!
I say you should try to use whatever coupons and excuses you can. Claim ignorance and lay on the accent. It may work for you! Where are you living?
There are two parts to this problem. Policy and People.
Speaking as one of the peons who gets policy dictated to them, policies come and go and mutate. When something changes, we don't usually know why. Most of the time, it's just a dictate from the "faceless" people farther up the corporate chain than we are. Sometimes a manager or supervisor "interprets" the way a policy is carried out -- which might explain why there are differences between different stores. Sometimes enough exceptions are made to placate customers that the exception becomes the rule. At some point, though, someone puts their foot down and policy is followed more restrictively. This is just life in retail -- at least, that's the way it seems from this side of the fence.
People are people and everyone is different. What one calls common sense, another calls twisted logic, and another says 'whatever'. I quite frequently roll my eyes at people and the stories that are told about having to deal with some 'unreasonable' person or other.
So here's what I tell myself to keep from getting too bitter/jaded/misanthropic:
ESP doesn't exist. The person you are talking to does NOT know what you are thinking.
Other people do not always know what THEY are talking about, or are not remembering correctly. (No, ma'am, I'm quite sure your friend didn't get her curtain hangers [OR enormous ball of jute OR skill saw patterns] at Michaels. We haven't carried them any time in the past 4 years.)
Just because a person actually got a job in a certain kind of store does NOT mean that person has: any pride in their work, any clue about the product they are selling, or any idea how to deal with other people.
The person you are dealing with will not always be reasonable. Smile, nod, help if you can, bite your tongue, and then roll your eyes in private.
Everyone is busy, and can't possibly do everything that they need to do. Don't take it as a slight.
For everyone else, stick with it.
Keep telling corporate about inconsistent policy.
Keep insisting that Cuttlebug is NOT the same as Cricut. Most of the cashiers don't have enough crafting experience to know the difference between the two, and assume that because there is some kind of insect in the name (cricket and bug), that they are the same thing.
The MOD is not always the person who knows anything. Sometimes it's the Framing Manager who knows precisely zero about any other department, but is the MOD because s/he is the ONLY manager in the store at the time.
When you find someone who actually knows what is going on, treasure them. Then again, maybe YOU have something to teach the newbie sales associate because YOU are the expert.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish that bad experiences in customer relations never happened, but they do, and I think that's part of the reason why I would never want to be a store manager. Everyone has their good days and bad days, and it's enough for me to deal with my own.
I would like to know how some people rate to get a card in the mail with the coupon on it. The last one was good through July 8th and 50% off. My daughter got it in Mpls-St. Paul. Oh well, I got my Cuttlebug!
So is it Michaels policy or not to accept competitors coupons? Being new to US shops I never knew that they did this. I have a 40 percent off coupon for Joannes but we dont have a Joannes near here, we have a Michaels and also a Hobby Lobby and I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby to. Should I risk being an English mental women and risk being turned down and completely embarrassed in the store!!!
It seems to me that part of their policy is that in order to use the competitor's coupon, that competitor needs to be nearby. So, if you don't have a Joann's in town, they probably wouldn't take that coupon. That's what I've found at least when I tried to use a Ben Franklin Crafts coupon from a town about 60 miles away at the local Michaels.
Kimberly
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
So is it Michaels policy or not to accept competitors coupons? Being new to US shops I never knew that they did this. I have a 40 percent off coupon for Joannes but we dont have a Joannes near here, we have a Michaels and also a Hobby Lobby and I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby to. Should I risk being an English mental women and risk being turned down and completely embarassed in the store!!!
I agree with the poster who said that competitors have to be nearby- but here's something else (that very well may be a cultural thing since you said "risk being completely embarassed") it never hurts to ask. When you checkout, present the coupon to the cashier say "I've heard you take competitors coupons, can you apply this one?" She might say no, she might say yes. She won't point and laugh and ring a bell so everyone in the store knows you tried to do it.
Since you said you have a hobby lobby nearby- did you know that when they have 40% off coupons they have them on their website and you can print them out? It says limit one per day, but you can print a new one everyday- and you can make your husband or children stand in line behind you with a new coupon for every item
"I would like to know how some people rate to get a card in the mail with the coupon on it."
I have this questions also. Every time I go into JoAnn's I sign up to receive coupons but I NEVER get any. Not by e-mail or snail mail. I have signed up in 3 states but - nothing!
I was at a crop night there two weeks ago and one of the women had one. She said its because she had signed up long ago to receive their emails. This is the first time they have done anything like that. I guess they are testing the waters to see if people will respond.
"I would like to know how some people rate to get a card in the mail with the coupon on it."
I have this questions also. Every time I go into JoAnn's I sign up to receive coupons but I NEVER get any. Not by e-mail or snail mail. I have signed up in 3 states but - nothing!
Have you tried signing up online? There's a link on their webpage at the top left of their homepage.
I agree with the poster who said that competitors have to be nearby- but here's something else (that very well may be a cultural thing since you said "risk being completely embarassed") it never hurts to ask. When you checkout, present the coupon to the cashier say "I've heard you take competitors coupons, can you apply this one?" She might say no, she might say yes. She won't point and laugh and ring a bell so everyone in the store knows you tried to do it.
Since you said you have a hobby lobby nearby- did you know that when they have 40% off coupons they have them on their website and you can print them out? It says limit one per day, but you can print a new one everyday- and you can make your husband or children stand in line behind you with a new coupon for every item
I did this with Hobby Lobby the other day and had my two children behind me with their printed off vouchers, I have found that when hobby lobby have sales you get really good bargains anyway but their coupons are a bonus.
As I was trying to find a phone # on the Michaels website to call and ask about coupons I saw that they list their "coupon policy".
Michaels Coupon Policy
Add to My Michaels
Michaels coupons are only available in the advertisement inserted in participating local newspapers. They are not available via the Internet or in-store.
The Michaels percent off any one regular priced item coupon is only valid for the dates shown on the coupon; reproductions are not accepted. Consumers are limited to one coupon per customer, per day. The coupon must be surrendered at the time of purchase and may not used for prior purchases or sale priced items or class fees and may not be combined with any other coupon, offer, sale or discount.
Michaels coupons may not be used to purchase gift cards, shopping cards, gift certificates, or in-store parties. Coupons are valid in Michaels stores only and exclude special order custom floral arrangements, special order custom frames and materials, all Cricut and all Martha Stewart products.
Limited to stock on hand. Void where prohibited.
It doesn't say anything about taking competitors coupons. Darn! I wanted to be able to print it out and take it with me when I try to use a Hobby Lobby coupon.
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
