You know I love CVS...
However...
Went to my local CVS yesterday to buy some Pampers (I had the print out of the webpage from earlier this week) and the Gillette Fusion Razor. I knew I would have to explain the Pampers deal since it was only advertised on the web, but I had no idea...
I first headed to the razors & found they were under lock & key. Strange, but ok. I asked the nearby customer sales rep to help me get one and she said, "I'll have to go all the way to the front to get it" and waited to see if I changed my mind. I didn't. She walked to the front and came back, unlocked the case, and took the razor. She said she would have to leave it at the front for me. Another first - but ok.
I grabbed the Pampers and headed to the front. I showed her the print out of the webpage and she looked confused. I explained that she would have to issue the ECB's manually. She rang up my purchase, I handed her my coupons, including a $4 off $20 coupon I had been emailed. She did the transaction and then started to review the print out.
To make this very looooong story short, she came to the following conclusions:
1) Since it was advertised online - I could only buy the Pampers online. I explained that this was not an online sale - this was a store sale.
2) Since it was advertised online - my ECB's would print online. I explained there was no such thing.
3) She needed a code for the ECB's. I explained there was no code, she insisted that the printout had one, but she could not read it. (There was no code, but she would not believe me.)
4) She would credit me $5 on my transaction. I bought 3 Pampers, so I was actually owed $15. I tried to explain, she insisted the limit was 1. I asked her where she got this limit from and she didn't have an answer. When she considered taking $15 off my transaction, she told me I would not be able to use my $4 off $20 coupon because the total would go below $20. I explained that my coupon was not based on the ECB's - it was based on my total price. This confused her.
5) She called over 2 other employees, one was a manager. None of them could help.
6) When I eventually handed her my ECB's, she insisted that they were not for my card. I handed her my card to review & she very rudely pushed them through after seeing they were valid and were for my card..the only card I have!
After the back-and-forth showed no sign of ending, I called Customer Service. I have never had to do this! The CSR explained to the cashier that what I was saying was correct, there was no code, she would have to manually process the ECB's, and the deal was valid for the store. She still didn't understand how to manually enter ECB's so the CSR entered them from Corporate and said they would print out in the next 48 hours. I would have preferred to walk out with the completed transaction, but I didn't have time to show the cashier how to manually enter the ECB's - I had to get back to work!
After all this, I was transferred to Customer Relations which is different than Customer Service..I explained my incident at the store and the representative assured me that she would call the store and explain the procedure to them. In all fairness, Customer Service & Customer Relations were very helpful & very apologetic about the lack of training the cashier had on their procedures.
Did the cashier ever apologize for the confusion? No.
Did the manager at the store apologize for the 30-minute transaction? No.
Did anyone say a word when I exited the store or completed my transaction? No.
This simple 5-minute stop ended up taking more than 30 minutes! The cashier was rude and hostile...and worse, I'll have to see her again the next time I go shopping at that store.
Grrr..a bad shopping experience is one thing. A cashier who makes up her own rules is another.
