Today’s CVS post is not about saving money…but about saving my sanity. I had a little bit of a customer service issue with CVS the last time I visited on September 28. The day started off fine with me standing in line with my items in one hand and a bunch of coupons in the other hand.

I got to the front and there was no one behind me so I thought it would be easy. I rang up the monitor and one other item and then noticed that I did not get the ECB from the monitor. I questioned it and the cashier told me that there were no ECBs for that item….just a mail in rebate.

Oops.

I am now red in the face……so I asked her to void the transaction so I could get all my coupons and ECBs that I had used for the transaction back.

Voids vs. Returns

The cashier decided that she would do a return on the item instead of voiding. This is where the trouble started. I used to work in retail and I know that sometimes when you do a return it will not kick the coupons back…so I asked her to void it instead.

The first thing she tells me is that the monitor originally cost $74 (I knew that) and was now on sale for $9.99 (I know that too..that is why I was getting it) so I was saving a HUGE amount of money (gee, you think so? Maybe THAT is why I am getting…because I like to get things for FREE or REDUCED).

I say I understand all that but since it does not have ECBs then I want to cancel the transaction. She gives me a look like I am crazy (little does she know) and takes the items from me.

She proceeded to do a return and then all the problems began. I had gotten an item for $9.99 and two items for $2.50 each, using an $11.99 ECB and a few manufacturer’s coupons. I ended up having to pay $0.74 which I used a gift card on.

The gift cards can be swiped like credit cards and then you have to push the button for Money Card instead of the Credit button. For some reason the gift cards take a few seconds to process while the credit cards seem to go through almost instantly.

Gift Card Issues…Part One

The cashier decided that she did not want to wait for the gift card to process…so she chose to cancel my transaction and swiped the gift card from her end. It went a bit faster so that took care of the $0.74.

I Want My Coupons Lady!

When the cashier did the return the machine said I had a $0.74 refund, which she decided to give me in cash instead of returning it to the gift card. I don’t like touching cash (used to work at a bank) but I said I would take it so she took the items back from me and I told her to put the cash on the counter next to the coupons.

She looks at me with a crazy look and says she cannot return the coupons because the computer did not say she could. Now remember that this is the $11.99 ECB which can be used like cash for ANY item (except prescriptions, lottery tickets and stuff like that) PLUS my manufacturer coupons that I cut out of the newspaper on Sunday morning. I told her, you have the monitor and the toothpaste and toothbrush…so CVS has its property…so I want my coupons.

She repeats…like I am deaf…that the computer said I get a $0.74 refund. I told her I know this because I paid you with a gift card….but I also need my coupons back.

She says well she will have to call a manager…like this is where I am supposed to be afraid. I used to work in retail lady…call the manager.

How Much To Refund?

The manager tells her she needs to give me the coupons back (that is what I said 10 minutes ago) because I returned ALL the items and was going to start fresh. Manager does override and walks off.

I think it is going to be ok now but I am in for some more adventures with Ms. Needs to be trained some more.

She somehow messes up the return and now kicks out that I get all my coupons refunded as cash instead of the actual coupons. The total of the coupons was over $15 and this confused her. She thought she had to give me a gift card for $15+ AND give back the paper coupons. She knew this was too much but just could not figure it out. I told her to cancel the gift card since she was giving me $0.74 in cash and give me back my paper coupons.

Confused yet readers?

This made her need to call the manager again because I was confusing her and she just did not know what to do.

So the manager comes back and I get my $0.74 in cash and my paper coupons and the store gets its items back.

Ring Me Up Again

I decided to still get the toothpaste and toothbrush along with some other items that DID have ECBs. I have been at the register for about 20 minutes now..but since there is no one else in line I am patient.  I hand over all my items and all the coupons and the ECBs and tell her to ring me up.

She looks at the coupons suspiciously and proceeds to read every one individually like I am trying to cheat the system or something.

The total comes up to $1.23 and she asks how I will be paying. I tell her I will use cash and a gift card and hand over the $0.74 that she gave me earlier. I guess she really thinks I am crazy because she says ‘This is $0.74 and the total is $1.23.’

I say I know this and I will pay the balance on the gift card. She gives me another crazy look (how many have I gotten for the day now?) and tells me to swipe the gift card.

Now is it just me or does she have to enter the cash BEFORE I swipe the gift card?

Gift Card Issues….Part Two

I tell her to go ahead and take the cash and I will pay the balance with the card. She grudgingly takes the money and I swipe the card and hit ‘Money Card’. The monitor says ‘Please Wait…Processing Transaction’ so I smile and wait for it to go through.

She thinks it is not going through or I am being a &!#$% so she says I have to give her the card. I am watching the little bubbles fill in as the transaction is being processed so I say ‘no, I already swiped the card.’

Ms. Cashier-Who-Needs-More-Training rolls her eyes at me and says the card does not work at the register and she has to do it manually. I told her I always swipe my card and it always works.

Now I am really feeling like being a %$#@^ towards her so I decide that I will NOT hand her my card this time (all while PRAYING that it does work) and about two seconds later the register spits out the receipt and my $12.97 ECB.

I told her ‘SEE! It DOES work…all you have to do is be patient!

I guess she was mad that I got over $25 worth of items and only paid $1.23 AND got $12.97 in ECB that I will use next week.

She works every Sunday….so we shall see what happens next week. Baz said she will probably spit on  me the next time I show up because I am a ‘problem customer’.

I am going to call the corporate office about her, with all the eye rolling and the incompetence because she needs to be retrained. She does not know that the gift card can be swiped because she does not let it take the ten seconds it needs. She assumes it is stuck because it takes longer than the credit cards but that is not an issue that I can fix.

Do YOU think I should call to complain about her?

What would YOU have done in that situation?

Have you received poor customer service from someone like this?