Bad Labor Day Experience at Border's

Print them and weep......link for 30%off at Borders....
http://www.visitborders.com/index.php?c=B

Employee needs to be more tackful. I don't like facing iratated
customer but its part of the job.

You guys are no help.

have a good H and X.

I'm sure if you talk to a manager, face to face, they can resolve the
situation.

Lindsay didn't handle this well if what you say is accurate but that
may have been because you put her on the defensive.

I think that the act of crumpling the coupon and throwing it on the
counter was an act of contempt on your part as was your apparent
refusal to discuss the matter and declare your innocence. If you had
simply told them you had no idea the coupons were fake, they may have
been nicer about the whole thing.

It was an unfortunate situation that I think you should just forget
about. Border's may owe you an apology for the behavior of a rude
salesperson but I don't believe they owe you any discounts.

First off, $10 off a $20 purchase is 50% off, which is pretty extreme.
I think I'd have been suspicious if I got a coupon like that,
*especially* if it came through email.

The other side of the coin is whether you were treated overly rudely.
By trying to pass off a counterfiet coupon, you were doing something
hurtful to their business (even possibly unknowingly), so they have
cause to be a little annoyed. Secondly, if *I* made such a mistake I
would have apologised profusely and bought the books anyway. I would
certainly not have crumpled the coupon and refused to buy them. It's
impossible to tell whether the employees "crossed the line" or not, as
the letter gives no specifics. But if they did, they had plenty of
provocation.

Bottom line: think twice about any home-printed coupons, especially
email ones. I'm surprised *any* companies accept them at all,
frankly.

This letter is well-written although it would have more impact if you
told Border's exactly what Lindsay said to your. Saying she berated
you is a bit vague.

I also want to comment on the situation because I see rudeness on both
sides here.

First it appears that Lindsay didn't handle the situation well.

However, it was rude of you to leave your trash (the coupon) on the
counter instead of finding a wastebasket or asking politely for them
to throw it away for you. Leaving litter where is doesn't belong is
just not good manners.

As far as how Lindsay's manager will handle it? That depends.

If Lindsay is an otherwise good and reliable employee, he's going to
ask for her version of what happened and he's probably going to
believe her side of the story. Good employees are worth their weight
in gold to companies and it would take much more than hearsay from ONE
customer (a customer who didn't even buy anything, mind you) to risk
losing that employee. The worst she will get is a talking to that goes
like this:

"I said I would talk to you. So consider yourself talked to,"
delivered with a grin and an eye-roll.

If, on the other hand, Lindsay makes it a habit to tell customers off,
then they will deal with it.

Either way, you're probably not going to know what happens to Lindsay.
It's between Lindsay and her employer now and none of your concern or
business any more.

I'm guessing you probably will get some coupons from corporate,
though. That and a soothingly-worded form letter is their usual
generic response. Then they will consider it settled.

If you go back to that store to use your coupons and encounter
Lindsay, try to apologize for leaving the trash on the counter. Even
if you don't feel it's necessary to apologize it will make you the
better person and hopefully Lindsay will apologize in turn. If she
does, I can assure you it will be genuine.

And a genuine apology is far better than a forced one, right? :-)

They probably thought that you knew it was counterfeit and that you
were just seeing if they'd take it. Borders did exactly what they were
supposed to do. They have to treat it like you knew.

I responded to a comment Caryn made to Leah below, but wanted to
reiterate it here because I got the impression that Caryn got caught
up in a misunderstanding and got run through the wringer for her
letter.

Caryn, I honestly didn't get the impression from your letter that your
intent was to defraud anyone and I feel bad if "Lindsey" made you feel
that way. It's certainly not a great customer service example.

However, I think that in looking at your situation objectively, I can
also say that I didn't get the impression that Lindsey purposefully
intended to embarass or humiliate you either. She was just trying to
do her job as she was instructed and you had the misfortune of getting
caught in the middle of the mess.

There was a posting not long ago (actually several postings!) about
some Target coupons that came from the website that were refused too.
While the coupons were probably perfectly legitimate at one point,
people who are greedy will make copies to get multiple discounts or
forward them on to friends and relatives, even though the coupons are
not intended for that purpose.

At the store my brother works at, a customer came in with a coupon for
a free pack of cigarettes every day. Turns out, she was coming in on
every shift, every day with copies of the original coupon. (Free packs
of cigarettes 3x per day!)

It took a few days before the manager figured out what she was up
to(they couldn't understand the sudden huge bunch of these coupons
coming in, all with the same run number on them!) and started refusing
the coupons altogether, but at almost $5 per pack, the fraudster had
already gotten away with quite a chunk of free merchandise at the
store's expense.

So again, while it was inconvenient and irritating, for stores, it's
easier to just refuse all coupons or refuse all of a certain type of
coupon than to risk taking in a bogus coupon. Like my Grama always
told me, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bushel!

ok caryn. heres the deal. there has been ALOT of counterfiet coupons
coming to retailers lately. most if not all have stopped accepting any
coupons that have been printed or copied. the company i am employeed
by will refuse any copied or printed ones. not matter how valid they
seem.

most likely, Borders has taken up the same policy. they will not
take a coupon from email. it may suck, but until others become more
honest, everybody suffers. no, i am not callng you dishonest. but
employees cannot tell the bad guys from the good guys.

if a shady looking person came through my line at work, tried use a
coupon from the computer, it would be denied. if my next customer was
somebody who looked totally innocent of crime, tried to use the same
coupon, it would get denied.

don't take it personally. i honestly don't know what words were
exchanged fbetween you and the employees, so im not commenting on
that. but until coupon fruad ends, its best to not try to use any
coupons that have been printed from the computer.

ok mr. helpful. i was trying to be a helpful person. do i get an A?

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being not helpful and 5 being very helpful) rate
the following excerpts from the comments below (do so by commenting on
this comment and please do so by letter so we can identify what goes
with what):

A) how do you know your son left thinking the lady behind the counter
was nuts, for all you know he could have thought that about his mommy,
only he was too afraid to say so incase he set her off.

B) If you showed a bad attitude you certainly set a poor example for
your son, I hope you are proud.

C) ...its people like you that ruin good customer service for
everyone.

D) You attempted fraud, and were caught. Good for Borders.

E) Why did you crumple it up? That response is kind of fishy.

F) Guilty or not I can assure you that Lindsey and all her co-workers
are congratulating themselves that they caught a coupon
counterfeiter.

Well I have read your letter and the responses, and let me say one
thing. When you share a letter on planetfeedback, not everyone will
side with you. If you expect everyone to side with you then maybe
should not share your letter in the future. I don't think anyone said
anything horrid to you. If you are not mature enough to handle the
responses that you get on planetfeedback, then send the letter
privately.

Second, I have a feeling you are leaving things out of the letter. I
don't think you are being honest about your reaction to not being able
to use the coupon. What kind of attitude did you show Lindsey, she
would not go on about your bad attitude if you handled this nicely.

Maybe I wasn't sufficiently snarky?

Or... maybe I was right on the mark?

I noticed the OP responded to everyone else but didn't touch on my
comment that it just may be she was exaggerating (which I firmly
believe - I do NOT believe customer service reps just randomly "go
off" on innocent customers).

I have to say this has been very educational.

I do appreciate the constructive criticism I received.I have conceded
more than once that I probably should have called a manager but with
my son in tow and my neighbor 2 registers down I didn't want to be
embarassed any further. I just wanted to leave which I was doing as
she kept telling me "I don't like your attitude, you don't have to
have that attitude."

I was truly shocked at how Lindsay reacted. But after seeing how some
people here could make an attack on a total stranger, it no longer
surprises me.

I have attacked no one here--I've answered questions to the best of my
ability. If anyone has anythinge else constuctive to add I'm all ears.
But please no more attacks on my parenting skills, what kind of person
I am or whether or not I have common sense.

Thank you.

You might join Borders Rewards yourself, so that all of
the good coupons are sent to your e-mail address. Anyone over 16 can
join. My oldest and I both belong, so our family receives 2 of each
e-mail. Since she is more, um, diligent at checking her messages, she
lets me know right away when a good coupon is available.

These are good at Waldenbooks, too.

I would have done the same thing, she was a snot and treated you like
a criminal. She probably would have gotten written up if she accepted
the coupon but could have handled the situation more diplomatically.
I also agree that borders should have posted a sign at the register
about the fake coupon and informed their employees on how to spot one.
Go spend your money somewhere else.....like Barnes and Noble or
better yet hang on to it. Ten bucks here and there adds up.

Wow, talk about ironic. I went to Borders today to see if maybe they
had a couple of books in early (it happened last week with some manga,
but I digress).

I happened to find a copy of the coupon in question before going, and
figuring it couldn't be true, I asked. Guess what? It's a FAKE! Yes
folks, the coupon in question is a fake.I discussed this with the
booksellers who know me, plus management.

Even more, if you go to look for this coupon, there is a spot where it
says to click to find a Borders. The link doesn't work. Someone took
the liberty of making a very convincing fake coupon.

The only coupon I received in my e-mail was the one for 30% off.

So Caryn, the only one who is owed an apology is Borders and the
booksellers of that store for your little hissy fit. I think you need
to acknowledge your lack of confirming a coupon before using it.

Borders issues dollars off coupons, but the ones I've seen that are
legit are for $50 or more.

If you don't mind my asking, was the young boy playing a sport when he
broke his hip? If so, would you mind divulging which sport it was?

As far as the coupon goes I really can't offer you much because I
don't use internet/email coupons.

Good luck though.

I understand you were disappointed by not being able to use the
coupon, but what if it really was counterfeit? Then Border's didn't
do anything wrong by not allowing you to use it.

Personally, I think companies should just stop with internet/email
coupons, because the stores are having so many problems with them, and
shoppers are being misled. One may wonder whether they are using
these internet coupons just to lure people to their stores, knowing
that the store won't allow the coupon to be used. I could print off
one coupon a hundred times -- not the original intention of that
establishment, I'm sure.

I think both you and Lindsay misbehaved here. Crumpling the coupon
was minor but uncalled for, refusing to purchase your books seems
silly -- I mean, you were going there anyway to buy a gift. And
Lindsay should have kept her mouth shut--she needs a talking to.

Oh, my God. Eleven years old and he broke his hip? How awful! I can't
imagine how painful it was.

Did he have to get a new one? How is he doing?

I found this coupon on the internet and I think I know what happened.
It looks like a coupon distributed through e-mail to Borders Rewards
members and somebody put it out on the internet. Borders had probably
seen hundreds of those coupons over the weekend with the same code.

A few years back there was a fraudulant Hagan Dazs coupon going around
on the internet(and before you all jump on the band wagon no I did not
try to use it anywhere)

I knew about it because at all of our local stores prominantly placed
on the door or when you first walked in was a voided copy of the
coupon and an apology from the store stating that this coupon was
being circulated and was fraudulant and would not be honored.

The customers who were unknowing or scamming at the time knew the
coupon would not be honored before they shopped--before they got to
the cashier.

This was very responsible on the stores part--for their customers,
their cashiers and themselves. I don't know of any person who uses
coupons and verifies each and every one of them before shopping.

If this coupon is really fraudulant and a corporate wide problem you
think they'd want to prevent problems at the register and take similar
precautions especially since it was valid for only a matter of days.


I wasn't trying to scam--I was out with a happy heart doing a good
deed as was my son. I'm looking to set a good example for him by not
causing a scene, perhaps I could have used it as a lesson in standing
up for yourself--but at that point in time I was just looking to leave
and get my son on to a happier note--he was upset already about his
team mate. (I don't know how many of you have watched an 11 year old
go down in a game with a broken hip--it isn't pretty)

Thank you for your ideas, your support and your advice.

I know you took it personally because it was done in front of people
and she should have taken you aside and not made you feel like you
were the one printing them off like a theif. I think next time you
are put in a position like that, start asking her questions about this
counterfeit coupon, where are they being distributed and how, and what
is on the coupon that made it counterfeit. It's possible it wasn't and
it is being mixed in with some that are. I would have questioned her
out of MAJOR curiousity so that it was HER on the spot to answer ME
and not the other way around with her assumptions of it being a bad
coupon. I would want to know how it was that I was scammed too, by
one of these counterfeit coupons and what to watch for next time or
where to report any future coupons that were distributed to me and in
what source.

precisely what do you mean by "berate"? What exact words were used?
You have to be specific. I just don't believe a cashier would
"berate" you while waiting on another customer. I believe she might
continue to talk to you about the counterfeit coupon, but the meaning
of the word berate involves attacking you personally, calling you
names and somehow casting VOCAL, not implied, aspursions on you of a
personal nature. I think you were embarrassed and are reacting by
blaming the situation on Lindsay because she was the unfortunate soul
who had to tell you about the coupon being phony. I think if you take
some time to think this over, it will occur to you that Lindsay was
doing her job, was not berating you, merely trying to get you to
understand, and that you reacted(which is out of control), did not
respond (which is IN control) and made yourself look suspicious by
crumpling the coupon. It doesn't matter how many more you can print
when you get home, the crumpling looks suspicious. You have to see it
through their eyes. Truly, the first thing you should have done is
asked to speak to a manager and have the entire thing explained to
you. In a rational, conversational voice, you say: "May i speak with
the manager, please?" Question him in his office, you have the power
to take this out of the public eye. You don't need to involve Lindsay
in this, at this point, she's served her purpose. Say, "thank you,
but this is a matter i am going to need a manager for."

"Berate" as in "The cashier told me to put the books back but I didn't
(want to)?"

Also, what would an apology do? I mean, OMG! IT'S AN APOLOGY, THIS
MAKES THE SITUATION SOOOOO MUCH BETTER! *shrug* If the coupon was
valid, then, yes, you should receive another one because of the
cashier's mistake.

I will say that I competely agree with everything everyone has already
posted.

But I wanted to point this out. The fact that stood there and crumpled
up the coupon only proved to Lindsey that she was correct in assuming
your coupon was counterfeit. Even if it wasnt just by you doing that
you proved her right. What person in their right mind would destroy a
coupon for basically half off?

When I worked retail we had ways to prove certain things. Like this
woman came in one day and said she had two baby books to return. First
off, who has TWO baby books. She said SHE bought them for this woman
who was having a baby. Who buys TWO DIFFERENT baby books. Then she
said the baby died. She said they had already had the funeral and she
had taken the baby books out of the mother's car at the funeral but
she forgot the receipt. She said she had other things from the shower
still to return as well.

Well, being the person that I am I felt VERY sorry for her. But I
couldnt do a refund on those items without a manager approval. When he
came up he refused to do it. He knew right away that she was lying.
And as soon as he told her he would be glad to give her store credit
but could not give her a cash refund without the receipt she went
NUTS! She started screaming and yelling at us, told him she hoped his
kids died, and eventually stormed out leaving her books on the
counter. Those books arent cheap. If she really did own them she
wouldnt have just left them there. And after she left I started
thinking about it. She had walked up to the registers from the back of
the store...where the baby items were. She didnt come in with those
books. And amazingly, not more than 30 minutes later we watched as she
was hauled off to jail from a store a few doors down for shoplifting.

I said all that to say this, you made yourself look guilty. Guilty or
not I can assure you that Lindsey and all her co-workers are
congratulating themselves that they caught a coupon counterfeiter. At
the very least it sounds like coupon fraud.

Next time ask BEFORE you go to check out. I have never used a coupon
printed from the computer but this weekend I was going to try it. I
eventually forgot the coupon and didnt find anything I liked at this
store anyway, but I had already planned to ask BEFORE I shopped if
they would take the coupon, just to save myself the hassle.

You do not deserve an apology and you certainly dont deserve
compensation. You didnt spend any money and you didnt lose any. The
only thing you did lose was your dignity.

I get Borders' e-mail coupons and the last one I received was for 30%
off a book, cd or dvd. I don't recall ever getting a coupon for $10 of
$20.

Why did you crumple it up? That response is kind of fishy. If it was a
valid coupon why didn't you ask for the manager? That doesn't make
sense.

"SHARED a coupon"?? Was this coupon supposed to be used only by
the person who received the e-mail? Thats what it sounds like to me.
If she was waiting on your neighbor at the time... was your neighbor
using the coupon also? That could explain how she knew it was a copy.
You and your son were each going to use a copy? Of a single use coupon
meant for only ONE person to use? In addition to the several other
people who had used it already?


If this is the case, she had every right to deny you the discount.
I can even understand her being upset, seeing several people attempt
to scam the store. You don't define how she "berated" you, so it's
very difficult to determine if she was actually rude, or was just
explaining the situation. In either case, I'm sure the "whole store
full of customers" couldn't hear her. You said nothing, which can
often imply guilt, not surprise as if you didn't know it was wrong.


If you truly didn't know this was fraudulent use of the coupon, or
if the coupon states on it that it can be copied and shared, then you
needed to speak up and explain that.


If you did know, or had some idea that it might be wrong, then you
owe Border's the apology, not the other way around.

I think based on the recent internet coupons snafu that it would
probably be prudent to check with the cashier BEFORE shopping.

Are you sure your not excluding part of the story because I find it
hard to believe that "Lindsay" was berating you if front of the entire
store for simply saying that you didn't want the books.
Also why were you still around to hear her rant? You state that you
"crumpled up the coupon and put it on the counter. At this point I
said nothing else." Why didn't you leave at this point? Did you just
stand there and stare at her? If you didn't want the books then there
doesn't seem to be any reason to stay unless you were hoping that they
would relent and let you use the coupon.

The coupon does sound too good to be true. And as to the others that
had used the coupons, maybe his is how the store found out that they
were counterfeit!

Well, maybe you did not realise that you had a bad attitude, sometimes
when people get mad this happens. But she had a bad attitude as well,
looks like you both owe each other an apology.