I was accused of being a thief last night---Updated, spoke with her direct manager!

[flash3992]

Sorry to hear about your experience M'Lady. I've worked in stores in past years. It was not her place to say anything to you anyway. She should have gotten a supervisor or a manager, told them what she had observed, and had them approach you.

I hope she gets FIRED! I too, hate to see anyone lose their job, but that, IMO was definitly grounds for dismissal!

[verwon]

Well I just want to thank all of you for your support, your belief in me and my integrity and your being angry and upset for me. It means a lot and has made me feel a lot better about the whole thing, if people online, that you have never met realize that you are honest, then you know you have your integrity covered.

Anyway, here's an update, the Front End Manager, who is in charge or hiring, firing, and handling those employees, just got back from his Vacation yesterday, and as soon as he had a free moment, both the General Manager and the Night Manager came into his office and told him what happened. I mean the woman was so convinced that I deserved to be treated that way, that she didn't even try to deny it or anything. They were all appalled and when the FEM heard about it, he said he just started shaking and hung his head down and put his hands over it in despair, as he could not imagine anyone treating any customer that way. He felt so awful, that he insisted he call me himself, being he is her direct boss, and when he got on the phone, he was so upset, I thought he was going to cry and get hysterical, too.

That made me feel so much better about the whole thing. He had also heard from a woman at the customer service desk, about the day my friend set her purse on a bottle of chili powder I was buying in the top of our grocery cart, and we walked out without paying for it, or even seeing it, no one knew but she and I, so I could have left with it, but I refused. I walked back into the store and insisted on paying for it, (just like you, I guess mb! LOL!) I didn't even have cash, and had to use my credit card to pay for a 99cent purchase, but if I hadn't, I would have felt guilty and certainly wouldn't have been able to eat the food I used it in.

He also knows who I am, I have spoken with him before, he has seen me in there with my friend, my huge coupon binder and etc. He said I have never, ever, given him a reason to think I was anything but totally honest and fair. I have never even acted suspiciously. I have to admit, that when he said that, I felt so good about myself, that he, and others at the store, had actually noticed this. He even said, with all the coupons you have, the money you save, and the stuff you get free, what possible reason would you have to steal anything? He told me I am clearly a good-hearted, friendly, and openly honest person. Wow, I was almost speechless.

He didn't offer any compensation, but I wasn't looking for anything, I just wanted them to know that no one deserves to be treated like that, and that her behavior was unacceptable. I told him I was humiliated and embarassed and nervous about shopping there again, he said I had nothing to be embarrassed or humiliated about, though he did understand why I felt that way. He said, in no uncertain terms, that he was going to make sure that none of the employees who were there that day, or any other day, including this woman, thought I was in the wrong and had done anything to deserve that treatment.

Yes, Kats you are right, I am very well known in that store, I am in there a lot, and I have a lot of fun with my coupons and all the other employees like me. I had one employee who was a little rude once, and I didn't even raise a ruckus, I pointed it out to the managers, because she was new, and I felt they would want to nip the problem in the bud.

Anyway, it really made me feel good to know they have noticed me and my integrity. That, along with his heartfelt and repeated apologies, meant more to me than anything else they could have offered.

As to what happens to her, well he couldn't really tell me specifically, other than it will be handled, and I also got the impression from what he said, that this is not the first time they had a problem with her and she has been talked to and warned before. Anyway, from what he said, I got the feeling that he is going to base her firing or whatever, on how she reacts to him when he talks to her about it. She was off yesterday, so he hadn't been able to talk to her yet, but the GM and NM already had, and she was still insisting that she was right in acting that way, and that by saying "You PEOPLE" she wasn't calling me a thief. Yeah right, when you accuse someone of stealing, you are calling them a thief, plan and simply, even if you don't say the word thief, and they all agreed with me about that. They were unimpressed with her insistance that she was right and the rest of us, including her bosses were wrong. So he said when she comes in for her next shift, he is going to be waiting for her as she punches her time card, and they are going to have a very, very long talk. It seems, if she keeps trying to argue with them, and say that I deserved it, and that they are wrong, she will be punching back out right away. She has already been demoted, that I know of, twice, she was taken off the cash registers and put on service desk, then they took her off the service desk and just made her a bagger and stocker, when she isn't doing that, she is supposed to help customers get their groceries to their car, or find things they need in the store and etc. But I have seen her in there many times, and other than bagging a few groceries, all she does is stand around.

He also practically begged me not to stop shopping there as we are very, very good customers. He even said what I did, that they don't treat blatant shop-lifters that way, and you can't "steal" free coupons anyway!! If they were stuck on a product, or in a product, or if you were taking them out of newspapers without buying the paper, yes, that is considered theft, and he said he has seen me in there enough times, buying my stacks of papers, to know I never do any of those.

As to the coupons in question that she flipped about, since they were a free, hanging tear pad, he said if I had wanted to take them all and use them another day, that is entirely up to me. He has watched people take the entire tear pad, and he never says anything to them, he just hopes that rather than sell them, they are going to use them, but he said they are free and intended for customers, so he has no right to say anything, or assume what they are going to do with them, and he doesn't fault anyone who wants to use them, even if it is the whole entire pad, to save money on something.

He said, his rules for employees has always been that they are not allowed to say anything about that stuff to the customers. If they see someone shop-lifting, by PA state law, you can't do anything until they actually walk out of the store with it, so they are just supposed to inform their supervisors or managers who can quitely check into the situation. Also, what the employees opinion is, on those tear pad coupons, does not matter, and he tells them all that at their meetings and when they are hired. They are instructed to go by store policy, nothing else. So he said what she did was totally wrong and unacceptable. Free stuff cannot be stolen, and even when they see people peeling coupons off items that you are supposed to use when buying it, it is such an obscure area, you know, no real laws that spell it out, that they are all instructed to just ignore it.

I even told him about the bread coupons for Schwebels products that were hanging in the bread aisle on the shelves. I had every opportunity in the world to take them all if I wished, I know where to sell them online, and the way we go through bread at this house, I could also use a ton of them, but I did not, because I think other customers should also have a chance to use them. I got a couple of each, used a few on that order, saved a couple for another day, and left the rest for others. And he said, great, please do, help myself to whatever I would need, even if it was ALL of them. LOL! Though I told him, unless there was only 1 or 2 left and I was going to use them right then, I would never do that, and he said that is entirely up to me.

Anyway, the fact that he was so appalled and upset at the treatment I received from her, and that he noticed me in the store, and knew I was an honest person and not a thief, mean tons to me. I told him I just wanted to make sure that such a thing would not happen to me, or any other customer, ever again.

Andy wanted to run to the store and grab some snacks yesterday, and it was a few hours after I talked to the FEM, he said he must have given a big lecture to all the employees that were there, everyone was totally on edge and being ultra polite.

And once again, thanks to all of you, for being so understanding and supportive.

[katlnhats]

Hi Ver,

That's great news. Not that I didn't know it Any regular customer in a store, especially grocery, well, the employees know you're a good person and a regular shopper. You can also bet that none of them ever agreed with how she treated people, but it takes a customer (like you), to take it further, as an employee isn't the same thing at all.
God Bless and good for you!

Hugs,
Kat

[flash3992]

That is good news! I still hope that she gets the "boot" though.

[tlspiegel]

What flash said. I also hope they tell her "bye bye" and why.

[verwon]

I do have to admit that if they fire her, I would take it as icing on the cake. She deserves it, but I have no control over that, and if I go in and she is still there, I will be holding my head high, and pretending that she does not exist at all.

And of course, I dare her to ever say anything like that to me again, because I will not ever put away with, and she will just find herself being complained about again.

Yes Kats, you are right, when it comes to other employees, they cannot do half as much to make a point and have a complaint taken seriously, but when a customer does it, especially someone like me, who is not always in there complaining about everything or getting in trouble, then they have to pay attention.

There are always those people who will lie and complain about any little thing to try and get something out of the store, there are also those who get caught stealing or something and have a record but try to blame someone else when they get caught. Since they are "serial" complainers, they hit a point where no one takes them seriously anymore.

I, however, never complain unless it is a serious issue, and I make sure to compliment more than I complain, that way if I say something, it is taken seriously. For instance, as upset as I was, I told the General Manager and the Front End Manager how nice, polite and etc. the Night Manager was when talking to me and taking my complaint. They may have to ream out one employee, but they can look at the other and tell him he did an excellent job.

[dmprisk]

O.K, the only store that doubles coupons is Ralphs. And since we are talking about UNION workers, they will just transfer her if your lucky, so if you ever go into another Ralphs, she might be there. I was at Vons over 10 years ago when a cashier refused a coupon I was using with a Raincheck. She asked if I wanted my Raincheck back, I said no, just take the item out. Then when she was doing my mom's order I decided, yes I want my Raincheck back so I can ask the Manager about using it and showing him the coupon I was going to use with it and get his opinion. Well, she gets the Raincheck and acts like she is going to hand it to me and when I go to grab it, she yanks it back out of my reach, she did this about 5-6 times. I finally got it and she yells at me, that she hates me, that I think I'm always right, etc. I just said, "Ask me if I care what you think!" Then I walked over to another checker and asked her what that checkers name and ID# was and I went home and wrote a letter to the main office. The next time I went in, she was still there, the Manager was apologizing to me, but all I said was it's not your fault, it's her fault. But because she is Union, they didn't do anything to her. I just made sure I never went through her check stand again. I stopped shopping at Vons when they went to doubling only 1 coupon, which was easy 6+ years ago. So when they lost me, I took my mom and neighbor lady with me, as they did not drive. So they lost 3 customers.
So anyway, don't hold your breath that they will fire her, they may tell you they fired her, but they just transfer people. Unions protect the weak.

[tlspiegel]

A bit OT but here is a state by state list of grocery stores that double coupons:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[jcgodsown]

Just reading your account now of your horrific shopping experience, Verwon. Sending you a hug and that things turned out in such a positive way, to your complete vindication, much due to your being a person of integrity which shone through all the garbage of that event.

I cannot imagine how, even with union representation, any associate would be able to stay in the employ of a company with such behavior. I hope that is not the way it turns out. And I'll bet if and when you return to that store to shop, you'll even have some of the associates who know and love you telling you how awful it was that you were treated in such a manner.

Have a good day, and thanks for all you do!

Janet

[verwon]

Um, I don't live within several hundred MILES of a Ralphs. I am not sure what state you are in dmprisk, since you don't list a profile, I can only see you say you are on Eastern Standard Time, but I am in PA. I have a lot more than one store that doubles, and as I said, I am a long way away from any Ralph's. So, I am not sure where you got the info that Ralph's is the only store that doubles coupons, so I had to be in a Ralph's. Nope, I was in a privately owned grocery store that isn't part of any chain at all, actually and as such, no union there either.

Wow, you know, I don't even know where the nearest Ralph's would be to me, I have never been to one. I am in Punxsutawney, Pa. about as Central PA as you can get. The stores near me that double are:

Shop N'Save
Giant Eagle
Comet Market
Bi-Lo
County Market
Jubilee Foods
and Martin's

There are a lot more stores that double, other than just Ralph's, better look at the link Toby posted. As a matter of fact, almost all of them double up to 99cents, too, except for on Bi-Lo now in Ridgway, the town we lived in before moving here, which is why I rarely shopped there.

So, if she doesn't straighten her act up, they can fire her. I have met the owner of these stores, he own a couple in the area, but the others are part of a nationwide chain, and I know he doesn't tolerate much attitude from his employees.

There are several Super Wal-Marts near me as well, but since they don't double, I only do selective grocery shopping there, as there are some items that I can get cheaper with a coupon even if it isn't doubled, just because their regular price is so much cheaper.

NO, anyone here who can help me figure out how this person thought that I was either near a Ralph's or that they are the only store that doubles coupons in the US?

And Janet, thank you so very much, I really appreciate everything you said, and the same to everyone who supported me while I was so upset and hurt over this whole thing. It really hurt a lot to have lived a life of integrity, never stealing anything except maybe my husband's heart, and then to suddenly be treated that way. It just blew my mind.

[Debbie42]

I don't know how (s)he thought that ver but I did think it was kind of cool that you got the first post ever out of some one who had the following stats. Didn't any one else notice.
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 1
maybe they will continue to post now and let us know way they thought what they did.

I am still ticked off about this. I think they should have given you a gift certificate for the store. I would have been so mad, I think I would have thrown a fit. Wow! You are starting to beat me in bad luck and odd happenings!!!

[dmprisk]

Oops!
Sorry, out here in California, Ralphs is now the only store that will double one coupon per item. So it's a good thing your in PA and it's not a Union run store and is privately owned. You may actually get some satisfaction to your rude employee. Yippie! But now you know how some of the employees feel about couponers.
(and an aside answer to a previous post to this thread, yes Union workers can and do get away with outrageous behavior, at least out here in California. Most of the time, it's the "brotherhood" that covers up the misdeed. Like for example the custodians at our local schools, just drive by anytime during the day and the only thing they are "working" on is recycling out of the schools trash dumpsters for cans and bottles to subsidize they own personal income. So we taxpayers are paying them to recycle on company time. The schools look like crap, but everyone is just there to collect a paycheck so they look the otherway. Sad When I questioned the head custodian about it, he just says, The school couldn't even get a custodian fired who was stealing T.V's, etc. so they aren't going to do anything about the recycling on company time, they figure no one works a full 8 hours so whats a few hours of recycling or sleeping on company time.) Isn't California work ethics Fun!

[verwon]

Oh, it isn't just California, trust me on that. There are unions in most of the larger chain stores here in PA, and they do get away with anything and everything.