Pettiness of Sainsburys

It's all computerised. If the till won't take the coupon there's no way to override it. However, you can ask them to save the transaction and get something else as well as/instead of them pay at Customer Services, they can just scan the saved receipt and add your extra item. As for anyone who thinks cashiers are "drippy jobsworths", supermarkets will be hiring for Christmas soon - how about trying it from the other side of the fence?

I had an issue with my local Sainsbury's store a few years back, can't remember what is was, but I emailed customer services and they got hold of the store manager and it was sorted out right away with no problems.

My son worked at Sainsbury’s last year and he suffered all sorts of rudeness...particularly from elderly folk who seemed to think that as he was a youngster they could be vile. He was so surprised because he would not dream of being rude to the till operator.

I would write to the store manager and explain what has happened and hopefully you will get a response that satisfies you. Sainsbury’s , like all the other major supermarkets are suffering from competition and I would expect they apologise and recompense you in some way in order to keep your custom. If this doesn’t happen, I bet there are other supermarkets you could use!

I once had a gripe over a $35 overcharge on a medical bill (too many details to explain here). After a lengthy, unproductive telephone dispute with a (very rude) customer service representative, I was no better off than when I started.

Angry and frustrated, I got some names and wrote a polite letter to the head administrator of the hospital. I pointed out why the hospital policy was flawed (resulted in double billing), but that it was not the dollar amount that bothered me as much as the rudeness and condescension with which I had been treated by their customer service dept.

After that, I felt much better. I had almost forgotten the incident when a month later, I received a letter of apology from the head of the billing department and a refund check for the $35 overcharge.

Julia Seizer44....no ...you cannot sell liqueur chocolates to the under 18’s.... they are always classed as alcohol ...I worked for Tesco for years so I know this is true.

Send an email to CEO always works for me. I would be fuming

An email or letter to the CEO has always worked for us too. Or calling at Customer Services and requesting the manager in a loud voice and saying why - also in a loud voice!

I would have thought the liqueur and alcohol exemption would have only applied to liqueurs and alcohols in bottles, and would say so in a loud voice!

Definitely complain Nonnie they were in the chocolate aisle after all.
I had to complain online to Sainsbury HQ the other day, haven’t heard anything as yet.

Liquer chocolates are classed as an alcoholic item. Liquers were not allowed to be purchased on the voucher. Why do so many tell the OP to write to Head Office?
Would it be ok to sell them to 12 or 16 yr olds? If not (because they have alcohol content) then the OP was correctly informed by the sales assistant. Anyone exhorting her to make a fuss is out of order.

Totally agree Gabriella. All this “speak in a loud voice when complaining” stuff just makes the complainer look silly. The idea that a till operator might be a jobsworth is also ridiculous. The operator is obliged to adhere to the rules and they don’t make it up as they go along. This just shows how out of touch some on Gransnet are with the workplace.

I shop daily in Waitrose. It's my nearest store, only a 2 minute walk.

*liqueur, not liquer...or liquor

When I see people making loud complaints I always think badly of the complainer. They appear like a child who is on the edge of a tantrum demanding something they have been told they cannot have. A sort of blackmail.
Speak to the manager as a polite adultt & explain you feel the voucher was not clear in excluding chocolate liqueurs in the offer & if you had realised would have purchased a different box of chocs. Then if you get nowhere, write your letter!

Thanks everyone. I did Tweet a PM to them which they responded to and asked me to send them a picture of the barcode, that was on Friday and they have not responded since. They did say they had spoken to the store manager but didn't tell me what was said.

I intend to go into the shop some time this week and show the manager this thread. I think he/she should take it up on my behalf with whomever makes these decisions.

No, I wouldn't complain loudly, that's not my style and I wouldn't blame the till person, although I think she could have handled it better. I would have loved to have gone back and bought something else to top up my shopping but didn't because there were such big queues at the tills and I had already felt that the woman in front of me was taking far too much time to sort herself out with apparently no awareness of the people waiting.

rosieroe I had already complained to them on social media but have done so again. Thanks

Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Liquor Chocolates are sold inthe chocolate aisle and as such are chocolates not alcohol. That was a jobs worth. Take your receipt and your voucher to customer services, say you didnt feel you could question the decision at the time for the reason you gave in your post and I think you may find they give you a refund.

Sainsbury's had an end of aisle display of a bogof on an expensive and effective hand cream. Two versions were displayed side by side, I took one of each. At the till I was charged for both because, I was told, they were different. Too embarrassed to even go and swap one I slunk out.
I wouldn't do that now and in any supermarket I point out the offer in my basket at the checkout and ask if I've got it right. So I guess it was a lesson learned.

^All this “speak in a loud voice when complaining” stuff just makes the complainer look silly.
Has anyone suggested that the OP should go in and have a meltdown or tantrum?

I think that speaking to Customer Services or a more senior manager out of earshot of other customers could be a good idea. Standing one's ground and making a point does not mean shouting or making oneself sound silly.
I think, even if they are technically in the right, any Sainsbury's manager who wishes to retain his customers would refund the £9 as an act of goodwill, at the same time saying that he was not setting a precedent.

If the chocolates had alcohol in them they are alcohol no matter which aisle they are in. If they put meat in the sweet aisle, you wouldn't eat it raw because it was confectionary.

It’s a moot point Icanhand as choccy liquers are always confectionary which is why you find them in that aisle in the first place.
If the offer had said, no alchohol including choc liquers that would be different.

Just to reiterate, it wasn't alcohol that was the issue, it was spirits which sort of implies something strongly alcoholic to me. It would have been fine if the whole £60 had been spent on beer or wine!

I wonder what percentage proof a £3.50 tin of Bailey's chocolate actually is?!?

It is possible the till will not put through the money off coupon if what they regard as an exclusion is in the basket .

Actually, it is a bit of a moot point. I always understood that you could not buy liqueur chocolates if you were under a certain age, I presumed 18. However, in 2015 they removed liqueur chocolates from the licensing restrictions. www.underagesales.co.uk/news/news-41.html says: "Liqueur chocolates: Before 2015, it was illegal for liqueur confectionary containing up to 200ml of alcohol per kilogram of chocolate to be sold to shoppers aged under 16. However, the government recently introduced new laws scrapping this age restriction in a bid to tackle red tape. So whether you stock rum truffles or whiskey chocolates, you don’t need to ask for ID from your customers."
I still think as Sainsbury's offer the voucher, they should be able to determine if they allow discount of a product which contains alcohol or not.

DH & I are currently quietly & slowly consuming a £1.50 packet of Bailys chocolate mini delights from the Co-op. 1% alcohol it says! So technically of course they are alcoholic but hopefully common sense and good customer service will prevail!