Office Depot's Strange Way of Applying Coupons

A week or so before Christmas I had a bit of personal and stocking-stuffer shopping left to do. So I headed to Office Depot armed with my "$10 off a purchase of $50 or more" coupon.

My purchases looked something like this (I'm approximating prices and leaving out tax to make this example simple -- but how the discount was applied is 100% true):

Plastic chair mat: $25
Desk accessories: $15
Stocking stuffer #1: $5
Stocking stuffer #2: $3
Laptop table: $20

Total: $68

Most stores would ring this up as $68 less the $10 coupon equals $58. Not Office Depot (at least not mine.) They took the $10 savings and applied it to each individual item based on that item's percentage of the total cost. So my discount looked like this:

Plastic chair mat: $25 - $3.68 = $21.32
Desk accessories: $15 - $2.21 = $12.79
Stocking stuffer #1: $5 - $0.74 = $4.26
Stocking stuffer #2: $3 - $0.44 = $2.56
Laptop table: $20 - $2.94 = $17.06

Total: $58

So the total's the same, but the way they got to it is unusual. But it doesn't really make a difference, does it? That is, until you want to make a return.

My wife didn't like the desk accessories (they were the ones she wanted me to get for her, but they just weren't right for some reason.) So she went back to Office Depot with the receipt to return the item. Now if we hadn't purchased the desk accessories in the first place, we would have still been over $50 and still received the full $10 discount. But they credited her with $12.79 (the cost of the desk accessories less the amount of the coupon applied to them.) My wife tried to explain to them the issue and they tried to fix it (she left the store thinking they did), but in the end, they gave us back less than we were due. Not a big deal because we're talking $1 here, but still, it's interesting the way they do things.

Then we decided we didn't like the chair mat (it was too flimsy.) So we went to return it as well. Now if we had never purchased the desk accessories AND the chair mat, we would not have been able to use the coupon since our total amount would have been $28. We talked about this on the way there -- that they'd probably take all the rest of our discount away -- and we were ok with that. But we also discussed the strange way they applied the discount and decided that whatever they gave us back, we'd accept -- it just wasn't that much in the total scheme of things and it was more of a headache to fight/explain it than it was worth.

So when we returned with the chair mat, they credited us for $21.32. This left the discounts on the other three items we ended up keeping -- giving us $4.12 off the purchase of $28 in supplies.

Obviously we're not dealing with tons of money here and the fact that I even noticed this and then posted on it could be considered obsessive, but I did think it was interesting on several fronts:

• How they applied coupons when almost everyone else does it a different way
• The fact that if you return something but still have over the coupon amount, you lose money
• The fact that if you return something and now have under the coupon amount, you save money

So does this mean you can always have a coupon at Office Depot, no matter how big the purchase amount is? Simply buy what you want plus a bunch of other stuff to get to the coupon level, get the savings, then return the stuff you don't want. You'll lose the coupon amount on those purchases, but not on the stuff you keep.

To me, this is dishonest and really not worth the trouble anyway, so I wouldn't do it. But having such a system does leave them open to this type of abuse.

Is it only my Office Depot that applies coupons in this manner or do they do it elsewhere? Anyone else had a similar experience?

Comments

[meb]

I would do it at my store that way. If the discount isn't tied to a particular item, you could return each item individually for the full amount and then the store would be out $10.

[Claire]

Bed, Bath and Beyond does the same thing. I feel like I've seen another store do it too.

[Crystal]

Most of our shopping is done at Kroger's, Walmart, Kohl's, Sam's Club, and Target - none of them use this interestingly confusing method. It seems like a valid way to make sure they never just give away $10 like meb brought up.

[bill]

I know Lowes does this for their coupons. It sometimes works to our advantage but most of the time it doesn't.

[Mike C]

Our Office Depot does the same thing and we have had issues with returns from them. We also had a $10 coupon for Ruby Tuesday's and they applied it the same way. Not that we would be returning our meals but what benefit do they get by applying the $10 coupon split across two meals?

[Terrence]

Men's Wearhouse does the same thing with their coupons as well.

[Kari]

Home Depot does the same thing. There is also a disclaimer at the bottom of the receipt that says something like "Must return all items for full refund." I think it makes sense, and is protecting them from those who try to trick the system.

[Lynn]

I think this is the way everyone does it now including the ones mentioned and also Toys R' Us and Babies R' Us. Anyone that has a % off coupon does it that way these days so that you can't return something and still get the full amount off. Makes sense to me actually since I am a serial returner! :)

[jim]

The way they are doing it makes sense to me. Its fairly easy for them to track it this way. It probably minimizes potential losses from abuses. Yet still gives people fair sales price if/when they have to return something.

[cmadler]

JC Penney applies coupons this way also. I've never returned a couponed item there, so I can't speak to that side of it.

[CJ Bowker]

Nike does this. It's always a mess if you want to return something. Luckily if you just want a different size they don't screw you buy making you pay the difference in the coupon. The problem is if you bought shirt A and then wanted to return it and buy shirt B. Even if they were the same price, you would owe the difference from the coupon.

[Jennifer]

I just returned something to Office Depot this week where I had a similar coupon ($10 off a $75 purchase). I'd purchased about $117 worth of merchandise. When I went to return it, same thing as you. The item I return was worth $12, so I still would have qualified for the $10 off with the return, but they attributed part of the coupon to my purchase price. It was ridiculous, but not worth my argument.

[Jo]

I have seen other stores do this, the one that comes to mind for me is Lane Bryant. On Buy-1-Get-1, they actually give you 50% off both items...so sometimes you come out ahead other times behind. It's always a little confusing at first, but once you do the math and realize it's all cool then all is fine.

Once you start talking about returning things and causing the store to possible lose money, it makes sense why they do the percentage.

[Josh Stein]

When we were in Florida on vacation, the Bealls stores (only damn place I can buy short-sleeved collared shirts in December) did this with their "Instant $10 off" specials.

[Mike Collins]

Babies R Us and Toys R Us do the same thing. And a word of caution...pay special attention when returning something under these conditions because for some reason the cashiers have a hard time with them. We returned some toys and baby clothes after Christmas and each time we had to have a manager do a price override because it was not refunding the correct amount when the cashier did it.

[Penny]

I shop at Justice (Limited Too) for my pre-teen girl and the register girls always say "If you spend just $20 something more, you'll get another xx% off" and then they'll set your stuff aside and wait for you to go pick something else out just to get a bigger discount. Yes, I've done this! And they apply the discount in the same way as above. Return an item and keep the additional discount on all other purchases.

[Lurker Carl]

My experience with Lowes - I bought $100 worth of plumbing materials using a $10 off coupon for purchasing more than $50. I ended up returning about $25 worth of unused items, the employee at the return desk looked at my receipt and gave it back to me. He issued me store credit on a gift card instead of charging back from the receipt. Now I know why!

This new age accounting is a double duty tactic that reduces fraud while screwing the honest customer.

[kaseyd]

I don't shop at Office Depot any more. Not because of the way they apply discounts, but the way they don't give proper credit for recycled ink cartridges. I returned 3 cartridges in December and should have received a $9 credit to my frequent shopper account. I asked for a receipt and was instead reassured to "don't worry, I credited your account." I never received the $9 credit (and as a result of not exceeding $10, I lost all of my credits for the year). Nor did I ever receive an explanation after I filed two online complaints.

From now on I'm taking my business to Office Max.

[Diane]

Bed, Bath and Beyond will even give you an equivalent coupon when you return an item you used a coupon on. SO if you used your $5 off $15 coupon for a $20 item and then return it - they credit you the amount you paid (including the discount) and then hand you a new $5 off coupon.

[Angie]

Most stores do this now. I've had it happen at Lane Bryant, Toys R Us, Office Depot and a few others. When I've had to return things, it's worked both for and against me at different times.

[Jocelyn]

If I remember correctly, the Gap (which means that its sister companies, Banana Republic and Old Navy, may also do this) uses this method.

[Leslie M]

I think Macy's does that too.

[Grady]

I also heard (from my Grandma) that if you dent some cans in the Supermarket you can go back later and buy them at a discount.

GOOD LUCK!

[Nick]

You know, it's not that you were gypped out of a couple bucks that makes you amd at things like this, it's that companies do this because they feel like they can't trust their own customers.

Shopping is an emotional experience. Policies like that appear to be a precaution against customers gaming the system, but what it shows is that in that store "the customer is not always right." And who wants to go through life on the defensive like that?

[aa]

That's why one time I returned my items to Lowe's without a receipt, so I could keep all the coupon discount!

[Brian]

This is what you get from a corporate America mentality. Some corporate schmuck thinks he is saving the company a buck. Oh for the days of a mom-and-pop supply store.

[Eric]

Can't say I've ever seen this..

[Cheapskate Sandy]

It's now a normal practice. I've owned a store before and I'll fill you in. Not everyone is as honest as all your readers here. Lots of people will buy something to get the discount then come back later that day or the next day and return things that they never intended to keep just so they can get the full discount amount applied to the balance of the order. My spreading the discount out across the entire purchase, the store does not lose out on these purchases and you still get your discount. Otherwise it is conceivable that someone can get a discount applied, return things and then end up getting paid to purchase something. For example: $75 purchase gets $10 off. Customer purchases one thing for $70 and another for $5. Customer returns $70 item but still gets $10 discount even though they only paid $5. Most retail software are now automatically programed this way.