Cashiers are your Best Friends

Cashiers ARE YOUR Best Friends!

We have heard so many times that cashiers are your best friends, but we never understood the value of this until we put it into practice!

The best way to make your stores and coupons work the way you want them to, is to get to know your cashiers--even more so if you shop the same stores frequently! Get to know them and they will get to know you. The better they know you, the more they will be willing to help you out, let you know about upcoming deals, and let you know if you have missed any in ad coupons or specials.

Here is an example: When we walk into our Riteaid on a Sunday morning, we immediately have three people asking us what we are in for and what they can do to help. One time we went in for Huggies diapers and they were out of the snug and dry, which is what our coupons were for. So Rich, the manager, manually pushed our coupons through on the huggies little snugglers instead! He knows that we are pretty easy to get along with and he will go out of his way to help us in any way he can. We also know two cashiers pretty well. David will call for a backup cashier when we get in line so he can help us get the best deal possible. When we went in for toothpaste we needed a cheap filler item, and he informed us of $.10 clearance items so we didn't have to pay any extra out of pocket--how great is that!?!

We also have a great relationship with a cashier at Fred Meyer. We will wait a little longer in line just to get her! One time we had a buy one get one eCoupon that didn't come off of our Fred Meyer card and so we mentioned it, and she manually took the $4.00 off! She also let us use 2 $1.00 paper coupons and a B1G1 paper coupon. When we tried to do this same deal with another cashier at the exact same Fred Meyer it was a no go. She would only take 1 $1.00 coupon and the B1G1--so we SAVE MONEY by knowing a cashier!

How do you get to know a cashier?

Be Friendly!! It is that easy. Smile. Open up. When your cashier asks how your day is going, answer; ask them how their day is going. Open the door of nice communication.

Don't cause a big stink--if something doesn't work out, it probably isn't their fault. Just politely say you don't want the item since it didn't go according to plan. Your cashiers will appreciate you for this, and over time will start to remember who you are! If we have a deal we aren't positive will work at check-out, we say something first. This way they are looking to see if it will work as much as we are and it doesn't come across as trying to be tricky.

Learn a few names. This really isn't difficult and will help you establish a cashier-customer relationship.

Always thank the cashier for taking the time to help!!

What do you do when you don't know a cashier?

If we're in a store we don't frequent, we find the youngest male cashier and get in his line. I know that sounds silly, but honestly, it's a good tip. They usually don't take the time to care about your coupons. Older ladies are sometimes the worst--some will even check the expiration date on every single coupon you use although the computer is smart enough to not accept expired coupons!

If there is only one line open, we recommend hanging back until the line is short. Watch the cashiers with the customers in front of you. This alone tells you what kind of day they are having and how approachable they are.

Keep in mind, if you're using a lot of coupons and splitting transactions, visit the store at a time that is less likely to be busy. This will help prevent the cashier from getting frustrated because of a growing line.