Archived Price Match at Checklanes

[commiecorvus]

Does anyone ever feel like Spot is doing a massive episode of Punk'd?

Like at some point they are going to jump out and say, "Just kidding, do you think we'd be so stupid to do this right before fourth quarter when lines will be backed up to the back of the store as it is?"
Then take pictures 0f all your faces and post them on Twitter and say what a great team Target is that these practical jokes can be played.

Yeah, that's it, I'm sure of it.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Problem with this is making sure the item is an exact match. Can be dicey with electronic items.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

The cashiers do not have to verify the price match. The guest will just show the ad on their mobile device or bring the paper ad. The cashier can do the price match up to $20 without supervisor approval. The guest service TMs will still have to verify price matches on the iPad mini. WTF Target?

I've had guests bring me the ad on their phone only to figure out it isn't an exact match or that it is coming from a Yahoo page and not the actual retailer page. Just because Beats shows a low price from Best Buy doesn't mean it is the exact one we carry in our store. Just because they are the same color does not mean they are the same item number. Cashiers do not have the time to do all this research and it will only piss off the guests behind them in line.

 

[On6]

I heard a team member ask the ETL on walkie if we price match Target.com . He said no. I'm like wth, I'm pretty sure it stated that clearly on the Target website that we do. I lose my respect when ETL don't even know their own policy smh

That used to be the policy about 3 years ago.

 

[thetargetman]

My whole view was as long as the item matched what they wanted to price match and it was not some crazy private company setting a super low price I would price match it. I figure if management had a problem I would take full responsibility for every thing I did on register. (I never got in trouble for any coupons, price match, return, exchange)

 

[OffYaPhone]

Problem with this is making sure the item is an exact match. Can be dicey with electronic items.

Agreed. What I used to do is use my own phone and scan the item's barcode in whatever store's app the person said the lower price was. I had those apps on my phone for my personal use and it made my life 1000% easier when price matching instead of using the iPad. The price match app on there sucked!

 

[Deli Ninja]

Does it feel like Target is trying to lower $ sales? First the Archer Farms buy 2 get 1 free where we had to manually adjust the price, not to mention for the next two weeks Deli is giving away more free cheese than usual with 1.5 pounds of ANY brand of meat, and now this price-matching debacle...
What the hell are they thinking?! Good gods, just add a reasonable number of hours, run some better (but not INSANE) sales, and beg a well-known designer to do a limited line of stuff for Target. The people will come. Just add the hours first so we can prove Target can indeed be a good place to shop again!

 

[shortstuffishere]

I honestly wouldn't mind it if I was on a lane as I'm service desk trained and I could do it off of my phone... that being said some people I honestly wouldn't trust doing a price match either because not knowing or just to much of a dumbass to do without being taken advantage of.

 

[defang]

Hell no. My seasoned cashiers are fine and I trust them for this, but the new seasonals? This will be a cluster.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Since we have many non-working devices this also creates a problem. I shouldn't have to use my personal cell phone to do my job. The tools to do my job should be provided by Target and they should be in working order.

 

[LUR99]

I am afraid price matching at the lanes will slow down register transactions and like so many said, scammers will take advantage of it. It will be a mess with the new seasonal cashiers and a few long term cashiers who are not allowed to work at the service desk for a reason. They are super sweet ladies, great at getting red cards but they turn their blinker on all the time, usually for really simple things they could easily resolve. The poor GSAs will be running marathons during their shifts

 

[NewCashierLT]

When I do guest service I have to manually scan the product with the iPad and make sure it matches so imagine how time consuming that'll be on the check lanes especially when there isn't a gstl around and I doubt they'll provide everyone with a iPad.

My whole view was as long as the item matched what they wanted to price match and it was not some crazy private company setting a super low price I would price match it. I figure if management had a problem I would take full responsibility for every thing I did on register. (I never got in trouble for any coupons, price match, return, exchange)

Sorry to bump this, but I still am not sure what to do when guests want to price match at the register. I have been told by other more experienced cashiers who are also trained in Guest Services to send guests who wish to price match to guest services so that the iPad can check if the item matches the competitor's website. On the other hand, another GSA told me to use price match at the register if the price match was within $20, so I have done price matching at the register when it doesn't seem to be worth it to send a guest to guest services.
One time, a couple bought $500 of items, and in addition, they wanted to price match an electronic item for exactly $20 less from Wal-Mart. I asked the GSTL at the time about this, and they told the guests that they had to go to guest services to price-match. The guests became visibly angry and stated that they felt it wasn't worth it to come to Target and they didn't like having to wait on another line. I did let them use my Cartwheel to get a discount on bedding, which made them less angry, but I am curious about how I should have handled this situation.

 

[qmosqueen]

Let them be angry.
Who the fuck cares.
Target won’t go broke if one guest never comes back. And guess what, they always come back.

 

[Bosch]

My whole view was as long as the item matched what they wanted to price match and it was not some crazy private company setting a super low price I would price match it. I figure if management had a problem I would take full responsibility for every thing I did on register. (I never got in trouble for any coupons, price match, return, exchange)

I follow that as my rule of thumb when I cashier. From the actual website, the specs are close to the same without going into fine detail I will run with it.

 

[GoodyNN]

Officially, price match has to be done through a Target device - either the GS iPad or a MyDevice with the Price Match app on it. The reason for this is so we can verify it's a current, publicly available price - i.e., not Amazon Prime or a "add to cart to see the price" deal, or a screen grab left over from Black Friday or a Photoshop job. Also, Amazon and Walmart both seem to have a tendency to change UPCs on their online items, which means sometimes the Price Match app doesn't find it on those sites.

ASANTS on enforcement. My GSTL will allow me to run a competitor price match if I have a MyDevice and I'm on a lane so the guest doesn't have to wait again, because I am SD trained and she knows I'll process it correctly. However, I don't usually have a MyDevice, only if I started my shift doing reshop and haven't taken a break yet to be able to put it away.

 

[Anelmi]

If the guest wants the price match, he has to wait in 2 lines. Is it worth it for him or not?

 

[Times Up]

If the guest wants the price match, he has to wait in 2 lines. Is it worth it for him or not?

Don't your cashiers 'make it right' for the guest and do the PM at the lanes?

 

[Frontlanegirl]

I've even had dicey ones at GS. So many rules one needs to follow. Is the item in stock, it is sold through the store or is it a third party. The item also has to be an exact match and not just a different color. We also don't do price match and allow cartwheel on top of it. If they want it that bad then they can go to GS. It takes too much time to research for this to be done at a register.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

At my store PM is GS ONLY no exceptions even for electronics.

 

[Anelmi]

Don't your cashiers 'make it right' for the guest and do the PM at the lanes?

Nope. Guest services only.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

At my store PM is GS ONLY no exceptions even for electronics.

Nope. Guest services only.

There are some cashiers who should not be approving price matches, not because they're not smart enough to know if someone's faking, but simply because they don't care. Plus it's so easy for a guest to just lie and photoshop something.

Plus it's like if you "make it right" at the lanes where do you draw the line? $5? $10? what if it's $11?

it's just easier to do it all at GS. less things can go wrong.

 

[masterofalltrades]

There are some cashiers who should not be approving price matches, not because they're not smart enough to know if someone's faking, but simply because they don't care. Plus it's so easy for a guest to just lie and photoshop something.

Plus it's like if you "make it right" at the lanes where do you draw the line? $5? $10? what if it's $11?

it's just easier to do it all at GS. less things can go wrong.

All the zebras have the price match app on them, so a gstl can just come over to do it. At least that's how it is at my store, probably because gs is usually backed up to hell.

 

[Times Up]

There are some cashiers who should not be approving price matches, not because they're not smart enough to know if someone's faking, but simply because they don't care. Plus it's so easy for a guest to just lie and photoshop something.

Plus it's like if you "make it right" at the lanes where do you draw the line? $5? $10? what if it's $11?

it's just easier to do it all at GS. less things can go wrong.

My STL does not want guests to wait in line 2x.
As long as it's nothing illegal, I do what my leadership expects. I am the bottom of Spot's pay hierarchy as a cashier and this isn't anything I am going to stress about, or even think about. Just followin' directives!

BTW, there is no limit at the lanes as to the amount of the price change.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

My STL does not want guests to wait in line 2x.
As long as it's nothing illegal, I do what my leadership expects. I am the bottom of Spot's pay hierarchy as a cashier and this isn't anything I am going to stress about, or even think about. Just followin' directives!

BTW, there is no limit at the lanes as to the amount of the price change.

Well there is a limit of $25 (or $20 I can’t remember) before supervisor override is needed

 

[Anelmi]

Yes, there is a limit. At a certain $ amount, a supervisor override is required.

You also can't do a manual coupon for more than $5 without needing an override either.