Warning about free shipping code

No AG person should treat you the way that woman did. I have had only 2 acceptable experiences in the last 8 times I have called AG CS. I buy internet only now, as I refuse to be treated poorly by people in a call center. When you charge as much as AG does, your staff should be friendly to people who call to place $200 plus orders - or $20 orders, considering what we get for $20.

As for the shipping code, if it's on your catalogue, you can do what you want with it. I don't think anyone has had trouble using it so far, and it doesn't appear to be a one time use thing. Given that AG's employee discount is 40%, I doubt they are losing their shirts on 10% or free shipping codes.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 06, 2006 02:13 AM: Message edited by: MissMooMoo ]</font>

I had a question about these discount codes. Are we referring to the ones on the back of the catalog and the same number that appears on the inside order sheet? Is it marked somewhere that it is good for 10%off? Thanks.

So WHAT do these catalogue codes mean that are printed on the catalogues that come with orders?
I have two recent ones-both with different numbers on the covers.
(the #s on the order sheets match the ones on the covers)
If I put them in the discount code boxes in my online order,it doesnt do anything discount wise..
Are these just tracking numbers?
I don't think I've ever gotten a code from the catalogues that discounts anything,but then again..I'm a return shopper.
Maybe I'll sign my neighbors up..LOL!

Has anyone ever written to AG to see what they say? I'm unsure about the codes and have been avoiding using them (especially the $10 ones, since I think they should be reserved for people who buy the DVDs and videos).

I personally think, though, that AG has no right to complain if they haven't made them one use only. One way to do this would be to create coupons, bound into the catalog (or packed in with the DVD/video), that can be redeemed only through mail. If they want to have restrictions on coupon codes, *they* need to set the restrictions and parameters in which the discounts can be used.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 06, 2006 10:46 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

Melissa, I totally agree with you.

AG is not the only company that does things like this, most mail order companies have coupons, and I'd imagine pretty much every popular one has at least one messageboard where codes are shared. They, like AG, continue to use codes as they know it brings people to buy MORE than they had intended. As I already said, I do not buy AG without some type of discount code. Given there's almost always one, I think I'm ok there [img]wink.gif[/img] . I bought both movies, so I didn't feel bad using those coupons.

If AG is really bothered by code sharing, they need to come up with a better solution to giving them out. I don't like the idea of a mail in coupon, but that's simply because I make all of my orders online. It would probably work better than anything else they have going right now, but I think a one time use, different code per person code that could be typed up online would be fine.

In the internet world, there is no way that any company can possibly think that these codes would not be shared. There are many sites devoted solely to discount code sharing.

The discounts that AG has given such as 10% off and free shipping are very small compared to what other retailers give. I think that some phone customer service reps may have a bad attitude that has absolutely nothing to do with AG's company policy. AG would probably be very disappointed to learn how slovejoy was treated. IMO, those phone service reps should be very careful if they want to stand of chance of keeping their jobs. If everyone ordered from the internet, they would be obsolete and that is the trend.

I personally never order by phone anymore unless I want a replacement part. It is just more convenient. Think about how much money AG is saving by not having to have as many people answering the phones.

Quote:

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Originally posted by cami713:

If AG is really bothered by code sharing, they need to come up with a better solution to giving them out. I don't like the idea of a mail in coupon, but that's simply because I make all of my orders online. It would probably work better than anything else they have going right now, but I think a one time use, different code per person code that could be typed up online would be fine.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The labor cost of having people process a paper coupon would far outweigh any savings that AG would have from prohibiting people from using the code multiple times. It would decrease orders, make customers angry and create a paperwork log jam in their order processing department.

I really don't think AG wants the codes to be limited to a 1 time use. The more orders, the merrier. Those codes work to increase orders and our board is a strong testiment to that fact. The force is driven by the code, IMO. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Quote:

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Originally posted by judiaci:
There are many sites devoted solely to discount code sharing.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is so true! I'm in the habit of *always* looking for a coupon code before ordering anything online. I avoid AG's only because I've read from a couple people here that customer service has been rude about the codes. (I guess it helps that I'm not wanting anything from AG just now, too. [img]redface.gif[/img] )

It's also true that a paper coupon would cost a lot to create and process, but to me it seems like the best idea for the $10 off coupons--those are not necessarily increasing sales, since customers were getting small orders for free and reusing the code over and over. I can't imagine that AG doesn't lose some money on that type of offer.

AG won't necessarily discontinue codes--especially if they keep drumming up business--*but* they might increase prices on merchandise in order to cover the costs. So I hope they address this proactively (one-time use codes and/or coupons) instead of reactively (raising prices and/or completely discontinuing codes). Right now, though, I don't think they have a right to complain, without taking some action first.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 06, 2006 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

Boy, I wish we could all write a petition to AG about the negative CS experiences we have had. . .Wake up. . .this is a luxury item. If you don't treat us nicely we will stop buying or go with ebay sellers who are nice. It burns me up when I think about it. . .

Thanks Miss moo moo and everyone else for making me feel better about using the code. I honestly thought that they could be shared and was a little taken back with the CS. At first I felt like I was cheating, but you've all made me feel much better.

Shanna