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Target shopper tries to buy champagne with 30% off pick-up coupon. Then an employee steps in

Perhaps you've heard the phrase "champagne tastes on a beer budget." A Target shopper trying to buy a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne with a 30% off coupon underwent a customer service ordeal after making the attempt.

The lengthy tale, in a video clocking in at nearly eight minutes, comes from creator Al (@al91786). Posted on Thursday, the video has gotten nearly 8,000 views as of this writing. In it, she explains that she was trying to purchase a bottle of champagne for a friend serving as her bridesmaid, and discovered via Google that her local Target offered it for 30% off.

It turns out the bottle actually would come from a liquor store next door, and she determined that the bottle would only be $5 off if she bought it in the store, but reasoned that she could buy it for 30% off on the Target website and then pick it up.

A Target worker she conferred with wasn't receptive to this plan, however.

'We don't price match'

"I am met with hostility, like full on. 'We don't price match,'" she reported the worker saying. "My immediate thought is that this ain't price match. This isn't like your competitor and you want your business, but this is your store, your location price, and I literally can buy it here and pick up this bottle here. Why would I pay $22 more when I can literally buy it on my phone right here?"

The employee repeated that they don't price match, and when she purchased it on her app all the same, the employee said it would be a two-hour wait. Al was confused by this estimate, given that her order was only one item and the store was not busy.

Eventually, she found the worker who would process the order, who also gave her attitude. Despite there being multiple bottles of Veuve chilling in a fridge, the worker chose a bottle that Al described as "literally hot."

When Al asked if she could swap it out for the cold one, the worker replied, "No, ma'am. If you wanted one of the cold ones, you should come into the store, get one in the fridge, and pay full price for it."

Does Target have good customer service?

ConsumerAffairs asserts on its site, "Target is an excellent company to shop with. It prioritizes customer experience, so it’s easy to feel like you’re not in a big-box store while still saving money."

Customers beg to differ

However, the ConsumerAffairs Target page also features over 3,000 reviews, with a dismal average of 1.2 stars out of 5.

"All three times I have been the victim of register fraud," claimed a shopper from Birmingham, Alabama, in a one-star review. "They consistently place items behind a price label for lower-priced items of the same nature. When you get to the register (and if you check your receipt while being hurried through the long lines next to all the unmanned registers), the price jumps to the actual (more expensive) price of your item. Ironically, I only noticed because of the time it took the checker to make sure I wasn't stealing anything in my overpriced trashcan."

"They listed a product available in the store so I ordered it for pickup," said a similarly dissatisfied Connecticut shopper. "Then they told me they don't have it so I cancelled the order. However they held my money hostage for two weeks," they wrote, before adding, "what kind of crap is that?"

"I have had nothing but problems with Target's online customer service," added a Youngstown, Ohio, customer. "In a world that is so customer-focused, I guess Target is truly saying they don’t care about us. I returned and repurchased an item and in the meantime lost a $25 reward because the return caused my purchase to fall below the threshold to qualify. Totally understand that except for the fact I repurchased the item online because it was not available to exchange in store."

"Talked to customer service and was flat out told there was nothing they could do about it," that person added. "I’ve worked in customer service for over 20 years; there is always something you can do about it."

@al91786 My @target ♬ original sound - al

Commenters have their say

A number of commenters were similarly appalled.

"I would have walked out, walked back in to return it lol," floated one. "I got tiiiiime for this stuff."

Another said, "I just looked this up and it’s NOT an exclusive pickup offer. Unless chilled is priced differently at your store, they are 100% in the wrong and that should have been the price on walk in."

Someone, suggesting she call corporate, added, "Also, I hope you get an email survey that you can annihilate. The way I would have walked over to the cooler & grab[bed] a cold one."

"I’m so surprised when employees square up like this and for what?" another observed. "It’s not coming out of their wallet. Like just adjust it and keep your customers happy. What happened to good customer service??"

The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Target via email.

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