'Coupon Carl': Woman says CVS manager called police over wrong coupon

[SummerMadness]

'Coupon Carl': Woman says CVS manager called police over wrong coupon

A man dubbed "Coupon Carl" is gaining notoriety after video surfaced of him calling police on a woman at a CVS in Chicago for allegedly using a fake coupon.

In a video posted to Facebook, Camilla Hudson documented the incident involving "Coupon Carl," or Morry Matson, the manager of the CVS located at 6150 N. Broadway.

Matson claimed he did not recognize the coupon that Hudson was trying to use, which led to his calling the authorities.

 

[Dave-W]

You wanting us to boycott all CVS stores over one idiot's dumb move?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/b...r-called-police-because-she-had-wrong-coupon/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ager-calls-police-black-customer-over-n891596

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

'Coupon Carl': Woman says CVS manager called police over wrong coupon

was it a fake coupon? how much was the coupon trying to save the customer? 50 cents off chips or something $$$. It could be considered fraud. If you are counterfeiting 1$ dollar bills it is still illegal.

 

[SummerMadness]

was it a fake coupon? how much was the coupon trying to save the customer? 50 cents off chips or something $$$. It could be considered fraud. If you are counterfeiting 1$ dollar bills it is still illegal.

The coupon was not fake. But if Coupon Carl is calling the police, it must be fake.

 

[dgiharris]

was it a fake coupon? how much was the coupon trying to save the customer? 50 cents off chips or something $$$. It could be considered fraud. If you are counterfeiting 1$ dollar bills it is still illegal.

no, it was not fake. But the real question is, is it a reasonable action to call the police for something like this? IN your chain of thought and chain of actions, why should the default be to call 9-1-1 for a fake coupon?

Your decision tree should not immediately involve the police for something like this.

As manager it should be something like:
#1) Ask customer where, how, why she got the coupon
#2) Look at your in store listing of coupons
#3) Look at the coupon and compare to in store listing
#4) Call supervisor / corporate and ask about the coupon
#5) Call originator / company of the coupon
#6) Ask customer if you can see the source that issued her the coupon (facebook, email, website, etc)
#7) Ask supervisor for permission to honor the coupon
#7a) If yes, honor the coupon
#7b) If no, explain why to customer and tell customer to have the originator of the coupon to contact store manager or owner

that is more or less the decision tree that should have happened here. It is very possible and likely that the customer may have gotten a fake coupon by accident from 1 of the bazillion websites out there that issue stuff all the time. It is possible that corporate is so big that they issue so many coupons that they lose track. It is possible she is confusing this coupon with another store's coupon...

But what is likely improbable is that she is creating a fake coupon. I mean, sure, it is possible but not likely as compared to all the other legitimate means of obtaining a coupon.

No where in the above should the police be involved. It's just stupid on so many levels. I mean, if you want to grasp for straws and find "some" mythical reason and justification for how she could be a criminal mastermind orchaestrating a fraud against the company then I guess you can go down that rabbit hole of improbability...

but seriously, calling the police for this is pretty stupid

 

[SummerMadness]

no, it was not fake. But the real question is, is it a reasonable action to call the police for something like this? IN your chain of thought and chain of actions, why should the default be to call 9-1-1 for a fake coupon?

Your decision tree should not immediately involve the police for something like this.

As manager it should be something like:
#1) Ask customer where, how, why she got the coupon
#2) Look at your in store listing of coupons
#3) Look at the coupon and compare to in store listing
#4) Call supervisor / corporate and ask about the coupon
#5) Call originator / company of the coupon
#6) Ask customer if you can see the source that issued her the coupon (facebook, email, website, etc)
#7) Ask supervisor for permission to honor the coupon
#7a) If yes, honor the coupon
#7b) If no, explain why to customer and tell customer to have the originator of the coupon to contact store manager or owner

that is more or less the decision tree that should have happened here. It is very possible and likely that the customer may have gotten a fake coupon by accident from 1 of the bazillion websites out there that issue stuff all the time. It is possible that corporate is so big that they issue so many coupons that they lose track. It is possible she is confusing this coupon with another store's coupon...

But what is likely improbable is that she is creating a fake coupon. I mean, sure, it is possible but not likely as compared to all the other legitimate means of obtaining a coupon.

No where in the above should the police be involved. It's just stupid on so many levels. I mean, if you want to grasp for straws and find "some" mythical reason and justification for how she could be a criminal mastermind orchaestrating a fraud against the company then I guess you can go down that rabbit hole of improbability...

but seriously, calling the police for this is pretty stupid

I thought the obvious thing would be to call corporate or call the manufacturer (if that is even a viable option). The worst you should really have is declining to give the discount and the customer pays angrily or they don't make the purchase at all. You're absolutely correct, the decision tree should never involve the police.

 

[Goonie]

Another example of the police being used as retailers customer service department. It’s time for them to fine the retailer for wasting police time.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Seems too many people can no longer cope with even a slightly imperfect situation and must call the government rather than doing what reasonable mature and responsible people would consider fairly simple and obvious solutions to resolve a situation.

 

[PeachyKeane]

no, it was not fake. But the real question is, is it a reasonable action to call the police for something like this? IN your chain of thought and chain of actions, why should the default be to call 9-1-1 for a fake coupon?

Your decision tree should not immediately involve the police for something like this.

As manager it should be something like:
#1) Ask customer where, how, why she got the coupon
#2) Look at your in store listing of coupons
#3) Look at the coupon and compare to in store listing
#4) Call supervisor / corporate and ask about the coupon
#5) Call originator / company of the coupon
#6) Ask customer if you can see the source that issued her the coupon (facebook, email, website, etc)
#7) Ask supervisor for permission to honor the coupon
#7a) If yes, honor the coupon
#7b) If no, explain why to customer and tell customer to have the originator of the coupon to contact store manager or owner

that is more or less the decision tree that should have happened here. It is very possible and likely that the customer may have gotten a fake coupon by accident from 1 of the bazillion websites out there that issue stuff all the time. It is possible that corporate is so big that they issue so many coupons that they lose track. It is possible she is confusing this coupon with another store's coupon...

But what is likely improbable is that she is creating a fake coupon. I mean, sure, it is possible but not likely as compared to all the other legitimate means of obtaining a coupon.

No where in the above should the police be involved. It's just stupid on so many levels. I mean, if you want to grasp for straws and find "some" mythical reason and justification for how she could be a criminal mastermind orchaestrating a fraud against the company then I guess you can go down that rabbit hole of improbability...

but seriously, calling the police for this is pretty stupid

Unless the customer is not white. Then you call the police. Standard procedure.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Unless the customer is not white. Then you call the police. Standard procedure.

Or if the Mc Donald's is out of Chicken Nuggets or if your children won't obey you then you call 911 because those are surely emergencies. And the 911 operator's response better be respectful even if the caller deserves derision rather than respect.

 

[Rion]

Unless the customer is not white. Then you call the police. Standard procedure.

Nah, lots of people will, when they get a tiny bit of power, abuse it on whoever they can, regardless of race or any other factor.

 

[PeachyKeane]

Nah, lots of people will, when they get a tiny bit of power, abuse it on whoever they can, regardless of race or any other factor.

Power like running a cash register at CVS?

 

[Rion]

Power like running a cash register at CVS?

Yes, I call them little tyrants. They get the most basic, minuscule amount of authority over someone or something, and they will lord it over anyone they can.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Power like running a cash register at CVS?

The smaller the degree of power the more some people will attempt to use it against others. Many of the stories of Gogol and Dostoyevsky point out the fact the more petty the bureaucrat the more likely the bureaucrat is to flaunt what little power he has. It is one of the things that makes a large bureaucracy so depressing.

 

[SarahsKnight]

This getting beyond insane. I am in agreement with some of the others here; we need to get a law made that fines people for calling the police on others for the most ridiculously trivial - and clearly non-threatening - matters. The cops have more important matters to take care of.

 

[Phil 1:21]

Hundreds of people murdered in Chicago every year, and THIS is how the police have to waste their time? Good grief.

 

[trunks2k]

They don't have to "waste" their time. A large city like Chicago should be capable of prioritizing 911 calls. They also don't have to respond.

While on the surface it sounds like a good idea to punish people who call 911 for silly issues, that's the sort of thing that should be a last resort - for serial offenders who have been given several warnings. You don't want people failing to call for help when it is in fact necessary because they are worried that it's not important enough and will be punished for it.

Side note: I live in Philadelphia. The PPD wants you to call 911 for everything, emergency or not. If you need to report any crime whether it's your house currently being invaded or you came back from a week long trip to find your car window smashed, you have to call 911. They'll prioritize as they feel appropriate, and in some cases just call you back later and to take a report over the phone.

 

[DaisyDay]

Picture of coupon:

What's ironic is that "Coupon Carl" evidently has a history of forgery himself.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/201...ndum-kicked-off-ballot-due-forged-signatures/

He is a LogCabin Republican (gay) and was a delegate for Donald in 2016. He is running for Alderman of the 48th Ward and part of his platform is to end restricting African Americans from having lakefront access.

 

[ubicaritas]

It sounds like Coupon Carl is indeed one of those little dysfunctional petty tyrrants who is probably is missing a few screws.

 

[SummerMadness]

I kind of want to call him Morty instead of Morry...

But if he's anything like Morty, I feel really sorry for him, Grandpa Rick has been relentless.