r/mildlyinfuriating • u/CBus-Eagle • 1d ago

I'm slightly vexed Kohls is the Worst

I took my son to Kohls because he needed some jeans and underwear. I haven’t been to a Kohls in a couple years because I think their store is always in disarray and I hate standing in long lines because they only have 2 or 3 of the 10 cash registers open.

But my wife had a coupon for 30% so off we went. Their clearance section is impossible to look through because they are not categorized by size, forcing everyone to just walk down the entire rack looking at each piece individually. Then, the hangers that indicate small, medium, large, extra large aren’t even on the correct size clothing, forcing you to read each tag individually.

We gave up on looking at clearance and went over to the regular priced jeans and he found two pair. Grab a bag of 6 Hanes boxer shorts for $38 and headed to the register, thinking the 30% off coupon will get out the door at $100.

After standing in line for 20 minutes, the cashier totals everything up at $138 and my wife hands her the 30% coupon. Their clearance total is $125. I commented that the discount didn’t work properly and the associate states that the jeans are name brand so not included in the sale.

I review the coupon’s fine print and see nothing about Levi jeans being excluded so I ask for clarification. The associate then states that “all high end clothes like Under Amour and Levi’s are always excluded from their promotions.” I asked how we as customers are supposed to know this unless it’s clearly excluded on the coupon. She just said sorry so we left; paying $125 for two pairs of jeans and a 6 pack of underwear.

It feels like deceptive advertising and it was the last time I shop at Kohls.

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u/randomsynchronicity 1d ago

Kohls has always sucked. Their main thing is selling a $50 item for $50, but pretending that it’s discounted from $80, so you feel like you got a deal.

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u/BubbaTheGoat 1d ago

That’s what JC Penny used to do, then they got a new CEO who thought it was dumb and instituted honest pricing instead.

It was a disaster. The people who actually shop at these store love to feel like they are getting a deal, even if the price isn’t actually good.

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u/ImACynicalCunt 1d ago

I was a random autistic 18 year old retail employee at JC Penney’s when we had a big meeting with upper management from out of town to tell us about the new CEO and the new pricing roll out. They were hyping it up. I was just like “hey this is a bad idea, people like the pricing the way it is because they feel like they’re getting a deal.” They all just looked at me funny like how dare I have the audacity to talk. They should’ve listened to me.

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u/Quubey 1d ago

The place I work has particular things that are always at a discounted price. Things would be a lot smoother for cashiers if they didn't have to keep tabs on what is or isn't on sale, and less customers would get angry at the fact that the sale doesn't apply to the particular item they chose, but that "sale" price gives people a dopamine hit or something because they just go nuts for it.

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u/Training_Plastic_275 1d ago

This reminds me of a particular craft store I occasionally shop. I’ve worked retail in other places before but I always feel bad for those cashiers that have to remember from week to week what is and is not on sale. Ugh.

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u/TerrorVizyn 14h ago

Stop shopping at Hobby Lobby.

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u/nightpawgo 1d ago

As an autistic young adult around the same time I saw the honest pricing commercials eliminating all “and 99 cents” crap from all their prices, I (a) freaking loved it and (b) knew that it just wouldn't work. I worked in retail pizza at the time, and customers would get upset when two orders of chicken wings at $6.99+tax each didn't come out to $12, “because $6 times 2 equals 12!” 🙄

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u/festivusinjuly 1d ago

I wish it had worked out. I hate all the fake “sales”.

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u/northontennesseest 1d ago

And everyone clapped, much later, when they realized you were right all along

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u/who_am_i_to_say_so 15h ago

Forreal! I know the t-shirt I’m buying for $4 never ever sold for $75 even in the coldest mall in Dubai. But I like seeing that number crossed out.