Monday 11/7:
$90.90 - cable bill for my parents. Sigh.
$10.58 - groceries
$10 - donation/fundraising.
Friday 11/11:
$180 - student loans
$150 - credit cards
$410 - dad's car payment. We're down to the last 15 payments! I can't wait.
$10.76 - take-out dinner
Sunday 11/13:
$77.93 - groceries and some misc items
$40.00 - gas for my car
First one occurred last Monday. I really didn't want to go shopping at that time, but I had some coupons that were for free items (carton of eggs and frozen veggies, total of up to $5 back) if I spent $10 on anything. So I go ahead and do that, buying some bagged salads and some produce that was on sale. The cashier mischarged me for something I didn't buy ($1.88 for a head of romaine lettuce), which isn't a lot... but out of $10, that's almost 20%! It significantly overturned the whole reason why I went there. I didn't discover it until I got home. I also discovered that I had received about .55c extra because the coupons for free items were counted for their max value and not the value of the item purchased. I went there the following afternoon during my lunch break and they told me that there was no way they could track that I didn't buy what I was charged for, even despite the fact I had bought 3 bags of bagged salad, and the mischarged item was a head of lettuce, which didn't make sense. They couldn't refund me. I fought a bit, and stood my ground, but no-go. You win some, you lose some. Not sure if to feel bad because I didn't get a refund or because of the fact I went through the whole process trying to claim back a mere $1.88 (or $1.33 if you take away the 55c I got extra).
The second time was on Sunday. I went for my two-week restock as well as some personal items. I had tons of coupons to use, so 4 stores later, I end up at a somewhat major retailer. I buy most of the items on my list, and see that there's a promotion of buy $15 worth of this line and get $5 off. I hate the idea of buying that much soap/deodorant, but I was running low and it's not like the items will spoil. Besides, they were on a great sale at the price you end up with. Long story short, they missed not one, but two of my coupons, and they didn't apply the $5 back. I tracked down a manager and had him go over my receipt (which was long). He said that I hadn't been charged for one of the items and because of that, I hadn't met the $15 requirement. He went on to tell me that if he did ring me up for it, the savings would've only been $1.50, so he nonchalantly told the cashier to give me $1.50 and that I could 'keep the item'. What the heck. I had him look at the items closely (all of the items had been rung, one was under a different name for whatever reason), and he pretended he still didn't see it, but apparently I was getting under his skin, so he had the cashier give me $5 cash. I didn't even bother to mention the other two coupons (small, under $2 total).
I am really looking closely at my receipts from now on. I am really making it a goal to use more coupons, and thus far, I've received quite a negative response from the stores. Oh well. I saved a good $40 out of the $77 on Sunday. I guess I can't complain.
You did a great job with your coupon savings. Sometimes saving a few bucks can really be a challenge, can't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's very true that you have to watch carefully while items are being scanned. I frequently buy items from the bakery section of the store when they are marked down 50%. Once the cashier scanned it as full-price and when I pointed that out, she acted like she didn't want to retrieve it from the bag and check the price marked or the scanned price; she did it but actually said it was my responsibility or something to that effect. So now I try to watch while things are being scanned and say, "Wait - wasn't that supposed to be half-price?" so they can fix it right away if there was an error.
ReplyDeleteGood job on the savings! And I hate whenever cashiers mess up, it ALWAYS happens.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't understand why cashiers take it "personally" when people use coupons! It's not like it comes out of their paycheck!! lol! As for the Cable bill, I'd have let it get cut off. ;) You're a much nicer reason than I am... ;)
ReplyDeleteYa gotta watch the cash register, that's for sure. I've developed this habit of adding things up in my head as I shop so I know when they tell me the total if they've done something wrong. I've never had the negative cashier experience but then we don't have much in the way of coupons around here, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteGood job using the coupons and sales! There are definitely trips that just don't go as planned. I've noticed I really have to watch so closely lately to make sure all my coupons are being credited. Keep it up, it does get easier after you've been doing it awhile :-) I've gotten so I will only go to certain cashiers if I can at some stores, because I know they know what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteThink that is one of the reasons a lot of people don't bother with coupons but they can save you a lot of money in the long run once you bare with it.
ReplyDelete