I am still all a-twitter about this (no, not Twitter - I'm not tweeting) over 24 hours later! This moment is marking the official start of my "coupons are my crack" mentality. Here's how it all went down.
My scenario:
1 Contour Blood Glucose Meter on sale for $19.99
1 Contact Solution (Rite Aid brand)
1 small box Always Infinity
I used:
1 manufacturer coupon for meter for $20.00
1 store coupon for contact solution for $1.00
1 manufacturer coupon for Always for $1.00 (plus $1 SCR - Single Check Rebate)
1 store coupon for $5 off of $25 purchase
What went wrong?
I thought this transaction through for quite awhile since it was the first time I tried to do a meter deal (fyi - meters are often used to get the total amount high enough to use a $/$$ coupon - only when shopper has a coupon making the meter free. This results in free money from the $/$$ coupon and sometimes from overage with the meter coupon). I knew I needed to have more than $25 BEFORE coupons were scanned. I gather my loot, my Q's, and my baby and head to the register. I hand over my loot and Q's and immediately knew I had a problem. The cashier looks at the Q's, gives me a funny look, and walks over to another cashier and whispers to her. She comes back and starts ringing me up but gets confused with the coupons (after scanning just the meter - not ANYTHING else) and goes back to talk to the other cashier. This other cashier comes over and looks over my purchases and Q's and let's me know I cannot use all 4 because my total wasn't above $30.oo. I argued a little and eventually gave in and had them take out the $5/$25 Q so I could get on to Kroger (cashier said it just wouldn't work - never tried scanning the Q).
After ringing everything up, I just couldn't let it go. I asked again why it wouldn't work. She kept insisting I didn't have a high enough total. I am guessing that she had confused the meter coupon and thought it was a $/$$ coupon as well. After I assured her that the total of $25 was met before coupons just like the store policy states, she asked yet ANOTHER cashier to come over. At this point, there were 3 lines of customers waiting to check out and I had all but one cashier working to sort out my coupons. By this point, I didn't care - I was getting a little angry and feeling like they thought I was trying to do something illegal. The third cashier got out her calculator and my receipt and coupons and did the math. She looked at the other 2 and said that it should have worked (she didn't realize they wouldn't even TRY to scan the Q). The other 2 apologized and told me they had an issue with something similar where it didn't work. The third handed me a $5! My total out of pocket for $35 worth of product was $4.71 and I am getting $1 of that back as a SCR!
I happened to talk with the other person who tried a similar deal. She had the same problem but spoke to the manager to resolve the issue. She was there before I was so the cashiers should have understood what was going on. Oh well! I got my $5!
As for the meters, I know I will be amassing them. I plan to donate them to a shelter in the area. I just had to share my little victory!
