5/8: Drug Store Disappointments

As I was looking through the CVS ad this week, I thought that there was definitely a lack of ECB deals that were useful to me, but I had a $5/$30 purchase coupon I had gotten by email, and I really hate to let those go to waste.  So, I planned out a trip, which actually went according to plan.  Everything I wanted was in stock.  It was the coupons that caused me a little disappointment, and the extras I found that raised my OOP much higher than I planned.  Sometimes it's just really hard to resist those seasonal clearance finds though!

Here is what I got:

Total Shelf Price:  $69.51
Total Sale Price:   $40.47  (just a bit above my $30 goal to use my coupon!)
Price After Coupons:  $24.48
Price Paid After $10.54 in ECBs from last trip and tax:  $15.09  for a savings of 78% and I got back $11 in ECBs to use on my next trip.  I also happen to know that the Revlon Nail Polish put me right over the threshold to earn another $5 ECB reward from the Beauty Club, so that should print on my next trip and I will have $16 in ECBs to spend.

Here is the breakdown:
--First off, obviously I made a wrong turn and ended up down the aisle of 75% off Easter Candy.  I do not think there is any part of me that could pass up $0.87 Reese's, in any form.  I did show a little restraint by leaving about 6 more bags on the shelf, though. ;)
--2 Bottles of Xtra detergent (I was sad they didn't have the one with OxyClean yet)  $1.49 each.  Used $1/2 from 5/1 SS= $0.99 each.  This is my target price for detergent.  I had more coupons, but since I have about 10 bottles of detergent already (not 60), and they don't expire until the end of July, I only bought 2 tonight.
--1 Carefree Pantyliner a $0.99-Free coupon from this morning's SS= FREE.
--Buy $12 of Glade, etc. get $4 ECBs.  I got a Glade Sense and Spray and a Glade Lasting Impressions, priced at $7 each.  I had coupons for $3 off each from home mailers, but there have also been printables available, and the 4/3 SS had one as well.
--I did the Buy $15 of Revlon Cosmetics, Get $7 ECBs back.  I got three nail polishes that were priced at $5.49 each (I am finding solace in the fact that my grand total was less than their shelf price).  I used the $3/$10 cosmetics purchase that printed from the scanner when I got there (the ad said this would print, so I knew I would get it).

Here is where the big disappointment came in:   I had a $1 off any Revlon Nail Enamel and a $2 off any Revlon color cosmetics that I was hoping would work for nail enamel.  They both beeped.  The manager who was ringing me up told me that they had recently changed their system due to fraud (see, it really does affect us all!), and the way he explained it made it seem like the scanner coupons were now ringing like a manufacturer coupon so stacking them would no longer be allowed.  I really hope I misunderstood or he explained poorly, or it was just a special circumstance of the $3/$10 coupon, because that would be a horrible thing!  He was very polite though, and I promised to try to learn the new rules like a good little couponer. =)

After I left there, feeling pretty bummed about my large OOP, I did something I almost never do.  I went to Walgreens.  Now I'm not saying that Walgreens is a bad place to shop.  There are some great deals to be had at Walgreens.  I am saying that the Walgreens closest to my house is a bad place to shop.  I have honestly had issues of some form every single time I've set foot in that place.  I was really nervous about going, but I was lured in by the promise of two free Clean and Clear body washes.  They are on sale BOGO this week (supposedly), and I still had not used the BOGO coupon from the 3/27 SS that expires next Sunday.

The store is only a block from CVS, so I thought I would just give it a try and see what happened.  I went in, had a very hard time even finding the body washes, discovered only one scent left on the shelf (and I didn't really care for it).  I thought, oh well, for free even if I hate it I can give it away.  I took them to the register, and they both rang up $5.99.  I asked the cashier about it, pointing it out in the ad.  He quickly "fixed" the problem buy voiding them both off and ringing them up for $3 each.  *sigh*  So I asked him if that was going to cause problems using my coupon, which I knew it would.  He looked at it for a few seconds in bewilderment, and finally said yeah, yeah it is.  Then he said probably the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard come out of a cashier's mouth.  "I think the reason it says they are BOGO in the ad is because of this coupon."  Huh!?!?!?   I pointed out that it wasn't even their coupon, but he said "but it's already free," still with the puzzled look on his face.

I just shook my head and said nevermind, picked up my coupon and walked away.  It was not the first time I have walked out of that particular store empty-handed.  Poor guy, he wasn't being rude, he was just completely clueless.  And I for one was not going to get stressed out and hold up the line over body washes that I didn't really need in a scent that I didn't really like.  Free, or not.  Sometimes, it just isn't worth it.

Oh well, I may not have free body wash, but I do have cheap chocolate!