Sunday, May 8, 2011

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!

8 comments:

PB&J May 8, 2011 at 11:33 PM  

Sounds like you do have a staff problem at that Walmart. Wonder how far away the next closest Walgreens is?

We went last Thursday and got free Right Guard, and tooth brush for Wil along with the mushrooms and chicken broth deals. When we got home, B looked at the sales flyer (I had done my list online) and he wanted to go back Friday to get the buy $15 in sinus meds get $5 RR, and we bought more free Right Guard and the mushrooms, broth deals. They also had restocked the Cottonelle so we got the buy 3 packages to get the $3 RR. We had to have our printed coupons approved by a manager but everyone was nice, so no problem. Then something, I forget what rang up wrong and had to be corrected. Then we only go the RR from Cottonelle... we questioned it and were told because we used an RR to pay for our purchase the computer deleted one of our RRs... That didn't make sense, but we left. I review the printout I had with me of their coupon policy and it said that you can only get ONE RR per transaction so we should have split the transaction... Rought $5.00 lesson we are not likely to forget!!! And Hey Walgreens, If you want to be friends, why not approve my larger RR instead of the smaller one... :(

Unknown May 8, 2011 at 11:40 PM  

wow, that must be a new rule. I don't keep up with walgreens much. I knew that the RR did not "roll" meaning that you cannot buy it one time, pay for it with that RR and get another RR for the same item. The system will not print another one, but I thought I had gotten 2 at once in the past. I am going to have to research this. Thanks!

Traci May 9, 2011 at 7:49 AM  

I'm sorry things didn't go smoothly for you at the drug stores! I had thought about going to Walgreens to get the body wash, too. I do not like shopping there, so I might price match at Target or Walmart!
I am following your blog now, too! I saw your link on the Frugality is Free blog hop.

Unknown May 9, 2011 at 8:20 AM  

Thanks for stopping by! I'm following you back. =)

Will Wal-Mart and Target price match BOGO's? I don't shop at those much so I'm not really up on their policies. Good luck! Let me know if it works out for you.

Heather at My Coupon Coop May 9, 2011 at 10:09 AM  

I hear you! I spent way too much OOP this week as well. Not sure how that came to be. But my husband does need the Excedrin, so hopefully it will be worth it in the months to come.

Sorry you had such a frustrating week! Can't believe that about Walgreens.

Unknown May 9, 2011 at 10:42 AM  

You know, I don't even get frustrated about it anymore. There are too many good deals to be had to get all bent out of shape when one doesn't go my way. Chances are another one or an even better one will come along at the next store.

I do think I should have been able to use those revlon coupons though!

Jessica @ The Shoestring Budget May 9, 2011 at 12:04 PM  

That's really weird that you weren't able to use your Revlon coupons because I did the CoverGirl deal and used a MQ and the $3 scanner Q. I didn't have any problems at all. Not sure what the difference would've been. Sorry about your discouraging trips :(

Patrice May 9, 2011 at 4:38 PM  

Well, you can drown your sorrows in chocolate - LOL! I hate shopping at Walgreens!

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