I sent my husband out to Petco on Friday to pick up five, very large tubs of cat litter and an eight pound bag of cat food. I printed out a picture of the store’s sale circular and circled the sale price of the litter. I also printed out a 10% coupon, clipped a coupon for the cat food from the newspaper, and paper-clipped them all together with a gift card to Petco that’s been burning a whole in my pocket for months.
My husband graciously drove to the store after work. It’s a good thing I prepared him before for the trip. The litter did not ring up at the price listed in the sales circular, so he had to point out the discrepancy to the sales manager. Also, the coupon I printed had expired. Fortunately, the manager accepted it anyway. My husband saved $21 off of his total bill and came home with the receipt in hand to show me his efforts.
Unfortunately, when he handed over the receipt I noticed that he paid for two bags of cat food, even though he only brought one home. For some reason, I find I’m often overcharged when I use coupons. I think the coupons distract and confuse the cashiers, so I wasn’t surprised that my husband wasn’t billed properly.
Anyway, at $16.99 a bag I decided to drive back to Petco on Saturday for a refund of the money. The cashier kindly refunded the money and joked that he remembered the transaction. Apparently the sales circular and coupons stuck out in the cashier’s mind. Well that, and the fact that it took quite a few trips to get all that kitty litter out of the store and into the car.
Next time I might add an estimated total to the list of coupons and sales circulars I hand over to my husband. That way he can spot a duplicate charge before he leaves the store.
Kristen@TheFrugalGirl says
i HATE it when I don’t notice that kind of stuff at the store! Sometimes, I’ve loaded all four kids and the groceries into the car, and only then do I notice an error(in which case I just go back to the customer service desk the next week! lol).
Donna Freedman says
Whenever this kind of thing happens to me I wonder, “What if they don’t believe that I bought only ONE bag?” Thus far, I haven’t had anyone challenge my word.
How long do you keep your receipts? I hang on to mine at least until my credit card statement shows up, and if it’s a big-ticket item I’ll keep it as long as I keep the item.
Recently I had a problem buying grocery store gift cards. If I hadn’t kept the receipt, I would have been out a cool $1200. Ack.
One Frugal Girl says
Kristen — I can’t imagine trying to track the register with kids in tow.
Donna — I enjoyed your post. I keep receipts for large purchases like appliances and televisions for years. On more than one occasion those receipts have been used to receive company paid returns and repairs.