Posted on 01/22/2012 5:30:43 AM PST by PJ-Comix
The Family Dollar stores have a DESERVED reputation for being hostile towards coupons. Some of the stores accept coupons with no problems but others act like they absolutely HATE coupons...and couponers. One Family Dollar store in Broward County, at the corner of Broward Blvd. and State Road 7, is especially notable for their hostility towards coupons and I normally avoid it like the plague. However, on Friday, I was looking for some easy laughs so I went to that particular store more for entertainment purposes than to get the product, Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits. Yes, I did get my comedic entertainment but at the same time I also entered a surreal Twilight Zone.
I came up to the cashier with four Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits and this is what happened after the cashier stared at my coupons as if they were radioactive objects from an alien planet:
(Excerpt) Read more at couponwhisperer.blogspot.com ...
Our Payless always has a BOGO or some other sale and they’re good about giving you a coupon on your reciept. But I haven’t bought shoes in 4 years and those were $4 sale flip flops. I just don’t shop.
I can get cheap 50 cent canned veggies without a coupon. Most national brands run about 79 to 94 so with the usual buy 4 get one free or $1 off 4, it’s still cheaper getting the off brand. We don’t use many cleaning or personal products. We just don’t buy much.
Like I said, if there’s a good national coupon out there, our store will pull the product. Remember when there was that free greek yogurt several months ago? Pulled it. I suspect the manager gets a percent of sales and that coupons take his profit down. I dunno. Most people wouldn’t have the coupon since our paper doesn’t carry them but who knows his reasoning. One day, there were so many empty shelves that I took pictures. Ridiculous.
The normal price for T-Bone steaks at Broward Meat & Fish market is $3.99 per pound.
It was avocadoes which were originally $7.49 and the reduced price was $3.
Normal price for avocados at Broward Meat & Fish is just a buck each. At this VERY MOMENT I am eating a plate of breaded mussels and eggs purchased at Broward Meat & Fish. The breaded mussels were $2.99 BOGO for a 2 lb pack which meant I got 4 lbs for $2.99 total. The eggs were for $1.69 for a jumbo sized dozen.
Now now Kirkwood, we all have our hobbies. Who is to say rock collecting beats couponing beats china painting?
I don’t think our Lord went to the cross to atone for the ‘sin’ of couponing.
You purposely went out of your way to spend a half hour annoying people working at the store and then come here to ridicule them. You only make yourself look foolish and petty. If you are here looking for respect, you are again wasting your time.
Are you sure? How do you know that couponing doesn't rank right up there with the sin of murder?
“Are you sure? How do you know that couponing doesn’t rank right up there with the sin of murder? “
Well, it’s not on “the list.” (!)
That said, covetousness is, it seems to me almost anything can go too far. The love of money is also a sin.
You however don’t seem to be indulging in any spectacular covetousness or money love, (how would I really know?), just doing your hobby, sharing pointers with others, sharing the goods with the needy, being frugal at home, having fun with cashiers. . .
so I assume you’re cool. :)
That was 6 in the package, so $1.25 each which there’s no way I’d buy them. But reduced for 50 cents, they’re coming home with me. Had one on toast this morning, yum.
Eggs here are way more than that. If you asked for mussels here, you’d just get dumb stares. The closest thing to a “fish market” is frozen fish sticks. You want cheese? You have a choice of velveeta, cheddar, colby, mozzarella, and on a lucky day, proccessed swiss slices. Olives are canned black and green. Need a new Swiffer pad? Forget it. Need that color catcher sheet for the laundry? No way. You might find Karo syrup during the holidays but only the small bottle.
Oh, did try to get Libby’s canned pumpkin with a coupon during the holidays but the 5 cans they had were bent badly. The 3 cans they had of the store brand was like half the price so it was better than using the coupon.
Last month, I was standing in front of the shelf thinking if I stared hard enough the product would magically appear. Another lady came up and stood beside me. After a few moments, she said, “You know, I...” and I said, “didn’t want to go to the city to get it” A man passed us and agreed.
This song and dance was their charade to dissuade people from using coupons, and she called their bluff. The store manager is a lying deadbeat; boo f**king hoo, the deadbeat's time was wasted. I just wish she had a buttonhole camera and put it all on Youtube...
This song and dance was their charade to dissuade people from using coupons, and she called their bluff. The store manager is a lying deadbeat; boo f**king hoo, the deadbeat's time was wasted. I just wish she had a buttonhole camera and put it all on Youtube...
I buy bargains over name brands constantly. However, one can get seduced into buying far more things that are “Just a great deal” than what you need.
Oh, I see. I somehow FORCED the first manager to misread the coupon expiration date despite all the hints I kept giving him. Then I put a gun to the head of the second manager and forced her to waste time double checking on a computer and calling HQ for a coupon check. If somehow word of this incident gets back to FD, perhaps they will have a little "talk" with the managers of that store so in the future they won't waste all that time on coupon paranoia. And therefore this whole exercise would have a POSITIVE outcome for the customers.
“They are cheaper than buying the refills that are $3.97 each. These are the kits PLUS the refills. A refill lasts about a month. We have 3 toilets so I got about a 3 month supply.”
I have a $2 brush that I run around the bowl once in a while. It must be 10-12 years old by now. Of course, I didn’t have a coupon when I bought the brush, so I lost money there.
I haven't had the operation performed yet so I am still a HE.
Good to see you again!
Just for the record, I’ll tell you a little story. In the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, I had little money so I clipped coupons. At the end of every month, after paying bills, charitable contributions, and having fun (inexpensively, of course), I saved the leftover money until I had the minimum contribution to a municipal bond mutual fund. Same thing in the ‘90’s, only into a higher risk equity fund. Redeemed them both to purchase a motor home. Used the remainder for appliances, etc., for retirement home and other things.
I fully expected to get disabled at my job secondary to physical injury. Fortunately, I only had to retire three years earlier than planned.
The coupon clipping was definitely worth it for me. If it doesn’t fit in with someone else’s lifestyle, so be it.
That's not a good neighborhood. Why don't you just shoplift like the local fauna?
Waiting for a coupon or hesitant to put it on the chopping block? :)
Sorry.
“I don’t think our Lord went to the cross to atone for the ‘sin’ of couponing.” You are a very wise person!
Good story! The comedy was priceless, and using coupons - particularly the ones that can be had for a few minutes’ effort - is worth the while for all but the wealthy, and that determination really is a matter of figuring out how much one’s time is worth in dollars and cents. A $35/hour effective rate is a really good return on the investment of your time in most places in the country. Certainly there are people who earn a lot more than that per hour when they’re at work, but then again, many of those high-paying jobs come with very little personal time off from work (been there, done that, got really tired of being a highly-paid slave), so the extra money earned must be spent buying without regard to coupons or discounts because there is already so little time left to spend with friends and family.
Keep up the good writing, and the good couponing!
That’s a great idea — they should set up special registers for couponers, so people who don’t like their time wasted can “pick another checkout lane”.
Because otherwise, that’s just a stupid comment, how would you know which lane didn’t have someone who was going to wait until the cashier finished checking them out, and then pull out a pile of coupons?
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