Giant Eagle ~ Question: Figuring out Food Perks. . . Got more than I expected?

[quietq'er]

So, today I cashed in 20% foodperks.

My bill was

$ 121.84 (pre-tax, after coupons/sales/etc.)

$ 6.03 tax

$127.87 (amount I actually paid)

I expected that I'd get about $23 in foodperks (20% of the pre-tax amount), but, I got:

- $44.53 in foodperks!!

Now, I am not complaining about saving an extra $20+ dollars, but I am dying to figure it out.

My receipt also shows:

56.30 - mQ savings
55.30 - bonus q savings
$147.04 - card & store cpns (this must just be sales prices)
Total savings -- 258.64 (67%)

FWIW, I also got 21 $2 ONYOs, so that's another $42 in ONYO printouts, if that might affect anything. (Actually, Only 10 of them printed out correctly. Customer service gave me the other $22 on a gift card. I think my store's cash register and/or this deal maxes out at 10 per transaction.)

Sooo,

If I add up my pre-q price 121.84, plus add back in the 56.30 & 55.30, that makes a total "price" $233.14, which would make a 20% savings of 46.68.

Which is mighty close to the $44.53 I did save. . . actually 2.15 shy of it. . . Which would have been 10.75 of "purchase price" that would have been excluded. . .

Sooo, I can't think of anything I bought that would have been excluded. No meds, no alcohol, no tobacco, etc. . . Just lots of chocolate chips, butter, peanut butter, misc paper and food products.

My best guesstimate is that the savings DOES come off pre-coupon, but that is contrary to what they say it does. I can't find any other explanations.

FWIW, I did have him key in the food perks savings FIRST before scannign coupons. It started out aroudn $55. . . (my pre-q total price showing on the screen at that moment was around $275 I think, so that would make perfect sense . . . there may have been some prices still keying in at that point, I am not sure). . . At the end of all the coupon scanning, the foodperks savings recalculated to the $44.53 I actually got.

Soooo, maybe it isn't pre-coupon prices that trigger the discounting, but rather "non-sale" prices????

That would be

121.84 + 147.04 = 268.92 (price paid, plus store/sale savings)
20% of that would have been the 53.74. . . which was, again, around the $55 +/- that showed on the register at first (before all the scanning of coupons, etc.)

UGH!!!!

Anyone have any insights on exactly how the math works on foodperks??

Does this help anyone figure it out??

Perhaps y'all could add to this thread the numbers from your receipts when you use your foodperks and we can put our heads together and figure out exactly how it works?

TIA!

[neekyme]

I was just reading the sign today at the big GE. Milk, tobacco, gift cards...and a bunch of other stuff was excluded.

But yeah, it's before coupons, but I think they may deduct the 'double' part.... I never sat down to really figure out each figure though.

ETA - If you used any oyno's, those don't show up in the coupon totals as far as I can figure out too...just fyi

[Vegasgal]

The first time I went to use my Food Perks the cashier applied the discount AFTER coupons. When I asked her about it she said she used to do it the other way but she got in trouble and was told to do it only after coupons.

I sent DH to the store with a big order on Sunday and he used my Food Perks. He received a little over $40 discount when I was expecting $20 something. This cashier applied them BEFORE coupons.

I really think they are suppose to to it after coupons but some of the cashiers just don't know any better. I guess time will tell.

[quietq'er]

Well, I did get milk ($2), eggs ($1). . . so maybe those exempt items added up to $10 and then I got it pre-coupon. I will have to look for and study those signs and then maybe I'll be able to predict down to the $$. . .

Wow, that makes my chocolate chips and butter today money makers. Wooohooo!

[neekyme]

Originally Posted by Vegasgal The first time I went to use my Food Perks the cashier applied the discount AFTER coupons. When I asked her about it she said she used to do it the other way but she got in trouble and was told to do it only after coupons. I sent DH to the store with a big order on Sunday and he used my Food Perks. He received a little over $40 discount when I was expecting $20 something. This cashier applied them BEFORE coupons. I really think they are suppose to to it after coupons but some of the cashiers just don't know any better. I guess time will tell.

I don't know - at the Hempfield store they always ask as soon as they hit total, before you hand the coupons over. I think I asked after a couple coupons one time and it was a huge hassle to back through their prompts to find the foodperks one. I had no idea they could do it after coupons, and I don't think the cashiers there know it either...they just go by their prompts on that little tiny screen on the keyboard. Too bad GE doesn't explain it better. (maybe another question to ask on their Facebook page...they just replied to my post about the december cat deals - it's fixed )

[Vegasgal]

Originally Posted by neekyme I don't know - at the Hempfield store they always ask as soon as they hit total, before you hand the coupons over. I think I asked after a couple coupons one time and it was a huge hassle to back through their prompts to find the foodperks one. I had no idea they could do it after coupons, and I don't think the cashiers there know it either...they just go by their prompts on that little tiny screen on the keyboard. Too bad GE doesn't explain it better. (maybe another question to ask on their Facebook page...they just replied to my post about the december cat deals - it's fixed )

I'm shopping at your store the next time I use my Food Perks! LOL

Maybe as people use their Food Perks they came come back to this thread and comment as to whether or not it was BEFORE or AFTER so we can figure this out.

[micheller126]

I'm always confused on this too. I did notice the last time I used them, she took it off after she was done ringing and before coupons. Then she did the coupons and a few times she had to stop and fix a coupon or something. As I watched the screan the food perks amt off adjusted or got lower as the coupons came off and the total amount of the bill went down.

[Dee Lucy]

Here is what I have observed when redeeming my Foodperks in the same transaction where I also use manufacturer coupons...

My subtotal including Advantage Card Savings (but before tax, foodperks, & coupons) was $134.68. My tax was $0.84, bringing my total to $135.52.

My 20% Foodperks savings was $26.18 (20% of the $134.68 subtotal... which makes sense because I had a gallon of milk included with my order). I am under the impression that milk is an exclusion to the Foodperk savings.

The the cashier scanned all my coupons next... and each coupon qualified as a double coupon. My coupon total was $8.60.

After all this... the cashier said my new total was $100.74 (which includes the tax).

However... it was a this point that the computer recalucated my Foodperk savings (this was a result of using coupons). Instead of saving the $26.18 in Foodperks... the computer decreased my Foodperks savings down to $25.32. (A 86 cents decrease).

As mentioned already, the cashier had told me my final total was $100.74... but because the Foodperks adjusted itself 86 cents, my total increased to $101.60. The cashier even pointed it out to me, "See how your Foodperks savings just adjusted itself and decreased to $25.32."

The only connection I can see between the 86 cent adjustment & my coupons is that ($26.18 - $25.32 = $0.86) 86 cents is exactly 10% of my $8.60 coupon total.

So yes, even though your foodperks savings are calculated based on your subtotal BEFORE coupons, there is some sort of small percentage Foodperks lost in the adjustment because of coupons. Note: It doesn't seem to matter if your coupons are scanned before or after the Foodperks are redeemed. You'll still get the same savings in the end regardless... there is just some slight adjustment because of the coupons... and I am trying to figure it out.

Like I said previously, my adjustment was an 86 cent one that happened right at the very end of the transaction.... $26.18 down to $25.32. And the only explanation thus far is that 86 cents is 10% of my $8.60 in coupons.

So the question is, "Does Giant Eagle take 10% from your coupon total and deduct it from your initial Foodperk savings?" I watched the adjustment happen myself... because the cashier originally told me my total was $100.74. But then the cashier said, "Wait, the computer is adjusting your total." And I ended up paying an extra 86 cents with a final total of $101.60.

I am waiting response from Giant Eagle on this... because I am very curious how they come up with this slight adjustment that occurs because of the coupons.

EDIT.........
Next time I am taking a pen and a piece of paper in with me to figure this Foodperk & coupon thing out:

#1. Document the Foodperks savings before coupons. It comes up on the cashier's screen.
#2. Give cashier coupons to scan. Document the total amout of coupons redeemed... including the double coupons.
#3.Watch for the computer to adjust itself with a new Foodperks savings... the savings should decrease, which will result in your final total to increase.
#4. Subtract the first Foodperks savings total (from step #1) to the adjusted Foodperks savings total (from step #3). See what the difference of the two are.
5. See if the difference has any relationship to the total amount of coupons used. Like I said... my 86 cent adjusted difference was 10% of my $8.60 coupon total.

When the computer adjusts the foodperks it definitely has something to do in relationship with the coupons used. I just don't know what yet.

[daniellematis]

You get a discount on the face value of your coupons. If you have a coupon that will double you don't get a discount on the doubled part. So Dee Lucy had $4.30 in coupons that doubled and her discount was reduced by that amount.

[Jenny's Mom]

Originally Posted by daniellematis You get a discount on the face value of your coupons. If you have a coupon that will double you don't get a discount on the doubled part. So Dee Lucy had $4.30 in coupons that doubled and her discount was reduced by that amount.

I agree w/ Danielle - that was my exact experience yesterday w/ my first time using my Foodperks discount. Every coupon that was doubled was removed from my discount total.

My new plan: I will try to make sure that the coupons I use to bring my order total down are high value coupons that are too large to double, but will result in a higher Foodperks discount amount for the least OOP.

I hope that makes sense!