Harris Teeter ~ Question: Raincheck Limit?

[VivaciousJewelz]

I went Friday night and got a raincheck for the 9 Lives cat food. When I went again last night, they had ran out again (I know they restocked), but when I asked the manager for another raincheck, he said I could only have one per sale week per item (he remembered me from the night before).

I know they limit items to 6 for BOGO, or they can limit rainchecks if there is a limit posted on their ad, but neither is the case here- there are no limits on how many 9 Lives you can purchase.

Has anyone else been told they can only get one raincheck for one item per week?

[newbiecouponmom72]

I actually had the same problem. I have 5 harris teeters around me within minutes so i went to another one and they were out so i got rainchecks for 6 at both stores.. i finally found some at the last store i tried as the guys were putting them on the shelf. i did not even give them a chance to get them out of the wrap.. i took all 6 packages before he even had a chance to take them off his little cart thingy.. lol

[VivaciousJewelz]

Well, when I went Friday night, I saw they had them wrapped at the end of the aisles waiting to stock, so I know they restocked at some point, but when I asked if I could have some, one of the guys just said to get a raincheck, but if they're going to limit rainchecks, I'll just have to camp out and wait for them to restock. This is the best cat food deal in a long time (with the $0.75/1 q's) and I'm trying to stockpile for awhile.

[everprincess]

My aunt always gets rainchecks for me on the pet items. That way I have two my store knows me pretty well and they only let me get one per sale item. Maybe someone could go with you and get you one.

[uummm]

Hum...it kinda makes sense as to why they would do it (since they are really loosing money when you use the raincheck), and someone else mentioned they are putting control numbers on the RC now-but that is a hard thing to enforce that you only get one per sale-what if it is on sale for a month and they are constantly out? I know last spring when Gold Medal Flour was on sale for $.99 my store was out of the Bread Flour that I wanted half the days. I got rainchecks EVERY DAY I went in (along with the limit 2 every day) which was 5 days (I live about a mile away)-I still have rainchecks I am using. This would be a total bummer if they are going to do that-although I think I would argue it depending on my mood.

[clippyclippy]

I don't think I would ever ask the same employee for a rc more than once during the week. I can see why they don't want to give them out multiple times - they just don't understand our stockpiling lifestyle (how can they? Even my own dear friends don't quite understand!) and as Ummm says, it is a loss to the store and raises their suspicions about your shopping habits.

I always want the stores I shop at to at least think that they are making money off of me
So I try to be discreet about my purchases. For instance, if I'm getting freebies, I throw in a gallon of milk, produce or meat to cover it up.

If you ever want to get more than one rc, go to different stores, or if you only have one store, go at different times of the day.
Just my .02.

[frugalicious]

I still have a HT apple juice rain check 10/10 from about 4 years ago. I wonder how they can put the limit at 6 for 10/10 sales? I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

[VivaciousJewelz]

Originally Posted by frugalicious I still have a HT apple juice rain check 10/10 from about 4 years ago. I wonder how they can put the limit at 6 for 10/10 sales? I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

They're not supposed to- here it says on their coupon policy that they limit it to three unless otherwise stated in the ad, and I would have thought they put 10/10 on the raincheck, right?

I just want to clarify that I'm not trying to stockpile rainchecks. My store was consistently out of 9 Lives by the time I got there at 10 am and since when I asked customer service more than once what time they stock their shelves and no one wanted to tell me or even give me an idea of when they might be stocked, I asked for another rain check.

I guess I don't see what the difference is between getting a raincheck and them having it in stock and me buying it. I went this morning at 6am and their full stock of 9 Lives consisted of 18 bags, which if you think about their 3 like-coupon triple limit and BOGO sale would mean that only 3 people get to do the deal. So how would they be losing more money? If anything, they are losing less if I use the raincheck next week or something, since triples end tomorrow.

[uummm]

They are not loosing money NOW (well just the tripling of the coupon but that isn't what you are talking about). BUT when you use a raincheck that is different. When they have a sale it is because the manufacturer is giving them a special price to have the sale, either they buy it at that special price and/or they get a credit from the manufacturer for sales of that item during the time period.

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with you stockpiling rainchecks either. AND I disagree about them telling you ONE raincheck per sales period. If you can use 20 coupons per day that double/triple and they are out of the catfood everytime, then yes I think you should be able to get a raincheck EVERY TIME you go into that store and they are out. I was just explaining the reason WHY (most likely) they are saying this.

Them issuing a raincheck is because they don't have an item in stock that they have on sale. I don't think they like not having items in stock. Also the manufactures pay for shelf space so the fact it is up high and only a few slots isn't really HTs fault-9 lives (or whoever owns them) is only willing to pay to have it there... Also 9 Lives was not willing to pay for additional space for their sale (Its all about money!).

I was looking the other day and the stores here have the cat food (I didn't look today). I though since it was so cheap it would be out but nope they had plenty. Maybe there are more dog people than cat here, personally I feed mine a certain brand because suddenly certain cats that were once homeless and ate garbage think they are special and will only eat a certain brand (that is not found in grocery stores).

AND let me add, I got 4 rainchecks today, Bakers Secret, Sugar, Pillsbury Brownies and Karo Syrup. Only 2 of them had control numbers written on them. AND THEY TOOK ABOUT 5 MINUTES TO ISSUE TO ME. SO don't be in a hurry if you want rainchecks.

[VivaciousJewelz]

Originally Posted by uummm They are not loosing money NOW (well just the tripling of the coupon but that isn't what you are talking about). BUT when you use a raincheck that is different. When they have a sale it is because the manufacturer is giving them a special price to have the sale, either they buy it at that special price and/or they get a credit from the manufacturer for sales of that item during the time period. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with you stockpiling rainchecks either. AND I disagree about them telling you ONE raincheck per sales period. If you can use 20 coupons per day that double/triple and they are out of the catfood everytime, then yes I think you should be able to get a raincheck EVERY TIME you go into that store and they are out. I was just explaining the reason WHY (most likely) they are saying this. Them issuing a raincheck is because they don't have an item in stock that they have on sale. I don't think they like not having items in stock. Also the manufactures pay for shelf space so the fact it is up high and only a few slots isn't really HTs fault-9 lives (or whoever owns them) is only willing to pay to have it there... Also 9 Lives was not willing to pay for additional space for their sale (Its all about money!). I was looking the other day and the stores here have the cat food (I didn't look today). I though since it was so cheap it would be out but nope they had plenty. Maybe there are more dog people than cat here, personally I feed mine a certain brand because suddenly certain cats that were once homeless and ate garbage think they are special and will only eat a certain brand (that is not found in grocery stores). AND let me add, I got 4 rainchecks today, Bakers Secret, Sugar, Pillsbury Brownies and Karo Syrup. Only 2 of them had control numbers written on them. AND THEY TOOK ABOUT 5 MINUTES TO ISSUE TO ME. SO don't be in a hurry if you want rainchecks.

Having it on the top shelf is another issue. I'm very short and you should have seen me using the other shelves as a kind of ladder so I could get the last 6 bags that were hanging in the back of the shelf when I did finally get to do the deal! I STILL couldn't reach it, so I had to actually get one of those Pooper Scooper things and use it to reach the bags. (I should note that I DID try, unsuccessfully, to locate a customer service rep prior to this).

Oh wow, I really didn't know that about sales. I thought the stores have items on sale to generate business, I didn't know that the actual manufacturer is paying them to have it on sale. Learn something new every day.

I guess it's not the store's fault that they don't have enough stock, either, but if they didn't want to issue me a rain check, why wouldn't they just say "come around 6am" or something instead of being all secretive about when they might have the shelves stocked?