BOGO Steamfresh, how is it supposed to work?

[shj1922]

I just left HT very confused. I have a BOGO Steamfresh coupon and they are on sell BOGO. Can someone please tell me how many I should have to buy and how much I should get off per HT coupon policy.

FYI, I left without any because I was told I had to buy 3 or 4 and would only get $1.33 off. They "explained" how I should pretend that I had only bought one for full price and the other doesn't count so I had to get atleast 1 more, which I gladly agreed to do if they would give me 2.65 off, but they said no, now stop pretending one is full price and one is free and see that one is only half price and thats all you get....WTF?

Sorry to tell you, I lost it when they began talking to me like I was stupid and told corporate, who happened to be there (which is why they mysteriously were on the intercom constantly welcoming shoppers etc) that they need to educate their assistant managers who were all working the registers. Somebody help me with the policy, I've looked at corporate policy and it isn't addressed.

[cpnmaniac44]

I just left HT very confused. I have a BOGO Steamfresh coupon and they are on sell BOGO. Can someone please tell me how many I should have to buy and how much I should get off per HT coupon policy.

FYI, I left without any because I was told I had to buy 3 or 4 and would only get $1.33 off. They "explained" how I should pretend that I had only bought one for full price and the other doesn't count so I had to get atleast 1 more, which I gladly agreed to do if they would give me 2.65 off, but they said no, now stop pretending one is full price and one is free and see that one is only half price and thats all you get....WTF?

Sorry to tell you, I lost it when they began talking to me like I was stupid and told corporate, who happened to be there (which is why they mysteriously were on the intercom constantly welcoming shoppers etc) that they need to educate their assistant managers who were all working the registers. Somebody help me with the policy, I've looked at corporate policy and it isn't addressed.

Explain what you mean by needing to buy 3 or 4?

2 steamfresh in your grocery cart.
Give your E-vic card to the cashier.
HT rings each item up at half price.
Hand them the coupon.
One if free because of the sale, and the one you buy is free because of your coupon. It works that way at "other" store chains.
If all you were buying was "steamfresh" then that might have been a mistake. Cashiers can become concerned when the total is zero or less than zero. Make sure you are going to have an OOP.

Management and cashiers are given flexibility by corporate.
You could go back another day, before the sale ends and try again.

DO NOT get a raincheck. Those will not be rung up at half price and the issue you had will be alot worse. You'd be in a position of having to ask them to ring each one up at half price. They don't usually oblige that.

Steamfresh are on sale alot. The B1G1 free may come again soon.

Your coupon, if not a "9" would have been scanned fine by the cashier and scanner. If you had alot of items and only 2 or 4 of the steamfresh, I can not explain why it did not work the way it should.

CS is VERY helpful at HT, AFTER you leave the checkout line with your receipt and cart.
This may have been an isolated incident.

With two items rung up by the scanner at half price each, the coupon should have worked 100%. If the cashier or whoever was on the register, had memorized which items were on sale and they had gotten alot of the B1G1 free coupons on that specific item, management reserves the right to make the decisions they make, depending on the circumstance.

I see no reason why you would have been told to buy 3 or 4. I guess they wanted you to buy TWO at the regular price and get TWO FREE. GET 4, BUT PAY for TWO. So, you pay for the 1st one and the sale lets the 2nd one be free. You pay for the 3rd one and the coupon lets the 4th one be free.

At WORST, you should have gotten 4 for the price of 1, AT WORST.
item 1 half price
item 2 half price
item 3 half price
item 4 half price
COUPON gives the regular price off.

If the regular price was $2.00 then 4 would be $4.00 and your coupon would have knocked $2.00 = 4 for $2 = 50 cents each, which ain't bad (75% off).

I would gamble to say, if you went back tomorrow, it might work out different for you. As they say YMMV.

YMMV is part of using coupons.

I have had HT refuse to take my internet coupons because they would not scan.

[clippyclippy]

HT is messed up when it comes to BOGO sales. They want it both ways:

Only one coupon on two items in a BOGO sale, "because you are actually getting one free."
This logic is faulty because obviously you are just paying 1/2 price for each.

BOGO sale + BOGO coupon means you get half price off "because you are only paying half price for each"
This actually makes sense. If you use a BOGO coupon on any other item that is on sale, for instance if something is on sale at 2/5.00 and regular price is 3.99, you would not expect to have 3.99 taken off with a BOGO coupon, it would take off 2.50 and no one would think anything of it.

That said, I bought 2 Steamfresh today. I had a "free" coupon for a bag.
It was very busy and the young teenage cashier looked at the screen and punched in 2.65 because the discount wasn't showing. Manager came over for an override. I didn't plan it that way, I was prepared to pay 1.32 for both.

By the way, what did the corporate people say when you asked them? I'm guessing they didn't have an answer either.

[gctattoo]

I don't have a Harris Teeter; I just was just curious about the thread after seeing the title. They don't sound coupon friendly at all and they obviously have no idea they're shooting themselves in the foot on this issue. Here's how it is at Publix in FL with BOGO sales using coupons: (We have true BOGO's but I don't think getting two at half price instead should be any different)

You can use a coupon on each item of a BOGO sale. The store is voluntarily giving you the second for free so they are voluntarily not making any money on it. But you're still purchasing it which qualifies you to be able to use a coupon on it. They will be fully reimbursed for the value of the coupon by the manufacturer plus get the 8 cent handling fee.

Why any store would not want to make money on that free product is beyond me. They're making out better than if you hadn't used a coupon on the free one at all. And I'm happy my stores are smart enough to realize that.

I recently used a BOGO Q (two in fact) at Publix on Athenos feta cheese which was also BOGO. One of the managers was the one who rung me up and she didn't bat an eye. Four free packs of cheese for me. :)

I'm sorry you're stuck with a bum store chain with a bad policy that costs them (and more importantly--you) money. :(

[shj1922]

Thanks for all the responses.
Explain what you mean by needing to buy 3 or 4?

I only had two in my cart along with maybe 5 other items (pie, Dukes mayo, pack of chicken, milk) The cashier said "you can't use this coupon" Then asked another asst.mgr and she said have to buy 3. Then announced accross registers to have another asst mgr come explain to me. He then said had to buy 4, but could by 3. Then said only get $1.13 for coupon even if I bought 3 or 4.

I will NEVER use a BOGO coupon at HT again with a BOGO. I wasn't really expecting to get both free even though most stores would, but I thought I would get 2 for 1.13 or even 4 for 2.65 but no.

I didn't give corporate my name, told them I needed to calm down from being embarrassed. Well, manager just called me and said he was sorry and my timing was impeccable as corporate only is at store twice a year. I explained I am not really a heavy coupon user but I am a frugal and ethical shopper and didn't appreciate being "schooled" by people who didn't know what they were talking about. I got the distinct impression he was in trouble as he said he had talked to the VP twice since I left???

We agreed the policy is ambiguous and he said if any other problems see him, but I could tell I am on his %^# list. OOPS.

[uummm]

I think in the past it has been a gray area. I know when I have used a bogo coupon on a bogo sale and a white shirt needed to over ride that a certain white shirt (she got transferred to another store- CRYSTAL I MISS YOU!) she actually made the comment that she didn't know exactly how to handle it but gave me the FULL Price off and I was only required to buy 2.

Yesterday I was in the store and had a free 12pk of coke coupon and since it was b2g3f I decided to use it. I gave the girl my coupon and she said "I am not sure you will get the full $6.19 off. We'll see what he does." My reply was "I WILL be getting the FULL $6.19 off." Turns out I did get the full amount off, no comment needed from me.
Another time I used a free 12pk coupon on a on a bogo sale and a different person tried to give me half off. I argued and after she read the coupon 4 or 5 times she decided I should get the full off BUT made the comment she thought it was a bogo coupon and in that case I would only get half off.

I think that whom ever makes up the coupon rules did not even consider this situation and therefor there has been nothing sent down from corp.

[bugweena]

I just used mine at Lowes Foods and Food Lion and they worked fine. I don't deal with Harris Teeter and BOGOs and coupons--too much stress.

[tzelle]

I just used mine at Lowes Foods and Food Lion and they worked fine. I don't deal with Harris Teeter and BOGOs and coupons--too much stress.

How did you use it there? Thanks in advance! I am really confused by this too.

[cpnmaniac44]

How did you use it there? Thanks in advance! I am really confused by this too.

HT and all the rest in our area, ring up B1G1 free items at half price.
You hand them 2 items and they ring it up. You hand them the coupons last. That is all I do and never encountered any problems.

To the OP:
if you added only a 3rd bag of steamfreah, so you could use your coupon on that item, you would be losing out on the free 4th one.
It would have been a mistake to have handed the clerk 3 packages.
Either 2 or 4.
It sounds like the clerk was quick to dismiss your coupon. It may be you were not the first on that item-coupon, and the management team made the decision how they'd handle it, before you even entered the store.

If they wanted to only accept 1 coupon per B1G1 free deal, they should not be ringing them up at half price. By ringing them up at half price they are saying "you can use two coupons", because the "FREE aspect IS NOT THERE". You are paying 50% off on each of the two items = two coupons.
Their store ad that says item "X" is B1G1 free, is not stating it correctly. It should read: "save 50% on item X." Because that is what "THEY" have TOLD THEIR SCANNERS, TO DO!

Publix can just bring it on.

[bugweena]

How did you use it there? Thanks in advance! I am really confused by this too.

I just bought 4 at FL
2 regular steamfresh
2 lightly sauced

They rang up half price and the BOGO coupon scans fine and says Write $2.49 (or 2.69) depending on where you buy them (Lowes Foods or Food Lion). so essentially you get 4 bags for free.

HTH