HORRIBLE weekend couponing! VENT!

[booklover]

So I came to southern IL. to visit a friend of mine for Memorial Day weekend.

Naturally, I brought my coupons, some to share with her, ( she is starting back up into couponing again.), and my own stash, to catch any deals down here.

Saturday, we went to CVS, and I helped her do some CVS deals, and I think we did ok on that. My friend is a single working mom with five kids, so I'm helping her learn how to do deals and get the most for the least amount of money.

So the CVS deal I helped her do:
2 gal. milk
1 pack gum
Got $2.99 ECB

Used the $2.99 ECBs on the Suave deal:
Had 1 FREE shampoo
3 .50/1 shampoo non-insert qs.
2 .50/1 bodywash
She paid about $4 oop.
The Suave deal went through fine, and she got $3 ECBs back.

I was going to help her do the Unilever deal, but they were out of Skippy peanut butter, so got a raincheck for that.

She got 2L of Coke, Tostitos chips and salsa, Gatorade and Sobe drinks. Used the ECBs, $1/1 Coke wts, and $ 1 off total grocery purchase wts. She spent $24 oop and got the $10 BP gascard. Not the best, but got $10 off gas.

So Saturday we went out yard-saling, and DH, my friend and I went out to dinner.

After dinner, we went to Walmart to get some groceries, and use up some qs that are expiring at the end of this month.

We had bread, and some produce. Planned to use $1 off produce wts, and $1 off total grocery purchase wts.

I've had problems with Walmart accepting the wts, so I thought I'd be smart and use the self-checkout and avoid the cashier entirely.

When we scanned the wts, the machine beeped, and we had to call the attendant over. We showed her the coupons, and she said they could not take them because they are not manuf. coupons. I pointed out the wording on the top, that says "manuf. coupon"

The attendant read the coupon front and back, who then called a supervisor, who also read the coupon front AND back. Then had to go to someone else, who FINALLY gave the ok.

Then they said I could not use the produce wts, and the $1 off grocery wts together, as that is "doubling coupons" (her words, not mine), and I could not do that. I swear, the attendant looked in our bags, and said," you didn't buy groceries." Umm, yeah, we did. And yeah, it was over the $5 minimum.

I also had a couple of bags of Almond Accents, had a $1/1 coupon, and a coupon for $1 off bag salad wyb two Almond Accents. Of course, they had not seen that particular tearpad q before, so had to look at the coupon, and read the whole thing, and check that I bought the Almond Accents.

Finally got the ok from the supervisor, and was allowed to use the wts on the purchase.

I had a .50/1 Roman Meal coupon that was a homemailer, and that beeped, and they had to ok that one too.

Our checkout took ages. There were several people who came in after us, who finished their shopping orders way before we did.

The thing is, I had given my friend some of these same wts to use, and she had used them before at this exact same Walmart, and had no problems.

And our last shopping trip:

Yesterday, decided to go to Walgreen's.

I went through the ad, and circled items I thought she would want or need, and figured out the scenarios, and pulled coupons from the stash.

Get to WAGS, and had to come up with a different plan, because they were totally out of the Ritz crackerfuls. It was 7pm, and we were told they got cleaned out of them around 8:40 am when all the couponers came and went shopping.

So... plan B. Bought 4 of the iced latte drinks. Did separate transactions to make sure she would get the $2 RR for each one. She bought two gallons of tea, and one iced latte for one transaction, and had one $1 off total grocery purchase wt. The cashier looked at it briefly, scanned it, and it went through, no problem. This was the best thing that happened at WAGS.

Then did the Degree deal. The machine did not spit out $5 RR like it was supposed to. I pointed that out. The cashier said we didn't buy the right size/quantities. I said, "yeah, we did". Checked the deodorants, and made sure it was the right brand/size. It was. She had to call the AM to come fix that problem. This took some doing, as the catalina machine would not give the $5 RR. The AM had to go to the office, ring up another item that was $5 RR deal, and ring that up so we could get the RR. I can't remember if we used the $2 RR. We did have two B1G1 FREE Degree coupons, and that wen through no problem.

Finally, last transaction. Two packages of Always pads, on sale for $5.49. The total rang up as $20. I said, wait, those were on sale for $5.49. The cashier checked the ad, then checked the size/amounts on the pads to make SURE it was the right ones. It was. The cashier had to change the sale price so it was the right price.

Then tried to use the RR AND coupons on the same purchase. I thought you could use RR and manuf. coupons on the same purchase. She said no, because they are both manuf. coupons. HUH? And had two $1/1 Always pads, and the register didn't recognize one of them.

Ended up using the $5 RR on the pads, and one $1/1 Always coupon, ( I think ).

My friend has three $2 RR left over, and not sure how to use those up. Someone told me that Walmart will honor other stores CATS? Is this true? I swear, I won't shop at WAGS again after yesterday's fiasco.

[kval07]

I hate Wags, so I don't shop there. If I remember right, RRs count as manufacturer coupons. So in order to use both Always coupons and the RR, you had to buy enough fillers for each RR you wanted to use.

Someone correct me if the filler issue no longer applies...

[motherofmolly]

wags: total # of items = rr + manufacturer coupons

as long as that totals out you can use both.

those winetags you are talking about beep at walmart, i never take those there...a grocery store would be better.

glad your friend at least got some decent deals because of you. good job spreading the coupon love around!!

[everprincess]

Yeah you must have fillers if you are using more coupons than items bought. Wags is a pain to remember all the rules. Sorry you had a bad weekend. WT's are a pain here too sometimes since most cashiers have no clue what they are. I had a $2/1 or $3/1 of ham one last month and the cashier swore up and down I had to buy the booze. I had to call the CS girl over and she did a override for me.

[rbunnymom]

I hate Wags, so I don't shop there. If I remember right, RRs count as manufacturer coupons. So in order to use both Always coupons and the RR, you had to buy enough fillers for each RR you wanted to use.

Someone correct me if the filler issue no longer applies...

This is correct. You need to have as many items as coupons (fillers). I usually grab some $.35 caramels (3 for $1.00) to use as fillers(usually on the counter near register). The RR takes off the total so it doesn't matter what the filler is.

[katie333]

I'm a Canadian couponer who cross border shops a lot. Your story is familiar (we have places that are 'challenges' here too). Sorry you had such bad luck.

With that said, something I've been wondering and I think you answered this for me ... with the RR can you turn around and use any that you receive right away on your next purchase (assuming separate transactions?)

[everprincess]

I'm a Canadian couponer who cross border shops a lot. Your story is familiar (we have places that are 'challenges' here too). Sorry you had such bad luck.

With that said, something I've been wondering and I think you answered this for me ... with the RR can you turn around and use any that you receive right away on your next purchase (assuming separate transactions?)

You can as long as you are not rolling on the same RR or the same mfg.

For instance if I buy the Always and get rr's I can't roll those RR's on the next transaction if I'm buying the Always again or any other Procter & Gamble product. HTH