Walgreens Vent ~ Post it here

[CW&M Mom]

No card at my local Wags yet. I do live in rural kansas though...might be showing up in the bigger markets.

[CyndiO]

I heard from a cashier at my store in KC that we are getting the cards at the first of June. Nothing been in the ad about it yet though.

Cyndi

[miss_lacey]

I use RR's to pay for medication, especially high dollar meds like Zyrtec. I just submitted 5 months of expenses to my Flexible Spending Account. They will not reimburse me because they said I used all coupons and didn't pay anything for my meds (yes, I tend to keep my OOP low).

GRRRRRRR

[MrsAlias]

I am not surprised by this at all. My FSA forms and rules state that reimbursement is based on the post coupon/discount price.

[CW&M Mom]

Wouldn't be any different than if you had a 10 off prescription and would only get to count what was left after the 10 off. Sorry kind of feels like double dipping there.

[TerryTerrific]

Very true. That is what makes you insane, with the rules changing from store to store, and literally from one cashier to another. It makes it impossible to plan for. I have changed scenarios midstream according to which cashiers are working. I guess that is the advantage of living in a small town. You get to know which cashiers will be helpful, and which ones will not.

The thing is in retailing that the amount and 'flavor' of local competition heavily influences a store's policies.

Also, local and state laws.

It is a rare bird to find that ever store in a chain of stores acts the same.

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With coupons, I found that being as flexible as possible helps immensely.

One way is to have a Plan B, another way is to get the store manager involved.

If everything goes sour, one of the best bets is to void the transaction and to get your coupons back.

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Knowing which cashiers to deal with helps the checkout process.

There are some cashiers that I will avoid like the plague.

There is one CVS cashier that will tell me everytime that I checkout that CVS is planning to end their ECBs in the near future.

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Terence in Brook Park, oHIo

[TheGh0st]

... Sorry kind of feels like double dipping there.

I have to kindly disagree. Using a Walgreens RR she earned for purchasing a non-related product to purchase a FSA item then trying to submit that receipt for a FSA refund is not at all what I would call double dipping.

She could have just as easily used cash to pay for that FSA item and saved the RR to purchase something else if she had realized the FSA account wouldn't allow payment.

To me a more appropriate example of double dipping would be a scenario where you purchase an item using a coupon that is ONLY valid for that item to lower your out of pocket cost and then submit it for a full rebate at the pre-coupon total.

[WaWaMomma]

FSA's generally only reimburse actual cash $'s paid. Using any coupons at all will lower the reimbursable amount of an FSA item. Sorry this happened to you.

[PennyCarter]

I understand your frustration, but I'm not surprised either. But if its any comfort...my FSA at my last job would give me the benefit of the doubt on coupons. If I had a receipt with a bunch of stuff on it and some coupons, they would assume the coupons were for the non-FSA items and reimburse full amount. I didn't do this intentionally, I just submitted the receipts and that's how it came back. You can also use your FSA to buy good deal meds--like when there's a really good RR deal on Nyquill or Excedrin. I know none of this helps right now though. Sorry for your frustration.

I have to speak with my WAGS in the morning...I get one month of a prescription for $20 or 3 months for $40. Today they charged me $40 for 1 month. I specifically asked as I was paying if they gave me the 3 months and she said yes. This was in the drive through and I had other prescriptions too, so I didn't realize until after I was home and the pharm had closed what they had done. Sheesh. :(

[CW&M Mom]

I have to kindly disagree. Using a Walgreens RR she earned for purchasing a non-related product to purchase a FSA item then trying to submit that receipt for a FSA refund is not at all what I would call double dipping.

She could have just as easily used cash to pay for that FSA item and saved the RR to purchase something else if she had realized the FSA account wouldn't allow payment.

To me a more appropriate example of double dipping would be a scenario where you purchase an item using a coupon that is ONLY valid for that item to lower your out of pocket cost and then submit it for a full rebate at the pre-coupon total.

She "paid" less out of pocket because of the RR (which in reality are basically a coupon) and then tried to get the full amount back from the FSA. RR's are not cash...even if many of us nearly use them like cash...plain and simple...if I take that RR to the bank they won't deposit it into my account.