BS From HT

Yes, it seems that Harris Teeter is cracking down on their coupon policy. I experienced it for myself on Monday. They have always had a per customer/per day policy on doubling 20 coupons, but they have always allowed me to use my daughter's or father's or SIL's phone number in a separate transaction. Don't go haywire on me. I am not one of those that clear the shelves of anything. Unless you want to count that I got the last three boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes as clearing the shelf. Hey, someone has to do it.

On the first day of Super Doubles, I did the GM deal one time and the Pillsbury deal one time on my card at the self-checkout. I then put those things in the car and went back in the store for just a few items. I have found it is just easier for me to do it that way sometimes. I must have attracted attention to myself. No, I had not reached my limit of 20 coupons on my VIC card. At this point who really cares what I am going to purchase or for whom? I have the answer to that question! There is a certain someone at a particular HT that wants to make it her business what I am doing. I got in line at a register to check out. My first transaction was for three items...one Simply OJ and two of the new Philadelphia cream cheeses. I didn't clear the shelf on those either. As a matter of fact, I could have purchased two more and they would have been free just like the first two, but alas I didn't. Here comes MS. KNOW IT ALL over to the register and is asking loudly how many times I have checked out at this register. Well, at that point it was once for the above mentioned three items. I had two more transactions to do. The cashier even told her that I shop for other people. There was no mention of not being able to use other people's VIC cards at that time. I purchased 13 items in one transaction and nine in the other one. I used 19 coupons total. Of the 13 items, five were the Old Orchard juice...22 items total. I spent $20.10 total. No problems other than THE LOUD MOUTH. Really, why does she care? I know she is just getting ready to enforce the rules for the next time she sees me at HT.

Fast forward to Monday...Ms. Pinch and I had planned a trip to our favorite HT to see what we may have missed from last week. We are shopping and everything is going well. I/we should have known that something would happen. Maybe I shouldn't include her in my problem. She had purchased her items and ran over to Walgreens while I finished up in the store. I was doing the GM deal again and the Pillsbury deal and purchasing some other items. I had 17 coupons for those two deals. Let's go to the register to check out...oh no, big problems. Not at the beginning mind you, but you will see. Keep in mind I had been in this store one time during Super Doubles. This is now five days later. I shopped at another HT on Friday with my father for just a few items.

I am at the register and tell the nice cashier I have three transactions. He rings up the first one which is the GM deal. I pay $10.92 and he (the cashier) says let's keep the coupons laying right here in case there is a problem. BIG RED FLAG, I should have known something was up. Oh, by the way, MS. KNOW IT ALL is there also! We proceed to ring up my second transaction...the Pillsbury deal. I pay $13.77 and I had other things with both of these transactions to get to my 20 coupon limit for my card. The cashier keeps those coupons in another stack right beside the ones from the first transaction, just in case there is a problem again! Really that is what he said. He also asked both times if were we using the same VIC card. The answer was yes. We get to the point where we are done and I have paid just like I said above for two transactions. TROUBLE ALERT now in full mode! I tell him I will be using a different number as these next items are for my daughter. Really, again, does it matter who they are for? He tells me I can't use her card if she isn't with me...it is corporate policy. I told him to show it to me. MS. KNOW IT ALL is lurking around the whole time but never comes near the register where I am. He shows me the policy that said "limit 20 coupons per customer/per day" to me that doesn't say my daughter has to be with me. She is another customer that happens to be at work and I happen to be getting whatever I am getting for whoever I am getting it for. She doesn't live with me and has a different address than me. Okay, now let's call the manager up to the register. He isn't going to let me purchase anything else with anyone else's VIC card. I told him he could even call her at work. But NOOOOeVIC coupons back to my card also. Lo and behold, they just can't do that. Okay, call Mr. Manager again...NO he just calls up to the customer service desk and tells the cashier to call the help desk. Well they can't put my 20 coupons back on my card either. Interesting...the longer I stood there the more I thought I will make money because they should refund the price of the items minus the VIC sales, of course. I didn't intend on making money off of HT, don't get me wrong but that is the way it works. It is not my fault that they choose to start enforcing rules all of a sudden. Mr. Manager has to be called again, the cashier just doesn't know what to do. A customer service rep comes out of the office and she said why don't we just ring up the items that she wants and be done with it...using my daughter's card. No Chit Sherlock! What they could have done in the first place and none of this would be happening. I have no problem with rules just a problem when they aren't enforced and all of a sudden they are. I feel that I was profiled by MS. BIG MOUTH from the time I went in the store. Why else would the cashier have just left my coupons to the side in case there was a problem? Not once but twice, remember that! They were just waiting for me to do what I have always done. I am not caught, don't even think that. This is something that I have always done as other people also do.

Okay, back to the finish. The manager is at customer service and I tell him he has my coupons that the store will be reimbursed for so he needs to refund my money which will be the price of the item. He tells me he can't do that. He will refund what I paid cause he will not pay me to shop in that store. Not my problem. For example, if a can of biscuits cost $2 minus a 50¢ coupon doubled to $1.00 then you pay $1.00 for the biscuits. If you decide to bring the biscuits back for whatever reason, then the store should refund your $2 what the biscuits cost. Remember they have the coupon, they will be paid 50¢ plus the handling fee. It is Harris Teeter's fault if they lose money, not mine. He also told me they lose money every time there is a Super Doubles. Again, not my problem, you deal with it Mister. I told him the coupons were just like money, but he said they aren't because he can't deposit them in his checking account. Again, not my problem. Did I feel like I was a criminal? Not at all, I didn't reach across and take money from them and wouldn't. Mr. Manager & I exchanged more conversation. He decided he would refund what I paid and the amount of each coupon.

After coming home, I called corporate and of course HT is enforcing their own coupon policy now. You may or may not be able to shop like you are use to doing with other people's VIC cards at your HT. Supposedly HT is cracking down on their own policy. Oh, I even told Mr. Manager that maybe to benefit himself he should print up a statement and post it to the doors that they were enforcing their policy of 20 coupons per customer during Super Doubles. The really funny thing that Mr. Manager also told me was to make multiple trips in one day to the same store when there are different cashiers working and they wouldn't know I had already been there. Like I didn't know that already. Why enforce your rule and tell a customer how to get around it? OMG I am not that dumb!

Just for giggles the first lady at corporate that I talked to had a really bad attitude. She hung up on me! But that was okay also. It was after I just had to call her a not-so-nice name. I have no problem with HT enforcing their rules but just let me know in a polite way, like at the beginning of my transaction. I was set up (by Ms. Loud Mouth) and if it made someone's day, more power to them! I believe the cashier was in on it too. Why else would he have set my coupons aside in case there was a problem? He knew there was going to be a problem ahead of time. I was the one that didn't know.

The second lady at corporate was very nice. She told me they have had people with as many as 20 VIC cards in one name. She also said Harris Teeter loses money every time they have Super Doubles. Wonder how much longer that will last? If their deals aren't deals anymore for us coupon shoppers, then who will shop there? Are they going to start checking your license when you go in the store?

I can play the game well, but not when the rules get changed in the middle.

My rant is over and I would love to hear comments!

==Sleeping Beauty==

What Will A Buck Get You?

And I'm not talking about the four-legged ones with Antlers either. A buck at Harris Teeter will get you this!!

The Pillsbury Deal and Pampers

The Pampers were part of my eVIC for $5.99 with a limit of two. I forgot that I had to purchase two in one transaction probably due to the fact of my excitement over my negative balance on the Pillsbury items. I knew my amount due would be low but not negative $3 and something. That happened because some of my electronic coupons were taken off more than once. I have no clue why and didn't know until I got home.

Total OOP $1.24 (tax was 24¢)

==Sleeping Beauty==

Free Groceries At Harris Teeter

Well, almost free. I got caught up in the rice and didn't take the time to figure it all out. This deal cost me $4.21 with tax being 56¢. The Dean's Dip was 15¢ for two. The Edwards Singles, Gain and Butterfingers were freeeeeeeeeeeee!!

==Sleeping Beauty==

Simply Good!!

Total Paid: $1.65(Tax 15¢)

==Sleeping Beauty==

General Mills Deal At Harris Teeter

Total Paid:  $1.64

==Sleeping Beauty==

Harris Teeter Shock And Awe

I love Super Doubles at Harris Teeter. After two days of shopping, I am in shock that I took home $369.34 in groceries. I am in awe that I saved $276.40. I got lots of freebies along with some not-so-free things like dog food, beef stew, pork ribs, roast, coffee and eggs.

Some of the highlights:

Buy 2 Get 3 Free 2-Liter Pepsi Products

The 2L drinks are $1.89 each...so you will spend $3.78 for five drinks. I had a 35¢ Q for Dr. Pepper and a $1 Q WYB a 2L drink and two assorted products. I bought two A1 Sauces...I had two $1 Qs for those. To make this long story short, I bought five drinks and two A1 Sauces for $3.06!

General Mills Deal - Save $6 instantly WYB 20 participating products. This is a moneymaker when you have the Qs plus the eVIC loadable Qs. The $6 DID NOT come off automatically and the manager had to wave her magic wand. Be sure to check your receipt. And some of the eVIC Qs also did not work. You should print your list and take it with you so you can get your money back.

Pillsbury - Save $4 instantly WYB 10 participating products. Again, this is a moneymaker...if your eVIC Qs work. As with the GM deal, most of these products may be out of stock.

Vaseline lotion is on clearance for $2.38

There is a $2 Q on any Vaseline product, making the lotion 38¢. Can you believe this stuff is regularly $6.99?

I want to give a big thank you to a fellow couponer that gave me a couple of coupons for cereal that she didn't need. Her cereal coupons were better than the ones I had. That was a very nice gesture from one coupon shopper to another coupon shopper.

Then there is this shopper...I was at the clearance basket looking at the lotion. I noticed this woman putting the Vaseline lotion on her hands. After she used the lotion, she put it back and got another lotion to put in her cart. How rude! This is probably the same lady that eats the grapes while she shops and then stuffs the empty bag in with the frozen foods.

Anyway, in two days I have spent $92.94 (I saved $276.40). I have a refrigerator that is full, two freezers that are full, a food closet that is overflowing, one dog that is happy that she has food, and three bags of food to give to the school Food Drive tomorrow. I love Harris Teeter Super Doubles!!

**Pinch**

Harris Teeter Super Doubles...

...Starts February 16th.

Harris Teeter Bits

Look what I found at HT Sunday night:

A display with Hormel bacon bits that had a tearpad for $1 off bacon bits WYB any bagged salad. I just happened to see the produce man marking down salads earlier while Mr. Beauty was waiting on the deli lady to mark down the chicken. I ran to the marked down salads...well, lo and behold, they are only 50¢ per bag. The bacon bits are 2/$3 ($1.50 for one).

We paid $1 plus tax for bacon bits and salad!

==Sleeping Beauty==

Decisions, Decisions

Do I purchase the Lysol soap system at Walgreens to get $7 in RR to use on Olay? Or do I just purchase the Olay and be done with it? I didn't take the time to figure it all out...

SO...

I went with purchasing the Lysol. I paid $9.92 OOP for it (without tax it is $8.99), get $7 in RR, so it is like paying $1.99. Agree or disagree? Not with the amount you silly, with whether to add the tax or not. Let's say add the tax so then it is $2.92 OOP to get $7 in RR ($9.92 minus the $7 in RR = $2.92).

The Olay is 3/$10. I had three $3 Qs and a get-Secret-deodorant-WYB-Olay Q. You know I need that Secret deodorant to go along with the Dove deodorant that I got at Rite Aid. No smelly people around here! You are wondering about the candy bar? Well, I made a mistake in handing over the Qs. A nice cashier at Walgreens told me once upon a time to give them the RRs before the Qs and I forgot to do that. Shame on me! That mistake cost me a dollar. But it is all good. Excuse me for a moment while I go find those Reese's that I forgot I had. Okay, I will get on with it. I paid $2.03 for three Olay's, one Secret, and one Reese's. Who pays for Secret deodorant these days? Not me, remember it was FREE! Oh, I got $3 in RR for buying the Olay. So I believe I am still ahead, ONLY if you think I was ahead before. My subtotal was $1, tax was $1.03, and that is where my mistake came into play. My subtotal should have been zero, but again it is OKAY.

Tomato soup and Skintimate shave gel sounds like a good combination. After all today is Valentine's day...who couldn't go for a nice bowl of soup while in the bathtub shaving your legs? Multitasking at its best! For the four cans of soup and the Skintimate, I paid 32¢ OOP and got $1 in RRs.

Let's see how we did:

My subtotals came to $10.08
Tax - $2.19
Total - $12.27

I still have $1 in RRs so do we say $11.27 OOP for everything?

==Sleeping Beauty==

Too Much To Do...

...Too tired to do it!

I was way behind in cutting and filing Qs so I have spent the better part of two days trying to get some organization in my notebook. It is done...except for Sunday's coupons. They are not even cut yet. I did manage to go shopping for a few things in the middle of cutting and filing so here are my bargains from Sunday!

First stop Rite Aid...they had only two of the Dove deodorants left (2/$4 with a $2 +UP). Regardless of the +UP, I had two $2 off Qs making them FREE. Well, almost free....my subtotal was ZERO and tax was 31¢. That was it...for two deodorants! I had plans for the $2 +UP reward.

The Colgate toothpaste was $3.50 with $3.50 in +UP rewards. I had a B1G1 Q and a 75¢ Q. I used my $2 +UP reward from the deodorant so my subtotal was 75¢ plus tax of 54¢ = $1.29 OOP for the two Colgate toothpastes. I got back $7 in +UP rewards (2 @ $3.50). There were plans for those also.

When do you not need diapers? When you don't have a baby, I know that but you can always be ahead of the game. I got the big box of Huggies and a Febreze Noticeables Warmer for a total of 63¢ OOP. I used my $7 in +UP rewards and my video value coupons, a Huggies Q and a Febreze Q to arrive where I did.

Really I didn't realize that I would get $3.50 twice on the toothpaste, so I had to do it again at another store. I wanted to get a couple more of the deodorants anyway and remember this store only had the two I purchased. Of course, the other store had no deodorants left so that didn't work out as I had planned. The manager at the second store told me a man came in this morning and bought all 22 of the deodorants that they had. The ad didn't have a limit so more power to him. I bet they will be sold at the flea market. Just how much deodorant can one person use, give away, etc? It doesn't bother me, maybe he will make it on Extreme Couponer!

Here is a quick run down:
I spent $4.52 OOP with $2.59 being tax. The rewards for the toothpaste didn't print at the second store on my Dad's card so the manager gave me $7.54 in cash for them. The way I figure it I came home with $3.02 more in cash than I left with and have four Colgates, two deodorants, one Febreze warmer, and 68 diapers!

Retail value of everything before sales is $48.22.

I love Rite Aid!

==Sleeping Beauty==

Happy Valentine's Day

From all of ours to all of yours!

Happy Birthday Sleeping Beauty

"Inside every older person is a younger person

wondering what the hell happened."

The Management and Staff at Q-pons With Class wish Sleeping Beauty a very Happy Birthday.

Free And Cheap At Harris Teeter

There were lots of good deals at Harris Teeter today. I'm sorry I don't have a picture...my camera batteries  bit the dust.

Saturday only eVIC specials:
HT Rancher Ground Chuck 2 Lb. (limit 2) - $2.97 each
HT 2-Liter Sodas (limit 4) - 47¢ each
Hillshire Farm Lit'l Smokies (limit 2) - 99¢ each (plus use a 75¢/2 Q)*

*This Q states "Do Not Double". If your HT doubles these, then two Lit'l Smokies will be 48¢ total. If your HT will not double this coupon, then two Lit'l Smokies will be $1.23 total.

Some other good deals:
Texas Toast Croutons $1.50 - use 50¢ Q (doubled) AND eVIC Q of 50¢...FREE.
Lays Potato Chips B2G3 Free. Near the chips, I found a tear pad $1/2 Q. I used two Qs...making five bags of chips $5.98 (or about $1.20 each bag). If you got an eVIC for Fritos at $1.47, you could use another $1/2 Q, making five bags of chips and one bag of Fritos $6.45 (or about $1.08 each).

I spent $53.68 and I saved...are you ready for it...$136.52!! I love Harris Teeter.

**Pinch**

"Post-It Love"

Free Post-Its at Staples...except the Staples brand is not called Post-Its, they are called Stickies (but they are just like Post-Its). And they are better than Post-Its because the Stickies are FREE today!!

Just go here and print two coupons. The limit is two per Rewards card and you need a coupon for each pack. Both packs will be absolutely, positively free with no tax added.

And just because I am feeling the Valentine love today, I will give you a hint about printing the coupon. On your screen, show just the Stickies coupon and the one beside it. Hit Control-P to print. On the print screen, highlight "Current View" and only the Stickies coupon and the one beside it should print. This will save you some ink from printing all those other colored coupons (unless you want those coupons, then just disregard what I have just written).

Also, don't forget to turn in your used printer ink cartridges for $2 in Staples Rewards.

**Pinch**

Good Bye Food Lion

I am done! I am finally finished with Food Lion. I dislike Food Lion so bad that I have only shopped there three times in the past six months. I hardly ever check out their sales ad or read any of the "good deal alerts" posted by others. But the Mueller's pasta deal was really too good to pass up. And today's less than pleasant experience refreshes my memory about my self-imposed Food Lion boycott.

Attention to any Food Lion representative that might read this...you need to do SOMETHING about the hideous attitudes of your cashiers and managers. You could offer all your groceries for free for all I care, but I am NOT stepping foot back in your stores until you understand what good customer service is all about. I, and the other customers in your store, DO NOT deserve to be treated like we are second-class citizens.

But I am done with Food Lion. I am throwing my MVP card in the trash can right now.

GOOD BYE FOOD LION!!

**Pinch**