See if this scene sounds remotely familiar: you’re at the checkout, purchases and coupons carefully planned. The kids are fairly functional, but you know that they’re little ticking time bombs and there’s not much time left. The cashier scans all your items, then the coupons…but wait. Your final price is higher than you expected, your OYNO didn’t print, your Bonus Fuelperks didn’t appear on your receipt, or something else went wrong with your deal. What now?
Sometimes parts of the deals can be a little tricky. We try to spell them out for you the best we can in our matchups, but it’s important to note product sizes and exact varieties, both in the sale ads for special deals, on the shelf tags in the stores, and in the fine print of coupons. If you get to the register and something doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, take a minute to figure out whether it’s still worth buying if it’s not the deal you’d planned.
Your options:
- See if you can figure out what didn’t work. If it’s a simple size swap, and you’re able to fix it right then, just return the item that was the wrong size and buy the right one. You’d probably need to do this at customer service at a grocery store. If you’re at a drugstore and there’s a line behind you, it would be courteous to step aside and let others go first.
- Sometimes it’s just a problem with the OYNO in the computer system, especially on the first day of the sale. The cashier might be able to tell you if it’s been an issue for others. If you have met all the qualifications, customer service can usually help you solve the problem (either in-store or by calling the 1-800 number in the receipt).
- If there’s not a simple fix, you might just have to look at the final price and decide if it’s worth it to you. If it’s something you really need, and the price is still okay, just go with it. But if the price ends up being way too high, or if it was one of those “treat” purchases that you’d never pay full price for, it’s okay to politely say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be getting that today.” Be kind and respectful to the cashier, and hopefully they’ll understand.
Bottom line, it’s your money, and you don’t have to spend it if you don’t feel comfortable with the deal. A cashier might roll eyes or grumble, but it’s not the end of the world for them to void an item or process a return. And remember, sometimes these issues are part of the learning curve when you get into couponing. The good deals will far outweigh the bad ones, so try to keep your cool and things will work out fine.
