Yesterday since I was going to be travelling by a Super Target, I thought I would stop to get a few coupons deals that have been blogged about lately, especially ones that stack manufacturer coupons with the target store coupons you can get using the Target coupon generator at Hot Coupon World. I was especially excited about getting my dog some dog food, and also getting some Schick Quattro razors.
Well I stroll into the dog food aisle and see all these big wide open empty spaces, right where my dog food should be. The shelves are cleared out. I suspect they've been cleared out a while since someone had left their coupons there in the blank space. Kind of like they've been checking back and the item is never there. I had 3 different brands and items I wanted and they were all gone. What a wasted trip. I went over to the razor aisle and got my razors but then I had the checkout drama. I knew there was a 0.06 overage from stacking the 2 coupons per razor, so I bought a filler item to take up the overage. However, Target cash machines don't work that way, they just kick out the 2nd coupon because it exceeds the value. You have to have the cashier manually adjust each coupon to match the remaining value of the item. What a pain. Apparently, they're getting some new software and this won't be a problem soon. But the first cashier didn't see the problem. I told her my whole bag of items should be free except for my filler, so I didn't want to finalize the transaction yet. We called over the manager, who voided the whole thing and we did it at a different register.
Meanwhile, a line of people is behind me moaning about the delay. It was a rather unpleasant experience using coupons. This type of transaction is why I don't normally care to shop the deals at CVS, Walgreens and Target. There are two many complicating factors to getting the deals you think you can get. Sure, if you roll over your rewards or ECB's regularly and know to get fillers to get more items in your purchase than coupons, they will work. But its a hassle, and I stop to think before I even head out to these stores, do I really need that item? Many times I don't, or I can get it at Publix. I love that Publix is so coupon friendly, so I'll be getting my dog food there on my next trip.