PAGING: Mulder and Scully.
Okay, so while this is situation does not exactly qualify as paranormal activity, something NOT normal is definitely going on here. (Insert squinted eyes and a thoughtful stroking of the chin.)
It all started last month. As a blogger who conducts product reviews, I’m often given a free product coupon (FPC) as an enticement to try a product (or as an alternative to shipping a perishable good to my door). And so, coupons in hand, I visited my local market to do my usual grocery run – which included trying two new products by way of FPCs. Once checked out, I glanced down at my receipt and noticed that the “Total Manufacturer Coupon Savings” were $3.49, when it should have been $6.98 as I had redeemed two coupons. This had happened once before – recently, actually – so I informed the cashier, she apologized and handed the coupon over, and instructed me to go to customer service to have it sorted out.
No harm done, right? Right.
Yesterday, I once again had a few FPCs to redeem – three, to be exact. I also had a $3 off coupon for a well-known yogurt manufacturer, and a 10¢ coupon for PC Canned Crab. (Don’t ask. It’s delish, though.)
The value of each of the free products was $5.29. So, redeeming 3 x $5.29 FPCs, 1 x $3.00 off yogurt and 10¢ off canned crab, one would expect my total manufacturer coupon savings to total $18.97. With me so far?
It was a crazy Saturday afternoon, the kids were whining, and I was struggling to pack up a huge grocery run while my husband lugged the bags into the cart. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what the cashier was doing, so it was only as we were walking out of the store that I glanced down at the receipt and noticed the total coupon savings were $5.29. Say what???
My Spidey Sense started tingling….