Tuesday is my coupon cutting, sorting, pulling, and menu preparing day. I'm quite organized and LOVE to go to the store with all my ducks in a row. I love saving 8 dollars on a box of diapers and we never pay full price for any article of clothing anymore. Q's job is to bring home the bacon and it is my job to save as much bacon as possible. This analogy is of course coming from a couple that does not eat bacon. ANYWAY, I've got it bad. I KNEW I had it bad when I was running late this past Wednesday. You see Tuesday was a CRAZY day and menus and clipping didn't get done. Meanwhile, Q glanced at the clock, then glance at me, "I don't think we are going to make it."
"Why?"
"Well, we need to leave soon and you aren't finished."
"But we don't leave for another hour."
"Babe, it takes you at least three..." Now, in my defense I do my best to double coupons and plan menus AROUND our coupons therefore stretching our budget and making this Mama happy. All that to say, Gerber has been sending me some pretty fabulous coupons. So the other day I found myself at Target and there was another Mom there. I saw a sale for these Gerber pinwheel things. I just looked up the image and they are actually called Gerber Graduates Wagon Wheels. I figured that they looked no bigger than a honey comb, but I had no idea. Meanwhile one Mom, of a hungry daughter, grabbed a can, ripped open the privacy seal, and pulled out a GINOURMOUS wagon wheel and handed it to her petite daughter. Um, say what? The thing was waaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger than her face. The daughter threw the wheel on the floor. So, what did the Mom do? She picked the wheel off the floor, and put it BACK into the can. She then placed the can back on the shelf. Of course this event was witnessed. With a guilty look she walked away and said, "I'm just saving everyone time by not buying this and THEN returning it."
Soooooooooo. What do you think? Did she do the right thing? In her defense the product was NOT as advertised and what the woman said was true.
Option A: Put the goods back on the shelf. Target finds opened canister and deals with it.
Option B: Mom stands in line to buy. Stands in line to return. ALL with a hungry baby. And now Target deals with it.
WHAT SAY YOU? What would you do? Either way it is a loss.
Maybe Gerber should stop making HUGE weird smelling wagon wheels.
22 comments:
I'm a coupon maniac as well. FYI, if you use Kroger, you can use an E-Coupon and Paper coupon on the same item. Also, I hunt down printable coupons like a mad woman too. And, that All*You magazine that Wal-Mart sells is FULL of coupons (Like $80 worth) for $2.50.
Anyways, I would've taken the canister with me and bought them and just broken the cookie into pieces. But, let's say I'm broke as a joke, then I'd take the canister to the register and say that it's opened and I didn't want it to go back onto the shelf. Because let's face it, she saved HERSELF a trip in the returns line, but who ever buys it is just gonna return it because the seal is broken - I know I would.
Wow people like you make me feel like a coupon failure, LOL. Couponing hard-core is no easy feat while working full-time. At least that's what I keep telling myself to make me feel better.
And I honestly can't stand when people open merchandise before paying for it. So in my opinion, that lady was wrong a million times over. But regardless, if you're opening something in the store, at that point you REALLY need to buy it, regardless of whether or not your kid ate it in the aisle. Yet she really shouldn't have opened it in the first place.
Okay, rant over. Bravo to you for great couponing! :)
Wow... crazy story. Loved coming across your blog. Is the baby in the header yours? Adorable!
I was once caught at the store with a hungry baby and I pulled something off of the shelf that I knew would work. I would have bought the Gerber Pinwheels and saved them for later or broken them into pieces that my baby could manage. I think trying them and putting them back is sort of stealing.
i totally need to get into a better 'coupon' and 'menu planning' routine. MrB and i actually JUST talked about this last night. i take way too many 'spur of the moment' food shopping trips that end up costing us hundreds of dollars a month. i need to get better. what are your secrets?? :)
I can't believe she did that. I would have been embarrassed. That's all part of being a consumer, you buy, you take home, you consume or you do not. Lesson? You either buy again or you do not. Some people! I'm going to call you later today, just so you know.
Love coupons but I'm horrible at clipping so I print them all off from online. Luckily hyvee has their ads on the website and then links coupons to their ads. I should start getting the paper as I have heard there are great coupons in it.
And I totally would have brought the can up with me and just bought the item and made them smaller. The part that shocks me the most is that she picked the one off the ground and put it back in the box! gross. She could have at least brought it up front and said the seal was broke and had them throw it away.
BTW my nephew loves those things! He just sucks on them for awhile and it keeps him quite entertained when he is fussy.
I don't really understand this whole wagon wheel thing. But I am of the "buy it first, then if it sucks, return it" mentality. I guess I understand if your kid needs to be fed/entertained while you're shopping... and if you are going to buy something, then go ahead and open the package if you need to (I've been known to get a bottle of water and drink it while shopping - before I buy it). But putting it back on the shelf - opened AND used? That seems all kinds of wrong.
i know what you mean about saving $8 bucks on diapers! i did that yesterday - it's thrilling! : )
my hunter is 16 mos today and just recently started eating wagon wheels and they are almost too big for him! it really is ridiculous how ginormous they are.
i would've taken the cannister with me and bought them and dealt with it. i'm too timid to cause a fuss. and yes, it would've pained me to spend $2.50 on something that wouldn't have been eaten.
however, if i got home with an open wagon wheels can i would have been mad... especially knowing that one of the wheels fell on the floor! i would've fussed then!
I'm not so good with the coupons. I forget them like I often forget my reusable bags. I'm getting better though. As to the wagon wheel thing, ridiculous!!!! Wow. Um, I think she's a thief. I get the whole product not as advertised bit, but I think she should've gone for something she was sure of to start with so that she avoided the whole issue.
Ummm...wow...I don't know what I'd do...but that's rude and gross.
Open it, pay for it. Done.
If it's too big for your kiddo, break it up and don't buy it again. If your kid doesn't like it, better luck next time.
Gross to put it back on the shelf, half eaten or thrown on the floor.
Okay, I am going to have to get some coupon tips from you!! $8 off diapers - say what??
Um that is still stealing - hello!! what would you have thought had she been a teenager or a child? Unacceptable. At the very least she could have brought the can to the register and explained the situation to the cashier or asked for the manager. Let them make a decision - it is their money. Seriously, what is she teaching her child that is okay to treat other peoples property any way you see fit because you have cause?
This situation truly bothers me so in the words of Naomi that I loved so much "I am going to kick away my soap box".
I wish I was good at using coupons! I'm sure it has saved you SO much!!!
I would have bought it, but then I wouldn't have opened it to begin with. So then I wouldn't have had to bought it. ;)
Shopping rule #1: you open, you buy.
Shopping rule #2: take your own food to satisfy you and your kid's instant hunger.
Shopping rule #3: if you're a lame-brain-forgetful-hurrying mom (like me) and don't do rule #2, open a favorite item with all intention to PURCHASE it. Under no circumstances do you open a "this sounds good" item and then feel guilty because you have to buy it when you don't like it. If you put it back, THAT'S STEALING!!
(Side note - openly jealous for the pool and the fun time with family from overseas.....)
:) Mer
How do you save 8 buck on diapers!! You are awesome!!!!! I need to know! I've got way too many little bums in those expensive diaperoos!
I don't think what she did was right at all. I would have bought them since I opened them.
I'm not a fan of coupons because I am the unorganized freak that always drops all forty of them at the counter and has to spend forever picking them up and apologizing and whatnot. But, I do make an exception for costco, because the savings are huge--dollars saved, as opposed to cents. Anyway, IMHO, that lady should be ashamed of herself. You don't open stuff BEFORE you buy it--that's stealing, even if you are planning on buying it!! And, if you aren't happy with things like food, you don't return them, you just call it lesson learned, and don't buy them again, and complain to the producing company if you're irritated or not. I can't believe she did that. I may have flipped out on her in the store if I saw her do that.
That was pretty brave of that woman! Generally, I purchase a snack before ripping into it... If it's not up to my expectations, I just avoid it in the future and tell everyone I know what I think of it. Maybe even call the company or send a comment, but I usually let my opinion known if I'm not happy with something.
I'm a coupon clipper, ad matcher and menu planner myself, always trying to find the best deal. A couple years ago we started taking out our budgeted grocery CASH on the first of every month. We spend cash for our groceries because it's too easy to get carried away with the debit card! (Plus the hubs is a teacher so he is paid on a monthly basis.) It has saved a couple hundred dollars every month! Might take the advice of Shannon and check out the Walmart magazine!
I have a general rule that I don't open up anything in the store before I buy it. You never know if you'll have to leave early or unexpectedly. I really need to get on this meal planning.
Yikes, that was not cool!!!
I can't judge. Tired and harried mamas do crazy things. Been there. HA!
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