Thrifty NWDad's First (and last?) coupon experience

So my wife (ThriftyNWMom) wanted to go to Albertson's to use our double coupons and I thought it would be fun to get some free ice cream! So, I volunteered to make a run and see what I could get. Well, the experience turned out to be something that makes me understand why some people are put off by coupons. Don't get me wrong, I got a great deal, and got quite a few things for under $10 ($8.82 total actually), but the cashier's didn't help and worst of all, THEY WERE OUT OF ICE CREAM!!!! Argh!

So here's how it went down. I went into the store, and asked the clearly bored cashier at the customer service desk if there were any fliers remaining with the doublers. She started to hand me two, but then took one back. I asked her if I could have both and she gave me the "ugh, I guess" look, and promptly reminded me that they will only accept two coupons per transaction.

Now, knowing that my wife highly recommended this particular store because they were so friendly, I figured she was a rogue cashier, and that the others were there to actually be friendly. So for my first transaction, I got 8 bottles of the Kraft BBQ sauce, and two boxes of Honey nut Cheerios (This should have given me $5 off for the epic promo). The cashier (not quite as bored, but just as unfriendly) told me that she won't give me the doubler coupon because it would have equaled $2.00 off, and the price was $1.99. Argh! I asked about lowering the value of the coupon, increasing the cost of the Cheerios, all of which she said no. I asked if the manager could help, and when the manager finally came over (by now the line was starting to back up) she also said that she couldn't (or didn't want to) do anything. Sheesh people.

So instead, I got 10 bottles of BBQ, and then got Honeynut clusters with coupons and doublers, but the epic promo still wouldn't work. Then cashier had to look to make sure that Kraft was actually a part of the epic promo, because she wasn't sure. I think the poor lady behind me really had to go to the bathroom, because she was looking around uncomfortably, figitting with her keys and shifting her weight from side to side (kind of like my three year old when she does the potty dance . . .). Finally the cashier got it figured out and for a total of $5.88, I got the 10 bottles of BBQ, two bags of the Nut Clusters, plus I got $5 in catalina's (oh and our two free candy bars from M&M/Mars). Then I asked for rain checks for the ice cream. I don't think I've ever seen someone roll their eyes as dramatically as she did!

So then, making sure that the lady behind me didn't have an accident right there on the floor, I took my stuff to the car and came back in armed with my catalina's and two other doubler's. This time, I got four boxes of Cheerios (to make sure I could use those stinking coupons!) , two boxes of Pasta Salad mix (that had a $1.50 off 2 coupon), plus four boxes of Kraft Mac and cheese (because I LOVE mac and cheese!) for a total of 10 items (and I threw in two bags of marshmallows, just in case). Again, even with all of this, the epic promo didn't work. And, having the same cashier (I almost laughed when I saw her expression when she saw me again. It was like she just found out her puppy died or something) she just wanted me out of there, so she entered the promo manually, I gave her the coupons, and the catalina's and paid $2.94. Not too shabby for my first real coupon trip. But, after that experience, I think I'll let me wife handle it form now on ! :)