When Scott checked out at Kmart, a pretty sweet coupon printed out. What was it for? Thirty cents off per gallon (limit 20 gallons) at his local BP gas station! That’s actually a pretty good deal, and a nice Kmart/BP cross-promotion. Then he noticed the exclusions. Good coupons almost always have a lot of exclusions, so it’s smart to check them before heading for the newest BP. Scott didn’t expect the coupon to just cancel itself out, though. [More]
Update: Barnes & Noble says they’re changing this policy. If you or someone you know is getting a nook, Barnes & Noble’s version of the Kindle, this year and you want to use a gift card to fill it with books, forget it. For mysterious reasons, the retailer won’t allow it. (By contrast, Amazon does.)
Did you know the asterisk in the Macy*s logo is actually part of a clever branding campaign to associate the brand with fine print? It must be true, because no other department store has such a love of fine print on coupons—and such an apparent hatred of actual coupons. Their latest masterpiece in exclusions won’t cover electronics, wigs, mattresses, shoes, watches, about a million clothing brands, and more. What does it cover? Probably a shoehorn from the Notions for Men department.
Sports Authority misses you so much that they sent out a 20% off coupon that doesn’t apply to sports equipment or 68 named brands. You might, might be able to get 20% off a pair of socks.
After getting my items added with the sales rep on the phone, when it was time to use the coupon I was again told that it was invalid – this time, however, I was a given a reason. The sales rep told me that the coupon was not good for video games or movies (I was ordering a game and the flight of the conchords DVD). I told the rep that the coupon stated neither video games OR movies as restrictions for use and he got a manager. Three managers and supervisors later, they wouldn’t budge. Needless to say, I didn’t make the purchase through them. I told them that I had previously worked in retail, knew that they had the power to manually take $15 off of my purchase if the coupon wouldn’t go through, and would not be making my purchase unless they honored the coupon as it was stated in their own promotion.
Your cellphone is not insured against loss in a nuclear crisis or a warzone.
