HTSD- Day 2/Part B

Cliff Notes: Paid $14.84 and got back (4) $5.00=$20 HT Gift Cards

Long Story: I have been leary about doing the Go For the Gold Promo.  I had not really seen a breakdown of items and coupons that were useful to me and my family. Plus there was never an actual list of exact items that were part of the promo.  It seemed to be haphazard at times as some products worked and other of the same brand did not.   I also read were many people did not get the catalina and had to work with customer service to get it worked out.  I pushed it off as long as possible; however, today was the last day I had to use some Kellogg's coupons that were expiring today.  And as we know Kelloggs is a big part of the promo.
* I thought the Go For the Gold prices from last week carried over to this week-WRONG
* I could not go to HT during the day today because I left some of my coupons at home so I had to come home after work to retrieve them
*  This meant my 5 year old had the pleasure of coming with me.  I love him to death but he makes it impossible to watch the register, watch the scanned coupons, and watch him all at the same time.  Mommies don't have that many eyeballs to see and watch everything *sigh*
* Because it was so late I had to go to the HT closest to my house.  This store that is the most competitive with couponers in my area.  This meant lots of out of stock items
* Because of out of stock of items I was literally purchasing on the fly.  This is never ever a good thing.
* I was going by last weeks ad for items.  I could tell things were not quite right by the Go For The Gold Signs but kept plodding forward with a 5 year in tow
* My 5 year old was literally throwing all sorts of things in my cart which drove me bonkers
* There was only 1 cashier at check out.  I do not particurly care for this cashier as she nit picks the heck out of coupons and I was in no mood for her shenanigans.  However it is now 9:15pm and I really need to get my son home and in bed so I go to the only cashier that is open - Jennifer
* At check out is when I realized that last weeks Go For The Gold sales ad is not valid.  I am literally freaking out at the register.  My 5 year old is shoving the kids shopping cart in to anything that he can find.  I find it hard to keep an eye on him and watch the register.  I am almost in tears
* The only positive is that everything in my cart had a Go For the Gold Tag, except the Mueller yogurt & Quaker Warm and Crunch Oatmeal, so when my bill was over $70, I made them take the Coke 6ers off to get the bill down
* I also can't locate my SFW $5/$25 coupons. I have been with Recycle since it started and have been collecting the $5/$25 coupons from the beginning.  I had about 8 left as I had been using them frequently lately but now they were all gone.  Now I really want to cry as my son is pushing the kids shopping cart around like he is in the Indy 500.  
* I proceed without ever finding my $5/$25 coupons :-(
* The cashier is reading every line of every coupon.  I am now livid.  They had to open up another register because of my transaction.  Damn, the nice cashier is opening up.....wish I was in his line
* The cashier and I are debating every coupon and every item in my cart and if they match.  Of course they match!!  This is why my shopping has taken over an hour because of out of stock items and matching up other coupons!! In the end she refuses 5 coupons.  I make her take those items off my bill and substitute for 5 other qualifying items with coupons she will accept. 
* Finally she rings me up and my total is $14.84.  
* However no catalina for the Go For the Gold
* At this point a female manager comes over, Brenda.  Brenda is not one of my favorites managers as she has been useless in helping me in the past.  She tells me my bill HAS to be over $50 WITH coupons.  I tell her that is wrong information.  She has always been UNhelpful and today is like no other.  Finally she calls over another manager, emerging from the door like a angel is my all time favorite CS Manager, Andrew.  I am so excited to see him.  He has helped me out countless times before and I always call HT Headquarters and let them know how much I appreciate his professional demeanor and excellent customer service.  He agrees with everything I have said.  With my angel CS Manager backing my words that the $50 does NOT have to be AFTER coupons, the female manager immediately backs down and tells him that he can handle this.  However she is never far and can hear everything.  She realizes quickly that I am not new to HT and have no problem calling corporate whether the incident is good or bad.  She overhears how I call corporate often praising Andrew.   Now she is a complete suck up.  My angel of a manager can not help me with a Go For the Gold catalina for a $20 Visa Card since Corporate is not answering the phone so he asked if (4) $5 Gift cards would work as an exchange. A sigh of relief - a solution on the spot.  YEP, sounds good to me!! 
* I left my receipt at the store because I was so frazzled.  But I spent $14.84 and got back  $20 in Harris Teeters Gift Cards
* A bad day at HT is better than a good day - not that I ever had them ;-) -  at Food Lion any time