Disappointments:
* A lot of my ZVRs not coming off
* Hawaiian Punch coupon not doubling
* Finding a HT that carries Quaker Warm & Crunchy Oatmeal. Most of my stores stopped carrying it
* Not finding the Land O' Frost Premium mini lunch meats. Looks like they are being replaced by a new packaging of Land O' Frost lunchmeat. I am not surprised to see it being phased it as the former container was next to impossible to reseal. However they are the perfect size for my 5 year old's little hands.
* Increasingly number of couponers. The number of coupon binder couponers increase with each SD event. I can't blame them for couponing...just disappointed to find empty shelves. This time around I increased my HT DC area shopping so that I could find items in stock.
* $2/1 Right Guard coupon auto scans at $1.50/1
Cheers:
* Super Doubles in general is always a thumbs up and Cheers!
* The FREE Suave Kids Shampoo/Conditioner and Body Wash
* Power of Rainchecks. I was able to get a ton of Barilla meals this SD thanks to an active $1/1 coupon and raincheck. I also got several Keebler Coconut Dream cookies for pennies thanks to overage, raincheck, and active coupons. Rainchecks may be the new way for me to shop during HTSD since finding current deals is getting harder and harder to find with the increasing number of couponers out there. Rainchecks have the power to make it your own private personal deal.
This is my first HTSD using rainchecks - I was just working on a post about it when I read yours!
ReplyDeleteI used a ton of rainchecks this time around. Now if I can remember to get them when items are out of stock lol ;-)
DeleteI spend more time getting rain checks during the week then getting the items that are on sale some times but it is worthwhile. I didn't know the Right Guard coupon was going to go crazy but it messed up my whole transaction so I was a little disappointed. I still have to go back to customer service when the nice people are working :) What stores are you going to that aren't stocked up? I actually talked to the people in the Falls Church store and they gave me some of the statistics on sales in the different stores which means that those stores have more stock. I went to some different stores like Fair Lakes, Tysons and Alexandria but I have had a variety of different lucks with them accepting coupons and fixing things when they ring up wrong. There is nothing wonderful about driving to somewhere and not getting the coupons to work and having to leave. The one in Tyson's always has stock and the women there went through my coupons and zvrs and wouldn't let anything be a moneymaker so she overrode the coupons to make sure the zvr didn't give me the overage. It took forever to check out but they have so few people in the lines that it didn't matter that she tied up the whole register. I almost told her to forget the whole transaction but I decided that I made the trip and I was going home with something :) I kind of have a loyalty to my HT.
ReplyDeleteHi Alison-
DeleteBetween my house and work I can hit 6 different HT stores in VA. I find the stores closest to DC have the least couponers and the most stock. What stats did the Falls Church store give you.....I would love to know :-)
Standard business tool is know your audience so I diversify my shopping trips looking for the best experience/deals/stock/customer service/etc. Each HT stores has pros and cons. Pros and cons vary by time of day of shopping - to the day of the week.
Also for me, I think the big difference in shopping now is my confidence level. It is completely different from 5 years ago. I think that is why I don't have an issue going to customer service so often....I am confident that there is a discrepancy between what just happened and what should be,
I am a loyal HT gal too :-) Thanks for responding. I love to hear what others are doing :-)