I never used to pay attention to coupons and sales all that much while I was working; usually being in a hurry, I would just nip into the grocery store, grab what I wanted, and that was that. Karen, the good influence, introduced me to the habit of checking the flyers, paper or online, making a list of what was on sale in which supermarket, and buying in bulk when the price was worth it.
So, before leaving this morning, I checked and noted that some of the things I needed were listed at a decent price. It was when the cashier told me the total that I decided to do what I rarely do, and stop at the door to make sure the reduced prices had been the ones charged. They were not, so back I go to my very nice (and new) lady who had served me to show her the error. She couldn’t explain what had happened, but called another store employee to do so, and I was flabbergasted to learn that some of those products required a coupon with its barcode loaded onto my cellphone. ONLY that method would allow your discount. Even more frustrating, each barcode could only be used ONCE, so no stocking up from the advantage of a good sale.
WHAT?? Since when?
This patient, sweet person took the time and effort to scroll with me through my cellphone, download the app, and register the barcodes I needed while listening to me whine about neglecting those who needed the best prices most, such as the elderly and those families with a very limited budget, maybe not having access to cellphones, or not being tech-savvy enough to work with this kind of application. She agreed with me when I mentioned that during this dangerous Covid nonsense, some of the elderly or injured mandated others to do their shopping. Were they supposed to hand over their cellphone (if they have one), give that person their passwords, therefore access to all their information, to enable their benefiting from a penny saved? And how did it work for pickup orders?
Being just an employee she evidently couldn’t answer me, but suggested I contact the administration with my concerns, before directing me to the customer service for my reimbursement. The young girl at the service counter gave me attitude when I told her I only wanted the articles covered by the barcode coupons – here, you can take all these back. I quickly explained what had happened, and she snarked back “Well look, everybody carries their cells with them!” A senior man waiting beside me declared, “Says who? Never could figure out how to use those damned things!” He appeared more insulted than yours truly!
The girl-child harrumphed, then turned away to calculate the amount of my return. She no sooner had her back to us than the man slipped just the edge of his phone from his pocket, winked at me, then slipped it away again.
“We never know where we’re going to find a champion.” I told him, and we two dinosaurs SMILED.
Sending it out to you folks. Hope it warms your day a little!
LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC
Tales from the Bush in Quebec 