More Rite-Aid This Week

So no surprise I made a couple more trips to Rite-Aid this week, right?lol

There are also 3 12-packs of Mountain Dew that are not pictured here.

I won't bore you with the nit-picky details on this one since it turned out to be a colossal mess!
The employees were super busy and one started my order and another finished it.
Then things rang up crazy amounts and add on that the meter got price checked and then NOT rung up....so I didn't pay for it and had crazy overage and couldn't make heads or tails of my receipt when I got home....and then I had to schlep everything back to the store and get it all fixed and actually PAY for the meter and pray that whomever was on that night didn't think I stole the meter, or even think I was a nutjob when I tried to explain it all.  I was even tempted to just put the meter back on the shelf and not try to explain all this because I didn't want the cashier to get into trouble for just making a mistake, but the meters are right under the pharmacy window so there was no way I could have taken it out of a bag and put it back on the shelf without someone noticing.

Oy vey...what a mess!
Let's just say I spent $.50 OOP on the rest of the stuff and put it on my gift card in the end, shall we?

3 things here I want to mention....
1. The Colgate Sensitive, though it is the correct size to qualify for the BOGO sale this week and nothing in the ad disqualifies it from being part of that sale, does NOT ring up BOGO.  I didn't feel like fighting about it at the store level(goodness knows I don't NEED more toothpaste personally!lol), nor did I feel like calling Corporate on this, so I just returned it(something I hardly ever EVER do!).  Well, since I was there to explain my ...ahem, stolen meter and pay for it, adding in a return on the same receipt(that the meter should have been on)just complicated the devil out of this bizarre transaction. lolol
2. The Hormel Chili is indeed giving an unexpected/not advertised $1 +Up Reward.  Add in that the AdPerks/VV Chili coupon is NOT serialized(meaning you can print and use as many as the store will let you at one time-1 coupon per can)and your can of chili on sale this week will cost you $.75 and give you back a $1 +Ups.
3. The Maxell CD pack(which I had to scramble to add to my order because I "thought" I had misjudged my couponage and turned out to be the meter not getting rung up)were a good deal for me with my 20% off discount.  However.....next week this item, reg. retail in my store of $21.99, is on sale chainwide for $12.99, so a much better deal than the 20% wellness discount cost.  And if you have a Flu Booklet, there is a $3 coupon in there for this item, PLUS there is a $3 Single Check Rebate for November on this item.  So your $21.99 price CD pack will cost you a mere $6.99 when all is said and done.
Sweet!

So let's move on to Transaction #2 from the following day when I went back after the truck from the warehouse brought restocks.....

Let me explain that I have been in search of the Alka-Seltzer Fast Powder Packs all week.  They are on sale this week for $5, there is a $3/1 coupon from this past Sunday's coupon inserts, each one gives a $2 +Up, plus if you purchase $30 in select Bayer products this week, the register also spits out a $10 +Up.  So theorectically, if you purchase 6 of the elusive Alka-Setlzers, use 6 $3/1 coupons and a $5 off $25 purchase coupon, you'll pay $7 OOP and receive $22 in +Up Rewards.
The key factor here is IF you can find 6 packages of this item.
Needless to say, no Rite-Aid had enough of this product to satisfy demand this week and all the shelves around here have been bare of this product since roughly 9:05am on last Sunday morning after the sale started.

And our store did NOT get any restock of this item.
UGH!
So I procured a raincheck for 7 boxes...that's how many I would need to do this deal with my 20% wellness discount.
And let me tell you.....trying to explain to the cashier how she needed to write this raincheck out made me NEED this product immediately!
What a mess.....
She sort of got it, and wrote it for a sales price of $3 per package since that's the price AFTER the +Ups it won't be giving after this week.  But then I tried to explain that since I would be buying 7 and my total would be over $30(before coupons and the +Ups she was discounting from the price), I should also get $10 off the total purchase.
Her eyes glazed over and she couldn't wrap her brain around how to add that into the price I was to be charged, so she wrote, "Spend $30 Get $10 Up.  Figure out at time of purchase." and signed it.
Ah, perfect!  Pass the headache onto whoever rings these puppies up in the future.....
It probably is all for naught though, since the chances of finding 7 of these items on the shelf in the next month before the raincheck expires is highly improbable.

So I went ahead and did a Bayer Deal using what was on the shelf.  I wanted to try these Bayer AM things anyway, since they are aspirin and caffeine, which is basically what "migraine" labeled formulations contain and migraine promoted products are pricey.  With my wellness discount, coupons and the +Up Deal, it was better than free.

4 x Bayer AM ($7.29 reg. retail)w/wellness discount $5.83=$23.32
1 x Bayer 50 ct.(also part of the deal)w/wellness discount=$4.55
1 x Alka-Seltzer Cold on sale=$4.99
SubTotal...$32.86

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25=$5.00
5 x $3/1 select Bayer product In-Store Ad=$15.00
2 x $2/1 Bayer AM ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $1.50/1 Bayer AM IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Bayer product ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product Peelie on package=$1.00
Coupon Total....$31.00

$32.86-$31.00=$1.86
I used a $1 +Up, so $1.86-$1.00=$.86 Out of Pocket put on a Rite-Aid gift card.
And I received a $10 +Up Rewards.

Spent 1 +Ups, got 10 back, making me 9 "Up" for this transaction.

*A word about stacking a ManuQ, a StoreQ and a PeelieQ on one item.
Technically Peelie coupons ARE Manufacturer's coupons and you can't use 2 manufacturerer's coupons on a single item.
However, at Rite-Aid you can stack a peelie on the product with your own Manu. coupon.
Now I don't know if this is a chainwide policy or not.
But it is done in this region at all the Rite-Aid stores I have bought anything at.  The first time it happened, the cashier was the one who noticed the peelie and went to scan it for me.  I reminded her that I had already used a ManuQ on the product and she said that they were told to let customers use any peelies on the products they were buying at the point of purchase, regardless if they had other coupons OR if the peelie coupon was past it's expiration date.  This policy has been confirmed to me by employees at two additional stores I shop at since that happened.
I am curious to know if any of my readers who shop Rite-Aid have encountered this policy for themselves?  Please leave a comment if you have.

Anyway, back to the numbers....I won't add in the toothpaste that I returned or the meter debacle to the value of items.

THESE TRIPS Total Spent....$1.36(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$78.49+$41.34=$119.83
SCR qualified for...$3.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$15.00
+Up Rewards spent...$1.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$39.00


GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......5
Total Spent....$2.74 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$258.31
SCR qualified for....$3.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Nov. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 10/24....$24.00
+Up Rewards spent....$14.00
+Up Rewards earned....$32.00
+Up Rewards left....$39.00

Sluggy