Johnson & Johnson..If it talks like a Weasel and walks like a Weasel....MIR Fiasco!

Well there is consternation in the Couponing World this evening!

There is a Johnson & Johnson Mail-In Rebate that was advertised in last Sunday's coupon insert.  Buy $30 in Johnson & Johnson brand Lotions(at least 2 different brand names)and Get a $10 Rebate.
The MIR form was available in last Sunday's insert as well as on Coupons.com. 
$2/1 Qs were also available on both sources for each of the qualifying brand names(Aveeno, Lubriderm, Purpose, Clean & Clear, Ambi) so you could combine store sales with coupons to get a better deal.

Well it has come to our attention via various online sources(Southern Savers was the 1st one I saw it on), that even though you CAN do this Rebate with more than one receipt, Johnson & Johnson is claiming that your receipts MUST TOTAL $30 to be eligible for the Rebate.  Now if you bought the J&J products along with scads of other things and your receipts add up to $30 or more after coupons/sales, you are fine.  But if you bought the Rebate items alone and used coupons/sales and your receipt(s) don't total $30, you are outta luck!
Go see what is being said about this fiasco HERE and HERE.

Let me bring to Johnson & Johnson's attention that nowhere in the insert ad, coupons or on the rebate form did they specify that you had to spend $30 AFTER coupons!

If this is true, J&J will have a PR NIGHTMARE on their hands with all the pissed off Couponers/Rebaters who will have their rebates denied.
You think they have a BIG Problem NOW with all the Tylenol and associated brands RECALLS(McNeill owns the Johnson & Johnson brand too)?  These recalls are small potatoes compared to a massive flock of disgruntled Rebaters marching en masse(via snail mail, email and telephone)on their headquarters!lolol

At any rate, if they deny all these rebates they will have lost a heap of customers for life....all over the semantics of their interpretation of the wording on a $10 MIR.

Here goes the Domino Effect--
Bad drugs recalled....
Bad rebating policy.....
Bad consumer feelings on two fronts....
Bad sales figures.....
Bad stock report.....
Bad news for McNeill

Well, yours truly went and bought a heap of Johnson & Johnson brands lotions last week....enough to qualify(or so I THOUGHT!)for 2 MIRs--1 for me, 1 for my *ahem*BIL*ahem*.
Being the savvy frugalista I am, the combined total of all 4 of my receipts(2 for each MIR)was $11.47.
Not quite $30, is it?LOL

So I need to decide to...
A--just send them in as is and cross my fingers that Johnson & Johnson doesn't weasel out on their word.
B--return a bunch of stuff(and lose the coupons I used and only get back $11.47).
C--go buy a couple MORE qualifying items but do it on a grocery shopping receipt, so my total receipts add up to at least $30.
D--just keep the stuff.  If I do this and either don't send for the rebates or do send them and they are denied, my Rite-Aid Profit after rebates will suffer this month.

Luckily, I have a week or so to think on this and see what happens before I do anything....and that's just what I'm going to do....wait awhile.

So what would you do??

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Tonight and the J&J $10 MIR Deal

I decided to do the Johnson & Johnson Lotion Spend $30/Get $10 MIR Deal(rebate form is available on coupons.com), so up to Rite-Aid I pranced this evening after having served my world famous Boston Baked Beans to the fandamily.

2 x Aveeno Skin Cream @$3.49=$6.98
1 x Clean & Clear Cleaner=$4.99
1 x Lubriderm Lotion=$4.69
1 x Contact on sale=$4.99
SubTotal....$21.65

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
2 x $2/1 Aveeno IPQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Aveeno Rite-Aid in-ad Q=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Clean & Clear IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Clean & Clear Rite-Aid in-ad Q=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Lubriderm IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Lubriderm Rite-Aid in-ad Q=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Contact ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$19.00

$21.65-$19.00=$2.65+.04¢tax=$2.69 OOP
SCRebates qualified for....$4.99(Contact)under BIL's account
$2.69OOP-$4.99Rebate=$2.30 Moneymaker!

And I have $16.66 in purchases(before Qs) toward the J&J $10 Rebate.
Only $13.34 to go.

Sluggy