Don't Be Afraid to Ask... It might save you money...

Hi Thrifties,

I decided it's about time I wrote about something besides the latest freebies and sales. So here is a quick story, or two, about asking for what you think is fair.

Once upon a time, there was a "buy one get one free" sale on a particular brand of shampoo at a local drugstore. The store shelf was bare by the time I got there, all but one had been purchased already. I took the last bottle, and brought it to the register. 

        - "There is only one left so how can I buy one and get one free?" I inquired 

           of the cashier. 

         - She responded, "hhm..." 

         - to which I interjected: "can I please purchase this last one at 50% off?" 

         -"Yes" was the answer. 

This was great news since the manufacturer coupon I had with me was for $1 off one bottle. So I ended up with an even better deal than I had expected. Now in this case, the store was amenable to such a discount considering they only had one left of the sale product. This does not mean that any other store would do this, but my point is that you might as well ask.

Once upon another time, in a supermarket, I was planning on purchasing some cheese that I thought was on sale. It "seemed" to be on sale because there were huge yellow stickers all over the display indicating there was a sale, and what the price was. So when I was at the self-checkout, scanning everything, la dee dah... The cheese scanned as more expensive than the yellow sticker price I expected. I told the friendly cashier-lady who stands near the self-checkout lines patiently waiting for people to need assistance. After a brief call to the manager, she returned to tell me they would honor the price. Apparently they hadn't removed the stickers from a sale that had ended yesterday so they were nice and honored the expired sale. So the point is that you have to watch the register, and make sure everything scans at the price you expect it to be. If there is any discrepancy, just ask.

Do you have any similar stories you would like to share? Just leave a comment below! :)