Aren't coupons supposed to save you money??

I lost a few years off of my life today.  I went to a baby store in Columbia to get a couple of gifts for a friends upcoming shower.  And I was armed with 4 coupons.  The lady at the cash register just looked at me and said, "You know I have to do 4 separate transactions if you want to use all 4 of those."  With that attitude she could have easily went on to say, "And then I have to cut off each of my fingers.  One by one."

"Of course," I said politely. 4 separate transactions would be no problem.  I understand.

In addition to the gifts I was getting for the baby shower, I had also picked up a few things for Ashlyn including a pair of pants that were advertised as $8.  I wanted to buy those and a sippy cup for $7 and then use a $5 off $15 coupon.  When the lady rang the pants up, they rang up as $13.99.  I told her that was wrong; that they were marked down to $8.  She then proceeded to tell me that since I was going to use a coupon, I could not get the pants at the marked down price...BUT THAT I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FULL PRICE.  Seriously.  It was actually going to end up costing me MORE MONEY to use the coupon.  I mean, only a dollar more, but still.

I explained this to her but she did not seem to care...or understand...or both. 

So I proceeded to grab my coupons, and the gift registry, and tell the lady that I was just going to shop at the new baby store across the street.  Looking back now, I feel kind of silly that I told them that.  But it made me feel like I was at least getting a point across.  And I was really upset about the entire situation.  Literally, I was in tears.  Please let me blame this crazy behavior on my hormones.

And the story does not end there.  About 30 minutes later, I remembered that I had swiped my credit card.  I called American Express, and they confirmed that indeed there was a purchase that had come through.  So I had to go back to the store, and get the manager to void out the charge since clearly I had walked out of the store without any items.

I was going to write them a letter about their terrible coupon policy when I came home.  But then just decided to blog about it.  I feel better already.  And it saves me a stamp.

The truth is...its really not that big of a deal.  And this would have been a wonderful time to set a good example in front of my daughter of how to deal with stressful situations.  Crying and getting mad is not the answer.  I mean, that is how my one year old responds to stressful and upsetting situations.  Not how her mother should.  Lesson learned.