CVS 6/24 - 6/30 Deals

Quote from Kalanchoe : Be careful on this. The only reason that coupon gave overage during a BOGO50% sale is that CVS's register still sees the before-BOGO50% price of the H&S. If you use a raincheck to get your H&S price-modded, the Qs most likely won't give any overage - the last Q would just beep to be adjusted down so that your H&S's are free. Your best bet is probably to just wait until the BOGO50% sale the week of 7/8. Not part of a gas card deal that week, but it sounds like your raincheck isn't good for that either, so...

Thanks K.. I had no idea it worked that way. Still learning about CVS. So the week of 7/8 should be a good time to use the H&S mq, get the overage, minus the gc/ecbs? I'll hold onto my mqs till then..

Quote from Kalanchoe : Be careful on this. The only reason that coupon gave overage during a BOGO50% sale is that CVS's register still sees the before-BOGO50% price of the H&S. If you use a raincheck to get your H&S price-modded, the Qs most likely won't give any overage - the last Q would just beep to be adjusted down so that your H&S's are free. Your best bet is probably to just wait until the BOGO50% sale the week of 7/8. Not part of a gas card deal that week, but it sounds like your raincheck isn't good for that either, so...

I can confirm this. When I was showing my friend the deal, next weeks ads were already on for 2/$9 H&S. Last coupon had to be adjusted down.

Luckily we were able to get her the gas cards, but by the amount of time it took, only very experienced employees can make the computers perform this function.

I did H&S after store activated next week's ad, but I still got this week's price and count towards gas card.

5.99+2.99=8.98 for 2 and that beats 2 for $9.

Quote from CouponCzar : I can confirm this. When I was showing my friend the deal, next weeks ads were already on for 2/$9 H&S. Last coupon had to be adjusted down. Luckily we were able to get her the gas cards, but by the amount of time it took, only very experienced employees can make the computers perform this function.

Quote from CouponCzar : I can confirm this. When I was showing my friend the deal, next weeks ads were already on for 2/$9 H&S. Last coupon had to be adjusted down. Luckily we were able to get her the gas cards, but by the amount of time it took, only very experienced employees can make the computers perform this function.

So tomorrow I be getting 2/$9 with the coupon ringing up $9.49 and adjusted down on the last ones purchase? Or will there will be overage for them? Sorry, just a bit confused about this. Overage is fine, but free is just as good. Just wondering for planning purposes.
TIA!

Quote from P-Funk : So tomorrow I be getting 2/$9 with the coupon ringing up $9.49 and adjusted down on the last ones purchase? Or will there will be overage for them? Sorry, just a bit confused about this. Overage is fine, but free is just as good. Just wondering for planning purposes. TIA!

Tomorrow you cannot get overage because as Kalanchoe explained if you buy 2 the computer recognizes the total of H&S purchases as $9 and will not autodeduct 9.49. If you are buying 4, the first MFQ will autodeduct for 9.49 but the second will beep and will need to be adjusted down to $8.51. So you can't get overage from the MFQs. Now, if you combined them with the $2 CRTs off any shampoo etc, you may be able to get overage However a cashier would be 100% within their right to not let you use the CRT since it would be over the shampoo value. HTH

Quote from gambalung : Tomorrow you cannot get overage because as Kalanchoe explained if you buy 2 the computer recognizes the total of H&S purchases as $9 and will not autodeduct 9.49. If you are buying 4, the first MFQ will autodeduct for 9.49 but the second will beep and will need to be adjusted down to $8.51. So you can't get overage from the MFQs. Now, if you combined them with the $2 CRTs off any shampoo etc, you may be able to get overage However a cashier would be 100% within their right to not let you use the CRT since it would be over the shampoo value. HTH

Yes thanks!

Quote from z390z : I did H&S after store activated next week's ad, but I still got this week's price and count towards gas card. 5.99+2.99=8.98 for 2 and that beats 2 for $9.

OP's friend probably was buying H&S at a store that had it for a higher price. For example, if it was $6.29 at their store (as was the price reported by someone at a higher cost store), then 6.29 + 3.14 = 9.43, which meant that the 2/$9 price would've won out. It all depends on what the regular price was at the store.

Quote from Kalanchoe : OP's friend probably was buying H&S at a store that had it for a higher price. For example, if it was $6.29 at their store (as was the price reported by someone at a higher cost store), then 6.29 + 3.14 = 9.43, which meant that the 2/$9 price would've won out. It all depends on what the regular price was at the store.

Kalanchoe, you are incredibly amazing at CVS-ing. I love how logical all your approaches are. My problem with CVS is that I get it, and I can whip up scenarios based on exactly how things are supposed to go. But then when I'm at the store, 99% of the cashiers don't know the policy, don't know math, dont' know customer service so it never works out allright. Unless of course I know a coupon won't beep (but it is rare for 100% of Qs not to beep) and do everything at SCO. I always feel like a "criminal" at CVS just for using Qs. They are so so suspicious when they see you using mere than a few Qs per order. They can't be having a big problem with coupon fraud (I live in a pretty rich area, but perhaps ironically this is also the reason they don't seem to have any training on the coupon policy) You guys are so so lucky to have jedi stores/cashiers!

Quote from gambalung : Kalanchoe, you are incredibly amazing at CVS-ing. I love how logical all your approaches are. My problem with CVS is that I get it, and I can whip up scenarios based on exactly how things are supposed to go. But then when I'm at the store, 99% of the cashiers don't know the policy, don't know math, dont' know customer service so it never works out allright. Unless of course I know a coupon won't beep (but it is rare for 100% of Qs not to beep) and do everything at SCO. I always feel like a "criminal" at CVS just for using Qs. They are so so suspicious when they see you using mere than a few Qs per order. They can't be having a big problem with coupon fraud (I live in a pretty rich area, but perhaps ironically this is also the reason they don't seem to have any training on the coupon policy) You guys are so so lucky to have jedi stores/cashiers!

Quote from gambalung : Kalanchoe, you are incredibly amazing at CVS-ing. I love how logical all your approaches are. My problem with CVS is that I get it, and I can whip up scenarios based on exactly how things are supposed to go. But then when I'm at the store, 99% of the cashiers don't know the policy, don't know math, dont' know customer service so it never works out allright. Unless of course I know a coupon won't beep (but it is rare for 100% of Qs not to beep) and do everything at SCO. I always feel like a "criminal" at CVS just for using Qs. They are so so suspicious when they see you using mere than a few Qs per order. They can't be having a big problem with coupon fraud (I live in a pretty rich area, but perhaps ironically this is also the reason they don't seem to have any training on the coupon policy) You guys are so so lucky to have jedi stores/cashiers!

Aw, shucks.

This should probably be in chat instead, but what the hey, this one's a dead thread by now anyway.

I'll let you in a little secret though (or perhaps not so little, since even folks on Extreme Couponing talk about it on national TV ) - I really do profile my cashiers like heck. Go for the young ones, the male ones, and/or the ones that just seem overall really nice (smile a lot, happily greet customers, etc.)! If I walk into a CVS and the only cashier working is one I know to be a "problem" cashier, I seriously just walk right out and either hit a different store or return another day (or even during another shift). Or if, say, I know that the shift super on duty at the time is cool, and I have some time to kill, I might linger around waiting for the problem cashier to go on break and the shift super to take over.

I also try reeeaaally hard to never have any beeping coupons. I've heard certain coupons beep no matter what at SCO (I don't have any SCOs where I live though), but at a regular register, I can 99% of the time make sure that none of my coupons will beep based on what I know about how most CVS and manufacturer coupons work, as well as reports on SD of how certain coupons behave. And then even when I have a coupon that prompts for the cashier to do something, I'll often give them a little nudge to make sure everything goes the way I planned. As an example - I used the Covergirl mascara BOGO Q earlier today, and although the mascara was $8.89 (and on sale BOGO50%), the coupon had a max value of $7.50 - so while handing it to my cashier, I said to her, "This is a buy-one-get-one-free for that mascara (*points at CG mascaras on counter*), which was $8.89, but the coupon is only for a max value of $7.50, which I'm fine with." Result? Cashier quickly types in $7.50, just as I'd planned.

And of course just always be polite and courteous to your cashiers. The absolute best compliment I've ever gotten on my deal shopping wasn't from friends/cashiers/bystanders impressed by my penny totals - but one time I let a friend tag along to watch me do my CVS and grocery rounds, and at the end of the day, he said to me, "You know, the thing that struck me the most was that you're really polite. Not so over-the-top polite that you seem insincere, but just polite enough that the cashiers won't deny you because you really seem genuine about it." I'll admit, there are of course always going to be cashiers that even politeness and honey will never work with - but I do try hard to garner favor with my regular cashiers, and I'll also point out mistakes even if they're in my favor - that way, I figure they're more willing to trust me too in the future on other things (for example, if I need a manual EB print on something, even if there were no tags up at that particular store).

Quote from Kalanchoe : Aw, shucks. I'll let you in a little secret though (or perhaps not so little, since even folks on Extreme Couponing talk about it on national TV ) - I really do profile my cashiers like heck. Go for the young ones, the male ones, and/or the ones that just seem overall really nice (smile a lot, happily greet customers, etc.)! If I walk into a CVS and the only cashier working is one I know to be a "problem" cashier, I seriously just walk right out and either hit a different store or return another day (or even during another shift). Or if, say, I know that the shift super on duty at the time is cool, and I have some time to kill, I might linger around waiting for the problem cashier to go on break and the shift super to take over. And of course just always be polite and courteous to your cashiers. The absolute best compliment I've ever gotten on my deal shopping wasn't from friends/cashiers/bystanders impressed by my penny totals - but one time I let a friend tag along to watch me do my CVS and grocery rounds, and at the end of the day, he said to me, "You know, the thing that struck me the most was that you're really polite. Not so over-the-top polite that you seem insincere, but just polite enough that the cashiers won't deny you because you really seem genuine about it." I'll admit, there are of course always going to be cashiers that even politeness and honey will never work with - but I do try hard to garner favor with my regular cashiers, and I'll also point out mistakes even if they're in my favor - that way, I figure they're more willing to trust me too in the future on other things (for example, if I need a manual EB print on something, even if there were no tags up at that particular store).

I do a lot of profiling. If it's a hot summer day and the cashier is male, things seem to go a lot smoother . Even then, sometimes you just get unlucky. In one store there is this really young guy who just happens to be a complete jerk. The funniest one though is the definition of a MOLC. She stands by the self check out and counts my items on the screen, then counts my soupons scanned and says "you can't scan any more coupons now" when the number of items is less then the number of coupons. Of course it is less, since I explain to her that you can use 1 MFQ and 1 CVS coupon per item. But if she counts even ECBs as coupons, I see that there is no reasoning with her. So she stands by as I keep throwing in cat food cans to satisfy her ratio requirement. It is just hard when you have 6 CVS stores within walking distance, and only 1 "not-coupon hostile" cashier .

But to get to your second point of politeness, I often find it so pointless to argue at these CVS stores that I can only take it in stride or get mad. I tell myself that they have a crap job, and this old lady (despite being pretty old) obviously needs to work still. So I never raise a fuss when I can avoid it or just eat the loss most of the time. I am trying to build a relationship with the store staff but it must just be my area because it is next to impossible. This perhaps because this is a very high volume/traffic area. They are either too buys to be polite to most/all customers or have pretty good sales figures to not need to pander to couponers. Yesterday I showed one of the cashiers how to get the free pantene that was on clearance and she was really happy but we'll see if that will be enough to compensate for the managers at this store. They are complete coupon Nazis. It's just that CVS is just too hot in terms of sales/deals to drop because of cashiers/inconsistencies that I simply must find a way to make it work! *c'est la vie*

Thanks for all of your great advice throughout this thread!

Quote from gambalung : They are either too buys to be polite to most/all customers or have pretty good sales figures to not need to pander to couponers. Yesterday I showed one of the cashiers how to get the free pantene that was on clearance and she was really happy but we'll see if that will be enough to compensate for the managers at this store.

You know what - if it really is that bad, and the employees are blatantly not following corporate coupon policy (like the MOLC who counts EBs in her ridiculous item-to-coupon ratio), I think corporate might be interested to know which stores need a bit of retraining. I try not to send complaints all that often to corporate, and I also try to send compliments as well when they are warranted (which I have strong belief are much appreciated too, considering a couple weeks after I once emailed a compliment, the store manager personally approached me asking if I had contacted corporate - and when I replied yes, all he did was smile and say, "Thank you"), but any time I've sent a legitimate complaint, they have been very understanding and worked hard to rectify the situation. I really find CVS's corporate customer service to be top notch.

It's funny that you mention teaching one of the cashiers how to coupon for free shampoo. One of the few complaints I've sent to corporate was a few years ago when this new cashier at my closest store just had a huge attitude problem with my coupons (some of the things he'd say to me were just unbelievable - I'm afraid to type them here in case he somehow reads this, but I'm sure you can imagine! ). I don't know what happened between the DM/SM and him, but after my complaint went through, the next time I saw him, he was soooo nervous around me that he was shaking! I really felt bad for the guy, but I still stayed polite and friendly around him, despite how he had previously treated me (but also especially since he was clearly trying to change his behavior, even if it was because he was afraid of losing his job). Within a couple months, he had become one of my most Jedi cashiers at this store, and I sent off another email to corporate - this time praising him.

Fast forward 1.5 years - the guy had actually become promoted to shift supervisor by then, and he was still a Jedi - any time a newbie cashier tried to deny one of my coupons without basis, he'd come over, look at it, and say, "No, this is fine, see, it's for this product, and the manufacturer will reimburse us for it too." I eventually had to move out of state though, and my last transaction ever at that CVS was with that same dude - so I said my farewells and all, and he smiled and told me, "We'll miss you here...you know, you inspired all my cashiers to start couponing too. Now all these girls are going nuts over coupons!" I had indeed tried to minorly teach a couple of the girls there how to coupon - but I honestly hadn't realized they had really picked it up so fervently!

Of course, I know that not everyone has it in them to make a total 180 like this guy. But just hoping to maybe give a tiny bit of inspiration. A strong long-term relationship with your store really does make CVSing a ton easier, but sometimes a little intervention from corporate might just be needed for the stores that start out particularly stubborn.

Quote from xanthophyll : Disappointing. First, I ask if they are familiar with an internet printable. While they may look alike (gee, just like a MQ from the newspaper!), they do have that code that is different. I will just guess that a/ they had problems at that store with coupon fraud, or b/ that person doesn't know anything about internet printables. Or both. Sometimes I wonder if they just challenge people as a matter of course, and the people who are trying to used faked coupons then back down.

Not sure if anyone can use coupons in that store without hassle. Long time ago I had tried to use Bogo on bogo and manager did not accept it. I went to another store and they easily accept it. I do not know current CVS coupon policy but that time it was allowed.