I find myself harping on this with regularity, because some don’t get it:  it makes no sense to shop at your local stores if they do not have treat you and your coupons with respect.  Case in point:  reader tells me she hit three “local” Jewels yesterday trying to score some free Pretzel Crisps.  Store one said the coupon was a copy (forgery) and wouldn’t let her use it, even after she explained that it was a print-out from the company’s FB page.  Second Jewel said that the coupon limits you to one per transaction and they would only allow one transaction.  Store three said that she could not use a BOGO on a BOGO sale, because then the item would be free (I did think for a minute that she had wandered into a Dominicks by mistake); she had to buy one and then three would be free.  She finally drove all the way to a store she knew to be über-coupon friendly and had no trouble getting her eight bags.  When I asked why she had gone to the first three stores (where she had had trouble in the past) she replied that they were close to where she lives.  So how much time and gas did she save by this decision?  Raise your hands, class…

My first rule is to shop at stores where they respect you as a customer and willingly accept your coupons, even if I’m not buying something with coupons.  Why not give a good store the extra business?  By only patronizing stores where we are treated well, those stores will eventually jump to the top of the food chain in sales.  Initially, the suits will claim it’s because of new store/layout/promotions, but month-after-month results will prove that we demand respect and will shop only those stores where we receive it.

end of rant.