MUM just shot this video over to me and I told her I had to share it with you guys. When you start to feel that you’re the only one suffering from missed inserts or ripped open bags…watch.
Where’s my coupons!?
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Tag Archives: Pitch your bitch here
Kimberly-Clark $25 gift card fiasco
Hey, my mom got one of those Jewel cards – postage was $5.54. Multiply that by the 600 cards that were mailed out: $3,324. Which means they could have pissed off 133 fewer people had they used regular mail. just sayin…
By now you’ve all read about the incredible spend $25 (no coupons) get a $25 Jewel gift card deal that wasn’t…All the promotion and in the Jewel Spotlight for a deal that only started with 600 gift cards! Well, 1700 people sent in their receipts, which makes for 900 losers. i’m one of them… Actually, I only know one person who received a card.
I called Kimberly-Clark to complain about this rip-off and in yesterday’s mail I received a letter of apology and four $5 coupons. Would much preferred the gift card, of course, but it was at least a nice gesture.
I’ve been reading that more cards are showing up in the mail. Not Jewel gift cards, but $25 American Express cards. which we can then use at Dominicks. hahahahahaha cough, cough, cough
DuPage Medical Group
Update: Unbelievably enough, today I received a vaguely-threatening letter printed on bright green paper from DuPage Medical Group about my past due bill for $35. When you attempt to phone the office, you are sent all around through voice-prompt hell, only to be told to leave a message, nothing else. does anyone wonder why i call them morons?
from the just shoot me now category. Have you every had problems with billing companies? Stupid question, I know. I fought for months to get the captioned company to correctly code a visit so that BC/BS could pay; original code asked BC/BS to pay hundreds for a routine office visit.
About six years ago a lazy-eye correction was performed by this doctor when she was affiliated with another practice. Every year was the same examination and BC/BS paid immediately (excluding the $35 dilation charge), year after year.
Doctor moves to DuPage Medical Group…silly me decides to follow doctor. Annual eye visit is made in September. Explanation from BC/BS shows that no payment will be made. huh? Turns out that it’s been miscoded as a routine office visit. Call billing office… they’ll send it back to the office to be recoded. Another bill from DuPage. Another call to DuPage Medical Group’s billing office…will be sent to office to be recoded marked as rush. Another bill from DuPage Medical Group, threatening collection.
I call BC and find out the actual code that should be used. Call DuPage Medical Office billing and give code to them. Call doctor’s medical office and tell them that I will no longer be using them for my daughter and why. Well, now something actually happens. Several calls that it’s being handled, don’t worry, I won’t be turned over to collections, etc.
Receive Explanation of Benefits from BC/BS, showing that the proper code has been used and the entire bill, with the exception of $35 charge for dilation, has been paid. No bill sent from DuPage Medical Group for $35 charge.
Saturday, February 18, 9 am. Call from collection agency about $35 charge from DuPage Medical Group (which I immediately pay). Monday I visit their offices and tell them (politely) that not only will I never again use them for my daughter’s annual examination, I will never patronize a doctor who uses or switches to the DuPage Medical Group.
A short while ago I receive a phone call from the terminally stupid at the billing office to inform me that I shouldn’t worry because they’ve taken care of the $35 charge and it won’t be sent to collection. I politely inform this lackwit that not only was it turned over to a collection agency, I had paid it immediately. Oh, she didn’t know any of that, she’s in the billing office – in other words, part of the group that created the original problem. the end… thud
More Sunday Tribs?
Well, hell’s bells, why not!? Was just checking my bank account online when I noticed a $65 charge from the Trib…hmmm, says I. So I called and sure enough, the rat bastards tried to slip a fast one by me: $1.25 for WF and Sunday for a year. Do I look rich!? So I called, and waited, and waited… finally a nice woman comes on (and I have to agree with some of you that the call center is probably in the Phillipines) and I give her a bunch of codes from Retailmenot.com. None work, so finally, in frustration, I tell her that if she doesn’t have any codes for a buck a week, I’m outta here. I mean, who really reads this anymore? My papers go for puppy pee pads…maybe that’s also a commentary on most of their news. but I digress… she transfers me to the cancellation department.
and I wait, and wait, and wait. Another woman picks up and asks me for my account number. Now, how the hell would I know that? Because every paper (almost) has its own account number, which was the way the Trib sets stuff up. and they wonder why they’re bankrupt… ahem, another digression… She has no problem with giving me the buck rate, and since the Trib ain’t never gonna give me back the 65 smackeroos they sucked out of the account, that subscription gets extended for another few months.
Since I had them on the phone, I decided to go for another couple of Sunday papers, using the promo code x133, which gives you a Sunday paper for .25. Naturally I went for the year deal, so I am now the proud possessor of six Sunday Tribs. I will call the delivery service mgr tomorrow to make certain that she knows I’m getting more papers.
This is an important thing to remember: always get the phone number of the delivery person or service. If you need/want that paper, waiting around for the Trib to help you is an exercise in futility – we all saw how much use the What’s Your Problem guy could be …
Ooh, ooh, ooh
or stuff I keep forgetting to post about…
If you’re looking for the $70 Football coupon booklets, avoid the Danada Square Dominicks. An empty display at the front door with no other display anywhere in the entire friggin’ store and most employees clueless. Asked at cs and the young man gave me one. You know you’re screwed when they’ve turned young men into coupon nazis.
Update on the K-Clark $25 Jewel gift card rebates: Peeps who sent in for their rebates within the first few days of the promotion have already started getting their cards in the mail. Catch is that they are coming CERTIFIED MAIL! Yep, so far it’s 100%, so if you get a notice in your mailbox, that’s what it is. Please notify any and all who may or may not be getting a gift card in the mail so they’re aware of it…
MUM’s in the Trib!
Since I know all of you follow Rachel, you should be aware that she interviewed with the Trib’s Problem Solver about the numerous instances of people not receiving their coupon inserts from both stores and home-delivery; there are also cases reported of people getting damaged inserts. CW has a running post with emails from the Trib customer service people, basically clueless about customer service, showing no inclination to resolve this problem. In fact, the final emails basically pat themselves on the back for their wonderful service! My take? Dollars to doughnuts the entire Chicago Trib customer service center is based in a low-budget country and Erik and Mary are not their real names.
Problem Solver’s solution? Ask a Trib flunky. who obviously takes her cues from Erik and Mary…
The following is the comment I posted on the site. Please go to the Trib and leave your comments/experiences. This is a serious issue to coupon users, since, let’s face it, who actually reads the Trib print copy?
I’ve followed this “saga” on the message boards and have read the string of emails sent by the Trib customer service people to Steve, every one of them using different reasons why he didn’t get his inserts. In fact, the final emails seem to exist merely to pat themselves on the back! Specific locations and zip codes miss the inserts in stores, while another location’s home-delivered papers have missing or damaged ones. The Trib had been previously provided with all this information, yet they continue to just pass the buck along by saying it’s only a small number of papers involved and they all have different reasons for not having the inserts. And your acceptance of the Trib flunky’s explanation…pah.
So Jon, I’ve always enjoyed reading your column and how you’ve helped others, but in this case? Your paycheck = your lack of follow-through…
Without lube, please
I’m basically gonna steal Rachel’s eloquent (that’s thief-speak for nyah, nyah, nyah) post about what the Illinois legislature is passing in an attempt to squeeze a couple of more nickels from those least able to hire lobbyists, ’cause we all know that that’s what it’s really all about. And here I first insert my starting to be favorite jpg and then Rachel (and one does not generally impact the other…)
I’ve mentioned a number of times that this blog is made possible partially because I receive income from the affiliate links on the site. (For example: If I link to an item on Amazon, and you buy that item through my link, I receive a percentage of your purchase as a commission.)Note by me: Rachel’s small commission in no way affects the price you pay.
Well, the Illinois Senate today passed Senate Amendment 3 to HB 3659, which basically says that: If a sale at an Internet retailer originates through an affiliate link on an Illinois-based blog or website, that sale will be charged 6.25% Illinois sales tax — regardless of whether the retailer has a physical presence in Illinois. (For example — if and when this bill goes into effect in July: If I link to an item on Amazon, and you buy an item through that link, you pay 6.25% sales tax. If you go directly to Amazon and don’t click through my link? No sales tax.) The bill is now headed to the governor’s office for his signature.
You can read two brief articles on this here and here. In the couple of states that have passed similar laws, large online retailers have simply dropped all of their affiliate programs in that state. I’ve been receiving dire email warnings from all of my major affiliate programs warning of the same thing if this bill becomes law here. For instance, here’s the email I received from Amazon today:
Greetings from the Amazon Associates Program:
We regret to inform you that the Illinois state legislature has passed an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that, if signed by Governor Quinn, would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with Illinois-based Associates. You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Illinois…
Please note that this not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Amazon Associates Program. But if the governor signs this bill, we will need to terminate the participation of all Illinois residents in the Associates Program. After that point, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for sales referred to amazon.com, endless.com and smallparts.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Illinois residents.
The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on Illinois residents like you were explained to the legislature, including Senate and House leadership, as well as to the governor’s staff.
Over a dozen other states have considered essentially identical legislation but have rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.
Governor Quinn’s office may be reached here.
We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you continued success in the future.
Sincerely,
Amazon.com
Me here again. As I said, I received the same email. Will this help the state’s fiscal failures? Nah, as Rachel says, you and Uncle Pete will just click directly to Amazon. IL won’t see an additional dime of sales revenue, but will certainly lose the income tax revenue generated by those same sales. Another way you, as online savers, will suffer? Is it likely that any blogger will be able to devote significant time and energy to searching out the best deals on any site when there’s no payoff? Well, there goes my .50 from coupons.com. So unless you can shoot us all next week’s winning lottery numbers, this entire industry is gonna shut down in Illinois
since I own this site for a few more years, the only tried and true method for making money online is porn and I’ve already got the dog butts ….
Google to buy ITA?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDloC_OC_nQ&feature=player_embedded
Google is attempting to buy ITA, a software developer that licenses their programs to various online travel sites: Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, Hotwire, Trip Advisor, among others. Frankly, I’m all for it, but Expedia counsel warns against the acquisition, saying that Google could allow only limited searches, mostly from paid sponsors…hey, this sounds like Swagbucks, doesn’t it?
Which search engine do you prefer for the greatest variety of items returned? Including the site you’re actually looking for…
Jewel – trip 1
I need to hit Jewel at 5 ’cause that’s 24 hrs after my last visit with this card! This one has the magic $2 off HC Mixers on it and we certainly don’t want to do anything to screw it up. So stopped earlier and picked up two duplicate orders: 7 HC mixers and 3 Eagle condensed milks. Total was high because I still have not received my coupons so only had the six .55 Eagle coupons. With them I would have had an OOP of $3.07 all for the condensed milk, so that’s not bad. I’m pissed about the mail because they keep screwing with the route. We’ve gone from one mailman every 7 or 8 years to increasing the size of the route, then having three mailmen in six months, then throwing substitutes into the mix. Is it any wonder that the new mailmen confuse our street with ones with completely different names and locations? So yes, I’m pissed about it and I want my coupons!
Battle-scarred warriers return home
and don’t kid yourselves – there’s a war going on in the malls today!
Picked up my Kohl’s gift card at Jewel as planned, then drove over to get the razor. Holy crap! Had to park in a whole other parking lot and walk over. People were circling around and around, looking for a closer spot…please, people, just park and walk over. It’s not like the exercise is gonna kill you. After finally deciding which razor to buy, realized I needed something to push me over the $50 mark for the Kohl’s Kash. Picked up a pair of jeans for the PITA in the 80% clearance section. The funny part is that she tried on these same jeans a few months ago, but they were only 60% off, so we put them back. Got in line to pay at the lower level registers ’cause the upper ones had lines circling the room. At least in the lower level I was in and out in only 20 minutes – insert sarcasm here, please…
Stopped at PetSmart to use those wonderful $5 coupons. Ended up with 60 cans of the Pedigree .34 clearance food for…….. .30!
Next was the fourth circle of hell formerly known as Carsons. Parked all the way over near the tour buses – not a good sign, either that I parked there or that someone considers a mall a destination bus trip. shudder Well, I had about 11 of those $10 coupons, so thought I could at least get something – not. Place was completely packed, you were unable to use the coupons on the door buster deals (and almost everything in the store was marked that way) and the tights and leggings I wanted had no prices on them or the display. One sales clerk said they had no in-store price scanner, while a customer directed me to one. Good training, there, Carsons. Well, the tights were $18 and the leggings were $30. I shit you not. Put them down and walked over to Auntie Anne’s and got the free pretzel for the PITA (from that Freezooka a few weeks ago). 
Then dropped off “stuff” to the West Suburban Humane Society in DG (stuff is what was placed in the PITA’s donation box at her school. This is the second trip in a couple of weeks with her donations.