If you read the title as “Jail Bait” shame on you!
Target Is Practicing The “New” Math
After stopping by the Apple store to purchase a $50 adapter (ugh, again, good thing I still hold shares of AAPL) I dropped by Target. My intent was to buy a new air filter for the HVAC at the ITP Estate — I change mine quarterly and was about a week late in doing so.
One filter in hand I was stunned when I saw an end cap containing more of the same and sporting this tag.
If I bought one more I’d get a third free? I was going to save $17.49? Sure!
While waiting in line I did a quick summation of the cost of all of the items purchasing and knew that if my bill came to more than $50 something was amiss.
I think you can see where this is going…
I was surprised when the cashier gave me a $5 gift card, and then irked when my bill rung up to more than $60.
I walked over to the Customer Service desk and ask for help. After doing the quick math for the customer service rep and explaining that had I not been charged for a third filter I was being charged about $20 in sales tax (obviously not possible) she took me seriously. She told me that according to the computer the deal was “Buy Two, Get a $5 Gift Card” but when I showed her the photo of the shelf tag (I somehow knew “Buy Two, Get One Free” was too good of a deal) she relented and took off the cost of one of the filters.
What really shocked me was what happened next. Because I purchased two filters and satisfied the “Buy Two, Get a $5 Gift Card” condition the customer service rep insisted that I keep the $5 Gift Card. So in essence I got a free filter and $5.
One Of Fun Things About Spending Money At An Apple Store
When buying smaller, less expensive items (such as a $50 adapter) I usually can skip interacting with the overloaded sales reps and purchase the item using my iPhone. For some reason yesterday when I scanned the barcode on the box I was trying to purchase I received an error message. I tried scanning two different boxes just to be sure, each failed the same way.
With my failure I had to seek out a blue-shirted employee and ask for help. Fortunately one toward the front of the store was available and he was able to use his souped-up iPhone app to scan the item’s barcode.
Purchase made I walked out with my tiny box, no bag, and knowing that a receipt was being emailed to me. It almost made the fact that I had just spent $50 for an adapter easier to swallow.
No Exercise
FAIL! MY FAIL!
With the exception of my Target bonus I suffered many failures yesterday, including not exercising. I kept thinking that I was going to have a breakthrough at work and before I knew it 6:00pm had arrived and I was in no mood to exercise.
Because I still possessed a $25 Gift Card from Tilted Kilt I decided to have dinner there and blow my wad. If you read “blow my wad” and though about anything other than money then shame on you!
After drinking my first beer I ordered a corned beef sandwich listed on the menu’s insert. Within two minutes of placing my order my waitress, Safire (I don’t think that’s her birth name), came back and informed me that they were “out of corned beef”. I showed dismay be frowning. She then proceeded to tell me that the insert in my menu was for St. Patrick’s Day. A quick check of my calendar shows that St. Patrick’s Day was three weeks ago, couldn’t someone have removed all of the inserts from the menus in the past three weeks? I changed my order to their “Classic Nachos” to which I added chicken per the menu’s suggestion to which Safire told me that I wasn’t ordering “Classic” nachos, I was ordering “Chicken” nachos. With a rye smile I thanked her for her correction. I didn’t inform Safire that what I ate should have been labeled “Disappointing” nachos.
I was hoping to pay for my meal and beers with my Gift Card and give the remaining balance to Safire as a tip. Turns out that Tilted Kilt’s accounting system can’t handle such a transaction. So I tipped her in cash and now have a Gift Card with about $6 remaining on it.
If At First You Don’t Succeed
One of my scheduled tasks last night was to print out my income tax forms as well as the payment forms necessary to give to my accountant upon paying her today.
While I love technology I am often frustrated with printers and last night was no exception. On the eleventh of seventeen pages the printer stopped printing and flashed an error — some sort of “Drum Error” according to the small-typed legend placed near the lights. I was instructed to clean some wire, which I never found. After opening every possible door, jiggling the toner cartridge, removing a sheet of paper, turning the printer on and off a few times, and nearly giving myself an aneurysm when I tried to reinstall the printer using my laptop, magic happened and I was able to print again. I printed the final seven pages using my iPad and walked away, counting to one hundred in order to settle my nerves.
It had been a long, and very trying day…
Failure Is Not An Option Tonight
Even if we don’t win any money at trivia it will be a good night of hanging out with friends. Therefore failure is not an option.
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Target confuses me with some of those signs.
There is an app called Cartwheel (for Target) – you scan what you are buying & they give you maybe extra discounts, or suggest other items that are a better deal. Felicia uses it all the time. You have just reminded of the 2 $5 gift cards that I received for buying Allegra.
We did the re-fi closing last night, we now are at 2.99% for 15 years, I swear that means this is the LAST refi!
Allan had guys digging & setting up the forms for the cement pad to be poured in the backyard, let’s hope the inspector comes by today, so they can pour the cement this weekend (or at least some day soon). More big money being spent on this project, cement is not cheap. Not really the ideal week, as we have to pay taxes next week, but we are getting some money back from the refi, so that will help.
I can’t figure out where the disconnect is at Target- why would they have a hang tag showing one offer and have a completely different offer at the register? Could that have been a new offer coming online the registers haven’t caught up on?
Debbie’s friend Meg and her kids came down yesterday and helped arrange the house and start piles in the man cave- trash, Goodwill, yardsale, storage. Many more boxes to pick through. But I will have space to setup the woodworking equipment offered by Debbie’s mom. Towards that end, I stopped by Lowes and picked up a few clamps (1st rule of woodworking- you can never have enough clamps.) for a repair project I’m already working on.
I did some map recon of routes from the new house- looks like the average ride will be right at 20 miles- about a perfect distance. Now ro actually get my ass on my bike…
-FP
I have the Cartwheel app but like my reusable shopping bags I always forget to use it.
I’m also somewhat proud of myself for not even thinking to look at the clearance Easter candy.
Congrats of the re-fi. I haven’t done so in a long time (pre-Jeannie?), perhaps I should think about doing it again.
I’ve only been to Tilted Kilt once (the location you went to, I’d bet! Next to the MARTA?) and it was only because of a trivia finale game being played there. It was mid-afternoon (3ish?), so I was between meals: didn’t sample anything. But from the looks of my teammates’ food, nothing looked all that spectacular. I guess folks aren’t really coming here for the food though, huh?
I personally have nothing wrong with sex, the human body, etc. etc. But I just really don’t care to go to establishments like this. That someone has to be half-clothed as a requirement to serve food is just ridiculous to me.
Success WILL be had tonight! If nothing else but the success of a couple free beers, what with last time’s winnings! 🙂
Dunno Steve, but the tag does state “Prices Valid 3/29-5/16” so I’d be surprised if I were the first person to make this sort of purchase. Maybe someone restocked the wrong filters? I thought that I bought the “Ultra Pure” type but maybe I didn’t? The price was about the same as those in the end cap.
That’s the one, Stacy. The draw of Tilted Kilt is definitely not the food. One of the plusses of Tilted Kilt is they allow their waitstaff to sit and chat up the customers as time permits, though Safire was hellbent on calling me “Peter” all night.
So, my co-worker’s girlfriend worked at Twin Peaks during football season. He told us they take a picture of the girls each shift & if they determine they’ve gained too much weight, it is grounds for dismissal. I asked if they had to be weighed too, & no they don’t. (they do get a gym membership paid for by the restaurant too). She doesn’t work there anymore, said the tips aren’t as good when its just a regular night & now works at Tsunami Taqueria.
I’d routinely take photos of myself to see if I’d gained weight if I had a wide enough lens… Heeeey Yoooooo!
Actually, knowing that about Twin Peaks I’d never go there — even if it were ITP. If I find out they have this policy at Tilted Kilt I’d stop going there, which really wouldn’t be much of a hardship for me.
I wouldn’t know for sure (can’t trust everything on the websz), but I’ve read everywhere that all these kinds of places are pretty much the same when it comes to being “visually appealing” to the clientele. Can you even imagine that you could be fired for gaining weight? As if people don’t have enough body image issues and disorders.
Yeah, yeah, I know. People can say the same thing about, say, models or whatever. I think that’s different. Not better or anything, but different: their jobs ARE to display clothing and they have to fit. In these restaurants, though, their jobs are to serve food and drink. Be friendly to the customers. All of that. You can do that no matter the size of your body.
I’m certain there are professions for which gaining (or losing) weight is valid grounds for dismissal; waiting tables would not be one of those in my opinion.
I’d bet that all these places (Hooters, Tilted Kilt, Twin Peaks, is there more?)have those same rules, they just aren’t supposed to tell anyone. I’d guess that Matt’s girlfriend would be in trouble for him telling us that. And, I bet they come up with a different reason to “let someone go” than weight gain on the ppwk.
I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this before but when I lived in Clearwater, FL (home of Hooters) in the early 1980s there were definitely copy-cats as the chain became popular. Off the top of my head I remember “Melons” and “Headlights”, I kid you not.
Melons & Headlights – now that’s funny.
“Undercover Boss” had an episode with the CEO of a chain called “Bikinis” and he was the most horrid, disgusting, unapologetic man ever in how he treated the women in his employ. To the point where, you know how on the show, employees are often rewarded in money, or homes, or education or whatever for being outstanding? Yeah, he rewarded one woman with a boob job. Kid you not. Google “Bikini’s Undercover Boss” for all the outrage.
I might just have to google that Stacy.