My Toy Story Shopping Adventure/Fiasco/Victory?!
There are no other people in the world with whom I would rather share my shopping adventures, fiascos, victories etc with than my fellow Hip2Save readers. For this reason, I would like to share with you my latest shopping adventure/fiasco/victory that occurred last night.
Yesterday, I promised my 5 year old son, Ayden, that I would buy the new Toy Story 2 DVD for him if he was extra good (I know, I know…bribery is not the best parenting method but I do use it occasionally). Needless to say, Ayden was extremely well behaved throughout the day so I was very excited to take off to Toys R Us as soon as my hubby came home from work. I literally gave him and the kids a quick kiss, grabbed my coupon binder and ran out the door. I had been craving some bargain shopping all day long!
So I happily drove myself to Toys R Us envisioning all the savings I was going to experience with my coupons and the awesome sale that Toys R Us was offering when you purchase both the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 DVDs together. As soon as I entered the store, I went straight towards the DVD section and to my surprise they seemed to be out of stock. No way, I thought. How could a store advertise such an awesome price and not have a huge supply of the item?! How could they not be prepared? I marched over to the Customer Service desk and was informed that yes, they truly were out of stock… but will be getting more in later. The manager then asked if I was familiar with price matching (I told him just a little 😉 ) and suggested that I head over to Target with the Toys R Us ad in hand to price match the DVDs.
OK, I thought Plan B. I jumped back in my car and headed over to Target determined that I would leave with those prized DVDs in hand! I walked in to Target full of confidence and headed right to the movie section where low and behold, I saw shelves full of Toy Story but NO Toy Story 2!! OK, I told myself…they must have it displayed somewhere else? As I stood there with a bewildered expression on my face clutching my Toys R Us ad, a very nice Target employee whispered “We sold out of em’ at noon.” No, I thought…no way! I am not going home without those DVDs.
Now at this point, I could have returned home with empty hands and my 5 year old would have survived. He would have been upset for all of about 5 minutes and then would have forgotten about the whole situation. But no, this was no longer entirely about him. This was about my desire to snag that great deal and I was going to snag it one way or another!
OK, I thought…Plan C. Since I was not prepared to initiate Plan C (let alone Plan B!), I sat in my car for several minutes until I remembered a beautiful vision that I had spotted earlier. On my drive over to Target, I had noticed a banner across a Best Buy store that said “We do price matching.” So begins my Plan C.
I made it over to Best Buy in record time and flew through the doors. I immediately noticed the beautiful (almost glowing) display of BOTH Toy Story and Toy Story 2 DVDs. I quickly discovered why the display was almost overflowing…they were priced at $29.99 each! No big deal, I thought. I still had the Toys R Us ad tucked under my arm…this would be a piece of cake. I scoped out the cashiers (all female) and chose a young and bubbly cashier who I was sure would make this a quick and easy transaction.
Boy was I wrong! As soon as I placed the Toys R Us ad on the counter, she rolled her eyes and here is how our conversation went…
Bubbly cashier: “I hope you are not going to try to price match those DVDs because I know for a fact that Toys R Us is sold out of them.”
Me: “Yes, they are sold out. That is why I am here wanting to price match them.”
Bubbly cashier: “Well, Best Buy will only price match items that are in stock at the competitor’s store. Sorry about that.”
Me: “The whole reason that I came here is because they were out of stock. I am not going to come back here tomorrow when Toys R Us receives a new shipment…I’ll just go to Toys R Us. So if you can’t price match the items for me now, then you are going to lose my business and that seems kinda silly.”
Cashier (not so bubbly anymore): “Well, that’s the policy.”
Me: “I would like to speak with your manager please”
Cashier: “Manager to the front please”
Manager arrives…I explain the situation and like I stated to the cashier, I reinforce that I will be buying the DVDs elsewhere if the price matching is not applied….
Manager: “Go ahead and do the price matching”
Cashier (now shocked)…applies the price matching of $16.99 for each DVD.
I then confidently hand over the 2 $10/1 printable coupons that I have been hiding in my wallet (Although I know that these should be accepted without a problem, I am still nervous that the cashier or manager will refuse to take them and then another battle will ensue).
Cashier: “I can’t take these too”
Manager: “Yes, you can; they are just manufacturer coupons.” (Thank goodness for this manager!)
Finally, VICTORY!
After 2 hours of shopping, I was satisfied as I walked out of Best Buy with those prized DVDs in hand. I was victorious and nothing at that moment felt better! I hope you have enjoyed my little victory story and that it inspires you to stand up for yourself and to be confident and determined to save as well. Good luck to all of you that have yet to purchase these DVDs…hope that you only have to initiate Plan A! 😉
Love it! Thanks for the reminder that we need to stick to our guns! 🙂
I always get nervous when I pull out my extra coupon(s), too. Good work, Collin!
Yeah! I am happy that you could make both you and your son happy. I hope my stores are sold out yet either because I haven’t bought my set yet. 🙂
Colin, great story, and a wonderful ending for your son- which is the most important thing.
Good for you, you sure showed them, I have had to do things like this numberous times, so I know how you feel; stand your ground and don’t let those cashiers ruin your day, they act as if they own the place!
It was nothing like that for me!!! I just headed over to Target at around 5pm, and they had bunches and bunches of them. I went to customer service with my Toys R Us add, and they price matched for me with no questions. I was so happy that i only had to go to one place!
GOOD job!! sometimes those cashiers’ looks can be deceptive. 😉 glad you stuck to your guns!
I love how all of us “couponers” do the same thing. We sum up all the cashiers…..who’s in a good mood? Who looks like they won’t find my coupons annoying? Do they look like they will admire me for saving so much money or will they roll their eyes at me? LOL 🙂
Go Colin! That story made me smile! Thanks for sharing 😉
yayyy! Glad it worked out, Collin! I really can’t stand when cashiers will try to tell you things that are not true.
Good for you Collin! I have had such bad experiences with Babies R Us and Toys R Us not accepting coupons, honoring marked sales etc. that I just steer clear. It’s important to stick to your guns!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had the same type of promlem last week with The Princess and the Frog. Everyone was out (on Tuesday night none the less). The Target ad said limited quantities no rainchecks so I was told to just keep checking. I went in or called almost every day and they were never in stock. They were back in stock this week but the price was way up so I didn’t end up with my new Blu-ray; too bad cause I already bought the bandaids!
AHH The Adventures of Couponing!!!! LOVE IT!
Good for you!!! 🙂
glad you had the girl-balls to stand up to them!!! that story is great! 🙂
Im glad you posted this. Many new couponers might get discouraged and give up!
At Target last night I had a young teenage girl who didnt want to take my $1 off the trial size of tide or the $2.50 off 2 trial size arm & hammers. She finally did but def. acted like I was doing something wrong. I wouldnt of backed down!
I’m new at this.. but i don’t get why people would think its “wrong”… the coupons says you can do it. I wish I understood why people don’t think its fair to coupon.
Just went to Toys R Us and they are all sold out! Booo! Hopefully I have the same luck as you at Best Buy tonight!
Wondering if we can get the same deal ($16.99 each for both TS1 & 2) on Friday when ToysRUs has BOGO movies. Do you think that we can use the $10 off Q with this deal? That would be TS1 & 2 for $6.99 total. Anyone know if this would work?
I was wondering the SAME thing!
What an annoying cashier. Glad you got the deal – YAY you!!!!
Yah for you! I hate it when you have to move onto Plan B and C. But it’s all about Saving Money for your family. I wish Stores would not advertise Deals and not have enough to cover 1 day! Good for you for sticking your ground with Best Buy. They can be horrible, but those of us that know their policy, can push through. Love hearing about other couponers and their trials/successes! 🙂
Awesome! So glady you stuck with the situation & got your deals!
I’m glad you got your movies! I ran over to Toys R Us once my husband got home and when we got into the store, we realized that the movies were almost $30 each!! My husband turned white and began doing math. I went to the customer service desk with the movies. I asked her if that was the right price and she told me no. The price/discount wasn’t even on their display rack. I got the movies for my older girl’s Easter baskets. I love these movies. I’m so glad I don’t have to pay full price for Disney movies anymore.
Wow– thanks for sharing, Collin! I love couponing and I worked at Target for 5 years, I try to be as nice as possible but it definitely helps to know their policies. I am sure Ayden was a happy boy! 🙂
great job Collin! so happy when i hear customers sticking to their guns
You go girl! Good for you!!
U should write a book.
You should have ‘reserved’ them for $5 each. If you reserved them you got $15 off a movie, and if you bought a movie the same time you reserved BOTH Toy Story 1 and 2 you got an extra $5 off… making a $19.99 Disney movie free. We did this and got G-Force, and was able to use the two $10 coupons. So I got 3 Disney Movies for less than $15 !
Toys R Us Always runs deals when you reserve movies before they come out 🙂
I ‘Reserved’ My copies.. and they still SOLD OUT! Very frustrating since they will not be getting any more shipments till next week.
I ‘Reserved’ My copies.. and they still SOLD OUT! Very frustrating since they will not be getting any more shipments till next week.
IS THIS DEAL STILL GOING ON SINCE THEY RAN OUT? Ha, ha. That would be awesome.
Colin, it would have been great if you were able to get them at target since they give and instant $10 off when you buy both 1&2. This makes both movies $3.98. Thanks to TRU for running out so I could snag this better deal.
Is that for the Blu-Ray combo pack? I price matched at Wal-Mart yesterday and the total was just over $16 for 2 combo packs. Wish I would’ve known about the deal at TRU with reserving and Princess and the Frog. Happy for those of you who got that.
Cute story!! Those victories feel so good!
What’s up with Toys R Us? I drove 35 mi each way over the weekend (in a foot of snow in Arkansas!!!!) to pre-order mine. The cashier ASSURED me that they would set them aside — hence the whole point of the pre-order. I go yesterday to pick them up, and lo-and-behold, they were sold out of the Bluray combo packs. I ended up getting some of the DVD combo packs (that included Bluray) — but there’s something about that little blue box that screams to my kids “these are the special dvd’s – we don’t touch the special dvd’s). Ugh. VERY frustrating.
Sounds like what I had to go through for Princess and Frog Combo pack. Sold out EVERYWHERE in my area, but I never once thought to go to Toys R Us until YESTERDAY. I had to just get the Blu-Ray and price match at Walmart with a Target ad. Came to $16.99, but no combo pack. 🙁
Saw it at Toys R US yesterday and it was $35… I’ll stick with the Blu-Ray…
Where did you get the 2 – $10/off coupons? =)
I was wondering that Molly, I have been out of town for a week and thought I missed that deal! I need those coupons:)
Check out Collins March 19 post in regards to Toy Story 1&2 Toys R Us $10 deal scenario. HTH! 🙂
You can find them by redeeming the upc codes to upgrade at Disney Rewards.
https://disney.eprize.net/movierewards/index.tbapp?page=gwp/toystory1and2
786936294507
786936294521
Then print them, don’t forget to use the back button to print 2.
I enjoyed this story because it highlights that there can be many challenges to couponing and I’m not alone if I’ve had problems using coupons. I try to stick to coupon friendly stores and cashiers now because I hate having to deal with difficult cashiers and policies. It becomes exhausting and stressful! I’m glad this one had a happy ending and , of course, there’s almost no feeling like a coupon high if everything goes as planned.
Good for you! I, Unfortunatly, had no such luck. I went into Toy r Us to purchase my RESERVED copies of TS1 &TS2 only to find out that they has sold out. Even the Reserved copies.. and they will not be getting any in till the end of this week. =( So what was the point in me buying the Pre-sell???
This is hilarious and seems to be the way my couponing has gone lately. Thanks for sharing.
Where are the $10 mfg coupons you are referring to? Must get my hands on those. 🙂
Hello there!
Check out Collins March 19 post in regards to Toy Story 1&2 Toys R Us $10 deal scenario. HTH! 🙂
Hello there!
Check out Collins March 19 post in regards to Toy Story 1&2 Toys R Us $10 deal scenario. HTH! 🙂
Sorry if this posts more than once. Having trouble with the site! Anyone else having trouble too?
Thank you! Thank you! Not sure how I missed THAT post because I’m always checking out her site. 🙂 I just sent my husband out to snag them now. 🙂 Thanks a bunch!!!
Toys R Us was sold out by me too. I worked a 12 hr shift yesterday so I couldn’t make it. I went this am and they said they sold out super fast yesterday but they should be getting some in later today. I told myself to hang onto my Target ad this weekend just in case this happened and I ended up throwing it away. Hopefully the shipment will come in today and we can still score the good deal!
WOW-what a story! Glad you won in the end!!
Loving it… its amazing how much getting a great deal makes us feel I wanna tell the whole world when I get great deals.
HA! Good for you! I am glad you stuck to your guns and outwitted that cute&bubbly cashier. Thank goodness the manager knew what was going on and what to do.
I have been in those situations where the cashier, for some reason or another, thinks that I am out to “steal” from them personally. I just stay calm! 🙂
Great job! I got both at Toys R Us 1st thing in the AM because I was out and there were 3 of us that all had our coupons! It felt great and we all were talking about what a great deal. i know there were some people who didn’t have the coupons and probably were upset, but they still got a great deal! sometimes I get anxiety when i have such great coupons and am nervous the cashier is going to question me. The other day at Target I was getting Huggies diapers and had a store and Manuf. coupon and the girl said I couldn’t use both. I said I could according to their coupon policy. she asked another cashier and she said yes. after, she said that is a great deal and good to know! The own employees don’t even know what is going on! Good deal getting!!!!
I have had problems at Target too.
I went in for the Princess and the Frog Combo pack and they didn’t have it. It was freakin 9:00 am on the Tuesday it went on sale and the store opened at 8:00. I was really annoyed.
I ended up getting it at Wal-mart.
Wooohooo! Way to not back down! I love it when a plan works out… albeit, even if it is a Plan C! 🙂
Good for you! It gets so frustrating when cashiers have no idea what they are doing. I bet your son was so happy! My kids were extremely happy and so was I getting both DVDs for $11 bucks!
How did you get them for $11? Were they just the regular DVD’s?
I had quite the experience yesterday as well at Toys R Us. The store here had Toy Story but not Toy Story 2 in stock. They said they should be getting a shipment in today so they told me I needed to purchase 2 of the Toy Story DVD’s and then not open one of them and bring it back in today to exchange it for the Toy Story 2 or they would not honor the price of 16.99. They were nice enought to use both of my $10 coupons so now I just have to hope that they received their shipment today and I can go and do my exchange!
This is what scares me getting rude cashiers. I don’t handle that to well. I just say OK and have lost lots of deals that way.
I have to get a job when my son starts kindergarten next year, I think i need to be a cashier just so I can be that girl that does do coupons with no hassle. 🙂
My Toys R Us was sold out by 10:30! I didn’t know whether or not Target would honor the price matching and accept the coupon. Thanks for your information!
We have alternate plans for some of our deals too. But we call them by the store name & don’t really go in order like our Plan B is always BestBuy, Plan W is Walgreens,Plan C is CVS, and Plan D is WinnDixie.
I really hate it when cashiers give me a hard time about coupons, etc. They act like they (the cashiers) are losing money or something! And it makes me feel like some sort of criminal. I really wish that stores would train their cashiers better on the store’s coupon policies. A pleasant shopping experience makes people want to come back again and again. A rude cashier will keep people out.
This is what scares me getting rude cashiers. I don’t handle that to well. I just say OK and have lost lots of deals that way.
I have to get a job when my son starts kindergarten next year, I think i need to be a cashier just so I can be that girl that does do coupons with no hassle. 🙂