Free Cantelope

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

U might wonder what on earth this old lady gonna blog abt free Cantelope ?

Well, there are many shops in America that have very good return policies, some don't even need any receipts, and the best return policy so far that I love the most is Publix store. When the cashier made a mistake on charging you on the item(s) that you purchase, you got a free item.

Well, today, when I went to the store, I saw quite a lot of sales items, one of them is Cantelope and Strawberries. Cantelope 2 for $4 and strawberries 2 for $5. I picked up one each. Well, this is an old habit of mine, reading the receipts before I left the store , just to make sure that I am not being over charge or under charge. And yes, today, the cashier overcharged me for the Cantelope, she charge me $3.49 for my Cantelope. As a stingy old witch, I of course went to the return counter. The young girl told me this Cantelope is bigger and it is $3.49. I said , 'No, Madam, it is 2 for $4, would you like to walk with me to the counter where the Cantelope is ? " She said, 'Sure, Madam.' So we walked there, and of course the old witch is right. The young girl said ' U know Madam, they put the Cantelope at the wrong place, this is bigger Cantelope, it should be in the counter where it said $3.49." I said, 'Ya, that is not my problem.' (your old witch here has become very Americanized :):):)). She said, 'Yes, Madam, u are going to have your Cantelope free'. And she did, she handed me $3.50. And here I am very happy cos I don't think I will ever get such deal in Kuching, aiyo !!!

I want to share with you (on picture only), my free Cantelope, ha ha ha ha ha ha. Notice the small print on the carrying bag said 'Where shopping is a pleasure.' I really agree with its slogan cos it is really a pleasure to shop in Publix if provided you have the $, they even carry your shopping to your car (and u are not supposed to give them any tips) and the best part is your stingy old witch asked them to double bag the purchase, so I can use it for my trash.

Our mentality and theirs are really different, we save every tiny bits :). They gave away the plastic bag in the recycle bins but I use every bag from stores, so I don't have to buy trash bag. Even though the trash bag is very reasonable here like 100 for $2+ but it is still money, right ? Say yes lah, u Malaysian :):):):):)



9 comments:

J.T. said...

Oh how I miss shopping in the States. Last year (while we were in Louisiana), hubby bought something from WalMart store. It was the wrong kind but the receipt was gone. I tried anyway and went back to WalMart and said I needed to return it. I added that I had no receipt. The customer service lady took it, scanned it and gave me back my money. It was soooo hassle-free. It was possible to do that because their scanner could identify their own store product.
I am glad you got your free cantaloupe. It must tastes nice! hehe

JamyTan said...

When I first got married and moved here. I was very 'kancuang' cantonese meaning 'anxious' when I bought something and it did not fit or not right etc...
I remembered the 1st 2 boos boos I made. We bought a lawn mower, my dh wanted to have a hand mower cos that is the kind he knew how to used (when he was growing up, his dad made him to do yard but since he moved away, he had always live in apartment or condo so he has never used lawn mower for a long time).
We did not how to operate so we took back and changed it for a gas lawn mower, and we did not how to use so we took it back and changed it to a different brand, we still did not know how to operate but this time round, our neighor was outside, he showed us how to use, so 3 times, kali kali we brought it back to the store and they let us return and for yr info, the mowers had a lot of weeds in them :):)
The other stupid boo boo I made was I wanted to have a outdoor clothes hanger (we have washer and dryer but I thought might be I save $ hanging clothes outside :):).
Well, I open it up and did not know how to do it. So, I gave up and bring it back, aiyo, u should have seen how koyak those box is when I put the hanger back. It was so cool, the cashier did not even blink her eyes, just give me back the $.
Wow, after many incidences, I told my mother, she said 'wow, got such thing one, ? '
Sure, there are a lot of abuses in this kind of system but I think in America, the stores really take care of their customers, a consumer society, what u expect :):):)

Bee Ean said...

Yes, the customer services in USA rocks!! I don't know how much loses they get from this return policy, but certainly it pleases their customers. I read in a forum that some customers even return used diapers, gosh!

JamyTan said...

BE, I think their return policies generate high return customer rate.

Yes, some of the things people return is just absurb and I am surprised they even accept.

I remembered seeing a lady return a hand held phone, that phone really looks so used and really 'koyak'. The ladies said the phone went kaput before the 1 yr period so she wanted a new one. The lady gave her the $ without any blink.
Ok, I have to confess we return diapers too but it is becos my husband bought the wrong size and wrong brand. I did open the bag that contain the diapers but I have never used it.

I also have the same feeling like u, the retail stores service in America rocks. I once bought a portable potty for my son. It was a very fancy potty with flushing sound, generate toilet paper sound etc... But, he was not interested at all. I kind of know he is not ready. He sat on it but never do anything. I clean it with antiseptic cleaner and return to the store. No problem.

Recently, I bought a 'do it yourself' kind of shelf. I broke one of the handle , so I called the company for replacement. They send me the part I broke using UPS. I was really impressed. Imagining broke one of the parts and the company send u a new part for replacement through UPS. 1st class service.

US is really a consumer heaven :)-

JamyTan said...

BE, can u imagine the shocks that these Americans have if they demand such service in our store in M ? I think they might have heart attack :)-

Wuching said...

amadika is similar to ostalia, we have all that u described just now with the free cantelope & trash bags...we've 'scored' a few freebies from our supermarket ledi & i refuse to buy trash bags when i can get for free using the shopping bags which they're trying to tell consumers to stop using & buy instead! how silly is that!

Bee Ean said...

Yes Jamy,

In M'sia if you ask for this they will just look at you like you are crazy. Knitting is one of my hobbies (those cross one) so I bought one set in M'sia choosing a scenery with tigers inside. My aunt didn't like the tigers, said they look fierce and not good for me. So we went to change, and begged the woman we will rearrange all the threads accordingly but she just said no no no!!!

JamyTan said...

Wuching,
I did not have the chance to shop too much while I was in ostalia, because I was a poor student then. Even after I worked, I was supporting my siblings. So, there is not much $ left over to shop for myself, except necessary essentials.
At the times while I was in ostalia, shops were closed after 6pm except one late nite shopping; most shops were closed after 1pm on Sat; and most shops were closed on Sunday. Have they changed ?
Americans are really shopoholic, shops here open 24hrs x 7 days a week. Most of them only closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wal-mart is opened 24hrsx7days a week.
There is good and bad abt shopping here. I really think the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer.
It is so easy to purchase, u have so many retail shops that offer you credit card to purchase without payment for 1 yr and u don't even have to pay interest for 1 yr.
This kind of credit system really sucks in a lot of consumers who don't have much self control. They would buy and buy then their realized the amt of debts they have.
That is why 'how to pay off your debts' program is a huge business here. People help you how to manage yr debts. So sad !
But for stingy people like us who know how to budget, it is a good system. We can used that money to invest somewhere and pay if off lump sum without interest next year.
Last yr, I bought a fridge and gas oven with the store credit card they offer, no downpayment, no interest for 2 yrs.
This credit system really works both way.

JamyTan said...

BE, that is why when I told my mom abt the refund system here, she thinks I talk nonsense and couldn't believe me.
In fact, I was quite surprised that they have such system here. Initially, I am very up tide whenever I bought something mistake from the stores. I would ask my husband to go back to store. He did not understand why I am so 'kancuang', he would say we can do it over the weekend. I got so upset etc in the beginning. Now I am so used to the system here, I also become more 'goyang kaki', no big deal lah, bring it back later. Sometimes, I brought back my goods like 6mths later, they still let me refund, no problem at all.
I think it is embrassing to tell u guys what are the things I refunded :)-