More it doesn't hurt to ask

So I have an item I got for a Christmas gift, it’s kind of like a Fitbit, but it’s a little fancier and tracks a few other things. The battery has run out, and I’m all whiney about having to go out and buy a flat circle battery to make it work again… Those things are expensive!

I thought I would reach out to the company and see if they could do anything for me, and I was able to Live Chat (LOVE this feature!) with a rep who sent me a free battery replacement. It was about 10 minutes of my time while doing other stuff and I’m going to save a little bit of money with a free battery. (Side note, check out the size of the box they sent for the battery though! They are NOT saving money here haha)

 

I work in a position where occasionally there are needs for online orders of items like shelves or displayers. It takes me only a few minutes to send a message to/call a company to see if they have any a) New customer coupon codes or discounts they could offer me b) any current promotions to give free shipping c) anything they could offer me to keep the order.. Usually in that sequence of questions. No word of a lie, this almost always works, even if the coupon code is only something like $5 off. One time my simple ask saved me 50% on printed materials because they had a promotion that wasn’t yet advertised on the website.

 

Maybe it doesn’t count, but always “ask” to get a code to fill a promo box online. A lot of savers and couponers will say that this spot should never be empty! Just searching the company name + promo code online will generate lots of codes that it can’t hurt to try plugging in. If this doesn’t work, I will oftentimes do exactly as I said above, and just call the company to see about any codes.

 

I’ve listed this one before in a different blog (http://couponwithsam.blogspot.ca/2015/08/it-never-hurts-to-ask.html), but I had a problem with my contact solution that I’ve been using forever. Tempted to abandon ship, I emailed the company to ask if this solution was just a bad batch. After giving more information and answering more questions, I found out that the problem was likely my fault with storage. BUT.. The company sent me three FULL bottles of the product anyways for free.. a value of $84 if I went out to buy the items myself! Unexpected and worth the quick emails!

 

Basically this whole renovations blog is a “it doesn’t hurt to ask” -http://couponwithsam.blogspot.ca/2015/09/renovations-are-expensive.html . Everything from calling a company to ask if they had any rebates for a really expensive up-flush toilet (giving me an additional $50 back!), to becoming a first-trial testimonial for a new product called DriCore (which gave A LOT of extra money back, totaling around $630).

 

The above blog post also includes a little poke about watching how things are priced in a store and asking for the price advertised on the shelf instead of what it scans at the register (as we paid $75 each for 3 windows when they should have been $250 each). This applies to items that are in the wrong spot (must be a lot of items in the wrong spot with the wrong sign, not just a one-off a customer put back wrong). I’ve found this is best to do at the cashier, because they will ask for a price check. If you do ask someone before you get to the cashier, they will change the price sticker in front of you so there’s no proof. So.. Sorry in advance to the people behind me!

Now if the item is in the “right” spot, and the label below it is the same UPC code and everything (like an old sale tag left up), then check out this blog post about how this works in a lot of stores: http://couponwithsam.blogspot.ca/2015/09/need-to-know-scanning-code-of-practice.html. Essentially: If the scanned price isn’t correct, then you get the first item FREE up to $10, or $10 off the lowest advertised price.

 

Just the other day with some “free” coupons, I asked if the tax was charged if the item was technically free with the coupon ($1 toothpaste and $1 off coupon). To experienced people, reading the coupon will usually answer this question – with either “Customer pays sales tax” or “Coupon face value
includes applicable GST/HST/QST/PST” (which both mean, you pay tax). For inexperienced cashiers, they will agree with your logic and remove the sales tax from the order too. In order to do this more easily, I usually split out my “free” product purchases into small amounts so the tax value is super low anyways.

Finally, I went to pick up and pay for my contacts, which are silly expensive due to my prescription. After paying and almost out the door, I jokingly said "What, I don't get any free stuff?!"  She laughed and said "Sure, but don't say I gave it to you" and handed me a big box of 2 full bottles and a travel bottle full of solution. 

Another it doesn't hurt to ask - missing parts

Some couples get a puppy or kitten, we go ahead and get another fish tank!  I already have a small 15 gallon fish tank, but I always kinda wanted a big one for the living room. Well, hubby and I went out "fishing" for some new additions to the 15 gallon, and ended up finding what we thought was a too-good-to-pass-up deal on basically the fish tank and stand I originally wanted and we both thought looked stunning. 

(Bowfront on stand with a closed cabinet underneath.)

It was on sale in the store for 20% off, which already made it a good deal. And then, it was marked down another 20% off that because it was missing the light accessory. We looked at the lights and the 20% off basically covered buying one of those lights. Done deal, we picked up all the stuff needed and brought it home. 

To prelude any more of this, let me explain that my 15 gallon tank was also a steal of a deal when I bought it a year ago. It's a National Geographic bowfront tank that when I bought it, had a defective light. The store tried to help me but they didn't have any more of that tank (hence why I got it for such a great deal). I called up National Geographic and after a little back and forth, they sent me a complete new lid and light set. 

So part 1. of "it doesn't hurt to ask", is I called up National Geographic again and asked how I could get lights for my new big tank. Without much hesitation, they are sending me the lights. When we get the lights, we can decide if we like them or not, and if we do, we can take back the light we bought at the store. If not, I can sell them to another aquatic fanatic and get another $25 or so off our bill. 

Part 2., there was a store coupon going around for $20 off your purchase of $75 for three days only. I took in my receipt and asked if they could refund me and "buy back" an item on my receipt. They said yes, and I saved another $20. 

Beautiful tank, we were happy with what we paid, and we saved here and there on something we wanted. Hooray!

Again, it doesn't hurt to ask!

Below are two simple examples of "it doesn't hurt to ask".  

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This year, I did a lot of my Christmas shopping online. I think I got a bunch of unique gifts, which I hadn't seen in stores. 

I did the whole smart couponing thing and used "sign up to save" discounts on every site I could, googled "promo code for x" for every other site, and took advantage of sales or clearances they had running on the sites. Other than a deal I bought on Groupon which was a huge disappointment in my opinion, I was pretty proud of what I had bought and what I had saved. 

Then; Black Friday. 

I had bought a couple things on the Red Thursday from some online US retailers. I thought I was doing pretty good with coupon codes and free site wide shipping. Then Black Friday weekend came and both sites announced better deals than I had bought my items for. Of. Course. 

This is a lesson in, not beating yourself up for missing an even better sale, but instead being willing to ask. I always say it doesn't hurt to ask. 

So I emailed both companies. Said that I either needed to do a) cancel the order immediately to attempt to re-buy the items over the weekend, or b) have them simply credit me the difference instead of potentially losing the sale. I explained the date I had bought the items and the discount I expected to be applied to my credit card (on one site it was $10 and on the other site it was $12). I fully expected the response to be "tough shit" or "snooze ya lose", but I went by my own advice and sent the emails, plus a follow up email to both on Sunday. 

In the end, Both companies did refund me the amount I had asked on the Monday. $10 might not be a lot of money, but $10 US can buy a couple more gifts up here, and I'd rather it in my pocket. I profusely thanked both companies and told them they would have repeat business from me. 

So, shameless plug to some of the greatest sweatpants ever Crotchgear and to a necklace for every person in your life, The Needed Necklace. 

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Another example was for this magazine subscription we get, which recently got taken over. We had issues at the takeover, as suddenly a couple of the magazines my grandma loves to read dropped off their subscription list and she no longer got them. 

We called in and emailed and complained, needing an explanation, citing how unhappy we were with what we felt like was an almost bait-and-switch as we didn't get an email notification saying any magazines were going to disappear, in advance of the next monthly payment (which I explained I would have cancelled the subscription for had we been notified). 

Apologies and fluff later, they offered me 3 months at half price. That took me into this month, December, paying something like $7 for 112+ magazines. 

At work, we had a company come in to pitch something to us, and brought us "gifts" (bribes?) which included a free 3 month subscription to this company. 

Well I started scheming how I would cancel my subscription, then re-buy it (under a different email) at the current holiday promotional discount of 60 days free, then would cancel that and buy it again (under a new email again) with the bribe gift of 3 months free. In my brain it was all working but I was exhausted thinking about having to remember all these dates. 

But, I decided to call their customer service again to see what could be done. Could they just credit me these months instead of me jumping it around? Could they just apply this three month discount to my existing account?

The answer to both was yes, in part. They offered me a 50% discount for the next three months, and advised that my three month promotional coupon could be applied directly to my account when I wanted it to be. Saves me the hassle and sounds good to me to save some more money! 

It never hurts to ask..

I joke about this all the time, but it can never hurt to ask. Ask for a free refill, ask to take the beer glass home for free, ask for a free sample before purchase, etc. 

One case in point, last Friday.

I had an iPhone 5s with Telus that was just limping along and not going to make it. Talked to the Telus store people and they advised to call "Loyalty" and see what they could do. 

I did and spelled out exactly what I was hoping for, citing that I've been a customer for a long time. To my surprise they responded back with basically 3 yes's to my three requests. Bonus!

So then I watched my emails and online and saw that my local Telus store has a sale on right now for the phone I wanted. So last Friday I went in and got one of those fancy new iPhone 6s for $280 (not $900)

Not only that but I asked if they would price match a case that I saw a couple doors down and she pulled some strings to do that. I also got a free spray and wipe, all while still keeping my old and great phone plan. Whoopee!

I probably come across some great deal or freebie daily, simply by asking. I'll ask if there are any current promos, secret unpublished coupons, all while simply being nice. I'll send messages to brands of products I like and tell them I like their product and do they have any coupons so I can keep buying their product. It's about being 50/50 whether I get a yes or no, but I'll take 50% more yes's versus not asking. 

Another case, I had an issue with a contact solution that I've used since I started wearing contacts in grade 11. Rather than just abandoning this solution, I sent an email to customer service explaining what had happened and basically did they have a bad batch in this bottle. After some back and forth (and some great information), they sent me a care package full of 3 full size product replacements (these bottles are $28 each and they sent me 3). Well impressed!

Ask. Simple!