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!

Discount Bread, everyday? No way! (Yes way)

Just sharing a great deal, my roommate and I were impressed. 

It can be hard to get discounts on bread, so when I get a bread coupon I would watch diligently for a sale on that item to double up on the deal. This has been more and more rare it seems, so we tend to buy whatever is on sale each week which still seems to be a lot of money. 

On a suggestion from my grandma, we stopped by a discount bakery in Cambridge. We are glad we did! It will become a weekly/bi-weekly stop for us now. 

https://www.facebook.com/Discount-Bakery-Surplus-Cambridge-1596643007264496/

They have loaves of bread, pitas, wraps, hot dog and burger buns, and cookies galore! The stock changes regularly of course, so it'll be neat to check it out each week. 

Plus, they also have a frequent shopper card. Fill up a card and get a free loaf of bread - which is half full for us after only one visit!

I bought whole wheat large wraps, a package of pita pockets, a bunch of lemon cookies, and a loaf of "veggie" bread - all for $7. 

One last note of FYI (since I asked them), they do not accept manufacturers coupons. 

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!