Math, my Precious!

I need to tell this story and you need to hear it!  Well, you need to hear it if you like math, and justice, and the consumer winning in the end.  I really tried to make this a facebook post, but there is just too much inside of me bursting to get out, so I had to blog.  I love this blog!

Okay, so if you like math, keep reading. This is going to involve addition, subtraction, percentages, and frustration.

I went to Joann's today to get some "needed" supplies for Amy's massive 3D art Reflections creation. I can't tell you what it is yet in case your child reads this and copies her idea and they end up competing against each other later.  Yes, I am psycho.  Amy ran out of white Sculpey clay and our craft paint was running low.

We had a coupon for 20% off our entire purchase, including sale items.  Sculpey was 50% off.  JACKPOT!  Alright, I'm a little bit obsessed with Sculpey, but it's FREAKING AWESOME.  Okay?  Okay.  Back to my story.

I picked up 6 blocks of 2 ounce Sculpey, regular price $2.29 on sale for $1.14.  I also grabbed a one pound brick of white, regular price $16.99, on sale for $8.49.  And I was going to get 20% extra off of these prices.  I know, it's so awesome!

Next we headed over to Clearance and found a down alternative comforter for Amy for $14.97.  We didn't need it, but she convinced me she would suffer hypothermia without it.

We grabbed 7 pieces of 34 cent felt for a special project and headed over to the paint.

The craft paint came in 2 oz. bottles for $.69 or 8 oz. bottles for $2.49.  Now, if you are still reading this, you like math, and you know that it was a better deal to buy the larger paint. What you didn't know is that our craft paint supply has dwindled into a pathetic stash of gloppy gloop. We needed to completely restock. So, I got red, yellow, blue, orange, green, gold, black, white, purple, pink, silver, and brown in the 8 oz size and a couple extra smaller shades of green.

I knew this would all be expensive, but remember the 20% extra off. So, it shouldn't have been at all like my typical $100 Walmart grocery trips. Yes, I shop at Walmart. Judge me when you are a stay at home Mom with 6 kids and a high mortgage.

I went the the checkout.  The bill went up and up and up, all the way up to $100! What?  "Oh, crud!" I thought, "I didn't mean to spend that much on craft supplies."  But, it went down to $80 with the coupon and then Amy paid for $7 worth with a gift card.  So, I got away with paying $74.

Something still didn't feel right.

I looked at my receipt and noticed that I got charged twice for the one pound Sculpey.  I told the cashier and she said she would fix it when she finished with the next customer.  While I waited, I noticed that the black and yellow paint containers both rang up at $4.99.  Woa Nelly! Somebody stop these runaway money horses!

I told the cashier and she took off the extra Sculpey and the black and yellow paint. The black price was correct because I had accidentally picked up glossy, so I just returned it. Apparently, it costs twice as much to be shiny.  The yellow paint was ringing up incorrectly since it wasn't glossy. She said she would fix it.  She told me a number, which seemed too low, but I was so dang confused at this point that I just said okay.  I sent Amy to grab some small black paint and I repurchased the yellow with the black, paid a few bucks and left.

We drove home.  My brain started turning.

FLIBBERTYGIBBIT!

I had been overcharged for the one pound brick of Sculpey.  It didn't ring up at 50% off!  And I didn't notice until I was on my way home. So, I came home and studied my receipt. That's when I noticed that, while the cashier took the black paint back, she didn't give me my money back for it.

GRRRR!

Okay, so the first time I got money back it was $18.80.

I went back to the store tonight and told the whole long confusing story.  Thankfully, with my 3,245 receipts, or maybe just 3 receipts, the lady believed me.  She credited me for the black paint and for the discount that should have come off of the Sculpey.  I was refunded an additional $11.52 and I came home victorious!

In total, I was overcharged $30.32, which is a heck of a lot of money for a $74.10 bill.

The morals of the story are:

1. Always,.always, always, check you receipts!

2. Don't be fooled by your children proclaiming that they won't use Math as grownups.  If they don't use it, it's going to cost them.

3. Be nice and be smart, and you can usually get what you deserve.