to infinity and beyond

Sometimes it's so hard to do the right thing.

On Tues, I went to Target to buy ToyStory1 and ToyStory2 on blu ray. They are $23 each, but if you buy both you get $10 off. Additionally, I had a $10 off coupon for each of them from the manufacturer website. So net cost is $16 plus tax, which brings total to $19.31.

Then I read online that some people are getting their coupons stacked with extra $5 and $3 coupons. People were practically walking out the store with free blu rays.

So I decided to give that a try on Thurs. I would buy a second set. It was a no-go. However, I let the transaction complete. I thought about keeping them and seeing if Lisa would want them instead, but then I realized these newer ones I got actually don't have the DVD-ROM games (you can only tell that after they take off the hard security case), so I immediately walked over to Customer Service to try to return my second purchase. I just wanted my $19.31 back.

This is where it gets crazy. The lady told me that she cannot scan the ToyStory1 disc to complete my return. My receipt shows that I bought two ToyStory2. Apparently the cashier who checked me out scanned the ToyStory2 twice instead of each disc separately. I asked what happens if I try to return my ToyStory2 alone. It went thru and they gave me back $19.65. I walked out of there with $19.65 credit and the ToyStory1 disc.

I came home, examined my receipt carefully, and confirmed that they did only charge me for $19.31 (it's confusing cuz the tax is on the value before coupon, and I had other items on the receipt). So I realized it wasn't right and decided to return to Target to correct the situation. I planned on returning the ToyStory1 disc for nothing.

Well, this morning didn't work out as planned. I explained the entire situation to the guy at Customer Service, an Indian guy. He processed the return and was going to credit me back another $19.65. I told him no, I already got back my money. He said he understands what happened, but that's what the system is doing. I said I want to do what's right and just return the disc for nothing. He went to speak to his manager, came back and said it was alright. He said the coupons already went thru and the manufacturer would pay Target for the $20 coupon. He pushed the button and completed the $19.65 refund.

Yup, so in trying to do the right thing, I actually ended up making the situation worse. I don't know whom I screwed unintentionally. I guess I should feel okay about it since I did go back to the store to try to remedy the situation; it's not my fault that they won't let me do the right thing. By the way. did I mention that the blu rays come with free movie cash for ToyStory3 this summer? Yikes. My guilt level is on orange. Does it help that I donated $20 yesterday to my coworker's kids' spell-a-thon?