Degenerate
Dec 21st, 2004, 10:52 AM
Bargain-hunting dad beats the system to get his deal
He wasn't prepared to miss out on savings now available on goods already bought as gifts
By Bill Currie
Local News - Monday, December 29, 2003 @ 01:00
Paul Ferguson doesn’t think he should have to wait until Boxing Day to save money. And he wasn’t prepared to walk away from savings available over the weekend on gifts he purchased before Christmas.
The 34-year-old St. Catharines father of three stood in line Saturday afternoon at the service counter at Wal-Mart off Fourth Avenue with a cart loaded with three Lexmark Digital Photography Starter Kits.
He was returning them.
Little did the staff at the counter know that he had purchased them a few minutes earlier from the same store, but was using a receipt for the ones he purchased for his children before Christmas to return the new ones.
That way, he got his originals for the Boxing Day price.
Ferguson didn’t see anything wrong with it. And he felt Wal-Mart forced him into the “underhanded trick� by not allowing him to just present his original receipt and receive the Boxing Day discount.
“I’m not just going to walk away from $170,� he said.
Ferguson said he tried to talk to the Wal-Mart staff at the Welland Avenue store earlier in the day and explain his concern. When that was unsuccessful, he told them what he planned to do. He said he was told that he would be kicked out of the store if he tried it.
That’s when he went to west St. Catharines store to carry out his plan.
He said if the first store had co-operated, it would have saved him at least two hours of his time.
Ferguson said he would be able to use the extra money to take his wife, two daughters and son out to dinner.
“Why should we get robbed?� he said.
A Wal-Mart manager at the Fourth Avenue store said he was unable to discuss the matter and referred the call to the corporate office of Wal-Mart Canada in Mississauga. A spokesperson was unavailable on the weekend.
Shoppers across Niagara were returning gifts and continuing their search for post-holiday bargains at the weekend.
The <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=24 target=_blank>Canadian Tire</a> store in west St. Catharines had a lineup when it opened Saturday. Some of them were door crashers while others were holding Christmas gifts they wanted to return, a store manager said.
A November survey by Visa Canada said 59 per cent of Canadians received gifts this year that they don’t like.
An Ipsos-Reid study for <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> Canada indicated 67 per cent of Canadians receive at least one unwanted gift.
Re-gifting, selling it or giving it to someone else as a gift is becoming a popular trend, according to both surveys.
“It’s an unspoken ritual that is rarely discussed out in the open,� according to a news release from <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> Canada.
Maybe I'll pay a visit to FS or BB a bit later.
He wasn't prepared to miss out on savings now available on goods already bought as gifts
By Bill Currie
Local News - Monday, December 29, 2003 @ 01:00
Paul Ferguson doesn’t think he should have to wait until Boxing Day to save money. And he wasn’t prepared to walk away from savings available over the weekend on gifts he purchased before Christmas.
The 34-year-old St. Catharines father of three stood in line Saturday afternoon at the service counter at Wal-Mart off Fourth Avenue with a cart loaded with three Lexmark Digital Photography Starter Kits.
He was returning them.
Little did the staff at the counter know that he had purchased them a few minutes earlier from the same store, but was using a receipt for the ones he purchased for his children before Christmas to return the new ones.
That way, he got his originals for the Boxing Day price.
Ferguson didn’t see anything wrong with it. And he felt Wal-Mart forced him into the “underhanded trick� by not allowing him to just present his original receipt and receive the Boxing Day discount.
“I’m not just going to walk away from $170,� he said.
Ferguson said he tried to talk to the Wal-Mart staff at the Welland Avenue store earlier in the day and explain his concern. When that was unsuccessful, he told them what he planned to do. He said he was told that he would be kicked out of the store if he tried it.
That’s when he went to west St. Catharines store to carry out his plan.
He said if the first store had co-operated, it would have saved him at least two hours of his time.
Ferguson said he would be able to use the extra money to take his wife, two daughters and son out to dinner.
“Why should we get robbed?� he said.
A Wal-Mart manager at the Fourth Avenue store said he was unable to discuss the matter and referred the call to the corporate office of Wal-Mart Canada in Mississauga. A spokesperson was unavailable on the weekend.
Shoppers across Niagara were returning gifts and continuing their search for post-holiday bargains at the weekend.
The <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=24 target=_blank>Canadian Tire</a> store in west St. Catharines had a lineup when it opened Saturday. Some of them were door crashers while others were holding Christmas gifts they wanted to return, a store manager said.
A November survey by Visa Canada said 59 per cent of Canadians received gifts this year that they don’t like.
An Ipsos-Reid study for <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> Canada indicated 67 per cent of Canadians receive at least one unwanted gift.
Re-gifting, selling it or giving it to someone else as a gift is becoming a popular trend, according to both surveys.
“It’s an unspoken ritual that is rarely discussed out in the open,� according to a news release from <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78 target=_blank>eBay</a> Canada.
Maybe I'll pay a visit to FS or BB a bit later.