I went food shopping on Wed. and purchased a good amount of food. I had quite a few coupons with me and had to make sure that the cashier took them off. I did this while I was bagging the groceries. I thought that I had done pretty well for myself with the coupon savings of 10.00 and change. That was until I got home and realized that I was charged twice for the same item that was priced at 7.59. I was really annoyed at this b/c I should have reviewed my receipt while I was in the store, instead of at home. It's just that the store was so crowded and people just want to get out of the store after their purchase (you can't really just hold up traffic to review the receipt in the store). I didn't think that the store would return my money once I had left the premises. I figured that I would call the store's customer service dept. anyway to see if they could shed some light on the situation. I was glad that I did. The person told me that she would write down that I had called and what the problem was and to bring my receipt back the following day and they would refund the money. Sure enough, the store did refund the 7.59. It really pays to review your receipts!
Yesterday, I had to cancel my AT&T service to the phone line in my vacation condo. It was getting expensive to have the service and there wasn't a point to keeping it b/c my cellphone can make the long distance calls. Well, let me tell you the customer service rep. tried to sell me everything but the Brookly Bridge during the phone conversation. She also told me something of interest which I did not know. She said that after I discontinued the long distance service that I would then have to call my regular phone carrier that maintains the line and tell them that the AT&T service was disconnected and that the phone service would have to send AT&T a letter letting them know that I actually did call them and made the request b/c w/o it they wouldn't disconnect service. I thought wow that is pretty nervy, why can't they do what I ask? The answer is...If anyone goes to use the phone to make a long distance phone call unknowingly and AT&T doesn't receive the letter they can actually stay attached to the phone line and charge really hefty fees for any calls made. This I didn't know. I hope this helps anyone that is disconnecting from a service.
Today, I have to sit down with hubby and allocate my 2006 contribution to my IRA. I wish I knew when I purchased my IRA that I was getting into an annuity instead of a straight forth IRA. I have to say, I have learned so much over the last four years. "I wish I knew then what I know now." I guess I shouldn't really think that way...I should be grateful that I have a savings at all. I just wished that I had been smarter. My parents were not savers and not good with money. I never had a solid foundation from them. This is why I so believe in teaching children from a young age about money. I think it should be one of the building blocks of eduation such as reading, writing, math and science.
AlwaysCheck Your Receipts
March 10th, 2007 at 02:41 pm
March 10th, 2007 at 03:06 pm 1173539173
I also like the self-checkout lanes. They put your coupons through without all of the hassle that the cashier's give you. The only problem there is that sometimes the machine can short-change you. Count your money before you leave the machine and make sure that it is correct.
March 10th, 2007 at 03:06 pm 1173539206
March 10th, 2007 at 03:19 pm 1173539945
March 10th, 2007 at 03:20 pm 1173540015
I think many people make the annuity mistake. They definitely are not for a beginning investor since there are more affordable options. Sales people make large commissions on them over a basic mutual fund. My father in law actually sold my husband one, against my advice. He did give us half the commission $500. We finally got out of it after 6 years. We paid the penalty just to get out and move on. It's sales like that that give the financial industry a bad name in my opinion.
March 10th, 2007 at 03:49 pm 1173541753
I find the self-check out to be a lot better. They don't argue with you.
March 10th, 2007 at 10:53 pm 1173567234
There is no excuse for them not fixing it at the cash register if they haven't totalled it all up and you haven't paid yet. That's just a lazy cashier. If they give me attitude, I am very polite but what I do is say, "Well, you can either fix it right here and right now, or I can walk out of the store without anything and you can zero out the entire order, tying up your till for the next five minutes while you have to get a manager to help you, and making all these nice people in line behind me wait. Which is it going to be?" They fix it there. Only had to use that 3 times in my life, but boy does it work.