"Sorry for the inconvenience"

I am NOT a Kmart fan. I also don't know many people who are.

Every time I go, I rarely find what I need at a decent price, and usually get some form of attitude flung at me from the cashiers. Last time I was there, I found a few things in the clearance aisle that had signs taped all over the shelves, proudly announcing: "Take an Additional 50% off!" This made the clearance items even better, and I was pleased as I went to get rung up. However, the cashier was SO rude, and insisted that the marked price was as low as it would go. I explained the signs, which she had a girl go check on. The girl came back with all the signs in her hand, claiming that it was mistake.

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

I calmly told them that they should honor their own advertisements, and that I should not pay the price of THEIR mistake. After a few huffs and puffs from the cashier, I asked if there was a manager I could talk to, as I understood this woman couldn't do anything for me. The manager told me there was nothing he could do.

"Sorry for the inconvenience"

I explained that if they did not honor their advertisements, I wasn't going to buy anything, and would not likely come back. They gave me the additional 50% off, I left with a sour taste in my mouth, and 30 minutes of my life gone, but some cute stuff at a good price.

So when I found about a $10 off $20 coupon on their website, my bias against Kmart began to soften. I got the coupon from Kmart.com, and it says it's even valid on clearance items and that it's valid at all Kmart locations. Scott and I got some really good deals on some necessities (like toilet paper and paper towels), and I found a $10 bed skirt that I've been wanting. But when Scott went to check out, there were signs up at every check-out aisle saying that they were NOT accepting that coupon.

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

They insisted that the answer was no. Period. The coupon is a fake.

Interesting argument, I thought, seeing as I got the coupon from Kmart.com.

So I called national customer service. Apparently the coupon was only supposed to be valid in New York, Long Island, Baltimore, blah, blah, blah, it was put out by mistake.

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

I was transferred unsuccessfully three times to a supervisor, hung up on twice, and at one point faced a sassy lady who insisted she had no supervisor. By the time I was getting somewhere, my phone died. I had been at Kmart for about an hour, standing in the snack aisle with my husband, our cart still full.

Finally, I tried again with the Kmart employees, explaining TO THEM where the coupon came from and how it was a corporate mistake. After this explanation, the manager just let me use the coupon. His attitude softened quite a bit when I mentioned it was a corporate mistake, and not a scam. He didn't seem to like corporate very much.

In the end, we saved about $10 with coupons, and the $10 off got me that bed skirt for free. I apologized to Scott that the whole thing took so long to which he smiled, and replied:

"I don't care what you do if you save us $20."