I was excited about the Summer Fresh Super Coupon Doubling Event that is going on today and tomorrow, so I ventured out early this morning to see what kind of deals I could snag and I have to say I ended up pretty disappointed. My nearest Summer Fresh is quite a drive for me, so I don’t shop there very often, it’s just not worth it with gas prices being what they are. In fact, I only go once or twice a year at most and I’ll probably go even less after my last “adventure.” 😉 First, the positives. The store was nice and clean, the staff was friendly & everything is easy to find. Now the negatives. They don’t carry some items advertised in their ad & this seems to happen every time I’ve gone. And I don’t mean out of stock, they simply do not carry the item at all! Second, their stock & selection is very, very limited (hopefully other Summer Fresh locations have much more selection than this one). Third, the prices are way too high, except for select sale items. I mean, a small container of French’s Dijon Mustard was like $4.00 for crying out loud. 😯
Anyway, onto my transaction, which turned out to be a mess. It should have been a straight-forward transaction, nothing too complicated, but it ended up being one of those nightmare transactions you hope never to have. LOL
- Best Choice Large Dozen Eggs – $0.98 (in-ad sale)
- 4 Jimmy Dean Sausage Rolls (16 0z.) – $1.59 ea., Used $1.50/1 Store coupon (limit 1x use, bought 3 more rolls though becuase that was still a really good deal even without any coupons).
- 3 Diet Dr. Pepper (2 liter) – $1.25 ea., Used $1.00/3 hangtag coupon (doubled)
- Kikkoman Soy Sauce (10 oz.) – $2.19, Used $1.00/1 coupon (doubled)
- 8 Cans of Progresso Soup – $1.25 ea., Used 2 $1.00/4 coupons from the 10/2 SS insert (doubled)
- Diet Coke (2 liter) – $1.59, Used Free w/$10 purchase Store coupon
- 2 Land O Frost Ham Lunchmeat (1 lb.) – $3.99 ea. on sale, Used 2 $1.00/1 coupon (zipcode 35023, doubled)
- Final Cost $18.50
So, all of the above would’ve been a great deal for all the soup & meat, etc., but the transaction just went horribly wrong and took up way too much of my time today. First, the checker wouldn’t double one of the coupons because it exceeded the cost of the item and apparently they won’t adjust the coupon down at that store, but no biggie, I just put that item back. Then, three of the items came up at the wrong price on the register & she had to adjust them to the correct price. Once the transaction was finally done, when I saw the total, I knew it was quite a bit off, but I went ahead and paid because the line was getting pretty long. I then checked my receipt and discovered 3 errors & after much discussion with the manager, I finally got my refund. The checker had charged me for five Jimmy Dean Sausage Rolls instead of four and it added the full price before the sale which was $4.59. She also charged me for 4 Diet Coke 2 Liters when I only bought one and that one was free. And then, she didn’t charge me for 3 of the soups. 😕 I don’t know what the heck she was doing, but long story short: ALWAYS check your receipts and check them while you are still in the store. Believe me, it pays off. Now, fortunately, my couponing experiences nine times out of ten go so much better than this one today, so I just chalk it up as one of those things and move on to the next deal. 🙂
Which one do you go to? I didn’t get a chance to go today, but am hoping to get a few deals tomorrow…
the one in Carl Junction
We went this morning to Marshfield and it took about 2 hrs from the time we started until we were checked out. They let me do two transactions so I could use two of the $10 off $50 cpns from the hot sheet. Also I used the 1.50/1 jimmy dean to make it 9cents and of course a free coke on each trans. With my two transactions total items were $154.12 and I paid $37.85!! My friend did even better than I did! It was very time consuming but we had a very GOOD checkout girl. She was very careful to make sure everything got on there and also she adjusted the coupon down for the ones that went over.
Thanks for posting. I live in Nixa and thought of going to the Mt. Vernon store, but just couldn’t justify the gas there, not ever having stepped foot in a Summer Fresh. I have family in Mt. Vernon, so I might venture in one next time I’m there just to see what it’s like.
I used to shop in Mt. Vernon alot, just because it is close to home. But the last few months I have been driving on into Springfield–even with the gas prices I think I still save more money. You always have to check your receipt closely, they are really bad about having the wrong prices in, I don’t understand why. I have just been price matching at Wal-Mart. However, this weekend Pamida is also having a double coupon event and they price match (pamida.com), so if you come to Mt. Vernon you may want to go ahead and check out that store as well. They are a small store, and they were pretty busy this morning, so I don’t know how there stock is now.
I got some great deals in the El Dorado Springs summer fresh store. I paid $66.00 for $242.00 worth of groceries. The store in ELDO will adjust the price down so you can get the item for free!! There were so many couponers at the store in ELDO and everyone I talked to saved a ton!!!
I went to Marshfield I did awesome! I paid only $44.20 for $302.69 worth!!!! My cashier was the best!!!!
I didn’t do as great as these ladies, but I was somewhat pleased. I shopped in Lamar. Nice store, but as you said, very high priced. I did end up getting Pringles for 25 cents per can and hot dogs for 4 cents each. Other than that, nothing exceptionally cheap. Still, it was a good learning experience for me. (I’ve got to become more familiar with other stores prices!)
We live in Marshfield, I always dread going to Summer Fresh they seem to be anti-couponers?? What I am reading here is they may not be?? Maybe it is just me 🙂 I am glad to know there are others in the Marshfield area.
I never did have the best luck at the Marshfield store with couponing, guess it depends on your cashier, but the Conway store is overly friendly to couponers and it makes it less stressful. However, they never have all the items stocked like Marshfield being that it is a smaller store. I addressed this to the manager (who is way friendly 🙂 and he has started either carrying more items, or he will substitute with something else and give you the sale price and take coupon on item. He did this on cereal awhile back – I was very impressed!!