Friday, November 11, 2016

TIME SENSITIVE: You Have 8 DAYS To Put One Over on Toys 'R Us!

It has been a good while since I have had a chance to write an article, and I thought I would start with something that ends on 11/19/2016! As the title suggests, it has to do with Toy 'R Us. This will not be the most amazing secret, but it will be nice for those doing some early holiday shopping and wanting to squeeze every penny possible!


The Coupon
My daughter recently received a $100 gift card to use at Toys 'R Us. We finally got a chance to go and of course she wanted everything she saw.

The in-store magazine I picked up at the front had two coupons on the back: One had expired and required a $100 purchase for a a $25 gift card, and a second that requires a $75 purchase for a $10 gift card. The latter still valid for another 8 days!

After getting a large amount of toys (more than what the gift card would afford), we decided to go ahead and call it a day. Armed with a gift card and coupon, we proceeded to get rung up and head home.

The Correction
I had to drop off my family, then my sister, then head back to my place. However, while examining the receipt, one toy seemed to be overpriced. My wife and sister verified that the price was right, but I still did not think so.

When I got to my sister's place, I checked the price of the toy on Toys 'R Us' website. It was indeed cheaper than what it was at the store. I called the local Toys 'R Us to confirm I could get the price difference, and was told I could.

I had to go back-and-forth because I needed to grab the toy--just in case--and I had left the receipt at my sister's. When I finally got everything, I headed back to Toys 'R Us and had no trouble getting my credit (which was placed on a gift card).

The Mistake
Before I left Toys 'R Us, I asked why the price difference placed on the gift card was smaller than what basic math would have me believe. I was shown a price below the toys that was less than their actual retail prices, and was told it was based off of that. Supposedly, I was (told I was) given some discount that I was not supposed to have...

Not being as dumb as most, I decided to get home and do the math. I added up the entire retail amounts, which did give me the total I was charged. Immediately I knew something was wrong, and it seemed that I was still owed more than what I was given...

I called the local Toys 'R Us to explain my findings, and was about to talk to the person who I had dealt with previously, before realizing something... I finished up the conversation quickly by playing dumb and having her "math" reexplained to me while feigning tiredness.

The Discount
For whatever reason, the current coupon is processed incorrectly by their POS systems and provides you a total WITHOUT SALES TAX! Apparently, however much you buy, the total amount of the retail prices will be the final amount that you pay!

The coupon is for a $10 gift card, and the way the system needs to allow this is by pretending that you are purchasing that $10 gift card. So, the system decreases the prices of all the applicable toys until it the total price is $10 less than what it should be. It can then add the $10 gift card to the total price as if you were paying for it.

Now, the error occurs because the equation should equal the total retail price before applying the sales tax. Yet, the equation applies the sales tax in order to reach the total retail price!

This is the reason I did not mention anything to the lady on the phone during our last conversation. It struck me that the extra $3+ I am owed is much less than what I owed Toys 'R Us in terms of sales tax.

The Check
Besides having all the items and taxes outlined on the receipt, I went ahead and checked a couple of items on their site that I had bought in their store. The prices for these toys were correct, and when I got towards the end of checking out online, there was indeed tax applied to the toys!

Get It In Now!
I am not sure if the gift card or toys that were on sale had any impact, but I do know the coupon is the key here. It is unlikely that any other Toys 'R Us will deviate from using the same method, so take advantage while you can.

As a side note, if you live in an area that uses a high tax rate, this will save you more than those living in lower tax brackets.

Go get those toys!