CORRESPONDENCE: DEAR meGEOFF

A Letter from Tony to the Consumers

Eccentric, itinerant and intermittent correspondent Tony Intas has returned to his home turf of Montreal following a pleasant winter in Florida. There was some shopping to be done, errands to run. A market-savvy retiree, Tony’s not cheap, just genetically predisposed to thriftiness.   

I am doing a “Happy Dance” today. Julian, my beloved uncle and godfather, the "Give me a discount so we have a deal king of Montreal" is smiling from Heaven.

I was at my local Walmart, or "Marte de Muir" as it known by nobody here in La Belle Province. I queued up in the "Cash only" line. Excellent customer service strategy on the part of this multinational conglomerate. This was the first time I had ever experienced such preferential treatment. Wait ... it gets BETTER!!!!!

When I looked at my bill, I noticed that I was not given the discount deal of "Buy two for the reduced price of ..." for which I thought I was entitled on a certain item. I was then directed to Customer Service who in turn verified that the shelf price, not the till price, was correct. I did not know this was Walmart (or Marte de Muir) policy, but in the case of a cash register programming error, the customer is entitled to one item FREE, IN ADDITION to the reduced-price equivalent on the other item.

Oh boy!!!!!

Not only did I get a free bottle of salad dressing - low fat because after all it will be swimsuit season soon - I also purchased my favourite Easter chocolates at 50% off, which they still had LOTS of!!!!!

Today, I was reminded of two important lessons: (1) know your prices; (2) always check your receipt.

I do not think my Uncle and Godfather Julian ever knew of this Walmart (Marte de Muir) deal. And he knew them all. And he taught me well.  The torch has been passed and I hold it high in his memory …

Readers of this blog who find themselves in places where they don’t normally find themselves, actual or otherwise, are encouraged to write meGeoff a letter detailing their experiences and impressions. Get in touch with me. I’m on Facebook.