Friday, December 30, 2005

i've found my hidden talent

Just ask Dave, I'm not a domestic goddess. We survive around the house here, but with three small children it is always busy. Happy, but busy. Amid all this chaos I have found something I am good at. Architecture? No. Artistic endeavors? No. Laundry? Heavens no!

I am good at complaining.

Not your everyday complaining -- most of you know I am a generally positive person. My complaining gets our family money. Aha! I've peaked your interest. Basically I pay attention to the things I buy. If something is not right or I have a positive suggestion I make a call to that little 800 number you see in fine print on the box. In general the companies will replace the item with a full price purchase coupon if something is wrong. Here's an example: We like to buy the California Pizza Kitchen speciality pizzas. They are not cheap, but cheaper than going the the restaurant. I got one the other day where the toppings were not evenly distributed. Everything was in a line down the middle. So, I called. I now have a coupon which is worth a purchase up to $8.00. In my opinion that is one minute well spent.

A few weeks ago Dave came home with a little potato chip bag from lunch. "Look what was at the bottom of my potato chip bag." I wasn't sure I really wanted to know...but at the bottom of the bag was a one inch square black wad of debris. Honestly it looked like the dredgings from the bottom of the fry vat. (Yummy. LOL) So I called. The moment I mentioned our discovery the customer service lady swung into action tell me that there would be a special package coming my way to send the debris back in (turned out to be a preaddressed tyvek) and she took all my contact information. I can't believe I kept that little potato chip bag in my kitchen drawer until the envelope arrive. I imagine it was pulverized by the mail system, but it arrived on the other end. A week later we get a letter describing the analyzed contents (burned potato starch with salt) and containing 4 coupons for full size bags of any Lays brand (Rold Gold, Cheetos, and a million other speciality brands). Granted, it was a pain to deal with, but I traded one small individual bag of chips for 4 full sized bags. Not bad. There will be pretzels to fill school lunches for a while.

I wonder if I can figure out how to make this sort of thing work with the Electic and Gas company? (Not likely.)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann, I do the exact same thing. When I was first married our bedroom furniture did not come, and finally it was months later, they said they decided not to make the style anymore. So I complained and I got my entire bedroom set free, and they gave me a refund on the entire set. You my dear are an inspiration.

caroline

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann is the blog site free? Just wondering I was thinking of doing one myself.

Ann said...

Yes. Just hit the "blogger" logo at the top to go to the home page of blogger. There are instructions there.

Anonymous said...

Ann, I do this a lot. Dh says I am a good complainer- probably because I am so used to dealing with contractors, LOL. I can be a pest when I want something fixed. I have also found out if you call to say you really like a product, they'll send you free stuff. I got a bunch of free Snapple that way once.

Ann said...

yum, free snapple. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I am now the proud recepient of Pampers coupons due to a complaint about their tabs.
I am enjoying your blog!!! Like catching up on what is going on with you and the kiddos.