How I spent $22.30 on $174.93 worth of bridal shower gifts

My friend's bridal shower is less than a month away and I needed to get her a present. She and her future husband are registered at three stores, one of them Macy's. Macy's was having a huge sale on their home stuff, so I figured I'd do a little online shopping last night. I had $90 worth of Macy's gift cards left from my own bridal shower.

Which was in June 2007.

I told you I'm not big into the mall shopping thing. :-) Or when I was at the mall, I forgot them at home.

Anyway, I figured I'd spend somewhere around the total of the gift cards, and give her a REALLY nice gift. Typically I spend ~$50 for shower gifts.

What did I get her? Well, since some people (ahem, one being my very own mother) already went nuts on this registry and bought the bigger ticket times, my friend will be getting a few items from me.

Cast iron chili pot (yes, it's Maaaarthaaaa's)
Original price: 109.99
Was: 64.99
Sale: 48.00






8 cup coffee press
Original price: 39.95
40% off Coffee, Tea, Espresso, Single Serve & Pods
Discounted price: $23.97






At this point, my subtotal was $71.97, plus tax. There was a deal for free shipping on orders over $99. Since I had $90 in free money, I figured I could add another item to my cart, use up the gift cards, get free shipping, and just pay a very small amount out of pocket. Pretty cool, right? Yeah, I thought so. (There's a moral to this, just wait...)

What was roughly $25-30? Aha!

Paper towel holder: 24.99

Not on sale, but that's OK! I have gift cards and free shipping!






I add everything to the cart, and start the checkout process. I notice that the free shipping isn't coming off of my total. I think, I have over $100 in my cart, why isn't the $8 shipping coming off of my checkout form? I enter my gift cards, and then my Macy's credit card for the small amount that is left. I enter my work address (who doesn't like getting "gifts" in the mail!?), I check everything over and that stupid $8 still isn't coming off.

GUESS WHO CAN'T READ FINE PRINT NOR ADD UP NUMBERS?

Yes, me.

Yes, I called Macy's 800 number. Yes, I waited for the next available agent. A very nice woman patiently explained to me that the free shipping was on merchandise totals over $99. My merchandise total was $96.96; the tax made it go over $100.

Ooops.

"Thank you for your time and for explaining this to me. Have a nice evening."

So, in the end, I put $22.30 on my Macy's card, instead of the $14.30. Oh well. It's still a great gift, for VERY little money!

And the moral? READ EVERYTHING. Multiple times. You might have to pay $8 for shipping, but at least you won't spend over 20 minutes waiting to find out that you should have paid more attention!