Rain Checks........who needs those? YOU DO!!!!

What is a rain check? This is basically an apology from the store, that they did not adequately stock the store for the sale. The rain check will list the item, the sale price, some may have an expiration date, most do not, and there will likely be a specified number of items that can be bought at that price.

OK OK OK, so I don't always practice what I teach. I myself have always ignored rain checks, just
because I visit the same store several times within a sale period. I always say to myself, well I will just get it next time I come in, they should have it in stock by then.

The reality of it is, if I could get a rain check today, locking in that price for a future shop, as well as pick up the items on another day that extends that sale price even longer for me. For everyone that needs an example to clarify this:

Lets say Bi-Lo has 18 packs on sale, as they did a few weeks ago. OK, I wanted the Sprite 18 pack, but they were always out of them. So I continued to check in with the store to see if they had a delivery yet, well on the last day, I was a bit aggravated and asked for a rain check. I actually was able to catch the 18 pack tonight and use the rain check, at 2.98 each it was worth the wait. If I had thought about the situation, I would have asked for a rain check each time that I went to the store to purchase the item. I would have had a total of 3 rain checks allowing me to extend the sale to purchase 12 of the 18 pack Sprites for only 2.98 each.

Now that you look at it that way, do you understand the importance of the rain check? I certainly do, and from today on, if an item is not in stock, I will definitely ask for a rain check. Always ask for as many as the store allows. If the sale allowed for a certain number of items per transaction, then make sure that your rain check is for the maximum amount of items. If it is unlimited, then ask for whatever number you were planning on purchasing. It was an inconvenience that the store did not have the product in stock, after they advertised it, so why not ask for a rain check. If you make two trips to the store, for an advertised item, I personally would ask for a rain check on each trip. You may not use both however, you have some sort of compensation for your time and gas, to venture to the store to purchase the item.