Publix: Benefits to Watching the Register!

I wasn't planning on making a trip to Publix on Thursday because I wasn't supposed to get the AJC with the penny item coupon, and I'd had to stop by Wednesday to get some milk and OJ already.  But, for some reason I got the AJC on Thursday with the penny item q, and since it was a "good" penny item, I decided I'd go pick up the few things I was going to get over the weekend anyway!  So I did...and I got paid to go!

Thanks to overage from the noodles (which are being donated), and Whole Foods coupons (which my Publix still considers a competitor after the new policy has become public this week--woohoo!), I only paid $2.45 OOP to begin with.  But, as I watched the cataloupe go by the register, it rang up at $2.50....and I knew I'd seen them advertised for $1.99 in the weekly flyer.  After all, that's why I was getting one!  So needless to say, I paid and had my husband sit tight while I grabbed a flyer to leaf through and doublecheck the price.  Sure enough, there in big bold numbers was the price of $1.99.  So I went back to the produce to check the price there....and sure enough there it said 2/$5.  The difference was that the advertised cataloupe's were from Florida and the ones they had out were from Honduras. But, there were none out from Florida anywhere....so, I thought it worth it to go ask customer service if they would honor the advertised price, even though it was from a different location.  I was just expecting (if anything) I'd get the difference of .50 cents back.  As it turned out, the lady quoted their policy of if an item rings up wrong, you get it for free (on the first one anyway), so she gave me back the $2.50, plus .05 in tax!  So after paying the $2.45 originally, I got back that plus .10 cents!  So what's the lesson learned from all of this?  Always watch the register like a hawk!

Total before coupons & store savings: $17.56
Total after coupons, store savings and refund: .10 profit!
Savings: 100+%!

Publix Paper Towel Big Roll @ $1.34
      -Mystery Penny Item in Thursday AJC
Final Price: a penny!

Back to Nature Granola @ 2/$3.79 (BOGO)
      -(2) $1/1 BtN product found HERE
      -(2) $1/1 BtN product found HERE (Whole Foods)
Final Price: FREE + .21 overage!

(2) Publix Deli Bagels @ 2/$1.69 (BOGO)
      -no coupons

(3) Yakisoba Noodles @ 2/.89, so $1.34 total
     -(3) .50/1, doubled to $1, found in SS 3/13/11
Final Price: FREE + $1.66 overage!

Cataloupe @ $2/5
     -no coupons