COUPONS AND REBATES
Hi neighbours,
I’m wondering if any of you have the same experiences as I have had with coupons. When I was a young parent, when Internet and smart phones weren’t used to compare prices, I collected coupons from publications, like magazines and store flyers. I didn’t understand the marketing ploy at all. I only bought what I felt my family needed, and cut costs where I could. Some women even filed their coupons in a wallet of sorts, all the while watching the expiry dates. It was quite a procedure.
Fast forward to products being advertised on websites, and coupons disappearing from printed publications. Businesses started to offer savings if potential customers downloaded an application onto their phones or other devices. Then coupons could be sent directly to the customer’s Inbox. Of course, today we can still pick up printed flyers at a grocery store, but since the North Shore News stopped delivering to every door on the North Shore, that spelled the end of flyers being delivered inside the newspaper. The marketing strategy had to change dramatically, and coupon collectors had to adjust.
Online, I can find coupons offered at stores in Chicago or at my favourite Costco in the state of Virginia. I can send an email to alert my American friend to a sale item advertised in the magazine Costco Connection, for any one of the 558 Costco ‘warehouses’ in the US or the 103 in Canada. Imagine, a grocery store with a monthly magazine sent to members. The same products can be found in almost any of the Costco warehouses, though these days there may be some differences between American and Canadian stores.
Sometimes, a store or a business offers a ‘rebate’. The dictionary defines a rebate as “a partial refund of money paid; a discount”. My latest experience with a rebate was with BC Hydro. I decided to replace five of my old windows, in my old house, this year. When I read of the Home Renovation Rebate Program for upgrading windows in old houses, I looked into it. About 15 years ago, I had replaced six old windows with double-glazed ’tilt and turn’ windows, which I call my German windows, because I fell in love with them when I was studying in Germany. You can open them inward, like a door, and easily wash them—such a brilliant idea!
So I want the same windows, this time. How much can I save? Well, there’s a catch. BC Hydro will give you a rebate if your ‘old’ home qualifies; if your windows meet their requirements for good, energy-saving windows; and if they are installed by a licensed contractor—no self-installation allowed. My German windows are very energy-efficient and they reduce street noise. At about $2000 each, they’re worth every penny. But BC Hydro wants triple-glazed windows that would take longer to manufacture and cost me about 50% more. And my rebate would be $100-150 per window. Not worth it.
Sorry, but I won’t be applying for that rebate.
Fiona