This is your conscience speaking
Guys, if it's fraud, you can't be upset that they won't take it. At the very least, this coupon was pointed out as being very "iffy" from early on. The case wasn't quite made from the start, so you can't really say anything much about the folks who tried it at the beginning, but there's little doubt now that the coupon was not meant for the general population.
These coupons (and other things) cost a real company real money. Making a value judgement based on the size of the company "they won't miss 20%" or trying to justify it by convincing yourself that you've been screwed by them before is just plain wrong.
A few months back, I shopped at a site and noticed that they had several expensive tools marked as $1.00. I knew it had to be a mistake, but for grins, I put it in my cart and checked out anyway.
Needless to say, the price was not honored. I also didn't expect it to be, and didn't complain or push the issue. In fact, I purchased several other things for the normal prices. Going back, I likely shouldn't have even tried the $1.00 thing, but I couldn't resist :)
Next we'll have people complaining that they didn't take the $100 bill someone printed up on their color printer. Time to get past it folks. By now, everyone knows it's fraudulent. If you're still planning on using it, you are knowingly participating in a theft. It may not feel the same as putting something in your pocket and sneaking out of the store, but it's the same thing. The store being big and unlikeable doesn't make it right.
It would negatively affect my enjoyment of a tool if I knew I got it through something like this - no matter how much money was saved.
Pete
Slightly off topic but hopefully enlightning to a few
I've been very, very busy lately and have barely had a chance to check in. My response has nothing to do about the righteousness of using a coupon or not and which store do or don't take it.
I do know alot about mark-up percentages on power tools and believe me when I say this. It even blew me away. I worked in a homecenter and questioned my manager one day on much profit the store makes a DeWalt cordless drill. The drill was a 14.4 volt and the store at that time sold it for $221 and the store paid $209. A $12 profit. I then started looking up and writing down every item that I could for nothing but curiousity sake. The profit is made my Black & Decker, not the homecenter. Even the profit made by B & D is not as high as one would think. Money is made off volume, plain and simple. Sell alot and make alot or the product goes nowhere and evidently gets pulled due to taking up shelf space and not producing a profit.
Another case, the Makita Slider 10 inch slider that's been around for 8 plus years. Lowes and Home Depot had a war on that item a few years back and it was quite a wild ride. Lowes dropped $1 less than Home Depot. Then of course HD has to match or someone can come in and they have to meet Lowe's price and then take off another 10%. They went back and forth and then finally HD clearanced the item which protects them from having to match and take off 10%. About 2 years later, it was back on the shelves at Home Depot and another item was targeted.
My point is my friend at Home Depot looked it up for me and at Home Depot's last match price before clearancing it was $593. Home Depot was paying $595 for the item from Makita. They were losing $2 if they sold it at that price. That $2 doesn't include the logistics of getting the item to the store either. Lowes was then free to "up the price" and you can figure out the rest for yourself. There's alot of "dirty pool" that goes on between those 2 big homecenters that would really blow people away.
But, they don't make nearly what most people think on power tools. Those are called the "get them in the store" items. Even though I had worked at Builder's Square, it's irrelevant. Same principal, different store name.
This has nothing to do with who does or doesn't take an internet coupon or not, and what is legitimate and what is not. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with a good discussion. If you can get a discount, good for you. If you can't, pretend like it never exsisted and move on. That's my take on it anyways. :)
Dave