Originally Posted by
ChaseTheMiles
I called it a "store-printed coupon" because it's what I received after a purchase, and it still looks like a coupon when I looked at it again just now. And I posted it that day here. What was the date? Just go back and look. (I do feel a bit irritated right now. I posted what I received to this thread because I've been finding it interesting, but people are somehow doubting what I posted.) As I said before, I have no idea what triggered that coupon since I only purchased simple food items. I didn't even check the effective date until I was asked, and yes, it's interesting that I got it before it was effective.
We're not doubting, we're trying to understand. From the sounds of it a piece of paper popped out the Catalina machine announcing $10 off the next trip when buying $100 in Visa GCs. You graciously posted that so people knew to look for it. One person thought the deal was already live and tried to use it, most likely because we believed that what you received was the $10 coupon. Unfortunately, it wasn't live and he didn't get his $10 coupon.
More than likely what popped out of the machine for you was simply an announcement about the future deal and somewhere in the fine print there was a date range. I get those all the time telling me about something coming up next week like the "mix 'n match" specials, or $5 off instantly when I buy $15 in selected dairy items. Unfortunately, the are not coupons, but rather announcements. This particular deal doesn't even require a coupon.