Originally Posted by
farwest101
My local Safeways are running this deal from 6/19 to 7/16.
And I had fun using the coupon this weekend. The Catalina coupon machine didn't spit out the coupon at the register I went to, so they took me to CS. CS doesn't have a Catalina machine so they just gave me gift cards.
CSR manager was busy so didn't make me do individual transactions, so I pushed thru $2K in $100s all swiped at once on one receipt. Then I mentioned to CSR that $100s are a PITA and "sure would be nice to use $500s". CSR said "oh, I meant to ask you if you wanted $500s as that is what you buy all the time anyway". So I grabbed a some $500s and rang up another $1K. Walked out with $3K in gcs and $300 in Safeway gcs good for buying anything in the store (including gasoline).
I went back today and bought another $4K of $500 gcs at CSR for $47.60 in fees (vs $238 in fees had they made my buy $100s). And walked out with $400 Safeway giftcard for my "troubles"
I was really tempted to buy $10K more, but CSR manager was starting to get irritated at how much cash they were giving me.
Ended up with $700 in Safeway gift cards for $7K in gc purchases - purchases I was going to make anyway. ^
I tried at a different Safeway and they made me do individual transactions for $100 gcs - a royal PITA. Then found out the coupons expired in ~2 weeks on July 7. Then found out they couldn't stack. Not worth the trouble.
Looks like you lucked out with Safeway #1 as the $500 variable cards aren't supposed to be eligible. The manager being "busy" was definitely your saving grace because if he/she wasn't busy and rang it up normally, I'm pretty sure the $500 wouldn't have worked (as you discovered in Safeway # 2....and most likely any subsequent Safeway stores). You might as well try getting more for Saefway # 1 while you can if you get find that same manager to ring you up again. Or find a place where the Catalina machines aren't working. Sooner or later, they'll catch onto it though. Two of mine didn't spit out so they sent me to customer service and gave me 1 "rain check" coupon good for "10 off" and 1, $10 bill which was strange (why not 2 rain check coupons or 2, $10 bills)
The normal Catalina coupons do expire two weeks from the date purchased, so you could stretch this out into the end of July if you bought the GC's the last couple days of the promotional period. The combination of two-week coupon expiration, not being stackable AND the coupons not working without an individual manual overrides that most have encountered could mean long, frustrating visits to Safeway. It's definitely a good deal if you've got the patience and time...and need lots of groceries in a two-week period.