A few weeks ago, I noticed that we qualified for our “free” turkey at our local grocery store. I wasn’t sure whether or not we’d be around for Thanksgiving so I just went on my merry way and didn’t really think anything of it. I figured that once we decided what we’d be doing for Thanksgiving I could decide whether or not to get the turkey.
We finally decided that we’ll be hosting a small Thanksgiving dinner at our house and that we’d likely need the turkey. So, this week when we went to the grocery store, I checked the bottom of my receipt to triple check that I had qualified. Instead of seeing “qualified” … I saw a message stating that I had “redeemed” my holiday gift on 10/31/2011. WHAT??
This seemed strange. I knew that I hadn’t purchased a turkey recently – there definitely wasn’t one hiding in my freezer. And, I was sure that my husband hadn’t either. So I figured that it must have been a mistake. When I got home, I called the store and it turns out that someone had actually redeemed my free turkey! I’ve never heard of such a thing happening before… not only was it redeemed but it was redeemed in the store I always shop at. The store’s customer service was really nice about the whole thing. They gave me a new bonus card and credited the card with enough points to redeem a free turkey.
I really appreciate that the store was so accommodating to me. I mean, really, they didn’t have to believe me and it seems like such a far fetched story – who steals turkeys AND how would they (our store doesn’t print out a certificate – you simply are told that you qualify on your receipt)? But then it just made me sad…. there are so many families out there suffering and trying to make ends meet. I just hope that it was someone who really needed it.
