Target's Price Match Guarantee: Is It Worth the Effort?

When the newspaper arrives on Sunday morning,  my husband is excited to read about what has happened in the world of sports and I am excited to see what Target has on sale.  (Sad, but true.)

In the Target weekly ads, I always see a little blurb about their "Price Match Guarantee."  Usually Target has pretty low prices on things, but every now and again, another store has a lower price. 

I learned several months ago that lower prices from stores with "club prices" (ie. Ralph's Club, Albertson's Rewards, etc.) don't count because Target doesn't have a club.  It has be the store's regular price.  Kind of lame, yes.  Understandable, yes.

This past Sunday, I found a grocery item for a very low price in the Walmart ad.  So I brought my entire Walmart ad (also learned that the hard way a few months ago that you have to bring in every single page so they can verify the date of the ad) to Customer Service and asked what the procedure was to get the price match.  The Customer Service associate explained that I need to purchase the item at the regular check stand then bring my receipt, the item(s), and the ad back to Customer Service for the refund.  Kind of a hassle, I think so.

But, determined I am to get a little savings and also not let their less-than-easy procedure deter me from using their price match program!

So, after doing my shopping and checking out, I then take my receipt, the items, and my Walmart ad with the lower price over to Customer Service.  Unfortunately, it took about 10 minutes for the associate to finally get me my price match refund.  For some reason bar codes weren't being read and so I had to return the two items I purchased, and then re-buy them at the lower price.  (If she could just over-ride the price, couldn't I just buy them at the lower price in the first place next time???) 

Was all the additional hassle worth me saving $2?  Not at all.  But was the additional hassle worth me learning my lesson?  Probably!