Ask and You Will Get Some Money Back

My daughter got an Aeropostale hoodie for Christmas, but it was too small for her.  Armed with the gift receipt, we headed to the nearest mall with an Aeropostale store.  Luckily for us we found an exact same hoodie in a bigger size.  I noted that the hoodie was already in the bargain rack along with other winter clothes, giving way to spring items.  At the counter the sales clerk was about to do a “like for like” exchange but I asked her:

“Is there a price difference?”

The clerk kindly obliged me and checked.  There was an $11 difference!  She could not give me cash back, but gave me a store gift card with that amount.  Of course my daughter happily turned around and found something else to buy in the store,

$11 might not be much in this case (although that is half a tank of gas for me).  However, it is money that you are entitled to.  Why not take it?  Some store clerks might tell you that it is not possible to give you money back.  Just point out that it is just like you are returning the item for a full refund and buying the same item for its current cheaper price.

My daughter noted that the clerk did not volunteer to check for a price difference, and admitted that she would never have thought to ask about it either.  I hope she learned a valuable lesson there, just as she did when we went clothes shopping with $50 and a coupon.