Retail Secret of the Day: Rain Checks!

Hello, Zhu Zhu Lovers!

I have been checking with my closest Shopko store, off and on, for a couple of weeks. They have had the hamsters in stock ($11.99), but had yet to get any accessories or the starter set with Patches. Since I hate to waste so much time/gas making the 40 minute round-trip, I gave them a call every day or two to check. Here is an abbreviated telephone conversation I had with them last week:

Me: Do you know if you have received any of the Zhu Zhu Pets­™ accessories or houses in yet? I am especially looking for the starter set that comes with Patches the hamster.

Employee: Let me go check for you.

(Few minutes later)

Employee: No, we still haven't received them yet. BUT I scanned the barcode on the shelf, and they are actually on sale right now! If you want to come in and get a rain check, we will hold the items you want AND call you when they come in!

What a noble concept... they will call ME instead! So I went and got my rain checks, and within 24 hours I received the call saying the items had arrived. My husband stopped by on his way home from work and picked them up...the starter set with Patches was on sale for 15.99 (reg 19.99), and he also found the skateboard/U-turn for $9-something (reg. 11.99). That VERY night, a Patches starter set sold on eBay for $109!!! Crazy, crazy people.

(I couldn't help but take Patches out of the box for a quick peek before Christmas!)

The odd thing is that there were no signs up or no mention in the Shopko ad saying that they were on sale. Bless the toy dept. girl who planted the rain check idea in my head! This is certainly something to keep in mind. I look for Zhu Zhu Pets™ to start showing up in the Target, Walmart, etc. weekly ads soon. If they happen to be on sale, it certainly doesn't hurt to get a rain check! You may end up with the thing you most need, PLUS sale-priced, to boot ☺