Pringles Ripped Me Off

You know, I like Pringles quite a bit. At least I used to. The thing is, Pringles are pretty cheap ($.99 - $1.25), they're portable, and they've got a decent number of flavors to choose from. Also, they are a bit greasy, but they're not near as greasy as most other potato chips.

So, I've been in the habit of buying quite a few cans of Pringles chips over the last few years, almost exclusively (except I buy tortilla chips and Dorito's also). So, when I was shopping one day and I saw they had a promotional offer where you could get free movie tickets, I was pretty interested.

They had a limited-time flavor, Alter Ego Salsa, and a picture of a black Spider-Man on there. I generally like Pringles' salsa/spicy flavors, so I was very interested. The small print directions on the back sounded pretty simple:

"Purchase $10 worth of Pringles products, mail in your original receipts, and receive by mail a certificate redeemable for a discount of up to $12 off a movie ticket at participating theaters. While supplies last. Save your Pringles receipts and visit www.pringles.com for complete details and restrictions."

That sounded easy enough, so I bought a can or two of Pringles (with the instructions on it), went home and checked out their website. The only additional instructions the website said was to circle date(s) and purchase(s) on my receipt(s). It says the contest started on April 9 (I first ran into the Pringles at the store on April 10^th, so I was just in time) and ended June 29, 2007. They also gave the address to send all the info to.

For me, it sounded like a simple enough proposition and I love getting stuff for free. So, a few days later, I went back to the store and bought 8 or 9 more cans of Pringles (whatever pushed it up to 10) along with the rest of my groceries. That night I circled the appropriate purchases on the receipts, double-checked that it added up to 10 cans of Pringles and crammed all my freshly bought cans of Pringles into the pantry. I usually only keep 2 or 3 cans of Pringles on hand at a time and I live in an apartment, so I was crammed for space, but I figured it was worth it for free movie tickets.

The next day, I mailed our completed offer form to Pringles; it was about maybe a week at most since the promotion started. My wife and I hoped we'd get the free movie certificate in time for Spider-Man 3, but we didn't. It was ok because we were planning on seeing it anyway and went ahead. I know that sometimes these "special offers" can take a long time, even a month or two. So, we waited patiently.

Just this past Saturday (May 19^th), I got a letter in the mail from Pringles. It was a bit over a month, but it wasn't an unexpectedly long wait. However, in the letter they sent, it simply said:

"Dear Valued Customer,
Thanks for participating, blah, blah, blah, we regret to inform you we can't honor your request because: The purchase of $10 worth of Pringles products was not reflected on your invoice. Thank you for participating. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding."

They appreciate what? My understanding? In my understanding, I'd mailed in receipts that I had double-checked and which had dates and product purchases of 10 cans of Pringles circled just like they'd asked. They didn't send the receipts back confirming any error in the simple process of me counting 10 cans of Pringles. So what am I supposed to understand? That Pringles developed a cheap marketing campaign for getting suckers like me to purchase large quantities of their products without having to pay out on the offer that was written right on the can?

Because, that's the only thing I'm taking from this. Pringles took me for a sucker. And, I'm not a dumb guy, so when I get taken for a sucker, I get really mad. The only thing I can imagine that even allows Pringles to legally get away with this is the possibility that at the time of the purchase, Wal-Mart only charged $.99 for the Pringles rather than $1.00. Maybe I was $.10 short, I don't know. Sometimes Wal-Mart charges $1.00 or more for Pringles, sometimes they only charge $.99. This may be the case, though

But is 10 cents short of $10.00 worth the slap in the face that I received from Pringles after patiently waiting for free movie ticket coupons? My wife and I don't go out to movies much because it would throw off our budget too quickly. We save it for special occasions, really awesome movies, etc.; but a chance to go see any old dumb movie at a nice theater for a drastically reduced price was very appealing to us. And, a month later, I still have about 8 cans of Pringles crammed into my pantry.

With this action, Pringles has really pissed me off. You know, they're not the best chip, but they're convenient and cheap and that's why I've bought them for years. But I'm not going to buy them anymore. This insult to me, by taking me for a sucker and exploiting me with their cheap marketing campaign, this scam, has made me decide to never buy Pringle products again.

Pringles may not lose a lot of money by my business, but I'll make sure to tell all my friends and now all of you can read this, too. With these massive corporations whose products line our grocery store aisles and clothes stores with no personal face or interaction with those who make them, the factor of trust in any claims they make is very important. This kind of thing eradicates all trust.

If Pringles can't maintain their end of a special offer printed clearly on the side of their product, how am I supposed to believe any other claims they make? If they'll exploit their customers through a cheap marketing campaign of which they have no intention to follow through with, how do I know they're not also exploiting their customers (me and you) through cost-saving chemical injections into their food that's harmful to my health? I don't mean just junk-food-harmful, I'm talking the cancer-causing stuff people are always worrying about. I wouldn't doubt it.

At any rate, I don't intend to take any more risks with Pringles. They are officially marked off my grocery lists for now and forever. Pringles ripped me off and I'm not going back.