A big “SALE” sign caught my attention, as I walked by the GAP Kids store, and drew me into the store.

The “SALE” sign was on a big round table featuring a dozen or so long sleeved shirts, with a nice center piece that showcased some of the for sale items. I quickly noted that the shirts were retailing for $16.50, but if you buy 2 or more, then they are $12.50 each, so about a 25% discount.

I like discounts, and proceeded to walk around the table to checkout the designs. After 2 rotations, I had 3 shirts picked out, and went to the counter to checkout.

“I thought these are on sale?” I said to the sales clerk as I examined my receipt.

“They are.” The clerk shot back without looking up.

“Then they should be $12.50 each!” me.

“They are $12.50 each only at the full price. Two of your shirts are marked down.” Clerk

“What?” me with a confused looked.

He pulled my shirts out of the bag to show me the price tags. Indeed two of the shirts had price tags with a small sticker showing $13.99 on top of the original $16.50 price.

“What does that mean? Your sticker said: buy 2 or more, and they become $12.50 each.” I am still confused, and read their sale back to him.

“Yes, but only if the shirts are at full price, two of your shirts are already market down to $13.99. Only one of your shirts is at full price, if you want the discount, you will have to go find another shirt at $16.50 from the table.” He explained.

Discount on top of another discount usually saves the customer even more money, however at GAP Kids, new discount takes the savings away from the customers!

“The discount printed on your price sticker would have me pay $37.50 for these three shirts. But after your markdown, I actually paid $45 for these three shirts. This makes no sense. You should honor the official discount.” me

The clerk didn’t bother with a reply, simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “It is what it is. And we don’t like customers who can do math.”

I overpaid for my three shirts, and left GAP irate. Craving therapy, I went to the Gymboree store across from GAP, and bought like crazy at full sticker price!

Gymboree gave me Gymbucks for my purchases, and the clerk even offered to call me to remind me when to come back to redeem the Gymbucks. I love Gymboree!