I recently blogged about the stimulus check bonuses being offered by several grocery chains, and stated that my own plan was to use $300 of my stimulus payment to purchase a gift card at Food 4 Less, a super cheap grocery chain in my area. I believed I would receive a 10% bonus (i.e. I’d pay $300 and receive a $330 gift card). Well, I tried to do this yesterday and nobody at Food 4 Less knew anything about this promotion, despite the fact that it was officially announced through a press release by Kroger and Food 4 Less is a Kroger brand.

So what did I do? I wept bitterly for a while (okay, not really), then picked myself up and took a little drive over to the nearest Ralph’s store (Ralph’s is also owned by Kroger and is a brighter, shinier, altogether much more upscale brand). Ralph’s would let me purchase the card and I didn’t even have to present the actual stimulus check. I think I could have even used a credit card if I’d so desired. I confirmed with the store manager that Ralph’s gift cards can be used at Food 4 Less and at any other store owned by Kroger. Ralph’s is about 8,000 times more expensive than Food 4 Less, so I don’t plan to use the card at Ralph’s. I’m going to spend it all at Food 4 Less. I’m going to spend it slowly and with my usual caution and care.

I thought I’d share this experience in case anyone else has a similar problem. If the cheap-o grocery store won’t cash in your stimulus check, don’t give up. Although it may pain you to set foot inside a brightly-lit, sparkling clean, super-expensive grocery store, this may be the only way to get a stimulus bonus which you can then spend at the cheap-o store where you usually shop. You do normally shop at the kind of place where the rafters are bare and the paint is peeling from the walls and the pineapples are all jumbled up with the grapefruits - right?

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