I just want to buy Socks

It's a minor thing, I know, but a few weeks ago (note time period) I was on a blog that said you could get a $5 coupon from the JCPennys website to use on any purchase (no minimum) WITHOUT giving any credit card info. The gal took us thru the steps to avoid giving out that information and wrote of her success in acquiring said coupon. Well, free stuff is right up my alley so of course I immediately went to the Penny's website, found the reward section and signed up for my INSTANT $5 coupon (no strings attached). After several unsuccessful attempts I wrote to customer service and was informed (several days and many emails later) that the rules had changed and that now you did have to input one credit card into their system tho it would not be used for anything (other than tracking your spending and inputting that info into a government data base for possible future use by storm trooping Nazis to crack down on subversives and environmentalists....but I digress).

At this point, and because I actually shop at Penny's occasionally, I put in a rarely used credit card number (rarely used because it has a low limit and is usually maxed out....sigh) and anxiously awaited my INSTANT $5 reward certificate. INSTANT apparently has taken on some new alternate meaning in the JCPenny corporate universe because as of this writing....more than a week has gone by (since I put in the card number) and I have yet to see my reward. I've sent dozens of emails regarding my $5 reward certificate and am pleasantly informed (repeatedly) that I am indeed 'in' and that all I have to do is print out my $5 reward certificate from the my account reward page....except when I go to the my account reward page to print out my $5 reward certificate I am told that 'there are currently no rewards for this customer'....Ugh!

Now, I know what you are thinking - this is SO not worth it for a measly $5...and you'd be right. But I am determined to see this thru, if only to have a good blog post vent.

...to be continued.