Coupon comes in the mail for a FREE set of pens from Staples. I go to get the FREE pens. I’m charged $3.99 + tax for the FREE pens.

“It’s a rebate item,” the nice lady at the register tells me.

I hold up said coupon that says, in BIG letters, “FREE.”

She says, “Oh! Well, it doesn’t mean free FREE but ‘free’ when you send in the rebate coupon.”

“How long before I get paid back,” I query.

“Eight to twelve weeks. And you really don’t get paid back, cause it’s ‘free’,” she cheerfully replies.

Why me?