My grandmother was 35 when I was born. She married at 15 and had my mom at 16, then my mom got married at 18 and had me at 19.* No way should Toys-R-Us be discriminating like that. If they wanted the coupon to be for 55 and up or whatever, they should have printed that on the coupon.

*I am nearly 32 and don't have kids yet, because I have learned from their examples that it's important to be an adult before you become a parent.

Call the restaurant and ask the manager if they would go 50% off a single dinner for a solo diner. Some offer that right on the coupon. It never hurts to ask, and you might be surprised how many restaurants will want your business enough to say yes. After all, single people eat out pretty often.

Rj

Well done, sir. Well done.

[jetfuelcafe.com]

@Skipweasel:

You win!

I work mostly service desk and we have never been told any age requirement and have been giving out the coupons to anyone that asked. It's not really worth the fight of forcing people to prove it or making any qualifying conditions.

Even with the teacher coupon that ran last week we had no requirements. This situation looks to be a decision that was made by that individual store's manager.

I'm disappointed to see a store go to that extreme when the coupons are put out to try and generate more people into the store and more sales. Oh and FYI these coupons will be continuing in upcoming ads with other different groups and hopefully any stores like the above can get it straightened out before then.

The did honor the coupon.

They currently feel that there is no need to remane the promo.

The sub-50 grandparents need to EECB ToysRus to let them know that cannot ethically divide a generation strictly because they are not in touch with the changes in society.

I'm curious as to what other company considers 50 to be a senior citizen in their promotions.

My wife's sister was a grandparent at 31. Their mom was a GREAT-grandparent at the age of 50 (or pretty close to that).

Luckily, my wife was a little more "reasonable" and didn't become parents until we were both 35. Hopefully, we'll be in our 50s before we're grandparents (although hopefully not in our 70s). :-)

I've seen a version of the coupon that reportedly ran in a circular in Cleveland that says:

We Love Grandparents
Grandparents, bring this coupon to the guest services at any participating store to get a savings card good for 20% off any item.

While it does say that exclusions do apply, it does not indicate the age 50 requirement on the voucher.

It seems that you don't find out about this tidbit until you actually get to the store.

If that happened in this case, would it change the opinion of any of the victim blamers?

I've known 35 year old grandparents. Not that I think it's a good idea, but obviously young grandparents exist.

I knew a kid at school, he was 12 or 13 and his grandmother 39 -- meaning she and her firstborn both became mothers about age 13! OTOH 39 is not so young for someone with an infant or toddler grandchild.

If they want to be age picky, then they should call it a senior discount (where they can choose the aqe) rather than a grandparent discount.

You know, under their rule even Sarah Palin wouldn't be able to buy something for her grandbaby when it comes. They better watch out! You don't want to mess with Palin. ;) She'll rip them new ones. lol!

I am old enough to be a grandfather, but I am not a grandfather, so when I buy for my neices and nephews do I get the discount?

Ding, ding, ding, discrimination bell is going off.

I absolutely HATE age based pricing. Why should I pay MORE or LESS than you because I am older or younger than you?

What if this discount was based upon the color of my skin, my religion or my gender?

Discrimination in the smallest form is still discrimination.

IF ToysRnuts can afford to give me a discount they can damn well afford to give everybody a discount.

Why not simply rename the discount a "senior citizen discount" and leave it at that???

@UNC_Samurai: I don't know who shops at Toys R'Us either. They have poor selection and are overpriced.

I would rather have 40% off ONE entree than buy one, get one free.

If those terms truly were on the coupon, then I don't see a problem here. They clearly laid out the terms. It didn't say it was for ALL grandparents, just ones over 50.

It's essentially a "senior discount," and arguing it is like arguing with a store for not giving you a senior discount if you're one year below your policy.

So they had this promotion, and no way to limit it other than to insult their customers. Toys R Us needs to hire a new ad agency.

Wow. You'd think in the name of good customer service they'd avoid all the trouble and just give the 20% discount which can't be that much money anyways. But then again we're talking a corporate chain which has erased any form of common courtesy, and desire to keep long term customers. And of course, if they had just done the decent thing, and honored the discount us consumerist readers would have nothing to entertain us on a Saturday afternoon...

The thing is times were NEVER like that anywhere but on TV and in the movies.

My grandmother got married and started having kids when she was 16 and that was perfectly normal back then. And in a society in which getting married at 16 is normal it's also perfectly normal to become a grandparent by your late 30s.

"This offer is for grandparents who are at least 50 years of age. Limit one savings card per guest. Savings card expires 9/13/08. Limited quantities available. Sorry, no rain checks. "

Since they're likely not going to attempt to verify the existence of your grandchildren, it is in fact just a senior discount. Is this really such a big story that a store enforced its coupon's terms?

However, even if it was intended for the "cash-strapped senior" ... why does 50 qualify? If you're not still pulling a paycheck at 50 (or your spouse), very likely either cash-strapped doesn't describe you or you couldn't afford to shop there with or without coupons.

I thought this coupon was pretty discriminatory myself when it came to my house. My mother is 46, my oldest niece is 4. So not only has my mother NOT been a grandmother for these last 4 years, she won't be one for another 4 yet. My niece is gonna be pretty upset when she gets told her beloved Nana is not really her Nana after all.

I can see where TRU is coming from with this promotion, but if what they really want to have is a senior citizen discount, they need to call it that, or they need to rethink their age limitations. As a former employee for this corporation, I'm embarassed, and I'm glad I no longer work there so I don't have to explain this to all these non-grandparents. Although I personally would be handing out the discount left and right to grandparents regardless of age, to be honest.

Seems that the logical flip-side to this is: How do they know that every person 50+ is even actually a grandparent? Are they checking the toddler photos in the wallets? Are they requiring authentication of any kind? Or are they letting any 50 year-old have the discount? Do 50+ non-grandparents still get the discount, even though they are clearly buying that collector's edition game of Monopoly for themselves?

I wanna know about the cashier with the cajones to ask for ID in this situation in the first place.

I will advise grandma to avoid shopping at toys r us.

Anyone who thinks a Grandma should be over 50 is ridiculous, the times aren't like that anymore.

I miss the toy section at Hills. Way better than a toys r us, which is extremely overpriced.

Why didn't they just give her the damn discount? I sure hope she didn't still buy anything from there.

@Diet-Orange-Soda:

It is discriminatory.

If you are a parent and your kid has a kid, that makes you a grandparent.

I'm pretty sure they don't make someone that looks 60 prove that they are a grandparent.

Why make someone that can show they have grandkids prove that they are 50?

Since they extended the promotion to her despite her not being within the age range, they should stop running this type of promotion in the future.

Sorry Toys"я"us. The times be changin'

I wish there was another option in my area besides the Toys/Babies R Us monopoly cluster-eff. Just another reason to the (long) list of reasons to yearn for some competition here (here being the 3rd biggest metro area in PA).

I bet it will become "a training opportunity..."