Expiration dates
When you see an expiration date on a product, what exactly does it mean? If something is due to expire today, on Tuesday, is it no longer available after Monday? Or is it available all day today, on Tuesday?
I thought I knew. I was wrong.
Learning about expirations dates for coupon codes on the digital platform I use to create online courses was one lesson I learned today. It didn’t even occur to me to look it up. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
The experience today reminded me of a tradition from long ago. When I was young with my brother and parents in Buffalo, NY, my Dad would always ask the same question at the dinner table. “What’s one thing you learned today that you didn’t know yesterday?”
It was often the start of a good discussion! All day at school I tried to think about something to say that night when asked that question. I’m sure it helped me remember some extra facts along the way:)
As you may have seen if you are on my email list or connect with me on social media, I recently offered a 75% discount on the Google Course to entice more people to give it a try. Since we are all in different time zones, I offered it over a two day period. I set the expiration date for the 2nd day. That day is the day I am writing this blog. The coupon code is “cyber75” when registering for the course at this site- https://bit.ly/GoogleCourseRegistration.
Today, when I returned home from an appointment, I was both pleased and concerned when I finally had time to check my email. I was thrilled to see emails from so many colleagues and others who were motivated to register for the Google course. I was dismayed to see that the coupon code that had worked well yesterday, no longer functioned properly.
After researching to figure out what happened, I learned that when I entered an expiration date for a coupon code, it meant that it would only be good until the end of the prior day. I had set the expiration date for today. It stopped working at 11:59 PM yesterday. It never even occurred to me that that would be how it worked. I immediately extended the expiration date and contacted everyone who had reached out to me.
I hope I didn’t lose too many people who may have been able to benefit from the course because of the frustration this mistake caused.
To make up for this error, I’ve extended the deadline for the 75% off coupon code. It is now available until the end of the day on Friday 12/3/21 (11:59 PM Eastern Time)! Hopefully this extension will ease the pain and frustration my mistake may have caused.
I am blessed that my parents are both still around and lives nearby. I’ll be sure to tell them when we speak today on the phone of the lesson I learned today.