Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com/Flickr
Scoring deals with coupons feels fantastic, but it can also be a complete pain in the BLEEP! Tom emailed me his story:
My wife and I use coupons all the time, from any source. Today we went to Ralph’s because they have promotion, buy 8 promotional items get $4.00 dollars off. We have coupons for the promotional items. This particular Ralph’s had all the products that we have coupons for, others we have gone to didn’t carry all the products.
We are checking out and give the cashier our coupons. She says she can’t accept the printable coupons, because there are some missing dots in the expiration date field. She didn’t have one [with the dots] on hand to show me exactly what she was talking about.
So we left and went to another Ralph’s. I went in and asked the manger about printable coupons. He said, “We don’t accept them because they can be altered. This is a Ralph’s policy not just this store.” They didn’t have all the items I wanted anyway. We went to another Ralph’s. At this store the cashier said, “Oh sure we take them as long as they scan.” This store didn’t have any of the products I wanted. We have used printable coupons at other stores, Sprouts, Albertsons and Ralph’s without any problem.
So, have you had any shoppers complain about using printable coupons at Ralph’s or other grocery stores? Just tryin to save money.
For Tom and anyone else who has had their coupons rejected or run into inconsistent redemption policies (which often benefits us), go the retailer website, hunt down their coupon policy, read it and print it out. Assuming your coupons are not fake, the next time you shop bring the store coupon policy and pull it out if a cashier is wrong. Be polite, but firm, and write a letter complaining if you truly feel wronged.
What’s your advice for Tom?
August 20th, 2010 at 8:53 am
I don’t have any advice. Unfortunately, those few people who counterfeit coupons have screwed up internet coupons for the rest of us. More and more stores are just not accepting them anymore, some are restricting them, and some just don’t have an official policy on them and it’s different every time. At my primary store some cashiers won’t look twice as long as they scan, some will tell me no on any of them, some will call a manager. Depending on the manager and the day, I might be told no internet coupons period, they might take them to compare to a book in the back, they might tell me nothing over $1, or they might tell me I can’t use b1g1 printables. They don’t have a written policy regarding printable coupons, so it’s pretty much a crapshoot.
August 20th, 2010 at 8:56 am
I carry around printed out corporate policy with me for various stores that I have ongoing problems with. I follow up with “full of themselves” assistant managers, by calling corporate on them. I have had them call me and apologize after being admonished by area managers. Usually all I have to do is smile and say, “are you going to make me pull out my letter of corporate policy again?” If they still want to be stubborn, I pull out the policy and make them read it and stand there until they comply with the letter.
August 20th, 2010 at 9:12 am
I had a similar problem at Ralphs on Tuesday. The checker said they didn’t take internet coupons. I called up Ralphs corporate the next day & they said they do take them (it’s a ralphs corporate policy, not up to the store), but they won’t take internet coupons for totally free items. I called the store back and they said they will take them. I went back with my receipt and gave them the coupons and got my money back. I did it at the same time I brought back my recalled eggs, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
August 20th, 2010 at 10:39 am
There’s a point at which being able to use your coupons is not worth it. If you find yourself driving to three Ralphs so that you can use the coupons, you’ve wasted as many dollars in gas (or time, if it’s valuable to you) as you would have saved.
I had a $15 coupon from Office Max that I was planning to use for school supplies. When I got there, I found that their prices were so high (3.99 for a 200 ct. of notebook paper), that I would have spent more there with a coupon than if I had shopped elsewhere. Which I did, right next door.
August 20th, 2010 at 11:01 am
contact Ralphs and get a copy of the coupon policy and carry with you when you go shopping.
I have had problems with internet coupons that say “buy one get one”, this is because where I shop the cashier says they don’t honor internet coupons for free items. After contacting the store, I found out the cashier was wrong. The store I shop at accepts “buy one get one” but not “get free. no purchase required?
August 20th, 2010 at 11:11 am
I subscribe to a number of blogs that list what’s on sale at a certain store and links it to the coupons to use so I’ve been couponing for a little over a year now. I’ve had some great shopping trips saving tons of money using coupons (both printable and those from the sunday paper) but have also had some trips that I’m glad my husband wasn’t with me or else he’d completely refuse to use coupons in the future when I ask him to run to the store.
I’ve learned to do a cashier scan…see which cashier would be the easiest to deal with when using coupons. If I run into a problem with a cashier not accepting a coupon, depending on my mood, I will either say okay and remove the item or persist and point out I have the exact item on sale which makes the coupon valid. Either way, just try to stay calm, keep your cool and be polite. This has worked for me 9 times out of 10. For my family, it’s completely worth it to continue to use printable coupons.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I live in Colorado and shop at King Soopers, and the store I shop at does not like to accept internet printed coupons. If you try and use some, they will only give you $1.00 maximum for each one, irregardless of the face value (or if it’s a free item). They told me they have alot of problems with fake or altered internet coupons and it’s cost them alot of money.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I would only drive to 1 Ralphs, 3 is too much and gas wasteful. It is smart to bring the whole policy though. I only use coupons for items that I already buy, so I am not spending anything out of my grocery fund that I wouldn’t ordinarily. I am a big Kohl’s fan, they send $10 cards every so often, and I get a great deal on 1 item. O saved $44 on a pair of jeans, and I only paid 4.81 for it. So you just have to really know your business’ and coupon. Thanks for the info.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
So far, I’ve never had a problem with any vendor accepting online coupons, though I have yet not tried Ralphs. Like other posters, I would not have gone to other Ralphs stores if the online coupons were rejected – the gasoline would have negated savings.
In my experience:
RiteAid – will accept both manufacturer coupon AND RiteAid coupon at same time. If you have a RiteAid Wellness+ card, it may yield additional savings. If you have the patience, their rebate program may be worth it, especially when in combination w/ two coupons and Wellness+ card on an item already on sale.
Target – will accept both manufacturer coupon AND Target coupon at same time. Re: downloading coupons from the Target site, my computer sent me a warning message that read:
“This applet was signed by “Catalina Marketing Corp.” and authenticated by “Thawte Consulting cc”. Do you trust this certificate?
Click Trust to run the applet and allow it unrestricted access to your computer. Click Don’t Trust to run this applet with standard Java restrictions.”
Needless to say, I passed on the Target site coupons (Um, unrestricted access? No, thanks!).
Ralphs – will accept both manufacturer coupon AND Ralphs coupon at same time. If you have Ralphs Rewards card, you can sign up for online coupons which are automatically downloaded to your card, so you don’t have to bring coupons.
Borders (may have to be Borders Rewards member), Staples, Children’s Place, Gymboree, Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill, Macys – accept online coupons. For Macys online, however, they will only accept one discount code – so pick your best one, $20 of $50 purchase, vs. free shipping off of $50.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
@Valley Girl Thanks for this great list of retailer coupon policies!
August 20th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
I think Ralph’s is like the government…they can do what they want. I went to Ralph’s and tried to use a coupon that Oreo had sent me. The checker said they don’t take home printed coupons. I told her to look at the back of the coupon as it was covered in the Oreo cookie logo. She was very rude and wouldn’t honor it. I went home and got the letter that accompanied it and took it back to the checker. She said, fine, I’ll do it this time. Very rude!!! The following paragraph is the response from Kroger regarding their policy:
Thank you for contacting Ralphs. The current coupon policy for your area is as follows:
Double Coupons:
Manufacturer coupons of $.50 or less will be “Doubled”.
Manufacturer coupons of $.51-$1.00 will be redeemed for $1.00
Manufacturer coupons over $1.00 will be redeemed at face value.
Limit one (1) coupon per household for each item will be “Doubled” or have it’s value increased to $1.00.
This Does Not apply to “Free”, Catalina, Ralphs, Retail Food Store coupons, Electronic Coupons on the Ralphs Rewards Card or items prohibited by law (fluid milk, all liquor, tobacco.
Pharmacy Coupons:
Does accept Competitor Pharmacy coupons.
Cannot use LCM or Competitor Coupons in conjunction with the $4 Generic Program.
General Coupon Policy:
Limit of five (5) “free” coupons, customer is responsible for taxes and deposits.
Limit one (1) manufacturer coupon per item purchased.
Limit one (1) store coupon per item purchased.
Limit one (1) manufacturer and one (1) store coupon can be used on the same item.
Limit one (1) Catalina coupon per item.
Does accept competitor checkout coupons (Catalina).
Catalina coupons may not be used with a manufacturer coupon on the same item.
Coupons cannot be used on “Free” items.
Does Not accept coupons that are expired.
Amount refunded cannot exceed the cost of the item.
The store manager has the right to accept, decline, or limit the use of ANY coupon upon view.
The store manager has the right to limit the Quantity of coupons/items used/purchased in a single transaction, by a single customer, or in a single day.
NO Limit on the number of Catalina coupons that are off the total bill as long as the coupon amount does not exceed the total grocery bill.
Customer is responsible for tax on all items even “Free” items.
Buy One Get One Free:
Customer purchases BOGO item and presents a “BOGO” coupon, the customer gets BOTH items free.
PAH: (Print At Home)
Internet Coupon Policy ALL Banner Stores!!
We only accept printable coupons if they scan properly at checkout.
We do not accept “FREE product” printable coupons, with no purchase requirement. Buy-one-get-one-free coupons and other values that have a purchase requirement are acceptable but will be MUCH less common than traditional value-off coupons.
We do not accept coupons for more than about 75% of a product’s value without advance notice. Legitimate PAH coupons will not be for a high value relative to the cost of the item. For example, a $2 off coupon will be acceptable for a product that normally sells for $5 or more, but a $2 off printable coupon for a product that sells for $2.25 is unlikely to be legitimate.
Coupons will be rejected if they appear out of proportion or blurry, or are obvious duplicates. Legitimate PAH coupons are never copied, sold or traded. Nearly all coupons are “non-transferable” meaning they should not be photocopied or scanned and distributed to others.
Coupons will be rejected if they appear to have been altered in any way.
PAH coupons can be checked for validity at http://www.printcoupons.com.
August 21st, 2010 at 8:31 am
I feel your frustration. I have been having the same problem at my local Safeway. I aleays go shopping at the same time on the same day. I have recently had a problem using a manufacturer coupon( Safeway takes printable coupons) and a Saeway coupon that comes from the sale paper. I emailed corporate and they said yes I could do that. I even called the store manager and he said yes. I printed out the email and I am taking it with me. Also I agree with the other comments- it depends on the cashier you get. I try to go to the same one every time.
August 21st, 2010 at 8:47 am
My Albertsons won’t accept them, but now I’m going to go check out their corporate policy on their website, thanks for the great advice!
August 21st, 2010 at 9:13 am
I’m in MA and we have then same thing happening here. Many times coupons will be copied and look truly authentic which is also causing some of the problems. Luckily I have one store that will accept printed coupons so when I’m going to use them, that’s the store that gets my buisness (unless of course the other one has a better deal and then I’ll shop both,lol)
August 24th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I don’t shop at a Ralph’s (I live in Indiana). But as for using coupons….from the computer? I run into problems all the time.
The store acts as if I’m a scammer when I try to use some of them.
I hate even trying!
Most of the time…they are Manufacturer’s coupons and they still won’t accept!
Walmart is the most frustrating!
September 8th, 2010 at 3:50 am
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