New walmart policy...

[seventhwave]

Am I the only one who is wondering how long this is actually going to last? The more I think about it the more it seems they are frauding the companies that are providing the coupon.

Example -

P&G gives a coupon for $5.00 off 3 products, we only spend $3.50 on those products and $1.50 goes to say.... bread. Something P&G DOESN'T sell, and yet P&G is paying Walmart back this money for a product we didn't buy of theirs.

I keep seeing people posting all these great scores and such at Walmart and while it's great to get free stuff it seems like people are really taking advantage of this and it may be taken away sooner then we think...

Sorry, that's just my 2 cents. It's already getting harder and harder to use coupons and I think companies will start really cracking down soon.

[Chantel]

As long as people don't abuse it or clear shelves to make money, I don't see the harm. It's been going on in the USA for ages now.

Companies are giving you money to spend on their products. If a product is less than the value of the coupon, why shouldn't you pocket the difference? If you're smart enough to snag a deal and make all your products free plus a bit of overage, I think you deserve the difference.

[abbasgirl]

Walmart has had this policy for as long as I've been using coupons. They just didn't have it written down and it may not have been followed consistently. When the manufacturer issues the coupon, they decide how much they are willing to put toward the purchase of the product. They don't make the decision about how much the store is going to sell their product for. According to the government, coupons are like cash. So when the store accepts a coupon that is over the limit, the manufacturer still pays out the full amount that is written on the coupon to the store. Walmart gives the overage back to the customer while other stores keep it for themselves (if they accept the coupons at all.) The way I see it, it's the other stores that are doing it wrong. If you gave a store a $20 bill for a $10 item, would you not expect the store to give you your change back instead of keeping it?

[grneyeldy]

I don't agree with clearing the shelves either. But I do agree with PP....coupons are like cash. The big companies have the coupons worked into their budgets. If they print say 100,000 $2.00 coupons they have budgeted to pay out $200,000 + to cover the cost of those coupons they put out there for us to use. They aren't loosing out...if you figure that say only 50% of those coupons get used (the rest get lost, trashed....whatever) then they are actually better off as they did not pay out the entire amount budgeted. Just my 2 cents.

[nosobbq]

ALSO how many people are paying FULL price on all these products???

LOTS.... i know i did before i knew about these coupons.... so the companies are STILL making money, besides if we like the products then we are going to tell everyone we know ..... and we will continue to buy the products we got for free or a very good deal!!!

[momof5boys]

Can anyone tell me if this new policy is working in BC?

[Chantel]

It is here in Kamloops!

[momof5boys]

Thanks Chantel!

[katie333]

It does move a bit closer to the situation in the States, but only a small percentage of coupon users will actually make the effort to find the trial sizes, the clearance items, the super sales that drive the 'rebate'.

Today I used coupons for St Ives and Gillette trial sizes and bought 4 of the Adidas for $.27 after coupon. I could have stopped there but I needed a few more things and ended up spending $28 at WM. I even bought a full size Gillette bodywash with only $1 off so I don't think Gillette or WM made out too badly.

In the end, I hope we can continue to grab our bargains as I'm just starting out, and find couponing to be much fun.

[Decaf]

The store is not committing fraud because the manufacter only require the store to carry the product and accept the appropriate coupon to be reimbursed for it.
If the manufacturer doesn't say on the coupon that it's for "$-- off the regular price only", "not to use in conjunction with sales" not for trial size or can not use if sale price is lower than coupon value ect...I don't see why the store should care if a customer pay little or nothing as long as they make a sale. I don't agree with shelves clearing, geez, I have a hard time finding the $1 Nivea because I brought one the other day and like it but all sold out now. (It really softened my chronicly cracked heels, amazing stuff) I would never give Nivea a try without the coupon so it's actually a good thing for Nivea that I will be buying their product in the future).

[kayma]

and besides, walmart is the one of the companies that buy their stock from the manufacturers. Walmart own all their stock, not the manufacturer. So it doesn't really matter to the manufacturer what they use the overage for. If anything, if we ended up buying all the products, walmart would stock even more!! Imagine if we didn't use coupons, they're stock wouldnt be moving so fast and they need to mark it down. As long as the the product is moving, either way it works for them. And manufacturer should expect the coupons to be used since they issue them.

[matheson]

On the contrary, my experience has been that it is only getting easier to use coupons. Since TLC's show, people (cashiers and shoppers in line) have been way more supportive for me.

[jmjr76]

So i searched the boards and pretty sure I got my answer just wanna make sure since I am VERY new to this. When the coupon says limit 1 coupon per purchase and per person it means that I can buy 5 things with 5 coupons in the same transaction? I don't have to leave the store and go back in 5 different times right?
The walmart policy says 1 coupon per item purchased so i can go there with 5 coupons and use them at the same time right?
Thanks

[quebecqueen]

So i searched the boards and pretty sure I got my answer just wanna make sure since I am VERY new to this. When the coupon says limit 1 coupon per purchase and per person it means that I can buy 5 things with 5 coupons in the same transaction? I don't have to leave the store and go back in 5 different times right?
The walmart policy says 1 coupon per item purchased so i can go there with 5 coupons and use them at the same time right?
Thanks

The wording one coupon per person means just that "one coupon per person"

"One coupon per purchase" means one coupon per item you purchase.

WM's new Canadian policy is very clear that you can only use "one" coupon per item you buy. But has far as the one coupon per person goes they will follow that guideline and not let you use more than one coupon per invoice.

Again, I say this with all reservation. Some shoppers where allowed to use more than one coupon per invoice with the Nivea coupon (me included) even if the coupon states "one coupon per customer". Now that I know about that critaria I don't use more than one at a time per bill but they let me use it before. So go figure.

Remember I am Still talking about WM here and my personnal experiences. When you shop at other places "one coupon per purchase" means a total different thing...

[Jenny McConnell]

I recently bought two containers of yogurt from walmart and used one coupon for each yogurt. The coupon I used stated "one coupon per purchase" the cashier proceeded to tell me that one coupon per purchase means I can only use one coupon per transaction and would need to go through the till twice...she told me she would "let it slide" this time but in the future to follow the rules of their new coupon policy. In my experience most coupons say "one coupon per purchase" and i have never had any problems at any other stores. This was in Kelowna, BC...not sure if anyone else is having problems with this...