A few weeks ago I posted the information below about fraudulent coupons below. I am still getting quite a few emails from readers that know people are using them and what should they do about it.
This is a hard one.
All you can really do is point them in the right direction. Show them this blog post or print off the CIC information sheet below.
After that if they choose to continue to steal from the store that is on them.
Now, here is another issue that I think needs to be addressed. A few people have said that they have been told the $6 Schick coupon from Coupons.com is fraudulent. They have even talked to corporate at Walmart and they said it was. This is a comment from a reader:
“I called customer service at the corporate headquarters who told me this coupon was fraudulent, they had flagged the coupon, and would no longer accept it. They cautioned me to be very careful when using Internet coupons as many are counterfeit or are a fraud.”
If I was to be told this at the register and embarrassed in front of people I would be furious. To be told it on the phone is bad enough, but they are not giving the entire story when they say things like this. Fraudulent is a word that is being tossed around a little too much. This coupon came from Coupons.com the MOST legit site to print coupons there is. I am sure they would not be happy to hear that they are being accused of fraud.
This is what I believe is going on.
This coupon is COMPLETELY legit, if YOU printed it off your computer from coupons.com. Someone decided to photo copy this coupon (which YOU CAN NOT DO!!!!) and once it is copied THAT particular bar code is what is fraudulent. Not the legit coupon YOU printed off! Because corporate and many store managers do not know anything about coupons, or the lingo, or how to read the reports from the CIC they assume falsely that ALL those coupons are fraudulent. Not the case.
What to do if they refuse your coupon saying it is fraudulent? Take a deep breath! Make sure you know where YOU got the coupon. Don’t take printable coupons from anyone and NEVER buy them. There is a phone number on the coupon that you can call and verify that it is legit. Call the manufacturer if you have to, to get confirmation that is is legit. Once you know that it is use it somewhere else. Never let anyone belittle you at a register. I would say, “Please do not accuse me of fraud or stealing, as I take that very personally. Let’s take a second to verify this coupon.” Be polite, step aside and call a manager. They will not want to spend the time to call and verify you will probably have to do that. Even if it is a $.25 coupon, I will take the time at this point in my life to feel better about a situation and to educate a cashier and manager if needed. Mostly because I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.
I have gotten a few emails this week regarding the above coupons. For some reason these are really making the email rounds right now. There are a few clues that should let you know that these are likely fraudulent coupons:
- They are “high value” – $3 off Oscar Mayer deli meat will likely make it free, at the most you might see $1 off.
- They are sent in a PDF format and do not come from the manufacturer.
- They just don’t “look” right.
- There are multiple coupons in the PDF from different manufacturers.
If you ever have any questions about coupons please go to the CIC (coupon information center) and look at the fraudulent coupon list and see if they are on there.
Here is the direct link to the Nestle coupon CIC info.
Thank you Lisa and everyone else that sent over these coupons this week!
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Thank you for posting this and how to best handle the register situation. Recently at the Sawdust Rd Wal-Greens a printed coupons.com coupon wasn’t working. When the manager came he was thankfully polite and didn’t accuse me of anything; however, he said they don’t accept printed coupons because of fraud. He took mine as “one time thing”.. But I had never heard of this and I’m relatively sure I’ve used printables at Wal Greens many times. Can you tell me what you know about their policy?
No, this is another case of them making things up as they go. There is NO new coupon policy and they do accept printable coupons!!!!
Ah, thank you. I shall print out their policy and take it with me today! 🙂
I checked the walmart.com new printable coupon page and the schick coupon is there.
Wow. I didn’t even know CIC existed, and took a look at the site. I do like that they post these coupons, and I did not know these were even out there.
WHat I do NOT like, and actually emailed to them, is the part under extreme couponing and how that people who do that are participating in illegal activity and have obtained the coupons in a fraudulent manner. That is as bad as people who commit fraud, in my opinion- how dare they! Not impressed…..
I was shopping early this past Saturday at Walmart, Target, and Kroger. I was able to price match the Operation board game with Big Lots for $5 and used the $4 coupon.(I bought 2) I ended up paying $2 + tax. The people standing behind me in line at guest services were amazed at my deal and asked me if I was one of those extreme coupon people ( Are those your coupons?-referring to my binders in the cart). I smiled and replied, “No, I am just trying to learn how to shop according to the store’s policy and save money whenever I can.” Thank’s to sites like MyLitter, I am able to learn ethical ways to use coupons to help save money for my family.
Thank you!!
My Wal-Mart NEVER takes the Disney movie coupons. I have little choice in stores to shop at Wal-Mart & HEB are the only thing in town. Anything else is at least 30 mins away. HEB never takes the printed coupons as they NEVER scan. I try every time I go and have never had one work in a year. I even have a nice laser printer.
If your printed coupons wont scan ask them to try and use the hand scanner. It works every time!
I was surprised at the number of people I saw posting on a YouTube video of a woman shopping with a razor coupon that was $5…many were saying she was “committing fraud!” when I know I saw that coupon available to print! I got the impression that they weren’t thinking how expensive those razors are. If it was a $5 coupon for something a lot cheaper, that would be another thing altogether!
If it is the video I am thinking she did use the wrong coupon on the wrong product, it wasn’t a fraudulent coupon, she was using a legit coupon in a fraudulent way!
I am having trouble finding the razors at my wal-marts. I have gone to 3 different ones and they are out. The same thing happened with the small bottles of advil. How do I get them to check their stock and see if they have them. I have asked before and they told me they were “pretty sure” that they were out.
I tried using the printable $5 Schick coupon at Kroger’s on Friday. The cashier & assistant manager both tried to tell me it was not a real coupon because of high value. I showed them other coupons I had printed that were high value & assured them it was not fake. Store manager was called over, he said they didn’t take printable coupons…I was like I have used printable coupons here before & at other Krogers…he said he would take them this one time only. I only had 2 $5 Schick coupons I was trying to use & was purchasing other items without coupons, so it wasn’t like I was walking out of the store paying $0.
They do take printable coupons and sometimes honestly make stuff up so they don’t look stupid. I love how they always say….. ” just this once” that is their way of saying “you aren’t doing anything wrong, but I have to save face”
What I don’t understand is why so many people purchase coupons. It even says on the CIC website that you have a higher chance of fraud if you buy coupons from an outside source. And most of the people from “Extreme Couponing” seem to do just that. Honestly, is it really worth it?
I really dont think so. I have purchased coupons only a handful of times.
I went to Walmart yesterday and used the $6/2 schick coupons and they worked just fine. The ONE they did question was the Crave cat treat coupon! She kept insisting I had to buy 2. I’m like nowhere on there does it say to buy 2! She’s like it says “get one free” I’m like yes, you GET ONE FREE. It DOES NOT say to buy 2! she finally gave it to me. Sometimes I don’t think they read throughly enough. My printables work at Walgreens all the time, never had anyone question me on those. I don’t like going there much but.. I do have a local grocery store who will not accept printable coupons regardless, no matter where they are printed from. Kinda bites especially since they will let you stack store coupons & MFQ. 🙁
Thanks for the good information. I’m almost afraid to use printable coupons anymore.
I was in WalMart this past weekend and tried to use the Schick coupons and they told me that the manufacturer is no longer accepting it on the cheap razors and you had to buy the higher priced razors to be able to use the coupon. I also tried to use the cascade on the 3 pack and they would not accept it along with the skintamate on the trial size with the free razor. My walmart is starting to really to get really picky on coupons.
I used (3) of the $6/2 Schick Coupons at Wal-Mart (Harriman NY) on Friday with no issues at all. I have yet to use the $5/1 Quattro razor but pray they dont give me an issue with it after reading these comments. I actually went back to Wal-Mart yesterday and used (2) $1/1 Simply Orange Juices and (1) $1/5 Weight Watchers meals. Well I scanned in the 2 for the Orange Juice and when I went to scan the WW coupon the machine said something about “reaching the max …”. The cashier asked me if I had already used 2 other “SS” coupns to which I replied the other 2 coupons were printed from http://www.coupons.com. She said something about there being a max of 2 Smart Source coupons you can use at a time which made no sense to me. Any thoughts……?
I was planning on using the Schick coupons at Wal Mart this week, now I’m terrified I’ll be accused of fraud. Ugh. Maybe I’ll just bring my husband with me for support, I hate to pass up such a good deal…especially since, as another noted, the coupons can be printed from the Wal Mart website!
I guess I’m really lucky that I have never had a cashier reject an internet coupon that didn’t scan. They always put it in manually (has happened at Wags, Target, Rite Aid, and Wal Mart). I do have a grocery store that wont accept any internet coupons for more than $4, BOGO, or for free items.
I really dislike people that ruin it for everyone else and make the rest of us look bad. I wonder if Schick would send out a memo to the stores corporate headquarters or something telling them it is a valid coupon.
NO you should be just fine!!!
So glad you posted this. I went to walmart the day the schick coupons were posted. I had that coupon and two redplum smuckers 1.50/1 coupon. Not only would they “only accept 1” smuckers Q, the cashier then told me that she could “clearly see” that i photocopied the coupons. Yes my printer is running low on color ink, but no it was not photocopied. Since neither of the coupons would scan in she told me again, that i “clearly photocopied” them and that I couldn’t do that. At this point i was running late and the line behind me was a mile long and i told her that i was offended she would accuse me of coupon fraud, explained where the coupons were from, why the ink was faded, and pointed out all the reasons why they were legit. She still wouldn’t accept them and her front end manager agreed. I took them back and left in such a rage. I haven’t contacted walmart yet but I plan on it. If i weren’t in such a rush i would have gone to customer service that day!
I just went to wm at highway 6/90 in sugarland. The manager said they won’t take the Schick coupon BC they sent it in to be redeemed and they said it was fraudulent so they flagged it.
Like I said above, the coupon is NOT fraudulent!! One bar code MIGHT be. I hate it when they have no idea what they are talking about.
I had similar issue w/$6 schick. The girl said it was photocopied so they couldn’t take it. I said I had printed it in my living room on a brand new laser jet. One was slanted a bit and did look a little off. Even to me. So the manager explained they had identical coupon numbers, he was really nice and he was right. He said I could use it later. Can I go over to diff register? He said no because the system had taken this particular one. I asked the girl to take the less nice looking one. They even held the other 2 razors over night for me because inside was a “special” 4 th razor. None were left. I was very pleased. Second time subsequent coupons printed same # and the other situation was home printed coupon.com coupons. If I WAIT to print my 2nd one will I get a diff #? ALSO please TIFFANY I cannot see your video in my phone. My WM says if a coupon does not scan they will not take it. My Walgrees employees cover a ton of numbers or actually fold the coupon. What is it they are doing! HELP SO I CAN tell my WM buddies. A lot of nice people work there.
No, if you hit the back you will get the same # on both, you are allowed to get 2 with the same #, there is not a problem with this at all!
I worked at a retail and this guest came in using 4 $6 off something and $10 off laundry detergent. When one of my co-worker scanned it, it said expired, but the date was 12-31-11. I looked at the coupons closely and figured it was a fraud b/c there is no way a coupon of an item would be that high. We called our manager and when she came up, she looked at them and accepted them. I wish I could have said something, but I know there would have been trouble. I coupon and I know that those coupons are fraud. I regret not saying anything and hopefully next time I can tell people about their coupon fraud.