Reader Monique would like some advice:
I have a question about printable coupons. I get very nervous when I have to go to the store with printable coupons. Most of the time they don’t scan and I can’t use them. Wal-Mart is usually nice about keying them in but Kroger never does. I am almost to the point where I am not using them at all. Could you post a question to the coupon community and see if there are any tricks to getting this to work. I have replaced my printer and ink, still no luck.
My first suggestion is to check your pinter and ink, like you have said you did. I have found that is almost always the problem. You really need a quality printer and a laser is best, plus it is cheaper. It is very rare that I have a coupon that won’t scan. There might be one every once in a while, but not too common. Anyone else?
Kay says
I think it could be the printer also. My mom uses an inkjet printer and she has problems all the time. I have a laser printer and I almost never have any trouble.
I know that the price of the inkjet printer is often cheaper when you are buying the printer initially, but the replacement ink is much more expensive in my opinion. My toner lasts longer than my ink ever did.
Aurora says
I don’t have problems with any coupons except at Wal-mart. In the rare instance my printable coupon doesn’t work at Kroger, they are happy to key it in. Maybe you should choose a different Kroger.
Rebeca says
If I print them at home on my inkjet printer I usually have problems with them scanning. If I print them from work on the laser printer I almost never have an issue with them scanning.
Nancy says
I had 5 the last time at Krogers that would not read…it made no sense. They refused to key them. There were six others that did work and all were printed at the same time.
Jena says
I did okay with most coupons printed on my canon photo printer, but coupons from my HP inkjet NEVER worked. I have since started using an old EPSON hand me down laser printer and have never had a coupon issue since.
April says
I had an ink jet printer and used to change the ink every 3 weeks. Husband bought a laser printer a year ago, I changed the cartridge for the first time about 3 mos ago. With the ink jet, half the coupons I printed had to be tossed in the trash. NEVER one problem with my laser printer. And FYI, most stores will not accept a coupon if it doesn’t scan.
Lisa says
I use an hp laserjet and an epson inkjet and I never really have problems with the coupons scanning. I know some of the barcodes on the coupons are super wide and they have to try a few times to scan them, but it’s never really been a problem. I also use super cheap ink I found on amazon for the epson and it’s always worked.
kimberly sh says
if you are running out of ink they think they are copies
megan says
i have trouble with my printed coupons all the time at multiple stores(i only use printed coupons) …i have one of the cheaper ($85) hp printers which after reading the previous comments is making more sense of why mine dont scan correctly. I also cant figure out how to get it to just print black and white coupons which eats up all the color ink. On multiple occasions when the coupons wont scan some of the cashiers try to tell me they won accept it even though i know the coupon is valid….. honestly they’re just being lazy in my opinion because they dont want to take the time to key in the code. Id say just stand up for yourself if you happen to get one of those cashiers and if you get a good cashier remember them and get their schedule so you can shop in their lane the other times you go so you can reduce the stress and the amount of time your standing in line.
Barbara says
First of all I want to start off by saying that I am a Wal-Mart cashier and some cashiers are not just plain lazy. We have company guidelines which state that if it does not scan we must hand it back we can key it in if it came directly off the product i.e the sticky ones on the product.
Brenda says
I’m sorry Barbara, but I have to disagree with you, based on my personal experiences with different cashiers & different CSM’s at Walmart. There have been times I went to Walmart & the cashier would key in printable coupons & coupons from the newspaper inserts that would not scan & the next time I go back, another cashier refuses to key in a peelie coupon I got from a product on their shelf. It seems to me like each cashier & CSM makes their own rules, rather than follow the corporate policy. One experience I had at Walmart was so upsetting that I had to call their Corporate office, who in turn contacted the store’s manager to explain coupon policies, etc to him. I was contacted by the store manager who assured me I would not have that type of experience again. Only time will tell.
Ashley says
I have had problems with both kins of coupons but mainly at walmart or kmart . The problem also for me at my walmart is the cashiers dont know the coupon rules .One time the cashier said you cant price match and use a coupon .Thn they didnt take internet coupons and no overage .Then I get some that are nice .I ‘ve had a rude manager and a cashier tell me that she hae working there because of coupons. All I say is it helps me save alot of money .
Heather says
We have a laser printer that only prints in black. I love it!! I do occasionally still have some coupons that won’t scan, but I think it’s bc there are multiple barcodes on the coupons. Only one of the barcodes works (obviously) and sometimes it takes a couple of times before they find the correct one. If they ever scan it and it doesn’t work, if they try to hand it back, I always ask them to try the other barcodes. They are usually pretty nice about it. I’ve never really had them give coupons back to me bc they still wouldn’t scan.
VB says
I once went to Dominick’s (aka safeway) with my printable coupon. She tried using the scanner on the counter you know the one they slide your purchases on to ring up. Well my printable cpns didn’t scan she told me I had post redeem at CS. I explained the situation to CS and she said that she found that if the counter scanner didn’t work alot if times the hand held scanner worked and she showed me by scanning the coupon with her hand held scanner.
Bev says
I have an inexpensive Lexmark inkjet printer and never have a problem. You can go into the properties tab on your printer settings and mark it to print in black only. There is also a choice to print Quick Print, Normal and Best. Choosing Best will give a darker and clearer print. Perhaps that would help you.
lll says
I gave up on printed coupons long ago. I always had problems.
As for Walmart it is company policy they do not hand key your coupons. Some stores are less strict with following policies. Some stores write their cashiers up for hand keying……..utimately they are fired.
My saving a few bucks isnot worth someones job or the aggrevation of printed coupons.
monique says
thanks so much for all your help I will not give up because it is such a great rush to coupon
Julie Cover says
Monique, I don’t know what kind of printer you have. I have an HP laser and I have Windows Vista. 1) I click on the start button on the lower left-hand corner of my screen. 2) On the menu that opens I click on ‘Printers’. This will list the printer (s) connected to your CPU. 3) I double click on the listed printer that I am using. This opens a small window that will list any print jobs that are inline to be printed. 4) In this small window I click on ‘Printer’ in the upper left-hand corner. This should open a menu that allows you to click on ‘Printing Preferences. 5) The window that opens has tabs across the top reading ‘Advanced’, ‘Printer Shortcuts’, ‘Features’ and ‘Color’. 5) I click on ‘Color’ and in the window that opens you can choose between printing in color or grayscale (black & white). After choosing between the two I click on ‘Apply’ in the lower right-hand corner. 6) Then I click on the tab ‘Printing Shortcuts’. There are settings on the right-hand side that include ‘Print Quality’. 7) I click on the arrow on the right-hand side of the ‘Print Quality’ bar and this will show the different choices. One of the choices I have is ‘Best’, which is the one I click on in an effort to get the best print quality possible. 8) I click on ‘Apply’ in the lower right-hand corner. Then I exit out of all the ‘Printer’ menus and then I print the coupons I want. Keeping in mind that I can take the same steps above to change the color and print quality settings back and forth as needed. I hope this helps with your scanning problems.