Using 2 coupons for BOGO? NOT!

[cattleya]

So, sent my DH to pick up some of the Ronzoni Smart Taste that is BOGO this week. Had 10 of the $1/1 q's. Cashier scanned 8 of them, and then for some reason the last two did not scan. She said she couldn't put them through. Manager was called over, and the manager said that since the item was BOGO, to remove three of the q's that had been scanned. i.e., they only take q's on the item that is "bought" as opposed to the item that is "free". DH chose to leave with nothing.

In the past, I've managed to use 3 q's on B1G2 items, when a manager during a different shift checked me out.

So...what if any is the official policy? I am confused. TIA.

[kval07]

There is no official policy on bogo q with bogo sales anywhere. I'm talking at any store you could ever shop at. Bogo qs paired with bogo sales are always YMMV. Perhaps you could talk with the store manager to verify their policy.

[kennys2006]

As far as the manufacturer goes, I'm sure they mean what is on the coupon. Otherwise, it's up to the store's coupon policy as far as their BOGO goes.

[Bargains4me]

You could always call the corporate number & see if they have an official coupon policy.

My store has been fairly accommodating as far as BOGO coupons go. I have never had the combined coupon value exceed the price of both items at Albertson's though. If the coupon value exceeds the price of the item the register will beep & it is usually at the cashier's discretion as to whether or not they put the coupons through or adjust them down. My store will usually adjust down & not allow any overage.

[loaslaen]

Either everyone else is misreading, or I am. I don't think the issue is using a BOGO coupon for a BOGO sale. The issue is using (2) $1 coupons for the BOGO items. If so then:

How do the items ring up...do they ring up one item full price and the other item $0, or do they both ring up at half price? If they both ring up half price then you really should get to use a cents off coupon on EACH item. Does it ring up half price if you only buy ONE of the items? If so, then you could use the coupon on the one item that you are BUYING since you are not getting another one for FREE. If you do that 10 different times (10 different transactions) then you are only buying the ONE item and should get to use the coupon each time.

I'm not in FL and don't have an Albertson's but maybe someone else can verify if my post is correct. HTH!

[jwahlton]

They ring up full price then ZERO. That's probably why you can't use 2

[loaslaen]

I think I figured out why it wouldn't accept the last two. I think it attaches to the PRICE of the items, not the NUMBER of items. As long as your total equals the price of one, it will keep deducting a coupon. When you got to the 9th coupon, the total was only 1.95. The price is $1.99 so it doesn't think you bought enough items to cover another coupon. (4 cents short)

Here's an example of what I mean:

Buy 2 for 1.99= 1.99-(1q)=.99/2 final price 1 coupon used

Buy 4 for 3.98= 3.98-(1q)=2.98-(1q)=1.98/4 final price 2 coupons used

Buy 6 for 5.97= 5.97-(1q)=4.97-(1q)=3.97-(1q)=2.97-(1q)=1.97/6 final price 4 coupons used

Buy 8 for 7.96= 7.96-(1q)=6.96-(1q)=5.96-(1q)=4.96-(1q)= 3.96-(1q)=2.96-(1q)=1.96/8 final price 6 coupons used

Buy 10 for 9.95=9.95-(1q)=8.95-(1q)=7.95-(1q)=6.95-(1q)=5.95-(1q)=4.95-(1q)=3.95-(1q)=2.95-(1q)=1.95/10 final price 8 coupons used

Buy 12 for 11.94=11.94-(1q)=10.94-(1q)=9.94-(1q)=8.94-(1q)=7.94-(1q)=6.94-(1q)=5.94-(1q)=4.94-(1q)=3.94-(1q)=2.94-(1q)=1.94/12 final price 10 coupons used

I stopped at 10 since that's the number of coupons you reported having. According to the pattern, you should have bought 2 more items than you have coupons for to get the best deal. I believe you could have bought 12 Ronzoni and used all 10 coupons with no problem.

[loaslaen]

I think I've figured out the formula for determining the number of items you should buy with number of coupons you have.

Price of item + (value of coupon times number of coupons) divided by price of item= X.xxxxxx (whatever the X is, double that number to get the number of items you should buy.

Example using Ronzoni:
1.99 + ($1x10)=11.99/1.99=6.025... (double the 6 to equal 12 items you should buy using 10 coupons)

To get the final price you would pay for those items multiply the X by the price and subtract (value of coupons times number of coupons)

Example using Ronzoni:
6 x 1.99= 11.94- $10= $1.94 for 12 Ronzoni final price

Hope that's not too confusing. Thought the formula might help for future sales where the coupons would result in overage.

[cattleya]

Thanks everyone for your replies, especially loaslaen! You understood my OP perfectly, sorry if I was unclear and led other people off track.

I'll keep in mind your method of calculation for future, but I guess I'm surprised that the very small overage incurred wasn't simply absorbed by the several other non-Ronzoni items (for which I had no q's) that were in the order...this has generally been my experience at other stores. I don't shop at Albies enough to have run into an overage problem before.

[LovesDivine]

Albertsons registers allow for 1 coupon per item as long as it does not exceed the amount spent. For example, the ronzoni at my store was $1.79. I used 2 $1/1 q's and the 2nd one beeped. One of my stores will adjust the q to $.79 and I just found out that the one on Bloom/Lithia will not. The cashier tried to tell me it was cuz I was "using a coupon on a FREE item" and i asked her OK, if that is your theory, how come i was able to use a q on the FREE breyers? Or the FREE captain crunch.

I told her it was due to the overage and she could adjust down the q. She refused to but did admit that I was "probably right" and she'd be checking later. She told me she gave me the full value of my mighty dog q's and said that would even it out - she was not mean, just confused and didn't want to get in trouble. I plan to contact corp just like i did over the same issue (and it was the ronzoni too!) at Winn Dixie.

[BayshoreGuy]

Yes the same situation occurred to me yesterday. I bought 22 boxes of the Smart Taste and tried to use a coupon for each. They would only take 19 of them ( My boxes were $1.79 each, $19.69 total) She only took 19 of the coupons. I also bought two A1 marinades and tried to use two $2.00 of coupons. The register wouldn't take it. Now the day before, they took two coupons on the Kraft Dressing which were BOGO. So I knew they would take a coupon on the FREE one. Heck they advertised it that way! But the ending total was not negative. So I'm agree with loaslaen , I don't think Albertson's (Florida's at least) are set up to give you overage on an item.

Great job with the explanation, loaslaen!

[loaslaen]

Thanks everyone for your replies, especially loaslaen! You understood my OP perfectly, sorry if I was unclear and led other people off track.

I'll keep in mind your method of calculation for future, but I guess I'm surprised that the very small overage incurred wasn't simply absorbed by the several other non-Ronzoni items (for which I had no q's) that were in the order...this has generally been my experience at other stores. I don't shop at Albies enough to have run into an overage problem before.

Yes, it's unfortunate, but each store has their registers set up in different ways. The formulas for deducting coupons and figuring out BOGO will differ between them. There's many ways the deal could turn out depending on how the register is set up:

10 items 10 coupons= 5 cents overage
10 items 9 coupons = .95
12 items 10 coupons = 1.94
10 items 5 coupons= 4.95

The way your manager explained, you would have to use the last example, but the register seems to be set up to accept the 3rd example, so that is a much better deal overall. (.17/ea vs. .50/ea) And now since you're armed with that info, you should be able to get the most for your money. Good luck!

[loaslaen]

Yes the same situation occurred to me yesterday. I bought 22 boxes of the Smart Taste and tried to use a coupon for each. They would only take 19 of them ( My boxes were $1.79 each, $19.69 total) She only took 19 of the coupons. I also bought two A1 marinades and tried to use two $2.00 of coupons. The register wouldn't take it. Now the day before, they took two coupons on the Kraft Dressing which were BOGO. So I knew they would take a coupon on the FREE one. Heck they advertised it that way! But the ending total was not negative. So I'm agree with loaslaen , I don't think Albertson's (Florida's atleast) are set up not to give you overage on and item.

Great job with the explanation, loaslaen!

Well, the fact that they accepted 19 of your coupons seems to cancel out my equation. I wonder if it's because the X.xxxx with your purchase equaled an odd number?

If anyone here bought 4,8, or 12 and was able to use all but one coupon and others bought 6, 10, or 14 and weren't able to use 2 coupons, then the number of coupons you are able to use will depend on whether the X.xxxx is even or odd. (Man this is getting complicated LOL!) Sorry if this is getting too complicated and boring, but I do like to analyze things to see how they actually work. Is there a nerd smilie around here? :giggle2:

[Bargains4me]

They ring up full price then ZERO. That's probably why you can't use 2

I don't think that's the case. I used 2 $1 coupons on the Kellogg's Bakeshop items and also on the Philly Cream cheese last week when they were BOGO without a problem at all. The difference was that the value of my coupons was less than what the total cost of the item was.

I don't think it's any more complicated than if the value of your coupons exceeds the total price of the items you are trying to apply them to, the register will not accept the ones that are over that $ amount. The registers are set up to beep at Albertson's when that occurs & not allow any overage unless the cashier manually adjusts it down.

That's why I shop mostly at Publix because they do allow overage & the coupons don't beep. :wink7:

[mollysmom]

Has anyone tried to use the Family is it's own rewards q's at Albie's. Do they beep. They have beeped everywhere I have tried to use them except Publix.I would like to get some more popsicles but not in the mood for beeps.

[LovesDivine]

Has anyone tried to use the Family is it's own rewards q's at Albie's. Do they beep. They have beeped everywhere I have tried to use them except Publix.I would like to get some more popsicles but not in the mood for beeps.

I used the breyers with no issues.

[LovesDivine]

Well I am happy. I had 2 $1/1 ronzoni smart taste left, and today I got 2 $.50/1 blinkies in a coupon trade potluck. So I can get 4 more boxes for only $.145 each.