Kroger TX/LA--Can you use Qs with cards?

[jaws1]

I was talking about couponing to someone the other day, and they asked (for me) a very interesting question:

If a person is on food-stamps (her words) and/or WIC, can they use Qs along with those cards to lower the cost spent and stretch the dollar? (I'm guessing it would take less off the card, after Qs ...??)

Me ... I would think yes, but a couple years ago, a lady using one of those cards was trying to buy store brand milk (cheaper) and cashier said she had to buy Borden's for the card to pay for it .. go figure! So, I'm at a loss for an answer!

As you can tell, I'm ignorant about either of these programs but figured someone here would either have, or know someone, with experience and could educate me!

While I'm asking, if a person uses one of these programs, can they "work" the mega deals too? or do they get charged a different price?

This person is really interested in couponing, but doesn't want to go "gung-ho" into it if it's going to be a waste of time on groceries. So, if anyone can tell me the "rules" about all this, I sure would appreciate it!

(If you'd rather pm than post, that's fine with me! I just need the information!)

[tlchidester]

Yes to both of those! I only have a minute, but I remember at one of my WIC appointments, they said if you have coupons to use them because that money saved can mean even one more person can get WIC that year. Also, it is smart shopping. You have an allotted amount, but if you can stretch that as far as possible then go for. I am currently on foodstamps and I just participated in the MEGA DEAL. Nothing is charged differently. I bought 23 items. Paid $1.17 on my food stamps card and $2.05 with my debit card. These agencies support you trying to figure out how to make it on your own and couponing is a fantastic start.

Hopefully that answers your questions. An EBT card is just like a debit card. The cashiers don't know what you are paying for your groceries with until the end and it doesn't matter. Times are tough. Tell your friend she can stretch that money FAR!!!

[Amniculus]

A one dollar coupon is really worth 1.06. If they buy nothing but food and use coupons they will have a negative tax balance. We all know what happens if you have a zero balance (heads explode etc) imagine a NEGATIVE balance! The cashier can fix the balance to zero, but that's money down the drain.

My tips don't go for super low totals when using food stamps. You always want to pay something. Don't bring attention to negative tax! It's a good thing for all of us.

Not all cashiers know how to prevent negative tax. We should keep it that way!

WIC will take off the cost of the item, so if you use a 1/1 milk and pick up one milk negative again. Don't waste it. Purchase something else in your order too.

[jaws1]

A one dollar coupon is really worth 1.06. If they buy nothing but food and use coupons they will have a negative tax balance. We all know what happens if you have a zero balance (heads explode etc) imagine a NEGATIVE balance! The cashier can fix the balance to zero, but that's money down the drain.

My tips don't go for super low totals when using food stamps. You always want to pay something. Don't bring attention to negative tax! It's a good thing for all of us.

Not all cashiers know how to prevent negative tax. We should keep it that way!

WIC will take off the cost of the item, so if you use a 1/1 milk and pick up one milk negative again. Don't waste it. Purchase something else in your order too.

okay ... I get all but the last sentences ... let me use numbers!
If Borden's milk is $2.49(?) and she has a $1.00/1 Bordens ...

you are saying the WIC card will take off $2.49 + the register will deduct $1.00 (okay, $1.06), even though she used the Q ...
BUT the advantage of using Qs with these cards is that you can use that $1.06 and buy a loaf of bread $1.29(?), and pay only 23¢

Right? Am I understanding it? ....


If so, that kinda stinks because the full amount was deducted instead of after Q, when register recognizes what items are purchased ... but at least she gets to (HAS to) buy something else RIGHT THEN ... .:shrug7:(instead of being able to apply it to something else later).


Well, guess the good news is that it's okay to use the Qs and the cards together ... just gotta be careful on the math! I'll tell her to try to get total at least $2-3 after Qs. ... maybe $5 to be safe. [and/or, tell her to multiply her number of Qs by $0.06 and get something that costs at least $1 more than that amount.]

Agreed about the negative totals! I, too, encourage folks to give 'em a few dollars before ya walk out with all those freebies!! ... buy a soda, bread, anything!

[jaws1]

Thank you both for responding!

I feel like I am at least a little more informed about the programs!! I'm not 100% which one she's on (maybe both?) as she also has a young child, but this will help her!

She may have to do her own "testing" and make sure she understands the "fine-tuning" she needs to do!

Thanks!!

[alliestallie]

That's how I got started couponing 6.5 years ago. Our first child was born w/ a genetic condition and SEVERE health problems, leaving no choice but for one of us to quit working. Our income was cut in half (a bit over) but the one w/ the health insurance cont'd to work. We received FS and I was determined to make it stretch b/c it wasn't much. (I am NOT complaining about what we received, we were very grateful to have food.) We qualified for six months, but I was able to stockpile boxed/canned goods and freeze meat w/ what we got and it lasted us almost double. :)

[jaws1]

Allie, thanks for sharing that! Yea, apparently it's like unemployment ... maybe enough to keep you almost afloat, not enough to live on (which is what I remember Mom telling me the system was put in place to do, years ago)!
The time we could've used some assistance, we didn't qualify b/c was on prior year's salary ... didn't count no work in that current year for several months. Oh well ...:smile:

[Amniculus]

okay ... I get all but the last sentences ... let me use numbers!
If Borden's milk is $2.49(?) and she has a $1.00/1 Bordens ...

you are saying the WIC card will take off $2.49 + the register will deduct $1.00 (okay, $1.06), even though she used the Q ...
BUT the advantage of using Qs with these cards is that you can use that $1.06 and buy a loaf of bread $1.29(?), and pay only 23¢

Right? Am I understanding it? ....


If so, that kinda stinks because the full amount was deducted instead of after Q, when register recognizes what items are purchased ... but at least she gets to (HAS to) buy something else RIGHT THEN ... .:shrug7:(instead of being able to apply it to something else later).


Well, guess the good news is that it's okay to use the Qs and the cards together ... just gotta be careful on the math! I'll tell her to try to get total at least $2-3 after Qs. ... maybe $5 to be safe. [and/or, tell her to multiply her number of Qs by $0.06 and get something that costs at least $1 more than that amount.]

Agreed about the negative totals! I, too, encourage folks to give 'em a few dollars before ya walk out with all those freebies!! ... buy a soda, bread, anything!

If there is negative tax and only food items are purchased, she will get cash back. The negative tax balance does not get absorbed by the other food items. She is paying for food only. She can pay 20.00 dollars for food and still get money back from the negative tax. She should buy at least a non food item.

WIC items are lowest priced items and rarely are there coupons for these items. Second, the total is not calculated like paying with a other methods of payments. Your example would work if she paid cash after WIC. If she used food stamps after WIC she would pay .29 and get .06 back from the negative tax.

You don't want to do that. You want to have a non food item to absorb that -.06. If you don't then pretty soon every cashier will know how to fix negative tax. We do not want that!

[patts]

How interesting...about the negative tax. Could someone please explain how this happens. I'm not on either FS or WIC. I buy both food and non food on most of my transactions. Looking back over the last 6 receipts, I see that I had negative tax on all of them. I don't know how this happens, and I've never had a cashier question it. The other day I did overhear a floor manager say something about needing to call again (who, I don't know) because the system had the negative tax showing up again. She was saying she's called several times about it. She was not speaking to me, I don't think she was talking about my transaction...as she was one register over and was facing the next register. Can the system be adjusted or is it supposed to be adjusted at the register? If so, why? My fave cashier could care less...mind is usually else where. hee...

So, now my interest is peaked. Can someone go into more detail how it works and about why we need to avoid getting the tax money taken off the total? I'd rather not ruin anyone's good shop, but need to understand more to handle it correctly. Thanks for any help!!

[Amniculus]

How interesting...about the negative tax. Could someone please explain how this happens. I'm not on either FS or WIC. I buy both food and non food on most of my transactions. Looking back over the last 6 receipts, I see that I had negative tax on all of them. I don't know how this happens, and I've never had a cashier question it. The other day I did overhear a floor manager say something about needing to call again (who, I don't know) because the system had the negative tax showing up again. She was saying she's called several times about it. She was not speaking to me, I don't think she was talking about my transaction...as she was one register over and was facing the next register. Can the system be adjusted or is it supposed to be adjusted at the register? If so, why? My fave cashier could care less...mind is usually else where. hee...

So, now my interest is peaked. Can someone go into more detail how it works and about why we need to avoid getting the tax money taken off the total? I'd rather not ruin anyone's good shop, but need to understand more to handle it correctly. Thanks for any help!!

You only need to avoid when paying with food stamps, wic and if you get super low totals often. If you can make your total super low, then you all ready know about it. We are talking 1.06 for thirty or more items.

Every coupon takes off tax. Since we pay no tax on food that's how we get negative tax. When paying cash, debit, credit or check the negative tax is absorbed by other items. So you don't worry about it. Unless your total order is 2.00 and you have 2.00 in coupons you will have a negative .12 tax balance. That will turn into a negative amount owed.

If they fix this issue, it will suck for us. Big time. Some cashiers all ready know how to. Cens0 has a story about that.

If you see a negative tax balance greater then the amount you owe, and they still have coupons to scan you need to add items quick.

I usually just add .06 for every dollar in coupon. 1/1 = 1.06, 50/1= .53 even with the double. The double amount is counted as .50 cause it doesn't add or take off tax.

Your tax rate will be different then mine. I suggest you forget to hand over a coupon, make it 1/1. Take it to customer service and watch the negative total, if it's 1.06 or 1.08 or 1.10 you will know how much to add to your 1.00 coupons.

[Amniculus]

....Can the system be adjusted or is it supposed to be adjusted at the register? If so, why? .....

It should be adjusted at the register. Every single time a food coupon is scanned the cashier has the ability to prevent negative tax. Just like they have the ability to prevent doubles and triples.

You are suppose to pay tax on taxable items. Our local governments use sales tax to pay for infrastructure.

If Kroger collects 789.00 in taxable items but has a -693.00 because of food coupons. A 96.00 dollar check is going to your local government. :rolleyes24:

Maybe that's why our property taxes are sky high? Maybe that's why they keep raising our sales tax?

We have a good thing, no one every knows how good until it's gone. What if some junior legislator figures out negative tax because of food coupons? Imagine how much more money they will be able to collect?

This isn't a Kroger issue, it's everywhere. Target, Walmart, Randall's, and HEB.

[patts]

Oh! I had that happen to me just yesterday. The Mega MM's had me so confused. The cashier handed me back my last Q and said I can't take this one, you're going into the negative. I said, Well, I wanted to get candy. I grabbed a large bar. She scanned it and I handed her my last Q back and asked can you take my Q now. She did and I owed .39
I was floored! I had 41 items! And the negative tax was 1.61. I never cut it that close!!

So, I guess I need to ask more questions...
Are you saying it's okay for the negative tax to show up on the receipt as long as you don't go into a negative balance owed? Or is the negative tax printing on the receipt to be avoided?

I usually buy milk and bread etc...but do I need to buy taxable items too? Or is that only for the FS's ..I thought.
The added items, do they need to be items without Q's or just items that the Q doesn't cover closely. I love we get 1.06 for every 1.00 Q. WOW! We don't wanna lose that. I may have to play around with smaller orders to see how my store works / if I can figure out what I'm seeing. haha! I'll try.

[Amniculus]

Oh! I had that happen to me just yesterday. The Mega MM's had me so confused. The cashier handed me back my last Q and said I can't take this one, you're going into the negative. I said, Well, I wanted to get candy. I grabbed a large bar. She scanned it and I handed her my last Q back and asked can you take my Q now. She did and I owed .39
I was floored! I had 41 items! And the negative tax was 1.61. I never cut it that close!!

So, I guess I need to ask more questions...
Are you saying it's okay for the negative tax to show up on the receipt as long as you don't go into a negative balance owed? Or is the negative tax printing on the receipt to be avoided?

I usually buy milk and bread etc...but do I need to buy taxable items too? Or is that only for the FS's ..I thought.
The added items, do they need to be items without Q's or just items that the Q doesn't cover closely. I love we get 1.06 for every 1.00 Q. WOW! We don't wanna lose that. I may have to play around with smaller orders to see how my store works / if I can figure out what I'm seeing. haha! I'll try.

Fly under the radar.

[patts]

Gotcha! Sorry I seemed so dense. I had NO idea 'til now.

Thanks, I repped you. I don't know if you can see that I did or not. ha! I am really new to all this! I'm learning so much from you and others here. We have a really nice forum here!

[hopeless]

I very recently had problems with using WIC and Food Stamps on the mega deal, it would lock up the register and say that I owed cash even though it was only food items and wic. It took over an hour to get it straight. They could not cancel the transaction due to the wic items. I would not recommend using Coupons or other items with WIC because of the major headaches at the check out. I will not combine my wic items with my groceries again. This happened twice in 1 evening at 2 different Krogers.

[hopeless]

A one dollar coupon is really worth 1.06. If they buy nothing but food and use coupons they will have a negative tax balance. We all know what happens if you have a zero balance (heads explode etc) imagine a NEGATIVE balance! The cashier can fix the balance to zero, but that's money down the drain.

My tips don't go for super low totals when using food stamps. You always want to pay something. Don't bring attention to negative tax! It's a good thing for all of us.

Not all cashiers know how to prevent negative tax. We should keep it that way!
.
Here is my experience, if the cashier has to override the coupon and does it incorrectly there there is a negative balance due to the tax. If they override it as a food coupon then the tax issue is non existant. I have had a manager at Fiesta that knew how to put the negative tax back onto the foodstamp card and he is the only that I had seen that has done that. I have had cashiers had me back the cash even though it was a food stamp purchase. I was shocked the first time it happened. It was the tax from a coupon.

[Amniculus]

I very recently had problems with using WIC and Food Stamps on the mega deal, it would lock up the register and say that I owed cash even though it was only food items and wic. It took over an hour to get it straight. They could not cancel the transaction due to the wic items. I would not recommend using Coupons or other items with WIC because of the major headaches at the check out. I will not combine my wic items with my groceries again. This happened twice in 1 evening at 2 different Krogers.

yeah, no canceling of wic purchases. Crazy! I'm glad you chimed in too.

I think the mega deal discount the $5 discount messes up purchases with food stamps and coupons. I think it adds tax to the purchase making it a non food total. :shrug7: I'm just guessing.

[jaws1]

WOW ... never realized I knew so little about ONE subject! This has been an educating question!

Thanks for the experiences and knowledge ... so, "rule of thumb" is:
1--multiply Qs face value by state tax rate and
2--pick up a TAXABLE item(s) of that amount that's not on WIC/FS to cover the negative tax ... +$1-2 more, just to be safe!

and,
3--on megas, plan on the possibility of standing at register a while so they can figure out why register gets mad ...!

okay!

[amartin82]

3--on megas, plan on the possibility of standing at register a while so they can figure out why register gets mad ...!

okay!

The register got mad at me Saturday and didn't give me the discount for Halloween candy and missed one of my mega deals (NO WAY was I spending 5.99 for one bag of candy!!!). I had to go to customer service. It was my first ever visit to CS for an issue like that and the girl was so nice. Really, I just LOVE how friendly my Kroger is. Does anyone know how to contact corporate about great experiences and cashiers?

I love coming to this forum. It's like therapy to me when I'm stressed!

[zoeys_mom]

Wow, have I been hiding out somewhere? Seems Amni is taking care of our forum while I have my head in the clouds.

This is my experience with the tax issue she is discussing. I found this out when working for hellmart(read walmart) for the 4 years I was in college.
The problem really arises when a cashier has to override a coupon and in the case of Kroger/Randalls/potentially Wags when you use a catalina/RR.

At hellmart, if a coupon would not scan, we had to manually override them by typing in $1 and then manf coupon button. After hitting that manuf. coupon button, the register would ask the cashier taxable(enter) nontaxable(clear) (I might be off on the buttons you had to actually press since it was over 10 years ago, but you get the idea)
Now, Walmart didn't really train me on what button to press, nor did I at the time really know what was taxable and what wasn't in TX, so I just always hit enter. This had the effect that Amniculus discussed above. It now made that coupon worth face value + local sales tax rate.

Kroger is similar in that if they have to override a coupon on a nontaxable item, it is going to take off tax, resulting in a negative balance if you don't have fillers. It is not just food that is not taxed. Many over the counter medicines are also not taxed so you need to consider your fillers wisely if you are hitting close to the mark. Or , as Amniculus suggests, don't hand all your coupons over at once. Hand them in groups and then you can always hold one or two back so as not to go negative. I have had to do that more times than I care to admit on this mega sale. Partly due to tax and partly due to miscalculations on my part on the overage of other items.

I typically add 8 cents per dollar since most the stores I shop have an 8.25% sales tax rate. This is especially important when you are using some catalinas but purchasing non-tax items. It does vary by catalina though too per store.
I know at Wags, the cats are programmed as taxable or nontaxable based on the item you purchased to receive the RR.
At Kroger, I am not sure it is 100% consistent but it mostly follows that rule as well. So for the Pillsbury catalina, no tax. For the Krusteaz, Dole etc, no tax. However, lately Kroger has changed their catalinas to beep now and so I have not tested the new system to see if these are removing tax.

Now, concerning wic and food stamps. I am by no means an expert as I have never used those programs, but what I have read, is you should ring your wic items up separately(to avoid locking up the register as a PP has mentioned)
Food stamps, I was read you need to be very careful using coupons with foodstamps, especially if you are purchasing ALOT of items that food stamps will not pay for with food stamp items. Examples I have heard happening to people.
Say someone goes in to buy a gallon of milk $2, loaf of bread $2, fruit $3 and puts this order with cat treats $2 but free after coupon, dog food $2.50 but free with coupon.

Ok, so their food total is $7 and their non-food total is $4.50
They hand over their coupons for a new total of $7 and then are suprised that their food stamps will only pay $2.50 of their total and they have to pay the other out of their own pocket. Why?
The register is taking the free pet food coupons off the food total and showing that they only have $2.50 that is elgible $7 food - $4.50 coupon = 2.50, even though the coupons were for the non-food items.
Now I am not sure if this is the case in Tx and anyone can verify this, but I have heard enough horror stories about this to maybe suggest someone test the waters first before getting flustered at the register.

[Amniculus]

The register got mad at me Saturday and didn't give me the discount for Halloween candy and missed one of my mega deals (NO WAY was I spending 5.99 for one bag of candy!!!). I had to go to customer service. It was my first ever visit to CS for an issue like that and the girl was so nice. Really, I just LOVE how friendly my Kroger is. Does anyone know how to contact corporate about great experiences and cashiers?

I love coming to this forum. It's like therapy to me when I'm stressed!

The bigger the bag the bigger the price. Some were as high as 15.99 before Halloween. :rolleyes24:

YES!!! (https://customer.kroger.com/comments/comments.aspx)


Here. (https://customer.kroger.com/comments/comments.aspx)

1-866-221-4141

Kroger
1014 Vine Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1100


If we all commend good cashiers we can complain about the bad ones and not feel guilty. :giggle2:

[zoeys_mom]

Does anyone know how to contact corporate about great experiences and cashiers?

I love coming to this forum. It's like therapy to me when I'm stressed!

If you are like me and don't like talking to strangers on the phone:giggle2:

https://customer.kroger.com/comments/comments.aspx

This is the form I used to tell about the incredible service I got during super doubles.