Kroger (Texas/Louisiana) ~ Vent: Kroger is tightening up on coupon fraud

[couponaddicted10]

She told me that they were told to look closer at the any coupon, since there had been an increase in the number of coupons being misused (product not being bought, not enough items being bought, expired qs, etc.) It just irritates me, that people can potentially ruin this for those of us who go by the book.

This is probably being done by "casual couponers". Many people are trying to save money, and think that they can just cut a stack of coupons out of the paper and use them.... There are more people using coupons, and a lot of these people, aren't frequent users, and aren't very careful about the written guidelines..etc.

[imhzgrlnotu]

the kroger stores i go to only accept 3 like coupons anyway, so i wouldnt have 100 coupons, but if i DID happen to have that many, i would do it in one trip too. the stores i go to are unbelievably slow, even around 2-3am, they only have one cashier so theres a super long line. and im not gonna wait in another long line to do another transaction just to make them feel better. if they were faster about it, id probably break it down. or if i have more than 3 q's that i need to use, ill break it down.

[talentetta]

The 100 qs weren't identical, that's why she had to match them up. Every q could be easily matched (or not!) to the correct item as it came down the belt.

[Ames0508]

I don't live in town so I can't just run up to Kroger for a few things at any time so I do use a LOT of coupons at one time. If I need to do mulitple transactions I will almost always take things out to my car and come back in. I say almost always because if I only have a few extra items I just do that before my big transaction. I don't mind them scrutinizing my coupon usage (even though this hasn't actually happened to me yet other than me explaining that Kool-Aid is a Kraft Food and not single serve, lol). I spend a lot of time making sure I've got the right thing so I know I'm not doing anything wrong.

I do wish 'other' people would learn to work the system that is already in place to get cheap/free stuff instead of ripping people off. I hate when a few bad eggs make it worse for the rest of us doing things legitimately.

[AStar898]

Originally Posted by talentetta The 100 qs weren't identical, that's why she had to match them up. Every q could be easily matched (or not!) to the correct item as it came down the belt.

I think if I go to Krogers and have 100 different (but valid) coupons, that there shouldn't be a problem with me using them if Im using them on the correct items and using them the right way. With groceries as high as they are these days Its getting more difficult for me to want to buy anything without a coupon anyways.

Its fine if the cashiers want to check every single coupon beforehand (Im not doing anything wrong), but it shouldn't be a hassle, and I hate when cashiers/managers try to make me feel like I'm being a nuisance to them by using my coupons.

At my store there is no limit to the amount of like coupons you can use, the only problem is that only 3 of each kind will double/triple then the rest are at face value which can still be a good deal sometimes.

[murphycoupons]

I have been very lucky at my Kroger's and always had very helpful cashiers. I even had a manager ask me about some of my coupons when I questioned why a cataline did not print. He joked with the 16 yr old cashiers that even he needs to start couponing.
On the other hand I went to Randall's earlier this week and noticed the manager when I walked in and could tell she was having an awful day. She was working the only non express lane (and I had close to 30 items - all w/coupons) and had her as my cashier. She was very rude and questioning everything like who made kool-aid. :frown: I just kept a big smile on my face and pulled out all my Kraft items before she could ask for each one and matched them to the coupons. She still was not happy but atleast some of the attitude was gone.
I have never had an issue with this manager, I just think she was having a very bad Sat morning. :shrug7:
I really hope the bad couponers don't ruin it for the rest of us - especially those of us learning who might make the honest mistake.

[AvonelleRed]

Originally Posted by talentetta I know that the 100 q person was the one who was being dishonest, so I think they will be leary of anyone with that many at once, since there is someone out there going around. We may not be that person, but we will be scrutinized as if we were. I just want a pleasant experience, and not need to feel like I have to justify myself, so I always do small runs when I drop off or pick up ds from work. That is handy for me, to be sure, but I also get to know the friendly ones with so much more exposure! And friendliness is everything when you forget and do more than 3 like qs, and they adjust it for you as if you had done 2 transacations!

I don't think that just because someone uses 100 coupons means that they are dishonest. We don't know them or why they need to use that many in one transaction. Maybe they are having a really hard time financially, or just want their money to go further. That is why most people coupon, to make the money go further. I personally have never used nearly that many in one transaction, but I do know that, as someone fairly new to couponing, it can be difficult to keep things separated into different deals and be organized enough with the coupons and buy one get one free deals, etc...it's probably much easier for that person to just do it all in one deal.

I don't think that, as long as each coupon was legit, the store or the cashiers or managers should complain. After all, that person could be spending those coupons somewhere else. Yes, I said SPENDING the coupons because coupons are worth money at the moment of the transaction. If I had $100 dollars worth of coupons, I would want to use them all at once if I could - just the same way as if I had 100 $1.00 bills...I wouldn't want to break my purchases up to use cash, why would I want to do it for coupons? Sure, it can be a pain in the butt for the people behind. That's when you say to them that you are using coupons, and there might be a delay while your coupons are checked. That gives the person behind you the opportunity to leave for another line. Some actually want to stay and see how much money you saved using the coupons, though!

In other words, using coupons doesn't mean you aren't honest or that you are tying to cheat the system. If so, 1 or 100 wouldn't make a difference.

[ikiru]

I use a coupon for every item and many many times that is well over 100 coupons.
I use them correctly. At one Kroger I go to the cashiers stand there and flip the coupon reading each side taking quite a while, the other store the clerks glance over to check the expiration and scan. I have had cashiers ask me to unbag my grocerys because they cant recall if I bought something or not and I ask them politely to have the bagger do that. One Kroger I won't go back to. They treat everyone like a crook that comes in with coupons no matter how many.

I have a large family and suffer from a health issue that makes my lower leg reflux with blood if I stand too long. I can walk around the store once and make it through the checkout then I have to sit for at least an hour with my leg up. I don't do multiple transactions unless one of my older kids is with me, then they do them.

[mpmama2re]

I never misuse coupons. I can't even bring myself to buy the koolaid packets for the kraft coupons.. but anyway. I can understand how stores are cracking down. Just reading the coupon boards, people are trying to get away with using coupons for items that they were not intended for. The boards posting coupon 'coding" and such. So not right. I don't think it's fair to us people who do use coupons correctly. We get hassled at the stores for other peoples mistakes. As for using 100 coupons, should be no problems with it as long as the correct items are bought. That's just laziness on the stores part. Also I don't think it's right that they not stock shelves because people are getting good deals with coupons. that happens a lot.
I have been fortunate so far to not have a problem with rude cashiers. Kroger has let me use multiple coupons with no problems and walmart cashiers have been great everytime I've been there. Target cashiers have been ok, they read my coupons like hawks but have scanned them all.

Using coupons is getting harder and with the way things are going I don't think it's gonna get better.... :o(

[kdphi_uh]

I know what you mean. I joined a local coupon group on Yahoo and all they talked about was decoding coupons and post about what coupon "worked".

Needless to say I removed myself from that group as they have no useful information to me.