Questions stemming from a recent Kroger visit

[glenjen75]

Hey guys!

Although I've been what I'd call a "casual coupon-er" in the past, I've only just recently been getting into trying to really get the most out of them. In fact, I hadn't really even used this site or any type of online coupons until just this past month. Anyway, the reason I was posting here (in the Kroger section) was that I'm also new to shopping at Kroger, ever since one replaced the local Albertson's in my neighborhood a few weeks ago, and had some questions specific to this chain. I had a few issues come up in my most recent visit and was hoping someone could provide a little clarification, if possible. (For the record, I have already searched the site on my own to see if these have already been addressed)

During this last visit, I decided to try and take advantage of the advertised (8/25 - 8/31) 10-for-$10 sale as they had a few items I was low on. Purchases were as follows:

Country Crock Spread, 15 oz: $1 (sale price) - .40 Q (Printed) doubled -> .20

Question1: How easy is it to get multiple printings of coupons printed online? Is it easy/possible to just copy them? (I do have a color printer w/ a scanner). I've seen from another thread that a few Kroger stores will only accept 1 such coupon per transaction. This is in addition to the limitation most stores have of only 3 identical manufacturer's coupons per transaction. Any other Kroger-specific limitations?

You can print twice from each computer (typically) Each coupon printed will have a unique pin number. If it is NOT unique, the store will not get reimbursed and thus considered fradulent. Not sure open up another browser will help because the software places "cookies" on your computer showing you have printed the coupon

Better Oats Instant Oatmeal (x2): $1 ea. (10/$10 sale price) - BOGOF Q (Printed) -> .50 ea

Question2: Cashier had trouble scanning this coupon and asked me if I remembered the price. I gave him the sale price ($1) rather than the actual listed price. Is there a Kroger policy/trend for sale vs list price in this situation?

This will vary by cashier, but the best answer I can give concerning the price you "should" get is the price the item rings up. That is the price the store is selling it for at the time of purchase and thus the price that "should" be entered. Some cashier's will just let it default to the max amt of coupon and others might give you max shelf price, YMMV

Kroger Brand Ice Cream Sandwiches: $1 (10/$10 sale price) - .40 ecoupon (from Kroger website) -> .60
Kroger Brand Tortilla Chips, 10 oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)
Fast Fixins Frozen Chicken Strips, 8oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question3: Here I mistakingly thought I had a (e)coupon loaded onto my card for the tortilla chips. But after double checking when I got home, it seems that it was only good for larger sized bags. Not having a hard copy to view in the store, is this a common occurence with coupons loaded onto a store card? Similar situation happened with the chicken strips - but I knew before checkout that the size was wrong, since I had a tangible coupon I could read in that case. Any suggestions as far as how to avoid such problems with e-coupons? It seems to me creating and carrying around a list of everything loaded onto the card defeats most of the covenience of it, but since I already keep a database of my more tangible coupons, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to add those to it and print out a list to take with me.

I personally keep the print out with me

Kroger Crunchy Peanut Butter, 18oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question4: Here was a situation almost opposite from the "Scan Right Guarantee" that I've read about: Weekly ad mentioned the sale price applied to select store-brand jams/jellies in addition to the PB and even had one pictured. *None* were marked down in the store (unlike the PB). While I've found most stores will honor an advertised special if brought to their attention, does Kroger have any similar "Guarantee" policy?

If the PB was pictured, you should have been able to get the advertised price as long as the store didn't have a posted retraction.

Wonder Whole Wheat Bread (x2): $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question5: Saw somewhere that there was a manufacturer's coupon for Wonder bread available from an Albertson's booklet (but in the end couldn't find it) - Is there any chain policy on accepting *manufacturer's* coupons that have other store's logos? In my experience this varies from store to store...

Not written in the policy specifically and this will be another YMMV or your cashier may vary whether they allow or not

Kroger Mini Carrots, 16oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)
Kroger Toaster Pastries: $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Monster Lo-Carb Energy Drink, 16oz: $1.99 - $1.99 (Summer of Savings promotion "prize") -> free

Question6: Not an issue this time, but does Kroger count free items like this towards offers like MegaDeals that require you to buy a certain number of specified products? Earlier, I think I read somewhere in these forums that they DON'T but was having trouble finding it again to confirm.

Free items count

Bisquick, 40oz: $3.39 - .50 ecoupon (from Shortcuts.com) - .50 Q (Printed) doubled -> 1.89
Cheerios, $1.98 (sale price) - .55 ecoupon (from Shortcuts.com) - $1 Q (Printed) -> .43

Question7: I have several identical online coupons from multiple sources loaded onto my Kroger card, which can apparently hold up to 150. The checkout scanner/computer seemed to prefer the ones from Shortcuts.com, although I'm not sure why. Anyone know? They were neither the first nor last loaded onto the card. Perhaps they expired first? Random luck? I guess since they were identical coupons it didn't really matter, although I imagine there might be situations where it could.

I agree, it favors Shortcuts, but we still don't have the ecoupons quite figured out.

Question8: When selecting my Cheerios box, I noticed a red bordered plastic tag/insert (identical to the price tag except color) adjacent to the actual price in the shelving. It stated "save $4 when you buy 4" or something similar and mentioned Kroger bucks. I've never seen this before. Is this an indication of a potential Catalina offer or is it an otherwise unadvertised deal similar to CVS's Extra Bucks? Knowing what to look for, I did notice similar tags on a couple of other items in the store. Are these deals generally store specific or regional/national?

Sounds like a cat deal to me, some are regional some are national, we test to figure it out

Dannon Light n' Fit, 4-pack: $1.88 (sale price) - .40 Q (Insert) doubled -> 1.08

You could have gotten a rain check for the variety that was out. Rain checks last for 30 days from date written. Some stores will try to tell you it has to be used at the same store, but it is not in the policy that it has to be that way

Question9: Got one of the last packs available in the flavor I wanted, which got me thinking about rain checks. Is there any chain (national/regional) policy regarding rain checks, or is it store-dependent? Mainly wondering about length of time they are good for...

Total: 15 items for $12.11. Even with suboptimal coupon-ing, the reciept still reported a savings of 58%, which while nothing to get too excited over, wasn't too bad.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide! I'm sure I'll eventually learn the answers to any unanswered questions through trial and error. :)

- Glen


Welcome to the forum! Glad you posted and sorry for my delay in response.

[Blewbyou]

Hi There

I think I can answer some of your questions.

part of number 1: Photocopying coupons is considered fraudulent, so not allowed. I don't normally "print" coupons online, but I know some do allow to print more than one and some do not.

Number 2: It has been my personal experience that the cashier has always taken off the original price of the item, if it's normally $1.29 and on sale for $1.00, they would take off $1.29. I have read other posts where some Kroger stores will only take off the $1.00. So, varies store to store.

Number 8: the red and white tag under the item does mean a potential Catalina could print after checking out.

Good Luck to You!

[glenjen75]

Thanks for the answers!

Just had one flollow-up/clarification:

part of number 1: Photocopying coupons is considered fraudulent, so not allowed. I don't normally "print" coupons online, but I know some do allow to print more than one and some do not.

Quite true (photocopying = illegal), and looking back on my OP I wasn't very clear at all about what I was thinking and have encountered. Let me clarify: My preferred internet browser doesn't support the coupon-printing software of some sites (most notably anything running through coupons.com). However, this is easy enough to overcome by simply copying the web address for the coupon-to-be-printed and pasting into another browser that supports the software. Seeing as this was so easy, it had me wondering about how easy it was to simply keep copying and pasting multiple times (preferably in the same browser window). As you stated, it seems some sites/coupons allow you to print more than once. And at that point, is this *really* any different from photocopying? But this is certainly more of a general question, and I'm sure I'll have luck finding answers in a thread more appropriate to the topic.

[jaws1]

Thanks for the answers!

Just had one flollow-up/clarification:



Quite true (photocopying = illegal), and looking back on my OP I wasn't very clear at all about what I was thinking and have encountered. Let me clarify: My preferred internet browser doesn't support the coupon-printing software of some sites (most notably anything running through coupons.com).

This is something I found a while back on here. I still feel badly that I didn't c/p the link so I could give the person credit ... cuz it's REALLY good info!!

"PROBLEMS PRINTING BRICKS COUPONS - SOLUTIONS

(from HCW) This is from a blog I read.


I have heard that many of you have had trouble printing Bricks coupons: that you keep getting a “please wait” or “please install printer” message. If this seems to be your problem I have found some information that may be helpful to you.

The problem is that most of these coupons have a link that is meant to be printed in a certain browser (i.e. Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari). When you try to print a coupon in a different browser than was intended, you will get one of those annoying messages

The trick below is made by just changing two characters in the link.
The following is a Firefox link:

hxxp://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=ri3peuo59687503&bt=wg&o=53740&ci=1&c=GM&p=TyQrvJAY
Note the “wg” in the URL (I have put it in bold for you). This is telling you it is a Firefox link.

To make that link an Internet Explorer link, you will simply change the “wg” to “wi” or “vi”. It will take a little trial and error to determine which combination will be the fix. The easiest way to make this fix is to paste the original link into a Word document, make the change needed and then paste the corrected link into the address bar and press “enter” on the keyboard.

If the link had a “wi” or “vi” it would be an Internet Explorer link. To make it print in Firefox, just change the “wi” or “vi” to “wg”.

You can also use this trick to print coupons in Safari. Just replace the “wg”, “wi”, or “vi” to “xs”. And to get a Safari link to print in a different browser, change the “xs” to“wi” or “vi” for Internet Explorer or to “wg” for Firefox."

However, this is easy enough to overcome by simply copying the web address for the coupon-to-be-printed and pasting into another browser that supports the software. Seeing as this was so easy, it had me wondering about how easy it was to simply keep copying and pasting multiple times (preferably in the same browser window). As you stated, it seems some sites/coupons allow you to print more than once. And at that point, is this *really* any different from photocopying? But this is certainly more of a general question, and I'm sure I'll have luck finding answers in a thread more appropriate to the topic.

Your theory "sounds" good, but don't think it's going to work:

1. "bricks" usually only allows 2 prints per coupon per computer per site ... somehow, they "tag" (or whatever the word is) the computer and KNOW how many prints you've done
(I don't know the exact terminology to use, but "bricks" is the "printing program" most of the coupon sites seem to use, at least in my experience.)
-- so, you could print 2 Better Oats BOGO Qs from Smart Source, from coupons.com, from RedPlum, etc. ... from each site offering it!
OR, if you have access to multiple computers, 2 from each of same Q!

2. When you get 2 of the same Q to print from same computer, notice that EACH Q has a unique identification # on it, some have 2 of these -- look on the upper right, below the exp date. See the bar code thing with #s below? those #s are an ID for THAT print.
Others also have a "PIN" # as well, usually on left side, between picture and mfr bar code that changes with each print!
[The exception to this is on manufacturer site links to pdf files ... those can legitmately have multiple prints!!]

BUT, to answer on how we get 2 prints of same IP (and it took me a while to figure out, too!), you can generally
click the Back button
you'll usually get a screen that says the page expired, do you want to retry ... YES!
the next screen is the little computers sending info, doing second print!

I'll try to go through your list and see if I can answer more questions.

[mommarock]

Question 4, I would ask a manager, as it is pictured, and thus advertised, however when it says SELECT, they kind of have you.. chances are when the picture is THERE in the ad, the manager is more than willing to work with you. I worked in Krogers until a month ago, when I decided to dedicate to family, and let me just say, in my store it was pretty much the customer is right.. they want you coming back as long as you aren't a habitual offender of some kind.

[jaws1]

Question2: Cashier had trouble scanning this coupon and asked me if I remembered the price. I gave him the sale price ($1) rather than the actual listed price. Is there a Kroger policy/trend for sale vs list price in this situation?

As PP said, YMMV, sometimes between cashiers. I always "budget" sale price but, when asked, give shelf price (because that's how it rang up before the discount).

Kroger Brand Tortilla Chips, 10 oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question3: Here I mistakingly thought I had a (e)coupon loaded onto my card for the tortilla chips. But after double checking when I got home, it seems that it was only good for larger sized bags. Not having a hard copy to view in the store, is this a common occurence with coupons loaded onto a store card? Similar situation happened with the chicken strips - but I knew before checkout that the size was wrong, since I had a tangible coupon I could read in that case. Any suggestions as far as how to avoid such problems with e-coupons? It seems to me creating and carrying around a list of everything loaded onto the card defeats most of the covenience of it, but since I already keep a database of my more tangible coupons, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to add those to it and print out a list to take with me.

It IS possible to print out a list from each of the sites individually OR from the Kroger site ... agreed, it IS a PITA and seems like waste of paper, but sometimes save ya $. On my db list I carry, I put the sizes, any restrictions, etc. as I'm loading the Qs. True, it's extra work, but cuts down on the paper and getting wrong items (which I've done!).

Kroger Crunchy Peanut Butter, 18oz: $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question4: Here was a situation almost opposite from the "Scan Right Guarantee" that I've read about: Weekly ad mentioned the sale price applied to select store-brand jams/jellies in addition to the PB and even had one pictured. *None* were marked down in the store (unlike the PB). While I've found most stores will honor an advertised special if brought to their attention, does Kroger have any similar "Guarantee" policy?


answered

Wonder Whole Wheat Bread (x2): $1 (10/$10 sale price)

Question5: Saw somewhere that there was a manufacturer's coupon for Wonder bread available from an Albertson's booklet (but in the end couldn't find it) - Is there any chain policy on accepting *manufacturer's* coupons that have other store's logos? In my experience this varies from store to store...

Kroger's listed policy doesn't address other store logos on MQs, BUT clearly states they accept MQs ... when this is challenged, I politely point out "Manufacturer Coupon" at the top AND the "Retailer: Redeem ..." part, explaining it IS a MQ, just has another store's advertising! ... But, as you've discovered, it can be YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Monster Lo-Carb Energy Drink, 16oz: $1.99 - $1.99 (Summer of Savings promotion "prize") -> free

Question6: Not an issue this time, but does Kroger count free items like this towards offers like MegaDeals that require you to buy a certain number of specified products? Earlier, I think I read somewhere in these forums that they DON'T but was having trouble finding it again to confirm.

Never saw this question before! ... I don't know the "real" answer, but the logic one is that it should be treated no differently than any other loadable coupon, so I would definitely question why it didn't count. (Items you use BOGO Qs on count for it! Same difference, to me!)
When it scans, regardless of price, it should have a little "+" beside it (meaning "mega").
Don't know who that happened to, but I'd definitely challenge it!

Bisquick, 40oz: $3.39 - .50 ecoupon (from Shortcuts.com) - .50 Q (Printed) doubled -> 1.89
Cheerios, $1.98 (sale price) - .55 ecoupon (from Shortcuts.com) - $1 Q (Printed) -> .43

Question7: I have several identical online coupons from multiple sources loaded onto my Kroger card, which can apparently hold up to 150. The checkout scanner/computer seemed to prefer the ones from Shortcuts.com, although I'm not sure why. Anyone know? They were neither the first nor last loaded onto the card. Perhaps they expired first? Random luck? I guess since they were identical coupons it didn't really matter, although I imagine there might be situations where it could.

random, at least from what I've noticed. However, I have had some do this when I bought 2 of same item:
8/27/2010 exp - item A, $0.50/1
9/27/10 exp - item A, $0.50/1 --- deducted
10/27/10 exp - item A, $0.50/1 -- deducted
THIS gets to be important when it's the end of the month and they've deducted Qs that expire 2 months ahead instead of the one that's fixing to expire. -- I write/call and fuss with them, explaining they should have taken off the one that's going to expire first. It's worked. (As always, have receipt, UPC code, Kroger Card handy!)

Question8: When selecting my Cheerios box, I noticed a red bordered plastic tag/insert (identical to the price tag except color) adjacent to the actual price in the shelving. It stated "save $4 when you buy 4" or something similar and mentioned Kroger bucks. I've never seen this before. Is this an indication of a potential Catalina offer or is it an otherwise unadvertised deal similar to CVS's Extra Bucks? Knowing what to look for, I did notice similar tags on a couple of other items in the store. Are these deals generally store specific or regional/national?

answered

Dannon Light n' Fit, 4-pack: $1.88 (sale price) - .40 Q (Insert) doubled -> 1.08

Question9: Got one of the last packs available in the flavor I wanted, which got me thinking about rain checks. Is there any chain (national/regional) policy regarding rain checks, or is it store-dependent? Mainly wondering about length of time they are good for...

YMMV, depending on what part of the sales period you are in when this happens. My store won't issue unless last day of sale (check yellow tag on shelf to be sure of this). Think I've heard other stores that will issue them earlier than that.

Total: 15 items for $12.11. Even with suboptimal coupon-ing, the reciept still reported a savings of 58%, which while nothing to get too excited over, wasn't too bad.

Not too shabby!! esp. doing on your own!! I like coming here because of the old "2 heads are better than one" theory! Things I don't catch, others often do!

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide! I'm sure I'll eventually learn the answers to any unanswered questions through trial and error. :)

- Glen

Hey! that's what we're here for -- to help each other out (and find good deals)! Ask away! (Hopefully, we won't confuse you worse than you were before!)

[zoeys_mom]

oops. you can tell I am tired, I answered in red in YOUR post (sorry I hit edit instead of quote)

Oh well, welcome to the board and I hope we have answered your questions.

[glenjen75]

Thanks guys for all your help! Was a lot quicker response than I was expecting!

[jaws1]

[flemishe]

Thanks for the answers!

Just had one flollow-up/clarification:



Quite true (photocopying = illegal), and looking back on my OP I wasn't very clear at all about what I was thinking and have encountered. Let me clarify: My preferred internet browser doesn't support the coupon-printing software of some sites (most notably anything running through coupons.com). However, this is easy enough to overcome by simply copying the web address for the coupon-to-be-printed and pasting into another browser that supports the software. Seeing as this was so easy, it had me wondering about how easy it was to simply keep copying and pasting multiple times (preferably in the same browser window). As you stated, it seems some sites/coupons allow you to print more than once. And at that point, is this *really* any different from photocopying? But this is certainly more of a general question, and I'm sure I'll have luck finding answers in a thread more appropriate to the topic.

It won't matter if you try with different browsers. You will still only get two prints regardless. You are tracked by IP address, which is from your computer and it has nothing at all to do with the browsers you use or try.