Do Not Double... WHY?

[CW&M Mom]

Originally Posted by 434Teresa I really think ALL cashiers know better than to scan a coupon more than one time even if the person got more than one of the product and only has one coupon. Bostonred you sound pretty right to me... Bolossmed I have one here its for 55cents off of glad trash bags, it came off of the box I got the other day...yeh would have used it but I have some for $1 off.. Freds and kroger will not double them..those are the only two that I ahve that ever do double coupons..freds only on staurday and kroger I have to like 45 minutes drive to get to and I think they are to high on most of the stuff unless its on sale...

I always giggle at the 55 cents off the trash bags at our Dillons...cause they will add the 45 cents to make it a dollar.

They even doubled there own cats And they were even expired.

[mayakelly]

Here are a few that I printed recently and wondered "WHY DND?" :

General Mills/Betty Crocker save $.75 when you buy two boxes Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mixes
General Mills/Yoplait save $.40 on 6 any variety Yoplait yogurt cups
General Mills save $.55 whe you buy one box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
General Mills/Pillsbury save $.55 when you buy any Pillsbury Big Deluxe Special Edition Cookie (ref. dough)
General Mills/ Nature Valley save $.50 when you buy one box any flavor Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Granola bars
General Mills save $.75 when you buy one box Kix

Okay, I see a trend here :) It looks like maybe Gereal Mills is a big offender in the DND double thing. At least in the printables I had sitting next to the computer. All the coupons that did NOT state "DND" were not from Gerenal Mills.

Where do I find out how to email General Mills? Anyone else want to do it and pass the word along?

[mayakelly]

Originally Posted by shelleyf I agree, I think they are and also I believe they put them on coupon products they know will be super cheap or free so they don't have to pay. think the stores made an agreement for them to do it this way but I am not sure. I know that has been the trend here. They have to manually press a button to make it not happen. That happened to me at Piggly Wiggly recently so I am not wanting to go back there, not that they had great deals most of the time anyway, lol

The grocery store I shop at now manually stops the DND now. They press a key and it says "single value coupon". The computer already did that for store coupons; it tries to double any manufactor's still and they stop it :(
Their policy states they double any manufactor's coupon up to $.99.
(it is Big Y, a smallish chain in MA and CT)

[kval07]

Here's an article I found a while back on the topic:

Coupons 101: Do not double | newsobserver.com projects

So, why then, do manufacturers go through the trouble of putting DND or DNT on a coupon? There is actually a reason. If you read the fine print on most coupons, you'll note that the manufacturer promises to pay the store back the face value of the coupon, plus usually 8 cents for handling. But with many stores offering double or triple coupons all the time, the manufacturer wants to be clear that it will only pay the face value. When a store chooses to double or triple coupons anyway, the store is basically taking a loss on the doubled part of the coupon.

[mayakelly]

I emailed General Mills, but haven't heard back (except for the auto response stuff "we received your valued input..")

[mayakelly]

Originally Posted by kval07 Here's an article I found a while back on the topic: Coupons 101: Do not double | newsobserver.com projects

It still sounds funny to me that the only reason for the DND is to let the store know that a manufacturer won't pay double...

[mayakelly]

Ok
I just got a response from General Mills. I will copy it here:
Hello Mrs. A...:

Thank you for contacting us regarding coupon doubling. We are sorry your coupons could not be doubled.

Coupons are meant to be an additional incentive for our consumers to try some of our products they may not have used before, or to enjoy some of their old favorites at a savings. Ordinarily our coupons, which are regularly offered in newspapers, magazines, product packages, or mailed to your home, do not prevent doubling and only half carry expiration dates.

"Not to be doubled" coupons are issued as a result of an agreement between General Mills and specific retailers. Sometimes this marketing strategy is used in specific geographic locations, and sometimes only in certain retail chains.

Manufacturers cannot dictate pricing or coupon doubling policies to retailers. To do so would be in violation of anti-trust laws.



Again, we are sorry this policy is offensive to you. We will share your letter with the individuals responsible for our promotional coupon offers.


Thank you,


Kimberly
Customer Care Specialist


>Original Message From:
>
>Originated by Consumer: I was wondering why General Mills puts "do not double" on their coupons? My grocery doubles manufacturers coupons up to $.99. Last month they stopped doubling any coupon that states "do not double." They told me they would get in trouble with manufacturer if they did. As far as I understand, the manufacturer pays the face value and $.08 and then if the store doubles they "pay" the doubled amount. Then it shouldn't affect General Mills if a coupon was doubled.