Walmart has published an official coupon policy online. Hopefully this is helpful to many of you that have problems at your local stores with coupons. I would suggest printing it out and carrying it with you when you shop.
A few highlights that I can see:
Walmart will accept:
Competitors’ coupons that feature a specific item for a specified price
for example, $2.99
*So this is great for Walgreens in ad coupons or if your grocery store has in ad coupons (Safeway does all the time!) The stink part of this is that the policy says one coupon per item so I am thinking they might not take manufacturer coupons on top of those in ad coupons.
Checkout coupons
(also called “Catalinas”) that are printed at our competitors’ registers, have “Manufacturer Coupon” with specific requirements printed on them, a valid remit address for the manufacturer, valid expiration date, and a scannable bar code.
*I don’t think this means Register Rewards. I think this means coupons that print from the catalina machine for specific products (like .50 off Tide) but it wouldn’t hurt to ask! I have heard of stores taking Register Rewards with no problems in the past!
On the flip side Walmart will NOT accept:
Print-at-home Internet coupons that require no purchase
*So no free item coupons but you can use a Buy One Get One Free coupon. Just as long as the coupon requires a purchase it is fine.
And I nearly fainted when I saw this part:
Coupons may exceed the price of the item. Change may be given or applied toward the cost of the basket purchase.
*Hello overage! What that means is that if you find an item for $1.00 and you have a $2 coupon, you will get the full value of the coupon credited to your purchase OR they will give you $1 back in cash! I have never seen that clause in any coupon policy ever and I am very curious to see how this actually works out for you guys.
You can see the Walmart coupon policy here.
(Thanks Shelly and Coupon Cravings!)
danielle says
holy cow! I might start shopping at walmart! lol
Amanda V says
this is good,however it does not address the issues with cashiers and managers wanting to go by what is pictured, and not by what the coupon states.
they also need to teach cashiers and mangers the difference between one per purchase and one per transaction
Jasmine says
WHOA. That last bit ALMOST makes me change my policy about Wal-mart not being worth the headache. I hate that place with a passion. But for overage…..hmmmmm.
Jennifer says
Still doesn’t address stupidity. Tried to buy Megamind yesterday with the $5 IP. The CSM said the coupon wasn’t valid because it didn’t have some barcode next to the expiration. I pulled out some other IP and none of them had said barcode. Don’t know what she was talking about. Now to see if Bestbuy will take it?
shelly says
I’m looking forward to using my $1 off Tide for travel size and getting a couple cents extra, or the dryer sheets and gain dish soap. 🙂
jenmom says
WOW overages? I can’t believe it! Can’t wait to try it out.
Kirsten says
Maybe this will help, since I will have proof with me that they can do the overage. Last time I had the person right under the store manager treat me like I was an idiot. She was very condescending and said that what I was trying to do was fraudulent. I was so mad….with things like that it’s amazing I still shop there! I think it will probably still be smart to just have more items in your transaction to absorb the overage so you don’t have problems.
Karen Hiebert says
I dunno. I just use the self checkout. 🙂 much easier. no one eto really talk to but then they are slow to update the system when it needs to be fixed i.e. “need clearance from cashier”. The people there look REALLY bored. Why, I don’t know. 🙂
I never buy eggs there b/c its always picked through AND they are always lots of them that are crashed. that’s just not right!
Julie says
I printed this up yesterday and took it with me . I did indeed have to pull it out and show the cashier and the manager! I was buying the gain $1.87 boxes and using the $3 coupon. It was so nice to have this available.
Jean says
So, this is a tiny amount, but I’ve used the $1 off reach floss at walmart when the purchase price is $0.97. The $1 comes off and I get floss + $0.03. My Walmart, in CA, is fantastic with coupons. Although I am careful to not use too many at a time and I always point out the products that I have a B1G1 or free coupon for as it’s easier for the cashier.
Charlene says
Kirsten- I know I am treated so badly at Walmart. It is just a miserable store in general that I have near me so I don’t know how helpful this will be but I am going to try it. If you think though it seems more like fraud on their part. I mean if I have an item for $1.50 and give them a $2 coupon, they are getting reimbursed $2. So they are sort of cheating the customer. Hopefully more stores implement similar policies.
Charlene says
Jennifer- your sentiment pretty much sums it up 🙂 I have readers that are so upset week after week and I think they look to me to help and really there is not one thing I can do for the very reason you provided.
Nicole says
Thank you so much! I might just have to laminate this policy and take it shopping with me. A lot of times, I forgo the great deals at Walmart because of the cashiers. Using coupons there is like pulling teeth!
Jamie says
I pretty much dont go to WalMart. Mine refuses to take ANY printable coupons, even the ones from the WalMart website! I have several cashiers treat me like a criminal, so I usually pay a few cents more and save the drama.
Jen T says
I had a couple frustrating experiences at Walmart so for a little bit I stopped couponing there, but later they seemed to be fine again as if the cashiers were suddenly educated about the coupon policy. I would only go once a month because Walmart is kinda far from us, but I was getting really lucky and finding the same cashier every visit (who wasn’t really “happy nice” from what I could see with other customers, but for some reason she would be extremely nice to me, my DH, and my kids when she saw us). My last experience was extremely horrible and embarrassing, because “my” cashier wasn’t there, and the cashier I had kept walking away from the register, on an extremely busy day with a line of people behind me, and going to customer service to have my coupons approved because she was like, “Yeah, but this coupon is going to make it free” and from what I could see from the person she was asking, the manager was looking at her like, “Uh yeah.. stop bothering me”. She was also doing the “it’s not pictured” thing, instead of reading the words. That was several months ago, and I haven’t been back. I’m kinda sad about it too, because we use to drop a lot of money over there despite our coupons (house decor, kids clothes, food, etc)
Lena K. says
Thanks for the link – I printed out the policy. My Wal-Mart won’t accept a Mfr. coupon that also has a store name. I explained to the manager that they are letting the other retailer win. I told them that I used to work for P&G (total lie, actually – my friend did) and that it’s common practice for retailers to put their logo on a mfr. coupon in hopes that the consumers will think that they have to go to that particular store. I assured her that they will be reimbursed by the mfr. for a mfr. coupon. Well, some of the cashiers and managers are about as smart and reasonable as my toenail…
Randi says
Now we can all just hope that the store managers and other employees get the proper training. Perhaps they need that class twice at my store, lol. I think I’m going to wait a few weeks and see if that helps with the “learning curve”, then test it out.
Donna says
After reading all the anti-Walmart comments I just have to say I’ve NEVER had a problem with couponing there. In fact, every cashier has made a positive comment about how awesome my coupons are. I’ve even passed a few good coupons on to the cashiers for movies. On the other hand, I despise Target. Over priced, rude cashiers… I only go in there a couple of times a year for the cute clothes. 🙂
Sherry says
I went yesterday to try the new policy out. I used 4 of the $3 Gain coupons on the dryer sheets at $1.87, The cashier questioned the coupons but after I showed him the policy he went ahead, using the overage to pay for an item that is never on sale. So I went again, same 4 coupons and this time he called someone to help him who had to call someone else but finally they approved it and I got 2 products which never have coupons or sales for tax and 8 free Gains. So bring the policy with you, I am probably not going to increase my shopping there unless the overage is really good, like this deal where I had 4.52 in overage.
vodreaux says
Here is a suggestion for everyone:
Since Walmart has updated the coupon policy, I encourage everyone to Email, Fax and even call Walmart CEO on complimenting the change on policy. Also, please share your horrible experience with Michael Duke. Ask him for his advice on making your future shopping experience smooth as possible avoiding past experience of you and others. Lastly, share this thread, other thread and blogs.
CEO of Walmart
[email protected]
479-273-4229
Corporate contact info:
702 Southwest 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
United States – Map
+1-479-2734000 (Phone)
+1-479-2734053 (Fax)
Vicky Shaw says
Someone else had a link for a Walmart Survey as to what we think of the new policy. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WMcouponpolicy
maria says
I used a BOGO on axe at walmart yesterday. My husband’s axe was 3.47 a bottle for wash. The coupon was up to 5.99 off. It was awesome to see the cashier automatically take 5.99 off! I never even mentioned it! I got two bottles for 95! I bought more coupons on ebay and will be going back this week to stock up on AXE!!!!!
Karri says
I have read the Walmart policy.. I’m ittle onfused still. I have a coupon that states free wonderful pitachios up to $9.99. Coupon from recyclebank for 200 points. The Walmart policy now should give me the entire $9.99 coupon even though it says up to???? If anyone has insight on this, I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks.
Ronnie says
I had a $1 Coupon off of Wilkinson Razors at Walmart. I brought to the register and it rang up at $0.97. She used the $1 off coupon and it came to -$0.03. I was like COOL! Then it added the standard 8% sales tax and I wound up owing $0.05!!!!!! How does that work??? Should I get my $0.05 back according to the Wal-mart policy or am I wrong?
Charlene says
Ronnie you are always responsible for sales tax on your purchases.
Ronnie says
Yikes, please forgive my blonde moment! I just realized it’s accurate!! It’s an awesome deal especially if you print out a ton of them, you can have a year supply of razors!
Misty says
I recently started using coupons due to only having 1 income and my husband being a full time EMT student. (we have 3 wal-marts within a 20 minute drive) When I go to my local wal-mart they are usually pretty nice. *maybe because they all know me so well* But then when I go to one of the other wal-marts I get treated like utter crap. I will only use the self check outs (less attitude from people that way) or so I thought. The people that run the self check out at the second wal-mart are all about giving me grief because they have to stop what they are doing *IE JUST STANDING THERE* and help me. I went to the CSM and Manager and made a complaint. I have saved $200.00 + since I started using coupons, Money that can go towards something else!
nikki says
what about doubling coupon and all that. i dont see anything about that. i am trying to get started but dont know much about this stuff. love this blog though has gave me alot of good info.
Charlene says
Nikki,
Walmart only doubles coupons in select stores- I believe just Utah right now. In general they do not double.