Walmart's Coupon Policy

There has been a lot of "discussion" in the blog world lately regarding unfriendly cashiers and coupon policies. Pretty much everyone who coupons has encountered a situation or two where a cashier is either unfriendly regarding our coupons or just doesn't understand how to tender our coupons properly/fairly.

When I first started couponing, I would feel bad if I ran into a rude cashier who made me feel guilty like I was doing something wrong or illegal. But now I have been couponing for long enough to know what I am doing is legal and there is nothing shameful about saving my family money. I even have regular cashiers who call me the coupon lady (ha ha), and who cheer me on when I walk away with bags of free stuff. And if I encounter negativity from a store with cashiers who are consistently rude or difficult, I just take my business elsewhere. Here are some of the lame things I have been told by cashiers:

"We don't accept internet printables anymore due to fraud."
"The coupon beeped! Coupon fraud!"
"The picture on the coupon doesn't match the item so you can't use it."
"The coupon isn't for trial sized items."(Even when the coupon states on ANY ITEM.)
"I'm not allowed to accept those, but I'll let you do it just this one time!"
"You can't buy an item with a coupon because it would make that item FREE!" (Gasp!)

That last one is funny. Even if I am able to get an item free, the store is still getting reimbursed by the manufacturer plus .08 cents for processing, so what is the problem? The store is moving merchandise at the prices they are setting so what is the big deal? Plus there are actually manufacturers who give away free items so people can try them, and it is much cheaper to mail out a coupon then to pay to ship the actual item.

Here is another example. One time at Walmart, the cashier I encountered wouldn't accept my internet printable coupons to get free Johnson & Johnson buddies bars. She rudely told me that Walmart stopped accepting internet printable coupons. Since when?! So I had her call over the manager who informed me that they did in fact accept internet printable coupons. Then the same cashier tried to say that I still wasn't able to use my coupons because the picture on the coupon(s) didn't match my item(s). (Insert laughter here, because how could Johnson & Johnson possibly have a picture of every one of their bath products on a teeny tiny coupon?! LMAO!) I had her call the manager over again, and after going over the wording on the coupons and a lot of wasted time, I was finally able to complete my transaction. While I was leaving the store, the cashier told me that they had just had a meeting on coupons and that not even the managers were clear about what coupons they accept. It really sounded like they were all just not wanting to deal with coupons.

Probably the best thing to do is keep a copy of your store's coupon policy in your purse/wallet in case you encounter an unfriendly cashier, or ask to speak to a manager. Here is a link to Walmart's coupon policy in case you need it:

Walmart Coupon Policy