I have had quite a few emails lately and comments about the coupons printing with one bar code. Do NOT worry nothing is wrong with them!
I printed this one off today and this is what I got, 1 with both bar codes and the Sally Hansen with only 1.
** First, I want to say that this was my first attempt at photoshop above…. I think my ability to use a text box and a writing tool could use some improvement, but my color choice in the red circles and the blue font are right on don’t you think?
Back to the coupon lesson:
We are accustomed to seeing 2 barcodes on all our coupons, well by the end of December that will be coming to an end. That short barcode like the one you see above will be gone. It is being replaced by the longer Databar Barcode.
According to Frugal Finders (thank you for the all the good info!), the DataBar barcode contains much more information than a UPC code does. For example, it accommodates longer manufacturer identification numbers, which check to see if you purchased the correct item. Also, since there is minimal human readable text, this means the end of barcode decoding!
Retailers that utilize DataBar will experience automatic expiration date checking, reduced cashier intervention and improved scan rates. This means your checkout experience should be much less painful and will be faster.
Of course, in order for these coupons to scan, the retailer would need to update their POS system to accommodate the new barcode. Most major retailers like Target and Walgreens already support DataBar barcodes, with other retailers soon to come.
** I am thrilled with the changes, it will be MUCH harder for people (like J’amie from TLC) to commit coupon fraud and use coupons in a way they should not be used. It will also make checkout easier and faster… hopefully!
*** If these coupons do NOT scan at your store all they have to do is use the HANDHELD scanner and it should work. NOT just scan them over the regular scanner. If they try and tell you they can’t take it because it didn’t scan, nicely ask them to please try the handheld scanner and it should work.
I printed one out the other day that looked like that and went to Walmart with it. I didn’t notice it until she tried to scan it and told me they don’t take them when they are like that. It wasn’t a big deal at the time to me, just figured she didn’t know how to apply them to the transaction. Glad to know it is a new thing and eventually their ability to accept them will happen shortly. 🙂
Hi there, I was at Walmart today and they said the those coupons won’t scan and told me they don’t take internet printed coupons that will not scan so none of them worked!!! Not fun —-
I work at a Wal-Mart and all day yesterday these coupons were not scanning. The register would beep like it took the coupon but the amount was not being taken off. Please keep an eye on your receipts. Our cashiers were just using the vendor coupon button to put them in. I will definently let them know to try the scanner!
Beth, thanks for willing to tell the other cashiers!
Paul, your photo-shopping is okay, but stick to retail! Okay, real cheesy I know. 🙂
Some of my coupons came out the new way and thanks for the heads up on why. Could this possibly explain why some coupons have been printing with no barcode? Like perhaps the computer wasn’t able to understand and therefore, some coupons printed like normal minus the barcode? Just wondering.
So glad you addressed this. At my Walmart, the handheld scanners would not scan the coupon either. The cashier tried and tried. But said she could not take an internet coupon that wouldn’t scan. Hope that update their system soon!
Walmart gave me the biggest headache over the sally hansen coupon. The lady said there are people making copies of coupons off of the copy machine and that they would not take it. I only had one coupon not 20, so i told her she could put everything back; she said she would do it this time but not again. once you tell them to put up your order; dollar signs start disappearing from their eyes and they say oh no i’m not accusing you of doing this. haha looks like she will since she doesn’t understand coupons and how they will soon look. Walmart might want to invest in taking a coupon class to better educate their employees. I hate walmart, but if i can walk out of that store with lots, and lots of stuff than i guess we shoppers HAVE to put up with some of the rude cashiers. By the way THANKS A BUNCH for this website I would always go to walmart and spend all my money, but now with your help I don’t Thank you.
As an ex-cashier of Walmart from quite a few years ago I can honestly say she probably didn’t care about the company losing money off that transaction. Sadly she probably just didn’t want to deal with having the transaction voided and the hassle of having all your stuff at her feet until someone came around with a buggy to pick up “returns”. Not being mean, and I didn’t think this way myself when I was with Walmart, but there are MANY of the cashiers that don’t care 🙁 Gogo crappy salaries.
I had a few like that in my paper last week. I went to Dillon’s (Kroger) and the manager did an override after verifying that I was purchasing the correct item. Naturally, the woman in line behind me started accusing me of fraud. The manager snapped at her and said that my coupon beeped because it was for the new coupon system that they were getting next week. Made me giggled a little.
I had 1 like this too (Bic Pen Pals), and they almost didn’t take it because it didn’t have the scannable bar code. It wouldn’t scan on the handheld either. They did end up just keying it as a vendor coupon, but said they’d have to investigate why it didn’t the other bar code. Now I can tell them why. Hope they get this issue fixed sooner rather than later.
I only got a short barcode when I printed 2 coupons for the jello from one computer.Will they still work?
So is WalMart no longer taking printed out coupons? Or just the ones that won’t scan
Our Walmart has stopped honoring anything over the purchase price of the item. Have never had a problem until last week. So..my question is..do they get paid the full face value of that coupon from the manufacturer or vendor? If so, they are making money that we should be making.
They get paid what they key the coupon in as. So if you had the $3 q’s from the Schick packs and used them on the 1.97 razors, and instead of the overage, they key in the 1.97, that is what they are reimbursed for.
Cheryl that is actually not correct. Register receipts are not sent in with coupons to the clearing house. That is the whole reason Walmart started paying the overage. There are cases pending that are charging retailers that do this with coupon fraud because they are getting reimbursed for the face value of the coupon. http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/11/target_shorts_customers_on_cou.html
When I went to Target the other nite a shift mgr wouldnt let the cashier give me full credit for my coupon I told her all the other cashiers always did she told me well they were not doing their job,,I said something to the effect well you guys get paid face value of it,,and she told me some crap about ohh we dont wesend them off and get paid by the pound for them!!!!
I had the same problem at walmart. I was told they had to have 2 barcodes and if it didnt scan they wouldnt take them! UUghh….I pitched a fit because this came in the mail from manufacturer…clearly wasnt a copied. Finally, they keyed it in. Very frustrating!
Yeah… we printed the jello q’s from two computers. Some of them came out only with the old upc barcode. Unfortunately, those were the ones printed in black and white too! We used them after price matching to get cgeap jello. When they scanned, it said they could only take off $0.75 since it exceeded the value. Huh? We asked for a csm on that one. She looked at the ones that were black and white and did not have the GS1 barcode and asked us if they were copies. Gasp! WE were about to say no, as you can see each one has a unique number in the right upper hand corner, and they will verify at veri-fi.com. But before we got out any more than no… they had just manually entered the coupons and went on. Allowed us to get the jello for $0.33 a box, down from $0.92 cents WM price. Just had some anxiety with the process. But we knew we were in the right… at least it worked out.
great, but not so great… i have had to pass up a few dollar stores & heb cus they didn’t want to take them 🙁 Lets hope change comes sooner than later!
Can you contact HEB (texas grocery store) to ask them?
I get some of my coupons from a coworker & for some reason the area he lives in gets the Red Plum Sunday insert the Wednesday before. In this Sunday’s Red Plum you will notice that several of the coupons will have only the long barcode:
Maybelline $2 on any face product exp 01-06-12
Whiskas $1-1 on any bag exp 12-31-11
Whiskas B1G1 tray exp 12-31-11
Garnier Moisturizer $1-1 exp 12-17-11
Garnier Cleanser $1-1 exp 12-17-11
Eucerin $1.50-1 exp 11-26-11
Francesco Pasta Sauce $0.35-1 exp 12-06-11
Bona Hard Wood Mop $10-1 exp 12-31-11
…possibly more. I hope the stores update their scanners soon or at least educate their employees.
At Neighborhood Walmart on Hillcroft in Houston they have examples of coupons that they consider to be fraudulent TAPED TO EVERY REGISTER so that the cashiers will remember NOT to accept them, and the examples are coupons with ONE BARCODE! I was at the checkout for 30 minutes with my cashier, the CSM, and assistant manager because I wanted to use a Palmer’s coupon (emailed to me from manufacturer, one barcode). I had the Walmart Coupon Policy with me and clearly explained everything about couponing to each of the 3 employees. They were all scared to death that they were going to get fired for accepting my coupon. I knew that my coupon was legitimate and I wanted to use it. I felt sorry for them because obviously they are getting threatened about taking coupons, so they are scared to death. The cashier asked me if she could keep my copy of the coupon policy, since she’d never seen one but just has been threatened with what NOT to accept! I gave it to her gladly, telling her it’s on walmart.com and anyone can print it!
I wish I would have known this earlier, I was down in that area today.
If you come back to the area please do check in at that Walmart! Neighborhood Walmart at Hillcroft/S. Braeswood. Thanks, Paul.
Wow. I don’t have any trouble like this. If I can’t scan a coupon the cashier puts it in by hand for me. Kudos to my Walmart! I haven’t had any trouble anywhere actually: Target will use the hand scanner or type in the numbers and if a clerk is confused I don’t have to say anything – like magic a manager seems to appear and say it’s good and how to take care of the coupon. Even my local Meijer store is great after initially having some struggles with wondering if they were getting fake coupons. Thanks for all the helpful info, Paul. 🙂
Just remembered that what they’re actually doing is taking off the amount of the coupon when it won’t scan. 🙂
Paul-
Thanks for this information! Wondering, has anyone figured out how to determine if the coupon will double…since there will be no 5 or 9 printed on it.
Thanks, LOVE YOUR SITE!!!
I haven’t had any luck at my wal-mart either with these type of coupons, they refuse to accept them if they don’t scan. The hand held scanner would not work either.l
I see these new bar codes being a huge hassle. They never want to scan. Many small stores I shop in out here in the sticks haven’t upgraded and can’t even use the coupons that have 1 bar code. Walmart will not accept any coupons that do not scan. I was there like 3 days ago and a csm was telling the cashier to scan the old bar code, not the new one. She said, “This is the one you want to scan!” So if this is going to be the standard, no one is telling the store employees.
I realize this was to “cut down on fraud”.. but it seems like all it’s doing is causing problems for those of us who use coupons legitimately.
i had a problem in Walmart tonight. I have a coupon for $1 off 1/2 lb of Sara Lee deli meat from the deli counter, not the prepackaged meat. So I told the lady at the deli counter to ring it up separately as 1/2 lb each. But when I got to the cashier station she just refused to scan the coupon at all!! I read the fine print and and it stated deli meat from the deli counter, but she still wouldn’t take it so I went to the CSM (2 of them) they both refused to even try to scan the coupon and said it was for the prepackaged meat. Then I had a price match to Randalls for the stove top $.88 and a coupon that stated B4G1 free. The cashier told me I needed the ad with me but bc I only bought 5 they’d do it this time but next time I’d need the ad. Then refused to take the coupon bc it stated that I had to buy the items at the retail price to get the 5th one free. I’m telling you, I walked out of there fuming bc I asked for the SM and was told he was out on lunch. Walmart may be closer to me then most stores but I’ll just travel the extra 20 mins to the store that will accept my coupons.
I tried to use the Sally Hansen coupon a while back at Target. The coupon wouldn’t scan with either the register or the handheld. The cashier was very VERY accommodating. She kept trying and eventually sent me to customer service. The CSR also tried but it would not scan. The problem came because they couldn’t enter the barcode manually. She tried all of the numbers on the coupon, but none of them would accept. I have heard that it is possible to input these coupons in manually, but how???
Now I know why my cashiers have such a problem scanning my coupons! I tried to use a whole bunch at HEB the other day and they just would not go. I had a great cashier though because he just punched in the amounts that needed to be taken off and took all the coupons, printed and insert.
I have a question. I look at the barcode to make sure I have the right product. Is there a way to tell with the new barcodes?
Nope not yet anyway untill someone figures out the coding!! But thats one of the reaons why its been changed.
Yes…I have had my first experience now with this. The Kashi coupons I have are the new single barcode. The cashier tried to scan it AND use the barcode scanner and it would not work. She consulted with the CSM who advised not to accept the coupon. She stated she was not allowed to manually type in the coupon as other cashiers have done in the past. This was at WM btw. They were great coupons too. I was very upset. I printed them fairly. I’ve since asked Walmart to advise me whether they have the new data scan system and was advised “I couldn’t tell you.” Not good…