The overage thing has got me wondering if the manufacturers will start putting both limits and size restrictions on all their coupons?
It will take them a little while to get all that together, but I think there will be some backlash just because Walmart is such a power house. OR Walmart will stop actually refunding cash and instead put it on a gift card that you can only use at Walmart.
Nathan at We Use Coupons has a very good write up concerning the new coupon policy HERE. I esp. appreciate the part about adding items to your order to absorb the overage. I just read a thread about someone purchasing 94 Purex 3 in 1 $.97 items and using that many coupons, getting $157 cash back. Then complaining about a rude cashier and CSM. I would have been SHOCKED if they had not been rude, although it does not give them the right to be be…
In my own opinion, this is the quickest way to get Walmart to change their policy to just not allow overage at all or take ANY coupons that are more than the item amount.
Personally my stance is that I do not clear the shelves in that way and personally I am applying overage to items in my cart. Now, we are all adults here and I would never presume to tell anyone else what to do, you must decide what you want to do with this new policy.
Also, regarding Walgreens RR catalina’s, many of them scan without a problem, but according to Walmarts policy “Walmart only accepts coupons for merchandise that we sell.” Register Rewards are good for OYNO (on your next order) and not for a specific product so I can see why there is going to be a problem using them. I think that we will wait and see if there is more clarification about them. I know that some of you have no problem using them and some of you have been told “no”. I almost feel like if you have been able to use them you have been lucky.
This is new ground for all of us and when ever I have new information I will post it ASAP. I have been shooting off emails all over the place and making phone calls and this is still all the information that I have. Thank you for your patience as we figure this out together.
**************MY FINAL THOUGHTS ON OVERAGE***************
I know that many people have very strong feelings on this subject. I appreciate all of your comments (even if i didn’t post them) I really strive to keep an upbeat view on all subjects. My reader was in a tough spot and made a decision that she felt compelled to do. I try not to judge, just to give guidance on things relevant to Walmart. I am closing the comments after my final review of the subject.
Walmart’s new overage policy is awesome, I think we can all agree on that. The transaction will not cost Walmart, they will get full redemption for all of the coupons. It was a perfectly legitimate transaction as the policy is currently written. I am also equally confident that Walmart never intended for anyone to get 159.00 back in cash and if there are too many of these types of transactions they will change the policy. Walmart is making great strides in their effort to support couponers. Lets use this as a cautionary tale and learn from it.
Paul
I completely agree! I think that if too many people go in and walk out with cash in hand instead of overage for their other groceries that walmart will do away with the policy all together.
I also agree that one person should not wipe the shelf clean. I only buy what my family will use and if I am fortunate enough to receive overage I use it toward other items we need.
I think people should consider the ramifications of their trips before they go. IE: $159 cash back seems to be abusing the policy.
Great post.
I agree with you 100%. I really wish people would purchase items to cover the overages and not expect cash back…I’m afraid they will ruin this for everyone.
I went to Wal Mart yesterday and bought several items including a travel size Secret which I tried to use my $1 off any Secret coupon from the P&G coupon book. The register beeped and gave the cashier the message that I did not buy the item on the coupon. She said it was probably because the Secret was less than the coupon value. (She obviously wasn’t paying attention when my coupon for $1 off any Tide went through for the travel Tide). Instead of arguing with her I just took my coupon back and had her take off the Secret. I would not be surprised at all if manufacturers started imposing size limits. I think the overage should be allowed to go towards your entire bill, but I don’t think you should be allowed to get cash back. Especially $150 back?!? That person should know that is going to raise red flags to management.
you are calling out me a loyal follower of i heart the mart.
I used 93 coupons and got back $159.00.
I did clear the shelf since it was 9pm and the stock boy who scanned the item said there was more on the truck that they were in the process of unloading and would be put back on the shelf by morning.
I did NOT say the casher was rude. I said the first CSM that came was rude. she had no reason to be rude coupons on not.. it had nothing to do with the coupons that she was rude. she was rude because the i politely told the people behind me i was using coupons and it might be a minute if they wanted to go to the next lane which was open and free no one was waiting or in line. at which point the ‘rude’ csm said “are you trying to tell me how to do my job” how does she get i was trying to tell her how to do her job with what i said. I was trying to be nice to the people behind me if they did not have time to wait.
So i guess its one of those your own opinion things..
is it not ok to clear the shelf at 9pm? when your told by the employee to do so they are unloading more now as we speak.
is it not ok to follow their own policy thats in writing stating OR cash back?
what is the difference between cash in hand, or cash towards my next purchase. ITS THE SAME THING.
and coupons or not is it ok for the CSM to be extreamly rude to me and yell at me in front of other people?
-Beth Ann
Poster on weusecoupons in re to the post your talking about!
You went completely overboard with your item count. There should be a limit of items per customer( and there probably will be after this transaction) and you really took advantage of someone. It will probably ruin it for the rest of us. Very uncool.
ITA with Paul and Jackie! That is totally taking advantage of the policy. These types of transactions WILL INDEED ruin it for all!! Figures!!
I totally agree. Its one thing to get a deal but when you go overboard like that you are ruining it for everyone and basically teaching newbies that its ok to go out and do this and its not. This policy will be changing im sure and you can pat yourself on the back for that one.
It wasn’t okay for them to be rude to you. You are right. Often, I get the worst of the backlash being 17 and a couponer, and it wasn’t okay for them to treat you that way. I hope that you file a complaint, because coupons or not, you are still a customer, and they should value your patronage.
I don’t think that it would be ok IF they were rude to you! But I think you went WAY beyond the limit!!!! Your going to ruin the new policy for EVERYONE, as is anyone else who expects $$$ back from coupons. Get other products to cover the overage…to me it is common sence/courtesy!
As couponers we all run into those gray situations. There’s a line that we all have to draw for ourselves. And it’s not up to anyone else to draw that line.
That being said, there is only so much you can rock the boat.
And we have all seen coupon policies changed in heartbeat because of some people going overboard and taking advantage way too much! In my opinion clearing a shelve is up to you. But getting that much cash back is going to raise some red flags (how could it not) And the reader above obviously isn’t going to be the only one that has done this.
Walmart isn’t stupid, just because they get reimbursed doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to have issues or they might have a lot of managers complaining.
I’m a little unclear why you would do something like this at Walmart anyway, it’s not like it was a killer sale you have to jump on a.s.a.p. That’s the great thing about Walmart you pretty much have until the coupon exp. date to get it.
Bottom line when a company puts a new policy in place lets not test it to the very limits. There is nothing wrong with being a little more conservative.
Beth,
First, Let me say thanks for being a loyal reader. I purposely left the situation to an anonymous person. I was in no way trying to call you out personally. You are right that ultimately the same amount of money changes hands. I promise you that walmart in no way intended for someone to get back 159.00 in cash. Is it a loophole? Absolutely! My point is that if too many people have outcomes like this that Walmart will change their overage policy and everyone will end up ultimately losing. Walmart is making great strides in becoming “coupon friendly” that I just don’t want any steps back. Trust me, part of me wants to give you a huge hi-five, the other is worried about the repercussions.
Paul
Thank you for the reply.
I understand and felt bad in a way.
But you know as well as i do im NOT the only one who did this.. would I do it again Prob. not.. My intentions were to buy a power wheel for the kids. But hubby is sick this week has strep and cant work all next week so he wont be receiving a pay check.. I had reasons why i went this way rather then the other. Right or wrong it is something I had to do at the time.
My post was not to say haha i got $ back but rather to ask should i have called and reported the CSM for the way I was treated. Coupons or not. If i didnt mention I was using coupons in my post everyone would have said call.. However since they seen the overage $ they all seem to think its ok for her to treat me the way they did. So i guess for the right amount of money its ok to be treated badly by someone.
But again LOVE your site. and this is my first “overage” trip. normally i do your $1. and under items.
The overage is nice, however I agree it should be absorbed back into the other items being purchased. To go shopping @ WalMart to specifically get money back after coupons to be pocketed is overboard. Receiving a gift card for the overage is a good idea. When I take something back to a mass retailer, I usually agree to a gift card, since I am going to turn around and shop there anyway.
I also agree completely..that is just plain greedy there is absolutely no reason to get cash back, especially such a large amount, at WALMART..there are so many things that one can buy in order to cover the overage..please everyone “coupon responsibly” and let’s not ruin a great thing!
ps: overage is overage cash back or cash towards your purchase its the same thing.
Walmart will still receive every penny of it back via the mfg.
is it ok for the Purex MFG to pay for my other items? how do you think they would feel about me buying some chicken with a laundry soap coupon? or even Tide for that matter.
Wait…what? People are getting cash back from coupons? Don’t they all state “not for cash value?” Getting cash or even a gift card back seems wrong on multiple levels! So wrong!! Here I was thinking I was clever using the overage.
And I completely agree that if we don’t play by the rules, we are going to ruin this coupon game for everyone else. I’ve been at it for a bit over two months and love it. For me, it really is like a game. I don’t want some greedy fool to change things for the rest of us who do play fairly.
I don’t know, the coupon overage thing to get cash back leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Personally, I’m happy just to get the items for free – THAT is cash in my pocket.
We just came from Walmart and usd 14 of the Purex coupons. I will say that I was thrilled. I don’t know that I have a problem with getting cash back simply because when Walmart gives those coupons to the manufacturer THEY get the total face value of the coupon so it is not like we would be taking anything from Walmart…I also don’t think I would have gone in there with that many though. We didn’t get the cash back. We used the $28 in overage toward the purchase of a video game for the Wii. A $40 or $50 video game is a splurge for us right now and not something we would have normally purchased. We ended up getting the game for $15 and were thrilled! I also wouldn’t mind the gift card thing. I just hate to see people abuse the policy because I worked for Walmart and yes, they will figure out a way around it if too many people take advantage.
I feel that it is one thing if the cashier hands you a quarter, but to manipulate the cash back to make it where you earn over a hundred dollars seems to be taking this overage thing too far.
As far as the overage being put towards other items, I think that it is okay for certain quantities. Again, everything is okay in MODERATION. It is nothing to a million dollar corporation, like Purex, to lose 3 cents on every package, assuming that it is not going to be bought in the extent that it was. What is 3 cents when someone buys an average amount of the product?
But to work it in such a way that they are absorbing a hundred and some-odd dollars in one transaction?
A little unethical. I’m going to be sad to see this short-lived coupon policy go if everyone operates like that.
ITA! To intentionally work it to receive that amount of CASH BACK is WRONG and is indeed taking advantage! That is what gives couponers a bad name, and what will ultimately lead to the policy changing again.
How do you justify that transaction?? I still can’t believe someone had the nerve to do that! Wow, sad…
I have to throw my two cents in too. If she had read the coupon is says 4 PER SHOPPING TRIP. So what she did is AGAINST what the manufacturer intended for the coupon to be. And even if the employee told you to take every one of the shelf that still wasn’t cool. There could have been another person coming behind you looking for 1 or 2 of them. To use that many coupons is rediculous. After transactions like this it probably will have a backlash on us couponers who follow the “coupon etiquites (spelling??) to a T. Very sad if it is ruined for the rest of us.
the purex coupons do not state only 4 per transaction you have them confused with the gain coupons!
You are so right about this. I am also scared that some couponers will abuse the system and ruin it all for the rest of us. Why not use the overage to stock up on long term things like canned goods rather than getting a huge amount of cash back ??? I for one, would never do that and I wouldn’t blame Walmart if they revised or totally pulled that new part of their coupon policy.
Oh, how I wish some people out there would be more ethical and not so darn greedy when they coupon. When I buy large amounts of one item ( usually spread out so the store can restock, 10 per tranaction, during any given week , I always leave enough for others to buy too. It’s just the nice thing to do !!!
Yes that is a little overboard!! Let’s hope it doesn’t ruin it for all!
btw: because of my 1 transaction is NOT going to ruin it for everyone. (= I also am NOT the only one who posted getting cash back.. a few mins after me on weusecoupons someone posted stating they got $93.00 back but im the only one receiving this type of backlash (=
I can’t believe, but should be able to believe, that someone would abuse the new policy like that. It would be nice to get money for gas, but getting items for free is better, then you can use that extra money for other things. Why is there always someone that wants to ruin it for all of us???
I too think that was too extreme. They probably won’t do this for long. There will be people buying coupons like this from a clipping service paying no more than .50 each so they can get a ton of free money! That is just down right wrong!
In defense of Beth Ann, if those 90-something coupons were redeemed by 90-something individual people, the amount given back would still be $157 total. So does it matter that it was for one person? Purex doled out thousands of coupons… Walmart will still get paid from Purex.
thank you.. overage is overage! 1 or 100!
My husband works as a shift manager for Walmart, and I just asked him the scenario put out by Beth Ann. He told me if the cashier and CSM refused to do the transaction, and the customer asked to speak to him, he would first verify the coupons were not fraudulent. Then he would make sure the description matched the item she was purchasing (i.e. no restrictions on size, etc). Then he said he would let the transaction go through because he would be following the policy as stated. He also stated it was not an item he would be concerned about being cleared off his shelves (please keep in mind each store has individual demographics, so this would be his particular store and not another WM). Also bear in mind if it were certain other items, he would be concerned, so don’t think he wouldn’t care at all if anything was cleared off the shelves.
Obviously my husband is a little more schooled on coupons because we use them personally. At the same time, he does feel that if practices like this continue, WM will probably change the policy.
That’s ridiculous! It won’t be long before they change their coupon policy. It is the same as the guy buying 290+ boxes of Motrin PM a few weeks ago at Walgreens and walked out with $1000! There weren’t any to be found all week. It is just plain greedy!
Yikes!
Great job and Quick thinking !! Sorry to hear about your husband hope all is well!
Thank you for your blog and your work. I link to your blog and have several readers who are now regular readers of I heart the mart! Thanks!
As for overage, I never want cash back. I always make sure I have items to cover the overage. Just seems unethical to get paid in cash to take items out of their store.
Thanks again!
Sharon
http://www.reallifedeals.com
Hi Paul,
Maura here – I’m one of the Moderators over at WUC. Nathan closed the thread about Beth Ann’s transaction last night due to the animosity leveled at Beth Ann. People have very strong opinions on this topic, and unfortunately it got out of hand. I just wanted to pop over and thank you for pointing out Nathan’s thread, and just say that WUC has always maintained that at all stores, overage is a privilege, not a right – and despite Walmart’s misguided current policy, buying something to absorb the overage would have been much preferable to fly under the radar. That, combined with the significant amount of product she bought in one store at one time are “no-nos” for almost all couponers. Unfortunately, Beth Ann did not do this, and has been publicly castigated because of it.
Do I ( personally ) agree with what she did? No, that is not how I chose to coupon.
Do I feel this will hasten Wal-Mart’s change in the policy? Absolutely; you know Loss Prevention has her transaction flagged for review.
Do we ( WUC ) believe Beth Ann deserves such animosity? No. She did a legitimate transaction within the boundaries of Wal-Mart’s current policy.
It is my belief she is on the receiving end of this because she dared to ask if she should report the rude employees to Corporate. That was her mistake and should have known “to let sleeping does lie.”
Beth did you have other items in your cart as well? Because I am trying to figure this out. Did you use the 3.00 off coupons? If so you should have gotten more back then what is posted here unless you have some crazy tax where you live? I think you did GREAT I would have done it myself if I had thought about it but I would have done small amounts at a time and probably put it towards something else however it gives me an idea to help pay our vacation this year. Others here are right though that the manufacture sends the whole $3 to Walmart so why should they profit that? The manufacture now will know they made a mistake by not putting not to be used on travel size. Thats not our problem.