Redemption of Online/Internet Coupons at Your Local Stores

Many of you have written to me about having "issues"

redeeming internet coupons. Some store policies include NOT

accepting them. I have been fortunate to have had success

in redeeming my coupons locally but I want to give you some

HELP for those that cannnot.

SOME STORES do not accept ANY coupons other than their own.

the list of stores that do not accept them in my area that I

wish they did are

BIG LOTS

SAMS CLUB

SALVAGE BARN

*********they opt out because it would take employee hours

to sort and send them in, plus coupon fraud etc they state

that they do not make enough profit to warrent this....... I

do not shop at these stores often because of this for

groceries and health & beauty products, I can get a better

deal else-where on most items! These stores are not WRONG

for what they do, just are not condusive to my needs.

There is such thing as COUPON FRAUD and some stores are

saying they are not accepting internet coupons due to this.

There are articles on the net about this situation and one

site that sends letters to the stores asking them NOT to

accept the coupons from the net.

The following is an article about WHY stores choose not to

accept internet coupons

[http://www.ag.state.ar.us/consumer/ca199.htm]

The following article talks about the MONEY LOST per year

due to ALL COUPON FRAUD

[http://www.jsonline.com/news/gen/feb03/121476.asp]

The following url is an info site about Coupons & Coupon

Fraud, they prosecute people who misuse and abuse

coupons....... they ALSO send out faxes to store

headquarters about Internet Coupon issues.

[http://www.cents-off.com/faq.htm]

NOW YOU CAN SEE WHY THIS IS A CONCERN FOR COMPANIES and WHY

some are choosing NOT to be involved! Coupon FRAUD is not

limited to INTERNET but is ACROSS THE BOARD! ALL of the

coupon activity is open to the ABUSE that occurs, THIS IS

WHY FREELANCEBYU.COM ACTIVILY FIGHTS and TALKS AGAINST abuse

and misuse of offers by companies, WE WANT THE SAVINGS TO

CONTINUE AND BE HELPFUL not hurtful to the companies!

NOW THAT WE KNOW WHY, lets work on how we can CHANGE THAT!

HERE is a recent article about coupon usage and the GROWING

USE OF INTERNET COUPONS! "COUPON CLICKERS" THIS IS

ENCOURAGING!

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003631

There are MANY STORES (MOST OF THEM) that have their own

WEBSITES (why? because they know that the internet is

powerful and helpful to the consumers, CONSUMERS are what

keeps them in business!)

MY LOCAL GROCERY AND PROBABLY YOURS TOO......

At FOOD LION (my local) there is ADS on their RADIO in the

store that tells the consumers to go to SMARTSOURCE.COM for

coupons, in addition they send out THEIR OWN internet

coupons! NOW if your store participates in these practices

(advertising on the net, online newsletter, ads about online

coupons coming from speakers in their stores etc etc) HOW

CAN THEY NOT ACCEPT WHAT THEY ARE PART OF?

KROGER & FRIENDS also have internet sites, and they also

participate in UPONS (internet coupons) http://www.upons.com

ALL of their stores are listed here, and SHOULD ACCEPT THE

FORM OF ADVERTISING THAT THEY, THEMSELVES pay to promote!

MOST of the larger companies utilize the growing internet

coupon resources to cut their own expenses! AFTER ALL they

are providing the savings, but NOT PAYING for printing,

paper and distribution! THIS IS A GREAT SAVINGS TO THEM

when we print out our own coupons and seek them on the net,

so this is the WAVE OF THE FUTURE, WHY SHOULDNT IT BE, same

results , same savings to the consumer, LESS COST to the

manufacturer! NOW..................

HERE IS A STORE NOT IN MY AREA THAT IS ROCKING WITH COUPONS

ON THE CUTTING EDGE! YEA BABY!

http://www.morningnewsbeat.com/archives/2002/10/25.html

PublixDirect To Begin Accepting Coupons

PublixDirect, the online arm of Publix Super Markets,

announced that it will begin accepting manufacturer coupons

from consumers shopping over the Internet.

The service, which launched in 2001 and says it has now made

200,000 deliveries, said it was responding to consumer

demand in making the change. It had hoped to wait to accept

coupons until online coupons became a currency of choice,

but consumers forced the retailer’s hand.

PublixDirect personnel collect the coupons while making

deliveries, with the value credited to their account for

their next online purchase.

KC's View: Granted, taking paper coupons at this point in

the development of e-grocery services can be cumbersome.

Let’s call it what it is: a pain in the…neck.

But it seems to us that to not accept coupons is to make a

strategic error, because it creates a differential

disadvantage for such services. The whole point of online

grocery shopping, it seems to us, is not to separate it from

the brick-and-mortar experience, but rather to make it just

another avenue through which to do regular shopping. It

works when it is considered mainstream and integrated, not

when it is separated by different policies.

DO A SEARCH for your local store

(use one of the contest search engines when you do, who

knows maybe you will win something while doing your

research, check out the WINNING section of our FORUM and you

will see that I have won LOTZ from using this method!

YESTERDAY I won $35 in Gift Certificates doing this!)

put in your store name that does not accept internet coupons

if you chose WALMART you will see that they do not run

weekly ads on the internet for groceries that I can find and

have a policy NOT to take internet coupons, I am not sure

there is anything we can do about WALMART (it is non-union

and appears to have pull in many ways, including the ability

to be successful JUST BECAUSE and not because it offers

excellent customer service or the best prices) the best

thing that walmart does is MEET COMPETITORS PRICING so that

you can get all of the sale prices in one place, but the

aggrevation of dealing with walmart is not worth it to me.

IF THIS IS THE ONLY LOCAL STORE YOU HAVE GO FOR IT.......

otherwise my suggestion is CHOOSE ANOTHER STORE!

NOW that you have found your store ONLINE and their weekly

ads etc, find out their WRITTEN POLICY ABOUT COUPONS, does

it specifically say NO INTERNET COUPONS? DO THEY SEND OUT

INTERNET COUPONS THEMSELVES? DO they allow advertisers to

talk about their internet coupons ? BETTY CROCKER,

PILLSBURY, SMARTSOURCE, UPONS etc.......... if they do this

needs to be brought to their attention! NOW!

I have included all of my stores that accept internet

coupons without question and a copy of the inquiry I sent

the ONLY time I have had issue with internet coupons and the

POSITIVE response I rec'vd as well. I have also written and

included a more updated FORM LETTER that you can feel free

to use below it............please change the XXXXXX'S to

reflect your own personal information when using this

letter..........hopefully this letter will be effective and

will help change the companies mind about their current

policies......if not, what did it hurt to try? FEEL FREE to

use any of the resources I have mentioned ANYWHERE in this

letter in your own letter as well..... my form letter is

just an EXAMPLE .......... YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN!

HERE ARE THE STORES IN MY LOCAL AREA THAT HAVE ACCEPTED

INTERNET COUPONS from me:

Dollar General

IGA

Food Lion

Walgreens

CVS

Kroger

Rite Aid

Eckerds

Ukrops

I have had one issue with denial of a coupon at DOLLAR

GENERAL, a quick note to the company confirms they DO accept

the coupons and they would "fix" the issue. Here is the

corrospondance:

MY LETTER TO DOLLAR GENERAL CUSTOMER SERVICE was sent

through PLANET FEEDBACK http://www.planetfeedback.com

I sent my daughter to the store with $1.00 coupon that was

sent to me by GENERAL MILLS via email for their LUCKY CHARMS

cereal... she attempted to use it at your store and was told

that they could not accept coupons that were printed out as

it appeared "copied" this coupon was completely valid and

SCANNED just fine on your register. My daughter was

HORRIFIED and EMBARRASSED by this experience. We frequently

shop at your store because ofconvenience (area wise) even

though we would prefer a credit card accepting store which

is just a few minutes down the road that I redeemed this

VERY SAME COUPON with the same day , with a SMILE

AND A THANK YOU! with the growing use of internet service

around the globe you would think that most stores would rise

to the growing technology and accept VALID MANUFACTURER

COUPONS from the internet. If this is not rectified my

family will not mind a bit going 2 more minutes away from

home to spend our dollars.

THEIR RESPONSE:

Thank you for your e-mail.

At Dollar General, we place a premium on customer service.

Please be assured that the situation in Powhatan will be

immediately investigated and addressed. Your e-mail has

provided us with an opportunity to adhere to our mission -

serving others - and we sincerely appreciate that. We

apologize for how this experience made you feel and welcome

any opportunity we have to serve you in the future. You are

a valued customer here at Dollar General.

WE DO ACCEPT COUPONS, INCLUDING INTERNET COUPONS and the

problem will be addressed immediately

Kind regards,

Crystal Cantrell

Customer Correspondence Representative,

Customer Relations

FORM LETTER

***I have had success using http://www.planetfeedback.com and do

suggest you use that venue to make sure that the letter goes

to the RIGHT PERSON and is getting viewed PUBLICLY ......

TO: XYZ GROCERY OR DRUGSTORE

FROM: YOU THE CONSUMER

I have been a customer of yours for (XXXX amount of time)

and like your store for the following reasons

XXXXX

YYYYY

ZZZZZZ

I have recently visited your store, to buy several items and

this included XXXXXX product. I presented the cashier with

a coupon for this proudct from XXXXX manufacturor who in

good faith is promoting their products on the internet and

offering a savings to their loyal internet consumers.

THIS WAS MY EXPERIENCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

THE INTERNET and PROMOTIONS on the internet are the wave of

the present and the future. It is shocking that a company

such as yours, believes in the power of the internet, which

is evident in your own use of this tool, yet does not allow

me to take advantage of its resources!

here is your own internet site

http://www.XXXXX.com (example http://www.foodlion.com)

here is your own use of internet coupons

http://www.XXXXX.com (example: http://www.upons.com )

here is an example of a product you promote that offers

online coupons

http://www.XXXXX.com (example bettycrocker.com)

With the growing use of the internet (almost everyone these

days has online access) it is surprising and disappointing

that I was denied this right to use these savings in your

store from LEGITIMATE RESOURCES!

I understand that you may be concerned about "fraud" with

this type of coupon, but did you know that there is fraud

with all types of coupons, not just the internet coupon? Are

you aware that fraud occurs in every company and that you

can deduct your losses from your gains on your taxes? AND I

BELIEVE that if you accept ALL coupons your gains will

INCREASE because you will have more customers ! READ THIS

ARTICLE FOR REFERENCE

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003631

THANK YOU for reading my letter, it is my hope that you will

DISCONTINUE this practice which is both ARCHAIC and

DISAPPOINTING to the TECHY SAVVY SHOPPERS That would love to

continue being your customer if this change occurs!

PLEASE KEEP MY INFORMATION and LET ME KNOW when and if you

are changing your policy to reflect the wave of the FUTURE

and ENCOURAGING internet customers to frequent your stores.

SINCERELY

XXXXXXX (your name)

XXXXX@EMAIL.com (your email address)

XXXXX *PHONE #

XXXXXXXXXX (ADDRESS)

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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