Kroger Central - New Coupon Policy

Kroger has started issuing new coupon policies in their different regions. This policy is for the central region, which includes:

Indiana
Missouri
Illinois
Ohio
Michigan

This is from In Good Cents (so the comments are also her's, but I completely agree):



- We reserve the right to limit no more than five (5) paper manufacturer coupons for the same product, each coupon value considered (1) in the same transaction.

The key here is “reserve the right”. This means, they may limit you to 5 paper manufacturer coupons, but they may not. Really, your mileage will vary, depending on the store, product, or even the cashier. This doesn’t mean you can’t use more than 5 paper manufacturer coupons. It means, if you are purchasing 6 Coffee-mate creamers and have 6 $1/1 manufacturer coupons from the newspaper, they may only let you use 5 and that’s their right.

- Limit one manufacturer coupon (paper or digital) per item purchased.

This isn’t new. For a while now, Kroger has stated on their site that digital and paper coupons can not be used together. Since stores don’t allow you to stack manufacturer coupons, it makes sense that you shouldn’t be able to use a digital coupon with a paper coupon.

- Expired coupon are not to be accepted.

No change here either. This makes sense. You can’t use coupons after they expire.

- Only Pharmacy Competitor Coupons accepted.

Again, this is a standard policy. Most stores don’t accept competitor coupons (except Walmart and Target), but a few stores (like CVS) will accept them at the pharmacy for prescription refills.

- Couponed items will not be sold to dealers.

This makes sense! This stops people from using coupons to buy many items, then selling them for a profit.

Internet Coupon Restrictions / Print-at-Home Coupons

- “FREE Item” internet coupons can be accepted if all purchase criteria is met.

This makes sense. You should always be meeting the requirements of your coupons, regardless of if it’s for a FREE item or not. So, basically, if your coupon says you get a FREE Crest Toothpaste (4 oz. or smaller) when you purchase a Crest Toothpaste (6.4 oz. or larger), make sure you have got those exact specified sizes.

- Only two internet coupons per manufacturer, per customer, per day.

YUCK! This one hurts. I’ve done some research on this and from what I understand, manufacturer means manufacturer, not brand. So, when Kroger has those great Mega Events on General Mills products and you have two printable coupons for Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper and two printable coupons for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, you can use your choice of two, but not all four, because they are all General Mills manufacturer coupons.

This is where Kroger is going to lose most, if not all, of my business. They are trying to stop coupon fraud. Many people copy coupons on their printer or copier at home, which is illegal. I applaud ideas to stop coupon fraud, since it hurts us all. However, some manufacturers, like General Mills are generous with printable coupons. Right now, there are 5 printable manufacturer coupons for Pillsbury Crescent rolls available. Using all of them isn’t coupon fraud. It’s simply taking advantage of all the General Mills printable coupons on legitimate coupon websites.

- Internet coupons that display characteristics including: blurry, out of proportion, do not scan properly, or appear to be altered in any way, will not be accepted.

This is reasonable. Typically this is a sign that the coupon has been altered or copied, so this is just to stop coupon fraud.

Doubling (if applicable)

- Manufacturer coupons $0.50 and below will automatically double. Doubling does not apply to the following coupons: free, Kroger store, Catalina, retail food store coupons, electronic coupons, and items prohibited by law.

Again, this isn’t a change. This has been their double coupon policy for a while.

***I know here in Lafayette, only the first TWO of a like coupon will double. After that, they are face value***

NOTE: The Store Manager ha the right to accept, decline, or limit the use of any coupon.

This means, be nice to your store managers and cashiers! They can tell you no for any reason. It’s their right. But, I believe, they’ll use this coupon to limit shoppers getting FREE items. For example, back when we were all using the $1/1 Cottonelle coupon to walk out with FREE Cottonelle 4-packs, that probably would have been a coupon they would decide to limit. Instead, they just stopped carrying the product.