Rite Aid's Coupon Policy and Manufacturer's Coupons

I recently had a great comment from a reader that I wanted to share as others may encounter a similar situation at some point in time.


Hi,

I appreciate all the work involved in reviewing and posting these offers, but have had numerous problems with the presumed store coupons at Rite aid and Walgreens which are actually marked "manuf...coupons."

The manager @ Rite Aid on Thursday, and personnel at Walgreens have both told me they will accept one or the other, NOT BOTH!

So are some stores accepting 2 manuf. coupons??

It's so frustrating to prepare for the sale and then essentially leave it all on the table b/c it's not worth the price w/o 2 coupons.



My response:


I was out of town this past weekend, for my sister's wedding, and am just getting around to answering your comment.

No store will accept two TRUE manufacturer's coupons on the same item, however, the coupons that RA and Walgreens have in their ad are store coupons (even though they say "manufacturer's coupon"). There is no other store that will accept the coupons in the RA ad other than RA (or a grocery store that accepts competitors coupons). And per RA's coupon policy, they will accept 1 TRUE manufacturer's coupon and one RA coupon per item.

One of the ways that you can tell if a coupon is a TRUE manufacturer's coupon is that the bar code of such a coupon will always start with a 5 or a 9. Also, on the bottom of every RA coupon it will state "good only at Rite Aid Pharmacies." A TRUE manufacturer's coupon is good at any store that will accept coupons. If it is only good at one store then it is a store coupon.

So, why would it be called a manufacturer's coupon if in fact it is a store coupon? RA has worked out a deal with the manufacturer to offer their product at a lower rate, but rather than offer that product to everyone at that lower rate (ie. a sale) they have offered everyone the chance to take advantage of the lower rate by providing a coupon for the negotiated price. RA knows that not everyone who buys the product will use the coupon so they will make extra money off of those people. It is a method RA (and many other stores) use to make a little extra money.

RA registers will accept both coupons with no trouble. It sounds as if the managers in your area are ill informed as to the nature of the coupons. I would print out a copy of RA's coupon policy and take it with me to the store. I would also call RA's customer service number and explain the situation to them. Then I would put RA's customer service number in my cell phone and would kindly give them a call at the store if you have any other problems. (Remember, kindness about these situations goes a long way with managers and other personnel.)

I understand how frustrating it can be to have deals and scenarios all figured out and then not be able to complete them. I recently had a similar experience with my local grocery store. I kindly explained to the manager that I was under the impression that their corporate policy was different and asked if I could have the corporate office call them. The manager said that was fine (frankly, I don't think she knew quite what to say). I called corporate and nicely explained the situation and what my understanding of the policy was and they contacted my local store and straightened everything out. It was a happy resolution for me and I didn't offend anyone at the store in getting the situation resolved.