Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: Ever get a 'forward' like this? What do you think?

"These are legitimate coupons open and print as many times as you want you can't beat FREE See above FREE coupons!!! Clicking above will take you directly to the coupon ... Feel free to print several copies as there is NO expiration date. Yippee"

Me: These two coupons have been floating around the blogosphere for quite a while... both are illegal coupons. I *think* that I read that the Velveeta coupon was legit in the 70's (or at least a super long time ago) before expiration dates were printed on coupons.

Most likely these coupons will not be reimbursed for, so the store will lose out on the money. This is why stores often crack down on printable coupons.

Beware (but don't totally avoid!) of FREE item PDF (print as many as you'd like) coupons, as they are pretty much the standard for fraudulent coupons.

A PDF coupons, by the way, does not always mean "bad coupon." Many companies still offer PDF versions of their manufacturer coupons because they are happy to have a loyal consumer save with each and every purchase, rather than having the possibility that a shopper may be swayed into purchasing another competitor's brand.

When in doubt if a coupon is legit, Google the manufacturer's customer service number and give them a call!!!

2 comments:

Bargains to Bounty

Another great place to check the legitimacy of coupons:

www.cents-off.com

The website of the CIC (Coupon Information Corporation) keeps an updated list of recently identified fraudulent coupons. If you ever have a question about the validity of a particular coupon, you can forward it to them for checking.

Laura Webber

oooh, Thanks!!!