Publix Penny Item and Change in Coupon Policy

The Publix penny item for this week is a half gallon of Publix tea. I love tea, so I was excited about this one!

If you are new to shopping at Publix, here are the guidelines for receiving the penny item (penny items are only available on Sunday and Monday):

1. Purchase $10 worth of items – the $10 can be before coupons.
2. Find the penny item. It is usually located at the front of the store either on a shelf near the registers or in a bin with the other sale items. If you are not able to find the item, just ask an employee. They are always very helpful!
3. Some stores require you to use the penny item coupon which is located in the B1G1 sale ad in the Sunday paper.

*Publix has changed their coupon policy with regards to what kinds of competitor coupons they will accept. They are no longer accepting Target coupons or drugstore coupons. They will only accept grocery store coupons that are direct competitors to Publix (meaning they are in the area of your store). Some Publix stores may already have been enforcing this policy, but mine had been accepting these types of coupons. I was really disappointed to hear this, because I frequently use Target coupons. Oh well, there are still good deals to be had without using these types of coupons! ***Be sure to check with your store to see what your store’s coupon policy is. The policies are generally the same for each store, but it is up to each store to determine what types of coupons they accept.

Happy couponing!

Target Coupon Policy

Lately, I have been having a little trouble with Target accepting some of my coupons. The trouble occurs when I try to use a coupon that is of greater value than the price of the item (i.e. the item is $0.97 and the coupon is $1.00 off). In the past, I have been successful in completing transactions like this, but, last week, I went to 2 different Targets and neither would let me use a coupon that was valued higher than the price of the item. I began to wonder if Target had changed their coupon policy, so I emailed corporate and asked for a copy of their coupon policy. They responded promptly, and it turns out that the 2 cashiers that I interacted with were incorrect in not allowing me to use these coupons. I am telling you all this because sometimes we have to be proactive when using coupons. Oftentimes, store employees are not informed about their store coupon policy or about how coupons work. In the future, I will be carrying Target’s store policy with me when I shop at Target so that I can share it with the cashier if I need to. Here is the email that I received from Target – it might be a good idea to print it out and keep it on hand for when you are shopping as well:

Dear Target customer,

If you have any questions about a specific coupon or experience using a coupon at Target, we want to help! Please give our Guest Relations team a call at (800) 440-0680. We’ll do the best we can to help you as quickly as possible. For your call, please provide a team member with the following reference number: 1-387110499.

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you some information about our coupon policy. When accepting coupons, we use the following guidelines:

– We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued and manufacturer-issued.
– We’ll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
– We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in this case, we’re able to adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item.
– We can’t accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.
– All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier while you’re checking out.

Thanks for writing. Give us a call if there’s anything else we can do to help.

Sincerely,

James
Target Guest Relations
http://www.target.com
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I would also like to note that I always try to be polite to cashiers when they will not accept particular coupons. I generally try to explain why the coupon should work one time, but I will not argue with them. Arguing is not going to help and will certainly not make you look good! If I feel that it is necessary, I will contact the corporate office to inquire about the situation. Most stores have a coupon policy that you can print and share with cashiers when you are checking out. I hope this is helpful!