HyVee’s New Coupon Policy
Today I had to run to HyVee to pick up some stock for the soup I am making for dinner tonight. As we rounded the aisle I noticed a TON of apple Juicy Juice on the end cap… $0.99 on their 3- Day sale (Thurs – Sat). I immediately whipped out my iPhone and checked CouponTom to see if there were some coupons out there I could match with this sale. Lo and behold… 2 different $1/2. That is some FANTASTICALLY CHEAP Juicy Juice my friends.
Like the unprepared individual that I am, I hadn’t yet perused the fliers for the week so I asked the cashier exactly what three days the sale would encompass. She let me in on it and I said “That is so great! There are some great $1 Juicy Juice coupons out there!” in the chatty way that my mom used to converse with clerks, waitresses and the general public that would make me DIE of embarrassment.
She very quickly frowned at me and snapped “We can’t take coupons that are more than the price of the item” I took a step back and said “Oh, you can just take them down can’t you?” She said “Absolutely not!” (In a not nice, what are you up to kind of way). She launched into the fact that it was corporate policy and I could write them if I had a problem with it. I tried to say “Oh. that must be a new policy” but thought better of it.
When I got to the car I looked up the HyVee coupon policy and noticed that it had been changed effective March 30, 2010. In addition to no longer reducing coupons to the actual price of the item, HyVee will no longer be accepting coupons that have “FREE” items in them. This includes B1G1 coupons or “FREE” coupons that manufacturers give out when they sponsor events and conferences.
Another fantastic new policy is that individual store managers can disallow any coupon they want to. Any coupon that comes out that the manager feels is too high dollar, they can decide their store will not be accepting it.
In a economic situation where more and more individuals are using coupons to help stretch the money that their family spends on groceries, why would one of the more expensive grocery chains chose to install a more restrictive coupon policy?
I understand that with increased use of coupons, coupon fraud becomes an issue. I hardly believe that restricting the use of coupons in what appears to me to be an attempt to discourage “couponers” from shopping at their store is the way to go. Why not train staff to take an extra minute to actually read the coupon being used. Why not train the staff on how to reduce coupons? In this couponers humble experience I would bet that the amount of times a manager has to be called over to deal with a coupon that is $0.01 over the amount of the item is “annoying” and easier to deal with by eliminating the situation. Why not train your employees how to handle these situations?
I did very little shopping at HyVee to start with. Their prices are higher, their really good sales are few and far between and often when you get the product on sale it is less than you had hoped for. This new shun of coupon use pretty much seals the deal for me. You can bet I won’t be shopping there anytime soon.
Lucky for me three stores in town price match!
Turns out I was wrong and all of the $1 coupons are for $1/2… which makes them completely usable at HyVee…so all of her snottiness conversation was for nothing. I did learn something, however, and I’m glad I did. I support the stores that support the consumer.
The Juicy Juice I mentioned that is on 3 day sale for $0.99 is actually the 46oz size, not the 64oz size listed in the paper. The coupons for $1/2 can be found HERE and HERE. You will find a number of related coupons at these sites as well for similar Juicy Juice products for $1/1. This makes the juice $0.50/ea which is a great price on Juicy Juice. Completely stockpile – worthy.
You can bet your coupon stash I’ll be price matching mine at Target.
Wow, Jenn! That is going to be a huge mistake for HyVee. We don’t have them here, but I wouldn’t shop there if they did!
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I agree Sarah and Jenn. We don’t have HyVee here either and I would shop there just because from what it sounds like they have no customer service and their policy’s are ridiculous. Just like you mentioned in the economic times we are in we need every penny we can keep. It just seems there are too many bigger companies out there trying to take our money and the little mom and pop stores are trying to help but not big enough to make the huge difference.
I must learn the ART of couponing. I clip and forget them at home. Oops!
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I have not had any problems using BOGO or FREE coupons at my Hy-Vee in Jefferson City, MO. They have always taken my coupons no questions asked. I went to Hy-Vee May 29th and used several coupons for free and BOGO items. My original total was $105.00. After coupons were deducted, I paid $54.68.
So far so good for me. I hope the don’t find out about the new corporate rules!
You have to realize, policies like this are not only meant to protect the business but also the consumer. The grocery industry is cut throat and profits are thin to say the least. When a grocery store accepts a fraudulent coupon, they do not get paid for it and are out that money. Coupon fraud is a huge problem at the moment. Those costs are passed along to the consumer at some point. Curbing fraud keeps the costs lower. If a retailer accepts a coupon for more than the purchase price it is generally violating the terms of coupon, it only makes sense not to open yourself to that liability.
You will see many more policies like this from more and more retailers in the future.
I appreciate your take on this. I do realize what these policies are in place for, I simply do not agree with them being implemented so rigidly. When I teach a coupon class I teach about coupon ethics….because it is an important part of coupons for all of us. People who pass fraudulent coupons hurt everyone. That being said: about what, 2% of the coupons produced are actually redeemed? As a person who uses coupons I am going to shop where the store is the most coupon friendly.
The grocery industry may be cut throat, but I’m guessing profits are still being had.
Coupons accepted for less than the value they are produced at generally have the “new” or “lesser” amount written in and that is the request made by the grocery to the manufacturer for reimbursement, yes? This is standard procedure.
All of that aside, I have heard repeatedly since this was written that the HyVee on 6th street is much more amenable to couponers, using the “at the store manager’s discretion” clause to its shoppers’ advantage.
Good for you!! I hope that things continue to go smoothly for you there. There is a clause in the new “rules” that make the manager’s discretion the ultimate say so… so you must have a sympathetic manager!!
boo! My HyVee hasn’t given me any problems, but I’m sad to hear that they may have grounds to do so now. I shop there almost exclusively and have loved their customer service and Health Market!
Since writing this I’ve discovered that in Lawrence, the HyVee on 6th street is much more amenable to coupons…in fact they’ve really encouraged the use. During the big General Mills sale a while back the manager was hanging out in the cereal aisle explaining to people how to get the best deal. At the other HyVee in town we had trouble getting them to let us use the $6 ONYNO in combination with other coupons.
The policy is very restrictive but since it boils down to a manager’s decision on how to run the store, there is still hope!
I actually work for a grocery store as a Customer Service Clerk.
Let me just point out a few things:
When you said, “In a economic situation where more and more individuals are using coupons to help stretch the money that their family spends on groceries, why would one of the more expensive grocery chains chose to install a more restrictive coupon policy?” I found that quite ridiculous. I suggest you take a step back and look at the big picture. Customers, AS WELL AS THE BUSINESS, are all in economic downfall. The Hy-Vee stores are experiencing hard times as well.
Also, coupon fraud is a huge thing. Seeing as how I work in Customer Service, I may see up to five fraudulent coupons in one day. It is almost ridiculous! People can make some amazingly real-looking coupons. This is why the “free item” coupons are being banned from use at some stores. It is just like printing fake money, but it can’t be monitored as closely, therefore just banning them all together.
Another thing, the employee was just trying to do her job. She may have gotten a little frustrated but I’m sure she’d been through the same thing several times already that day. She may have been wrong… but so were you! You overlooked that BUY 2 portion of the coupon as well.
Once again, the customer is not the only one experiencing hard times now. The stores and businesses are as well.
So, next time you go into a store… please keep all this in mind.
Thanks.
The Hy Vee I shop at in Lincoln Nebraska is great about taking coupons. I shop the 50th and O store and they adjust coupons down if needed and accept IPs and free coupons. You may have to ask for a mgr if you get a new checker but they are great about it.
I’m really glad to hear that!! We have two different HyVee’s here in Lawrence and one is fantastic… one is not so great.
I work for Hy-Vee and have several years on the store level- I’m sorry a cashier did that to you, that’s definitely not the customer service Hy-Vee is known for. In the future (as I doubt you remember her name now) I would always report anything like that, customer service is a top priority at Hy-Vee.
Just speaking from what I know at the stores I have worked at we’ve always taken all coupons unless we think they are bogus (perhaps the not taking free items meant the not taking free item Internet coupons- which are often bogus). I know we take bogos- because we often have both corporate and manufacture bogos in our ads- as well as if you buy this get this free in our ads.
I do believe you are right about not taking the items down for a coupon that is worth more then the cost of the item- but my understanding is this is more about coupon fraud and possibly getting in trouble with manufacturers for doing that, then because Hy-Vee choosing to do that. My understanding is to the store coupons are basically the same as legal tender except where there’s fraud (although that’s in legal tender too). But a $1 coupon gets the store $1 just the same as your dollar bill does.
I think it’s possible there might be a miscommunication in the understanding of the policy as far as the no free item coupons- especially as we have free item coupons in our own ads from corporate. At least I hope that’s what’s going on. I’ll look it up and see what I think.
Again, sorry you had that experience with the cashier, that’s never fun- but that is definitely the exception when it comes to Hy-Vee customer service.
I checked and the not taking free items is for internet coupons only. The coupons manufactures give out themselves or are clipped from newspapers, magazines, etc… are not under that potion of the policy. The same for the limitations, that is only about the internet coupons- because of how extreme the fraud is. There is an extra line at the bottom before talking about those things that mentions they are for internet coupons only.
http://www.hy-vee.com/company/press-room/announcements/03-30-10-hy-vee-coupon-policy.aspx
3/30/2010
Hy-Vee is happy to redeem your coupons. The following rules apply when accepting vendor coupons clipped from newspapers or magazines, received by mail, or obtained legitimately from the internet:
The coupon must be legible.
The coupon should have a scannable bar code (UPC) and a remittable manufacturer’s address.
Coupons must have an expiration date and must be used within the stated time frame. Expired coupons will not be accepted.
Only one vendor coupon per item will be accepted. However, a customer may use a vendor coupon in combination with a Hy-Vee coupon on the same item.
Coupon values that exceed the price of the item will not be accepted.
Soft drink container caps will be accepted.
Due to increased fraud, the following two additional rules apply to internet coupons:
Vendor coupons that involve any kind of free product will not be accepted, including “buy one, get one free” offers.
A Store Director has authority to set monetary limitations (for example, $2.50 per coupon) for the acceptance of internet coupons at the Store Director’s store.
I LOVE the buttons on your site for your feed, twitter, etc. CUTE and very original!
In reviewing Hyvee’s coupon policy myself, I still can’t seem to tell if they double coupons or not. I did, however notice what u mentioned in ur post. I think those restrictions ur referring to are just for internet printed coupons tho, which is pretty standard. Hope this helps! Anybody have feedback on the doubling???
I think it is a matter of what the manager at each individual store decides to do. We have two different stores here in Lawrence and they both handle even the HyVee sales differently in regards to limits, restrictions, etc. The same goes for the coupons.
In regards to doubling: That is also a per store decision. Most do not double on a regular basis. I know one in Topeka doubles on Mondays … you would just need to specifically talk to the manager at the store you shop in to get the layout before you plan a trip.
Hope that helps!