Comments on: Tips Regarding Printable Coupons in pdf Format

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:42:04 +0000

Thank you Amy!! I really appreciate your comments. I want you to know that I really appreciate my readers as well and what I do I do for them.

Mercedes

By: Amy @ Amy Loves It!

Amy @ Amy Loves It! — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:55:55 +0000

Great post, Mercedes! I love your site, and I respect everything you say and do. I appreciate you and your hard work!

By: Link Love | Start Living Frugal

Link Love | Start Living Frugal — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:20:10 +0000

[...] You all know how important coupon ethics are to me, so I loved this post by Mercedes at Common Sense with Money about how to recognize if a pdf coupon is legitimate. [...]

By: Update on School Years Eve Coupons | Common Sense With Money

Update on School Years Eve Coupons | Common Sense With Money — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:09:29 +0000

[...] I want to thank everyone’s feedback on my post regarding tips for using printable coupons in PDF form. I also want to thank Modern Day Mom and Lea Ann from Mommyswishlist for their thoughtful input [...]

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:53:24 +0000

Thank you for your concern about the School Year’s Eve coupon page available at http://www.SchoolYearsEve.com. On behalf of Cookie magazine, I apologize for any confusion these coupons may have caused. Unfortunately, two of the coupons were not meant to be included online. We have rectified this issue and confirmed the validity of the remaining coupons with each manufacturer. We encourage you to check out http://www.SchoolYearsEve.com, not only for the updated coupon page (http://schoolyearseve.cookiemag.com/stylefile.asp) but for other helpful resources to throw a School Year’s Eve celebration of your own. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at advisors@cookiemag.com.
Thank you,
Danielle
Cookie Magazine
Promotion & Event Coordinator

By: mary b

mary b — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:42:48 +0000

Thanks for the info and reminders to think about or check on anything we think is questionable.

Now with the aforementioned McD’s coupon, I had not come across it yet the web to compare, but I did receive it in a email from McD’s directly.

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:30:35 +0000

Hi Lea Ann,

I want t thank you and Modern Day Mom for your background research on this. I really appreciate the knowledge that you have shared with us today. I think at this point I am going to sit on the fence on this one. While I think that the Sharpie people are giving the OK to use the coupon and that’s good, the fact that Tide says no is also a red flag for me on that coupon at least.
I am going to err on the safe side and not promote the use of these coupons. I agree with you that companies need to work smarter and take advantage of the technology there’s available now.

Mercedes

By: Lea Ann

Lea Ann — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:23:29 +0000

The pdf on the Cookie site is not a SCAN. It is a pdf of the coupon mechanical that was most likely built in InDesign. Having been a graphic designer my entire career, and having built hundreds of coupons, I was able to identify that much. My best guess is that it went down like this…Cookie worked with marketing department at all of the representative companies with whom they do regular advertising to create “advertorial” or “special” content (ie this school’s eve promotion pdf booklet) The marketing departments got the mechanicals of their respective coupons, including the key codes that create the UPCs (this is like a “font” that only the company that is the owner of the UPC has so that UPCs cannot be re-created easily). Marketing department ok’d the booklet (and I’m sure at Cookie there is a mechanical with signatures) but MAYBE they forgot to notify the redemption department that they were using the mechanical in that special promotion AND MAYBE they forgot to notify the brand team that they were using that mechanical. (Brand teams and promotion/marketing teams are usually different groups of people. Brand companies are very layered, and often don’t know what each other are doing.) This would explain why the pdf is “legitimate” artwork (not a scan) AND why the Tide brand team member Dianne didn’t know about it while the Sharpie consumer affairs team member did. That’s my two cents.

When brand companies start talking to each other internally, this will stop happening. No mother is at fault for using this coupon. With my knowledge of how brand companies produce creative work, I assure you that at least 10 people signed off on that pdf booklet being posted on Cookie.

By: Modern Day Mom

Modern Day Mom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:10:53 +0000

Well, I have both good news and confusing news. The Sharpie coupon in the Cookie PDF is valid. I just received the following email from a Sanford consumer rep:

“Hello Ms. Sxxxxxxx,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail us and for your support of Sanford products.

The coupon that is offered on the site is valid. I have confirmed this with the Sharpie Department.

If we can be of any further assistance don’t hesitate to contact us.

Brad Kelly
Sanford Consumer Affairs

000789952A”

By: Dana @ Frugal in Virginia

Dana @ Frugal in Virginia — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:51:01 +0000

Thanks for sharing this information, Mercedes. Very good reminder for all of us.

By: Andrea @ MommySnacks.net

Andrea @ MommySnacks.net — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:52:06 +0000

Great post, M! I know I can always trust the resources you have listed here!!

By: Bobbie

Bobbie — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:37:49 +0000

I just came across your web site and really appreciate all the info here. I had no idea that some coupons printed from the internet were fraudulent. I will be more careful where I print my coupons from now on. Maybe that’s why I have trouble with virus scans from some coupon sites???
Thanks again!
Bobbie

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:25:39 +0000

Mercedes,
Great job on this post! I have often wondered about some of these coupons, and have been ever so careful since I found out that the coupon I printed and used for a free bag of Riceworks chips was fake. Since then I’ve always checked the source of any coupon, and tend to stay with Bricks, SmartSource and Red Plum. For those who don’t understand the principle behind this post, your statement ‘Would you rather save now or save always?’ gives a great reason for each couponer to think this through.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:39:14 +0000

Mercedes,

Do you verify the validity of the coupon(s) prior to posting them on your site then?

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:02:10 +0000

Thank you Laura so much for taking the time to do that. I think it’s pretty obvious that they are coupon scans.

Mercedes

By: Modern Day Mom

Modern Day Mom — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:50:16 +0000

Just to let everyone know – I wrote Cookie and the four companies represented in the PDF coupon file. Proctor & Gamble just wrote me back:

From: “P&G Tide”
To: “Me”

Hi! Laura,

Thanks for contacting Tide.

Thanks for the headsup on the Tide coupon (.pdf file). You are correct. We don’t offer these types of coupons due to the potential for fraud. If you found these coupons on the Internet, you may want to return to the site where they were located to discuss this issue. I’m also sharing the information you provided us with our Promotions Manager and Security Department.

Since you enjoy using coupons, you might want to check out the following site to see when our next P&G brandSAVER newspaper insert is available. Each month this insert contains valid P&G coupons for a variety of our products: http://www.brandsaver.com/cr

While you’re there, why not register to receive our monthly online magazine dedicated to simple solutions, great offers, and promotions from the P&G family of brands. Here’s a direct link to the P&G brandSAVER registration form:
http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/register-eds.jsp

Hope you’ll stop by.

Dianne
Tide Team

By: Wende

Wende — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:42:49 +0000

In regards to the School Years Eve coupon – you can actually get the coupon DIRECTLY from the school years eve website. Go to FAQ and it gives you the link directly from THEIR website for this coupon.

Go here:
http://schoolyearseve.cookiemag.com

then FAQ tab and it’s at the bottom.

I have been emailing Jenny at Southern Savers and she also thinks it’s legit, so I guess everyone will have to make their own determination.

Sometimes companies do allow coupons to be used outside of their “rules” for special promotions and this would be a special promotion I would say.

Again – I think everyone will have to make a choice on this one since there is so much controversy on this one.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:24:59 +0000

I really hate it when I learn about stuff like this. There are so many legitimate deals out there, there’s really no need and it just makes it tougher for the rest of us to use legitmate printable coupons. I made out like a bandit this week at Jewel ($177 worth of groceries for $18!!!) and most of what I used were printable coupons. More than once (especially when I have more than one of a coupon) I’ve had to explain to a cashier how to tell the difference between a good coupon and a fraud. I don’t mind as it helps him/her out the next time. But some of them do get downright nasty about it. I just smile and remain patient and try to remember they’ve probably had a bad experience. Plus they can get into serious trouble for taking fraudulent coupons, so I’d be cautious too.

By: Lacey

Lacey — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:31:58 +0000

I have contacted companies many times when I questioned a coupon. Do ya’ll remember the Ocean Spray coupon several, several months ago? I called Ocean Spray and found that it did not exist. A while back, there was a Got2B $2 coupon. I contacted them and they did not deny it. Remember the $1/12 pack of Coke product?? After it being released, people later started saying that the coupon wasn’t good. I had stayed up and printed some, so I wanted to make sure for myself. I called Coke myself, once again, I told them that it was posted online and I was able to print as many as I wanted all with different #s, and they told me that I could use the coupon. I will say that it is good to take it upon yourself to contact companies. Whether a coupon is good or bad, you can find out for yourself and not worry about making a mistake.

By: Jasmine

Jasmine — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:47:52 +0000

Thanks so much for posting this! Great info!

By: Rene

Rene — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:45:22 +0000

I loved this post! I am so glad to hear about people doing what is right. Ethics are so important. You laid it all out so clearly. Thanks for taking the time to write this post. I love your site! Thanks so much for all of your hard work!!

By: Modern Day Mom

Modern Day Mom — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:50:01 +0000

Melissa – CVS would end up giving you the $$$ back instead of the coupon unless you explain the situation and they take the time to sort through all of their coupons to find yours… which honestly, I doubt they will do. They have a 50/50 chance of P&G honoring the coupon, but they will definitely lose out on the $1 if you return them and get cash back. There’s no real harm done for doing something you weren’t aware of! I would just consider it a lesson learned.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:24:04 +0000

I’m still fairly new to this and I wish I’d have read this post before I used the pdf coupon for the highlighters at CVS this morning. I didn’t read any of the other coupons so I didn’t notice the “reverse side” comment on the Bagel Bites coupon.

I had no clue at the time that the coupon might not be legitimate, and it rang through just fine at the store.

Thanks for this post. I will be more careful/diligent in the future.

Now I’m wondering if I should take the highlighters back.

By: vitanga

vitanga — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:56:46 +0000

The McDonald’s coupon is definitely legitimate. I got a targeted email with the same link. Also, a unique pin number is generated every time. Even so, I had a problem using the coupon at my local McD’s (in Tosa). I wrote a complaint to corporate about how the situation was handled and they passed the feedback along to the franchise owner and the consultant who works with the franchise.

The funny thing is that they have stacks pf pre-printed coupons for the same offer in the restaurant that they are giving out to people.

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:51:18 +0000

This is why I rely on Hot Coupon World for a lot of background information on printable coupons. They actually have a procedure for you to submit any questionable coupons for them to research. You can find it here and can submit yourself too:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/its-got-real/6590-assistance-please-fake-real-found-coupon-link-you-would-like-share-board-check-here-proper-procedure.html

I just submitted the McDonalds coupon and we will see what they say. It may take a while since it is Friday evening.

Mercedes