I’ve been reading and hearing lots of gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair over additional wording showing up on the latest Register Rewards: Redeemable Only At Walgreens. At first glance I admit that I lost it, too. First we lose the price spread on catalina promotions, then wine tags…now RRs couldn’t be used at Jewel! Pay retail! Not on this Goddess’ watch.
I believe that this is purely a sneaky marketing tool. How many of you were unaware that you could use these little bits of paper as cash at Jewel due to the marvelous “manufacturer coupon” wording on the top? Everyone, right? Most people are unaware of this, so they’re trying to fool the newbies who’ve started watching Extreme Couponing and want to get all their groceries for free! They’ve heard and read that they can use Register Rewards at Jewel (and previously at Dominicks). Newbies just don’t bother reading official coupon policies. In fact, Jewel’s corporate policy states (in part):
The following coupon types are accepted by Jewel-Osco:
1. Any coupons that do not scan or do not have barcodes should be checked for validity of expiration date and purchase requirements MANUFACTURER COUPONS:
Manufacturer Coupons are coupons issued by the manufacturer containing:
“Terms of agreement” (legal paragraph ‘To The Retailer’)
Face value
Expiration date
Verbiage “Manufacturer Coupon.”
Have a barcode. We do not accept expired Manufacturer Coupons or coupons that have had the expiration date cut off. If in doubt, call your manager.
NOTE: Jewel-Osco and other retailers issue coupons such as printed ad media coupons that are manufacturer coupons and contain the words “redeemable only at their retailer (e.g. Dominick’s, Walgreens) this type of coupon is redeemable at Jewel-Osco as long as the coupons states “Manufacturer Coupon”.
So there you have it, folks. According to Jewel, these new RRs are exactly the same as the old ones: they won’t beep or cause any problems whatsoever – I’ve used them this past week. I would recommend that you print out this policy and take it with you if you are shopping at an unfriendly to couponers store…although why you’d want to give them your money in the first place doesn’t make sense to me…
If only the same were true for CVS.
And this is why I don’t run or post CVS deals, Justin, ’cause you are tied to those store credits. The only thing you can do is hope there’s a good deal within the next month so you can roll them or buy milk if it’s on sale.
You are right as always. I just used two “redeemable only at Walgreens” Register Rewards at Jewel.