Dominick’s changes coupon policy again

Dominick’s has issued another revision to their coupon policy. Here’s an overview of the changes…

Section 1 now refers to cashiers being able to adjust down the value of a coupon in an overage situation — beneficial for stores that may have refused to do this in the past:

1. We will redeem coupons only for the specific items included in our customer’s purchase transaction. The redemption value will be as stated on the coupon, unless that value yields a final price for such item less than zero; if application of the redemption value yields a price less than zero, the coupon will be redeemed only for the amount that yields a zero price…

Section 2 essentially states that you will not be able to redeem a coupon after the fact or at a later date:

2. Paper coupons must be presented at the time of the purchase transaction.

Section 4 is highly unpopular with everyone:

4. Coupons may not be applied against any free item received in any offer.

Update: When I originally read #4, I took it that if you had a $1 coupon for one item, and a B1G1F coupon for the other, they would no longer allow this, even though it’s correct usage (one manufacturer coupon applying to each item.) One of my readers pointed out, correctly, that in a case like that, the $1 coupon still does apply to the one you’re buying. So, if that’s the case, we can assume this is still referring to Dominick’s own B1G1F sales and not instances of a B1G1F coupon.

Section 6 clarifies the kinds of Catalinas they will and will not accept (in a nutshell, if it’s a Jewel Catalina for $1 off Barilla pasta, they’ll take it, but if it’s a $5 Walgreens Register Reward, they won’t):

6. Dominick’s will not accept manufacturer coupons (including, but not limited to, coupons issued through a Catalina or other in-store coupon dispenser) that display another retailer’s logo or name unless such coupon is for a specific item with the same product identifiers as the product included in our customer’s purchase transaction.

And now… get ready to put your confusion goggles on… Sections 12 and 13 deal with the “minimum purchase requirement”

12. Purchase reward thresholds (if any) will be calculated based upon customer’s final price (after deducting Fresh Value Card savings and all other discounts and savings) before deductions for any manufacturer coupons. As an example (and not as an offer), if a $10 minimum purchase is required for a customer reward, a customer’s order at full retail would be $12, a Fresh Value Card discount of $1.75 applies, and a manufacturer’s coupon of $1 applies, the customer would be given credit for a $10.25 purchase, and would be eligible for the reward (assuming compliance with all other requirements) even though the customer’s cash payment would be only $9.25. The manufacturer’s coupon would not be deducted from the total for purposes of determining reward eligibility.

What’s this saying? Basically, if you’re using a Super Coupon with a $10 minimum purchase, the POST-Fresh-Values sale price is what counts toward your $10 minimum, but you will NOT be penalized for using manufacturer coupons that drop your end balance below the $10 threshold. This has been worded various ways over the past few years, but I think, while wordy, this might actually help shoppers who coupon their bills below $10 and are then told they can’t use their Super Coupons.

But now, Section 13 will also be unpopular with most people (emphasis in bold is mine):

13.References to a threshold purchase requirement will exclude purchases of: Beer, Wine, Spirits, Tobacco Products, Fuel, All Fluid Items in the Refrigerated Dairy Section (including Fluid Dairy and Dairy Substitutes), Prescription Items and Co-payments, Bus/Commuter Passes, Fishing/Hunting Licenses and Tags, Postage Stamps, Money Orders, Money Transfers, Ski Tickets, Amusement Park Tickets, Event Tickets, Lottery Tickets, Phone Cards, Gift Cards, and Gift Certificates; also excluded are: Bottle Deposits, Redemption Values, and Sales Taxes.

So, when they offer a Super Coupon for $1.99 milk, none of the milk’s price counts toward the $10 minimum purchase to use that coupon. Zero. (Gone are the days of me running in to use Super Coupons and padding the rest of my total with tasty O Organics milk.)

And why punish people for buying “dairy substitutes?”

Let’s think about all of the things one will NOT be able to use to reach a minimum purchase at Dominick’s… it’s more than milk, soymilk and almond milk. Liquid coffee creamer will not count. Neither will a carton of Egg Beaters. What about a can of Reddi-Wip, technically liquid dairy in a can?

And hey, we skipped right over Section 11:

11. Dominick’s reserves the right to refuse any coupons at its discretion.

When all’s said and done, they can refuse anything anyway.

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Interestingly, the “Making Sense of Store Coupons” still has the older wording about the Super Coupon minimums, which makes no mention of the exclusions of fluid dairy.