You guys aren’t going to like this one… but it does change how we all shop at Dominick’s, so it needs to be noted.
Dominick’s has changed their policy on minimum purchases for “Super Coupons.” You’ll remember that the old policy stated that the $10 or $20 minimums were based on the regular, non-sale, non-Fresh Values prices of the products:
What does “minimum $10 (or $20) purchase required” mean? To use store coupons that include a minimum purchase requirement, you must spend a minimum dollar amount on that shopping trip. You will reach the minimum purchase amount based upon total purchases before your Club Card discount is applied. This total will include the coupon item’s regular price, not the discounted price. For example,the regular retail price of a box of Cheerios (before coupon and before Club Card discounts) will count toward the minimum purchase required in order to use the Cheerios coupon.
Got that? Now look at the new policy on Dominick’s site:
What does “minimum $10 (or $20) purchase required” mean? To use store coupons that include a minimum purchase requirement, you must spend a minimum dollar amount on that shopping trip. You will reach the minimum purchase amount based upon total purchases after your Club Card discount is applied. For example, the regular retail price of a box of Cheerios (after Club Card discounts) will count toward the minimum purchase required in order to use the Cheerios coupon.
Dominick’s… this is no way to improve on your already-tenuous relationship with your shoppers.
prea says
Well that just goes to prove they REALLY DON’T like coupon users and they have no interest in getting the thousands of couponers out there back into their stores. Well, at least we’ll still get front row parking when someones feels the overwhelming desire to be abused. I for one, expected nothing different from them so I’m not disappointed. Look out Jewel – here I come!
onceuponacoupon says
And they said they were listening?!??! Wow, I guess they really don’t want to make things better for their customers. What a dissapointment, though since Dom’s is a dissapointment anyway I guess I shouldn’t have expected much.
twinsplus2 says
And how do they intend to stay in business?
Bernard2003 says
one more reason NOT to shop Dominick’s.
Resurrection Praiser says
Jill, this confirms for me that you are a JEWEL of a person to even think of spending so much time writing up deals for Dom’s. I will stick with my favorite Jewel and sometimes visit Ultra and Butera.
GB777 says
Seems like all the customers will still have front row parking!!!!
icoupon2 says
The proof is clearly in the pudding (which we bought at Jewel, on sale and with a coupon). Dominick’s answer to all of this? To change their policies related to how we reach our minimums in order to use their not so “super coupons”.
In other words, “O.K. you complainers, use your silly little coupons. BUT we will just raise the bar on what you have to spend to do so. You’re going to be able to use your silly little coupons, but you still won’t get a deal from us. WE (meaning Dominick’s) and our rude, ill-trained, poorly mannered, disinterested employees and our ambiguous, change-on-a-whim policies are not the problem. You bored women with too much time on your hands to sit around cutting your little coupons and chatting on your blogs are the problem. Did you really think that you could outwit our crack team of pricing analysts and marketing gurus? Never you silly little moppets. We are a corporate giant and we will prevail.”
Well here is what I say to that. NEVER again, in a million years would I step foot into a Dominick’s. I don’t care if the planets are aligned, my karma is good and the wind is blowing north to northwest and I might actually get “a good deal” or even something for “free” >gasp!< . I know there are people who will disagree, if its free or super cheap just go there. No, because even though I am getting it for "free" Dominick's is getting reimbursed the full amount plus .08. (Oh that isn't right, they sell their coupons by weight because they like throwing money out the window by not seeking to be reimbursed in full properly.). Nonetheless, they are recouping what it cost them to put the products on the shelves. Therefore, even though we may not be "paying" for an item, we are contributing to their rapidly shrinking bottom line. Nothing short of a full boycott of Dominick's will get the point across. I will be listening this Thursday, to the Q4 2009 Safeway Inc. Earnings Release. I want to hear how their key executives try to explain AGAIN why sales and profits are down. We know why. But Dominick’s would rather be “right” than profitable.
Dig your heels in Dominick’s. Continue on this path, pretend that we as your consumers don’t matter. That we don’t get it, that we don’t know how these big bad business matters really work. Then watch the Jewel earnings reports moving forward. See how much our money and our opinions really do matter.
tammidunc says
Yet another reason why I don’t even look at the ad when I get it in the mail!
mbcmom23 says
As if there weren’t enough already. I hope they put up signs about this change…they can hang them right next to the “going out of business” signs!
looking4adeal says
It is sad that most of the Dominicks already have an issue with their employees customer service skills, but now to add another bit of confusion to another coupon scenario, just shows me that they really do not care. IMHO Dominicks should just give up wholesaling their coupons, give up expired coupons, and just adopt a simple coupon policy similiar to Jewels. It works GREAT for Jewel, and I have spent more at Jewel since I started couponing than I ever did before. If they really wanted to help their bottom line the would do things to ENCOURAGE people to come in their doors, not to DISCOURAGE so many. Especially in these tough times, it seems like Dominicks is doing everything they can do to not help those who frequent their stores. I did not shop at Dominicks much, but I see really no reason to support a store that does not care at all about their customers.
catnap8888 says
Well Dominicks, enjoy bankruptcy! Sorry to say it, but you apparently haven’t heard a thing your customers are saying. Too bad. I occassionaly shopped in your store because of the super coupons and being able to use expired coupons. Now however, with this new “change”, it’s not even worth my time looking at your flyer. I don’t plan on bringing a calculator to figure out you new system and I don’t plan on being tricked.
barrek says
It’s great to see that the only thing Dominick’s learned from reading this site is how we saved more money on the Super Coupons. What a bunch of arrogant suits! I’m done! I don’t care how great the sale is.
shlee says
What if Jill boycotted writing up any Dominicks deals? That would be even better incentive for us to stop shopping there :)
icoupon2 says
They know the issues, and they aren’t interested. In fact, it seems to me that instead of addressing the issues, they are choosing to turn the tables and raise the minimum purchase requirements required to use their “super coupons” thus negating the money we would save by combining them with manufacturer’s coupons. And they have yet to address the matter of expired products that fill their shelves.
So where does that leave us? It leaves in a place where we should be boycotting them and spending our dollars elsewhere. At stores that are aggressively pursuing our business and who welcome our couponing ways with open arms.
What’s interesting is that they originally responded in a manner which led us all to believe this was all news to them. Alas, its not. Since I am a “bored coupon clipper with too much time on my hands” (tongue in cheek) I read their 2008 Annual Report today. Very enlightening. BOTH of these issues are addressed in there. I was tempted to post the relevant parts here but its a good 4 or 5 paragraphs long. The bottom line is that not only are they not listening to us, they aren’t listening to themselves.
luva79 says
I am sorry, but your recent coupon policy changes have completely turned me away from your store. I only went in for the super-coupon deals w/ pre-card minimums, and now you wont be receiving my money at all. Please know that there are millions of people who are aware and feel this is a direct attack on an already wishy-washy customer base. Bad move policy-wise… you should consider the customer, not your bottom line, which will no-doubt continue to shrink. I would change it back if I were you, but then again what do i know, i’m just a shopper.
cschelthoff says
Why don’t we just shop those deals which are loss leaders for Dominicks and winners for us? Using expired coupons and earning catalinas which we trot over to Jewel to spend should make a point even those dim-witted executives could understand. Especially since they sell those coupons by the pound. Give ’em a bunch of high value, expired (by almost one year) suckers, I say.
elriedl says
Hmm! Makes me wonder if they have to pay off their “decor” bill for all the lovely hardwood floors and lighting – sad really.
I’m a new shopper to Dominicks thanks, in a large part, to everything I’ve learned from Jill. I’ve been to Dominick’s three times in the last week and a half. Before couponing, I might visit that store 4 or 5 times A YEAR, only on Fridays for their pizza. I also have a friend who is still learning to navigate her way through the store because she never went in there before learning to strategically shop with coupons. We are just two of many, many customers who have attended Jill’s class and have learned that shopping at Dominick’s won’t empty our accounts IF WE CAN USE COUPONS and use them to their fullest benefit. The new policy reduces our ability to use the coupons to their fullest benefit.
Truth is, before Jill’s class I never shopped there because I believed they were overpriced on most things. I wasn’t interested in paying high prices for the privelege of shopping in their high end decor.
I guess, bottom line is, I’m a new customer, Dominicks, how bad do you want to keep me?
CouponSpaz says
I will plan on only going into Dominick’s one or 2 more times….to cash in on the $6.00 expired pork coupons I still have(that is if they don’t discontinue that policy). I ran out out of freezer space with ALL the deals I got from Jewel.
I have a better idea, Jill………
Why not move Dominicks to the bottom of your page?
That is unless they pay you for the prime retail space on your blog…. ;)
And if they do, it’s not enough… ;) ;)
kel12347 says
I’m sure the higher ups over at Jewel are celebrating Dominick’s latest move and urging their stores to encourage coupons even more. Dominick’s is driving everyone right over to Jewel. Yup, that’s smart marketing.
dolrskolr says
If I were to ‘boycott’, to me, that means I still have an interest in their store but am refusing to do business until things change for the better.
Personally, I’m just not ‘interested’ anymore. Granted, the end result is still me NOT stepping foot in their doors. But, I’ll tell ya, I’m not hanging around hoping for a better result. Dom’s sales flyers will be taken out to the trash with Sears’ sales flyers. I won’t even waste the time opening it up and will remove and toss aside the barnacle attached to the front page of my Tribune without even so much as a cursory glance.
We’ve just been milked for our input and then had it dumped back in our laps. Are they STOOOPID!?!?!
dolrskolr says
Why does my interpretation of ‘limit one item PER COUPON’ differ from theirs? What am I missing? I thought I could buy one product and match it up to one coupon. I could repeat that for each subsequent purchase and coupon I possessed in a single transaction. Has this always been their interpretation? Only one product, one coupon, one shopping trip???
What does “Limit one item per coupon” mean?
This phrase means that the coupon price is valid for one product, within one shopping trip, and cannot be duplicated on that trip. For example, if a coupon offers an 18 oz. box of Cheerios for $1.99, and states “limit one item per coupon,” you can purchase just one box of Cheerios at that price on that shopping trip. At the register, just give the coupon to the checker, along with your Club Card, to receive the coupon price. If you have another copy of that same coupon, you can use it on your next shopping trip.
If you have several different coupons for several different items, you can use those coupons on the same shopping trip. However, you cannot use more than one coupon for the same item within one shopping trip.
Tallgal6 says
they heard the details about how we get the deals, and now they are going to fix that, too. Good for them :)
regis says
Just thought I would share that.
icoupon2 says
Since I posted about boycotting Dominick’s I feel I have to address it. I mean boycott as in the following:
I wouldn’t buy anything from Dominick’s with or without a coupon. Even if it was “free”. The reason for this is simple. By shopping at Dominick’s I feel it condones their behavior, and their policies. I condone neither. Dominick’s is aware of the behavior of their employees, who treat us, as their customers like criminals, when in fact we are redeeming legitimate coupons in conjunction with an advertised sale. By continuing to shop there, in my mind it says “that’s ok, as long as I can get a good deal or two, I’ll continue to let you treat me that way”. It’s like a bad relationship.
While I am not proposing an organized, sign carrying, chant singing boycott, what I am saying is that I will allow my absence and the absence of my shopping dollars speak for themselves.
UglyChixImMe says
WTF Does this mean I can’t go into the store anymore? That hurts because I really love peeing in aisle 4!
wlstefek says
Went to Dom’s on friday and tried to use two coupons; one was for a $.99 item and had a $.60 off coupon. Cashier would not except because of a new policy not accepting on more then 50% of the cost of the item. Also had an Ensure coupon for “up to $1.85” but because the item was $1.69 I would get it free. He said Dom’s new policy also says no “free” items. I walked out.
This was the Dom’s in Oswego. At Jewel yesterday the cashier made a comment about their corportate re-writing the coupon policy to “derail all you couponers getting things for nothing”
Any truth to this??
tuppermom6 says
I agree that the super coupons are rarely more than a decent sale price(more exciting if there is a man q to stack). So to make them more complicated to use just so isn’t worth it. I started to look at the corp report and the first thing that struck me was the map that showed store locations. When you see Illinois as their only holding in the midwest it starts to make a little more sense. They are so far removed from our market and our values. It is loud and clear in every one of these a**backwards decisions. If you check their couponing policy for their east coast stores it is just as muddled(they double for that market).
couponqn says
I find it sadly amusing that in one breath they say “we value the opinions of couponers and of a blog that reaches tons of couponers- we’re listening” and in the next breath they seem to almost intentionally alienate those same customers. It’s bad enough we haven’t seen positive changes to reflect that they’re hearing our concerns but to make backwards changes is just proof that they have no consistent corporate policy for customer retention.
My mom used a Wags cat at Dom’s the other day and was told one per transaction (fine, she expected that)- and the cashier told her that that was “for now- but we’re going to be changing all of our coupon policies b/c we’re not making any money on these stupid things” My mom decided not to argue the fact that they would be reimbursed for the coupon, and that it was in fact their coupon policy that was helping to keep shoppers from stepping foot in their doors, etc. I actually feel kinda bad for the cashiers and lower level managers though- they have clearly been told that their jobs may be in jeopardy if the company doesn’t start doing better and yet it’s the higher ups at corporate making these decisions to alienate their consumers.
In a day and age where consumers have so many choices (as evidenced in their own reports) and are in general being very money conscious it is a very poor corporate strategy to alienate such a large consumer base by continually altering your coupon policies for the worse. All we asked for is a simple and consistent coupon policy that is enforced by employees who understand the policies and understand basic customer service. Apparently that was too much to ask for.
amysue says
Where is it written that you may only use one catalina per day? Did I miss something or has this happened to anyone else? Seems they make the rules up as they go. BOYCOTT!!
qponcents says
The dictionary’s definition of masochism? Pleasure in being humiliated! You know where I’m going with this… not to DOM’S!
cg1 says
I picture karma as Jill owning a share of Dom’s (I guess Safeway) stock just so she can let all the other shareholders know how corporate is killing business.
onceuponacoupon says
I noticed the changes at Dom’s today, and they’re not for the better.
I had a few items (had to use my $10 q I got last week) and q’s of course. She rang everything through and then checked every IP I had to see if it was the 50% or more. She had to take the item, find it on the screen and then do the math in her head. It took FOREVER. By now we had a nice long line going. She refused one of my q’s for yogurt (didn’t understand why, but by now I wasn’t going to argue over .50) so I told her to take it off. The register wouldn’t let her, so we had to unbag EVERYTHING and re-ring it. She then told me that they just had a big meeting about coupons because so many people are using them now and that they really have to be careful about what they accept or they can get in trouble. She also told me that if I had any coupons that would make items free, she couldn’t accept them.
What a way to win over customers Dominick’s!
joulscouls@gmail.com says
Haven’t been a fan of Dom’s since they closed their McHenry store. They left expired dairy on the shelves to sell, jacked up their prices and turned off the heat. Reluctantly, I tried Crystal Lake when they had that huge Cat deal last spring but the pricing was soooo confusing, I needed a margarita by the time I finished. Jill, I applaud your business sense in seeing the need to create sound competition, but you can’t help a company that will not help itself. They have in fact gone out of their way to make it difficult to shop in their stores. I’m w/ the rest of your bloggers: Dominick’s who?
pwill69 says
Well, at least for the stores where is there competition I cannot see how they are going to stay in business. I know the stores in Crystal Lake, Algonquin, and C’ville are never crowded. There is obviously a problem not just with couponers. I find it amusing that their response wanted to seperate the customer service issues from the coupon policy since the majority of our customer service issues did not arise until we took out our coupons. However, there was information in the blog about spoiled products and staff that are reluctant to help when we are shopping that seemed to be discounted.
I think there are some Dom stores that are doing okay especially those in Chicago where many of their customers walk – captive audience.
I’d love to know more about the coupon by the pound versus claiming the value plus .08. Has anyone mentioned here how Jewel or Meijer does the coupon claiming? If that business decision is what is driving their coupon policy, I think they need to review that decision. Perhaps they are in a long term contract that is cost prohibitive to break?
Regardless, I feel like they solicited our feedback to see how we work coupons and write a policy so that we would NOT be able to shop there. With such a complex process, I’m surprised they are even still taking coupons.
If they want to be like Joseph’s who doesn’t even take IP coupons, then they need to do something about having a unique product line.
Something is broke with Dom’s and it starts at the top. I do find it surprising that the staff have been brainwashed into thinkng that we are doing something wrong. If I was a cashier and saw the deals that we were getting, I’d be trying to figure out how to get a piece of that action especially since they don’t make a ton of money!
My biggest concern is that when Doms fails (notice when not if), will we see stores like Meijer and Jewel change how they handle coupons? There was a recent article in the paper about how Jewel was laying off 120+ managers at the stores as a cost cutting measure…
I would like to see Jill dump the Dom’s deals – seems like a wasted effort on her part when the majority of us are not going to take advantage of it no matter how good of a deal we see. If there is a good deal in the printed paper, I’ll take it Walmart to price match. I vote to see Butera in the blog. They have been running some awesome deals of late and seemed coupon friendly enough my most recent trip last Friday. There is a store I had not gone to in years! The most recent ad caught my eye with cheap milk and butter so I found another blog that listed more deals with the matches and my list became longer and longer.
For now, I’ll just wait for the going out of business sale…
dmhuizinga says
Hmmmm. I thought Dominick’s was trying to get more of our business. This would probably happen if they did a couple simple things:
1)Make a simple, well-liked coupon policy that all cashiers are informed of.
2)Change the minimum purchase requirement back to the previous policy.
3)Listen to the feedback from shoppers on this site.
noel1262 says
I just read the blog and someone mentioned expired products. I didn’t check to see if it was expired but I was in the Buffalo Grove Dominicks and saw a Christmas Tree made out of butter on the shelf. It was less than 8 oz and the shelf price was $4.59 approx… Who is going to buy a Butter Christmas tree in February? Can anyone think of how we can incorporate the christmas tree along with the butter lamb for easter? What about Passover? St Patricks Day- corned beef, cabbage and christmas butter?
icoupon2 says
To Kmart! Where they take (and often DOUBLE) coupons. And how was
Kmart rewarded?
With their best quarterly profit in 3 years! In spite of recent store closings. Hmmm…go figure.
https://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/02/sears-profit-more-than-doubles-in-4q.html
knlrichter says
After ready the disclosure statement, it still didn’t address that the “purchase requirement” is even after all your coupons. I just got off the phone with Customer Service because my “$25 minimum purchase” came to $32 before coupons. I figured great I’m in the clear. Nope, after deducting my coupons my purchase was only $17 which didn’t qualify for the $10 catalina. I will never step foot in Dominicks again!
onceuponacoupon says
I had a cashier try to tell me yesterday that I couldn’t use my IP because I already had a discount on that item from an e-coupon. I told her I could, but she had to check with someone else who confirmed I was right. She was completely surprised that I could do that and then annoyed when my order came to .54 for my package of Yoplait Delights.
My relationship with Dom’s has to stop. I keep giving them chances and for awhile things go ok, then I get a hassle. This kind of relationship isn’t healthy, so I’m done. I didn’t even look at the flyer for this coming week, I have no interest.
love to shop says
Dominicks, who??
All I have to say is I LOVE JEWEL. I love that they are friendly and helpful. I love that they accept my coupons without attitude. I love that they work with couponers, they hear us. They reward us with great new programs. Yes, don’t we all love YOUR BUCKS!! So, we may have our issues with Dominicks, but it sure makes me thankful to have JEWEL!!
dolrskolr says
Dom’s went in the recycling with the rest of the bundle … with nary a 2nd glance.
onceuponacoupon says
Is anyone shopping Dom’s this week? With all their problems lately and that Catalina blitz at Jewel, there really isn’t much reason to is there?
beth21 says
I guess they really just want to go out of business!?
holamelitta says
On Thursday, I went to Dominick’s for probably the second time ever, after living in Chicagoland for almost five years. This time I went because I had some catalinas from Jewel and Walgreens that expired a few months ago, and I decided to try using them at Dominick’s on one of the rare occasions that I would be near one (the store on Cicero Ave., south of Midway). The cashier rang up all my items, and I handed over the coupons. The first thing she said that was that she couldn’t take the Walgreens ones because they were not for a specific item, that they can take coupons from Walgreens for specific items but not for $ off an order. I told her that that was not what the policy I had heard and asked if she could check. She grudgingly did, and came back with the answer that she could take one, and it says that one the back. (Actually, what it says on the back is “one per purchase,” so the store is clearly confused on that terminology, based on the reports of many here.) So, I picked the highest value cat ($7) and told her to void off everything except $7 worth; I explained that I was only buying the stuff assuming the coupons would be accepted. She sighed and called the supervisor and said, “Now she wants me to void off stuff.” She then decided to just void the whole transaction and said to divide it up in transactions small enough to use one catalina per transaction. Which I did. However, this whole process took a lot of time. It wasted my time and the cashier’s time, and I’m sure other customers in line behind me had better things to do. In the end, I bought all the same stuff and used all the same coupons that I would have otherwise, so why does Dominick’s insist on doing things in the most inconvenient way possible? If they are hoping that couponers will be the ones to change, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Couponers are tough cookies, and most will eventually just move on to the Jewel down the road, where the deals are plentiful and corp cares about their customers (including couponers). It also left a bad taste in my mouth that 1 of the 2 apples I got was inedible because it had black spots throughout (looked fine on the outside).