Mystery solved? Why some Dominick’s coupons ring at .01 at the register

It really was not my intention to have “rag on Dominick’s week” on the blog. But one of my readers got an email today that sheds some light on an issue that I have received literally hundreds of emails about since the inception of this blog… why some Dominick’s store coupons ring at .01 at the register.

Reader Coop received this email today after writing to inquire why the $2 Rancher’s Reserve meat coupon was not scanning correctly:

We regret to hear that you are having difficulty with the promotion. We have reviewed your club card and found that the reason the Ranchers Reserve coupon did not redeem is because the offer was redeemed on a different purchase dated 01/23/2011 and is stated that it is only good for one item. The Sausage coupon did activate on your purchase dated 01/31/2011 and the offer for the sausage also states that it is only good for one item. If you try using multiple coupons the register will cancel any coupons that are the same if the coupon has been redeemed and states that it is good for one item as per our coupon policy. Your comments are important to us and will be forwarded to our Marketing department for further review. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have encountered.

Coop writes, “The coupons I was trying to use were out of the Joy of Football book. If the $2 meat coupon/offer was intended to be one per card then why not state it on the coupon? I purchased two packages of sausage and the coupon states one item. So when shopping at Dominick’s does that mean one coupon per ‘like’ items? Or are they saying that each coupon in the book is an ‘offer’ and only one ‘offer’ per card?

From Dominick’s response, apparently so.

The registers appear to be set so that you get one usage (meaning, one instance per Fresh Values card) of some Dominick’s store coupons. Subsequent uses of the same coupon make that coupon ring at .01 at the register — something that nearly every one of my readers has experienced at one time or another, judging both from posts here and the email I receive.

The trouble is, how are shoppers supposed to know when a coupon is limited to one usage per Fresh Values card?

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Let’s take a look at the wording on some different Dominick’s store coupons.

Here’s the current “$2 off Rancher’s Reserve Beef purchase” coupon in the $70 Big Party Playbook coupon book currently available in stores:

This coupon states “Limit one item per coupon.”

From the wording, most people would likely assume that if they had two of these coupons, they could use one coupon on each package of beef, provided they have two coupons and two items. But this coupon is coded to work ONE time per Fresh Values card, and if you try to use a second, the register scans that coupon at .01.

Does it state that anywhere on it? No. If this is Dominick’s intention, wording like “Limit 1 coupon per Fresh Values Card” would be much clearer both to customers and cashiers.

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To further confuse things, look at any store coupon in the weekly Dominick’s ad. Here’s this week’s Kingsford Charcoal coupon:

It also states “Limit one item per coupon.” Yet, many people are aware that if you go back to Dominick’s tomorrow, you can use another one of these coupons on another bag of charcoal, because the ad states at the bottom:

“ALL LIMITS ARE PER HOUSEHOLD, PER DAY.”

Confused yet? The limits reset each day on store coupons in the Dominick’s flyer that state “Limit one item per coupon,” but apparently, for the coupons in the $70 Big Party Playbook, the limits are one use, one time, per Fresh Values card and do not reset. But it doesn’t state this anywhere in the book, and it’s extremely confusing for customers when there is NOTHING on the coupon stating that once you use it, you won’t be able to use another one. Why not simply state “Limit one usage of this coupon per Fresh Values card?”

Dominick’s apparently wants to limit some of the Playbook coupons to one per item, per transaction, and per Fresh Values card. But that’s not what the coupons in the book say, and that’s not what’s happening in the stores. One of my cashiers at my local Dominick’s is so tired of seeing coupons ring at .01 that she subtotals the register after EVERY coupon is scanned so that she can make sure they come off, and if she sees any .01 coupons, she manually keys them in at face value. If the cashiers in the store aren’t even aware of why some Dominick’s coupons scan at .01, how can the general public be expected to know?

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Going back to the email Coop received from Dominick’s, the mail says:

“If you try using multiple coupons the register will cancel any coupons that are the same if the coupon has been redeemed and states that it is good for one item as per our coupon policy.”

But this is not true for the coupons in the weekly ad at all, as the ad always states that “ALL LIMITS ARE PER HOUSEHOLD, PER DAY.” When all store coupons state “Limit one item per coupon,” but some are limited per day and others are not, how are shoppers supposed to know the difference?

By not sharing that information with shoppers, Dominick’s makes more money every time one of these coupons scans at .01.