Check out the signs that are posted at every checkout lane in our Target now! I know it’s slightly blurry, but here’s what it says:
To help you save in every way, we accept manufacturer’s coupons.*
*We happily accept one manufacturer’s and one Target coupon per item.
So this is great news for those of you that have had issues with coupon stacking in the past. It seems like Target is really making a concerted effort to better educate their employees on their coupon policies with these signs and the recent posting of their corporate coupon policy online.
Those of you that are newer to my site may be wondering exactly what “coupon stacking” is and why all the fuss about it. Coupon stacking is when a store allows you to use both a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon on the same item. When you can pair these coupons with a good sale, the end result is huge savings and/or possibly even free merchandise!
A perfect example is the current Pop-Tarts deal:
Kellogg’s Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts, $1.52
$1/1 Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts Target printable
$2/2 Kellogg’s Select Fiber-Added Products, exp. 10-11-09 (RP 8/30/09)
2 FREE after 1 manufacturer and 2 Target coupons!
So you would buy two boxes of Pop-Tarts, use one manufacturer’s coupon (since it’s off two items), and use two Target store coupons. This will make the Pop-Tarts free after all coupons!
Have you found it easier to use coupons at Target lately? What are your tips for getting the best results?
Melody James
This is an awesome sign to see!
Our Target is HORRENDOUS about coupons!
I have ONE SPECIFIC cashier that I always seek out because she knows the policy and if very friendly.
If I get anyone else, I have to politely and very courteously teach them their coupon policy. Most of the time they say, “Oh yes, you’re right”…but many times you get a stinker who will fight you till the end and you have to request a customer service manager. But all in all friendliness goes a LONG way! :)
Mary
Whenever I shop..I usually go to younger cashiers. I’ve had bad experiences with old people.
Tamara
This is so great! I havent been to my store this week to see if they posted them here yet- I hope so because one manager sits in his lair and forces the front end supervisors to come to him in the back somewhere and never allows anything-lol. I’ve never seen the man just his decrees from the office.
Jenny
I got my Pop-Tarts today!
Thanks for spelling out how to properly use the manufacturer’s coupon and the TWO Target coupons. It is useful to see exactly how to work the deal for newbies like me. I wasn’t sure I could actually use two of the Target coupons, but I did it before I saw this post. I’m glad to get the confirmation that it does work that way.
Rebecca
I have had a really bad time this past month with my coupons at Target. The last trip to Target ended with me leaving in tears after being my a spectical and security being called over!!!! There wasn’t even anything wrong, weird, or questionable about my coupons. I am taking a break from Target, sadly, for awhile and hopefully they can get it together. I am tired of being treated like a criminal because I use coupons!
Meagan
Oh my gosh Rebecca! That’s terrible! My experiences are off and on with Target. I try to go for the younger guys. They don’t seem to care. I had a younger girl this past trip, and get this…she tried to tell me that I couldn’t use the same type of manufacturer’s coupon more than once! She said, “well it says one per purchase.” I told her politely that every coupon says that, and that it means “one per ITEM purchased.” She told me it meant per transaction. And so we called the manager over, and the manager told me I was right, pushed everything through, and it was all good. It’s just funny sometimes…how people truly have NO idea how coupons are supposed to work. I just wonder are there really that many people out there who DON’T EVER use coupons that makes these cashiers not know the coupon policy? Crazy!! =]
Kim
I can’t fault clueless cashiers. Before I started couponing a month ago, I knew nothing about coupons, ECBs, RRs or anything else. But I do blame the stores for not training their employees. But cashiers should be ashamed of themselves for being rude to customers.
robin
i agree with you rebecca… i just had the most terrible experience at my local target… the manager himself was actually standing in front of me yelling and telling me i couldnt use coupons in his store any more cause i was getting things for free… well yeah … i stood in line for over an hour while they rang up my purchases and then challanged every one of my coupons… they kept telling me that because the coupon said one per purchase that i had to make seperate transactions for each coupon( which defeated the purpose of getting my kashi and my gift card) i tried politely telling them that i can use one coupon per item that if i had 5 items that was 5 purchases and 5 total made 1 transaction… they kept telling me that transactions and purchases were the same… i was humilated and crying by the time left.. i called corporate but so far no results.. but im not about to let this go until i have it in written from corporate what they consider a purchase and a transaction
Diane
I had a hard time tonight at Walmart. They are changing some of their wording about coupons and confusing their cashiers. I was buying the scrubbing bubbles toilet gel and using the coupon to buy the gel and get the toilet scrubber kit free. The register said that the amount of the coupon was ” too large” whatever that meant and the CSM came over and originally told me I could only use 1 coupon per order because it said one per purchase. I politely explained the difference in a purchase and transaction. He finally cancelled the complete order and rerang it and it went ok except that I had a man Q for a glade item that said Publix on it and he refused to take it. Thank goodness I had a man Q for backup but the other one was a man coupon also but he refused to let me use it. Last Friday, I bought some of the $5 airwick machines and the cashier freaked out and said I could only buy one and use one coupon per transaction. Thank goodness the CSM came over and told her that that meant one per item purchased. I hope Walmart gets it together soon.
Daniell
I totally agree with Mary. The younger the cashier the easier it is to get coupons to go through without question. Not that I am trying to pull any fast ones, but older people tend to be more difficult. I have no idea why!!
Norma
most of the time the people that give you a hard time seem to be old ladies that seem mad because you are getting such a good deal, they act like the “coupon police”, you’d think they are coming out of their own pockets. They are ridiculous! Stop hating target coupon police ladies!
Norma
I meant – STOP YOUR HATING, YOU ANGRY COUPON POLICE LADIES!
jamie
I work at target and its not necessary that we dont know our policy its that our supervisors change it everyday! Once i had a guy try to use a coupon that kroger had mailed to him, but it did say manufacturer coupon, so i asked just to double check that we could take it and my supervisor said yup as long as its manufacturer. And then the next day i got yelled at for taking the same thing. They dont know what they can take and then confuse us cashiers.
Also i have to agree with the older cashiers being grumpy lol.
kelly
I went to Target today- mass coupons! My total before coupons was $72- after coupons $8! I usually go about once a week to Target- I always get a great deal, I know the day supervisor by name and try to shop around her work schedule- it just makes my life easier!
BK
Tamara – You’re Target is like Oz. They even have a wizard behind the curtain! I hope this sign is up at your store – it’ll be like yanking that curtain open!
Anna
I had the same problem with the scrubbing bubbles coupon , I guess if its over a certain amount they need a csm to approve it .. and its always a pain . when i tried to use it the cashier would not call the csm and tried to do all these different things to get it to work , after 10 min she finally got a manager and he had no idea what to do … 10 min after he came over he gave up and manually took off the amount and threw the box at me and said here..
Bianca
I went to 2 different Targets and can NOT find those Pop tarts! They have the regular ones but not the fiber ones. Have any of you had this problem? I’m so frustrated cause I have my coupons printed out and ready to go but I cant find the dang PopTarts!!!
Emily
I don’t usually shop at Target (only when there is a really stellar deal that I can’t pass up!) but overall I think they’re getting better about it. My store just got those same signs and I think that helped a LOT. It is so clear! :) Also, I agree with a previous commenter that the best cashier are the young men. They’re much more likely to either not care or actually be helpful. Which is not to say that everyone else isn’t helpful, just that in my experience young men are almost ALWAYS helpful. Not sure why!
Dee
I completely agree what Rebecca wrote. I had a similar experience. Mine was over Gerber bottle couple of weeks ago. They proved me that even though I am feeding my baby with a bottle, a bottle is not a feeding accessory. I even said ok I was wrong and I am sorry, but then he was angry because I said then I am not buying the bottle. As I was leaving they were talking about how cheap and weird I am. People thought I was trying steal sthg. It was humiliating. I cried so much, still could not get rid of the feeling. My husband said, “You are trying to save couple of bucks then we are going to pay hundreds for your therapy.” He is right, it is too overwhelming. I dont think I am going to target again.
Kris
What about the Target coupons that are in the Sunday Paper? The text differs than the ones you can print from their website. One store gave me a absolute NO before.
tessa
wow, some of these stories scare me! lol… I have the best luck w/ the younger ppl also. The younger then better.. they don’t seem to care much. So far I have only had one bad time at WalMart and it was MY misunderstanding and I just left my stuff there.. it was all good. I have a girl that I always go to at my Target. I should say when I see her, I go to her.. if not, pick a young guy.. or young lady. You are so right, the older ppl act like it’s coming out of their pocket. I’m not trying to pull a fast one, I just want these good deals that YOU say are there for the having. I even asked this one cashier when she’d be working so I knew when to come back. She kind of liked that I liked her enough to ask I think:) And friendliness DOES go a LONG ways. Just be fun and kind and whatever happens happens:)
Kristen
Have any of you had the cashier who will look over the coupon 5 times before even scanning it and then ask if you have the item, just to make sure that you aren’t trying to pull a fast one? It’s annoying!!! I have to go through MY stuff that YOU just put into all of these bags and show you that it matches before you even scan the coupon? And then the dang thing doesn’t beep or cause any problems. Ugh. I for one am excited about the new signage.
Shirley
whenever i go to target, i always go for the younger cashiers. they are way friendlier, one time i had this old lady put on her glasses and refuse my coupons one by one.
Steele
Here’s a Target coupon story you will never forget. I had stopped going to my closest local target in East Las Vegas about six months ago because they never seemed to honor the coupon policy, wouldn’t accept some coupons, uneducated cashiers on coupon policy, etc. In fact, this store wouldn’t even accept the printed Target coupons from online or any Internet printed coupons.
So I stopped in about a month ago to give Target another chance, as I wanted to stack a few coupons, and get some deals, and went to check at Customer Service to make sure this store was finally taking one Target coupon and one Manufacturers’ coupon on one item. I pulled out an example of each, and layed them on the counter, and asked if Target still took one Target coupon and one Manufacturers’ coupon on the same item. She said no. I asked when did that stop. She stated, we’ve never taken two coupons on one item ever. I said well you use to. She said she had worked at Target for 15 years and they never ever took two coupons on one item ever. I said, that is not true. She huffed, rolled her eyes and grabbed for the radio and got a manager.
The manager came over and I asked her the same question. Do you still take one Target coupon (holding up a Target coupon) and one Manufacturers’ coupon (holding up a Manufacturers coupon) on one item? She said yes. I said, well then you need to educate this woman who just told me that in the 15 years she has worked at Target, they have never accepted two coupons at a time.
Needless to say, I was followed by not only the manager, but also security afterwards during my entire trip through the store. And while I was checking out, the manager stood back from the register I was checking out at, watching. My other half was with me during this trip, and he asked me if I had noticed we were being followed. I knew we were being follwed in the store, but just didn’t mention it to him. I have nothing to hide, and neither does he. Just because we use coupons does not make us criminals. Not acceptable.
Then two weeks ago, I wanted to do the Tide Stain Release deal and the Bounce Bar deal with stacking coupons. I also had B1G1 on cat food. I had also wanted to get a few of the travel size Tides with the $1/1 on any Tide for the other half, since he’s a truck driver and its convenient for him. So, I spend about an hour in the store and walk up to the register, placed my items on the counter, match the coupons with the items and the cashier must have been the captain of the coupon police.
She first picks up the Tide Stain Release coupons and looks at them, both the manufacturer and Target coupon. She then picks up a bottle of the Stain Release, scans it, then scans both coupons. After this, she clears the register, places the bottle of Stain Release back on the counter, and sorts those coupons into piles next to each bottle.
Then she looks at my Bounce coupons (Target and Manufacturer), picks up the Bounce Dryer Bar, scans it, then scans both coupons, clears out the register, and again sorts those coupons into piles next to each box.
Then she sees my cat food, which I have stacked into stacks of two, with a coupon on top of each. I had 10 cans and five coupons. She scans two cans, then scans the coupon, clears out the register, and returns the two cans to the counter, and places the coupon on top of that stack. She does the same with the next four stacks.
By this point, I have been standing there approximately 8 minutes, and absolutely nothing has been rung up. I could not for the life of me figure out why she was doing this, and I asked her. She said she wanted to make sure that all the coupons were good on the items. I said ooooookkkkk.. but wouldn’t it be logical to scan the item, then scan the coupons, and then place them in the bag instead of clearing out the register and doing double work? She said she just wanted to make sure all my coupons were good.
So then she sees the $1/1 on ANY Tide, and my travel packs of Tide. She scans the pack, which rings up at $0.97 and then the coupon for $1/1. Of course it beeps, as the coupon has to be adjusted, per corporate policy if the amount of the coupon exceeds the cost of the item. SHe said she couldn’t take the coupon. I said no, you have to adjust the coupon manually. She said no, she couldn’t do that.
It was at this point, I was nearly nashing at my teeth and asked for a manager. There was also about 6 people standing behind me in line. A young girl, probably about 21, came over, and I told her what was going on. She said they don’t adjust the coupon down. I said yes, corporate policy says to adjust the coupon down, and asked to go over to customer service and call corporate to verify. She said no, and began rambling on. I asked FIVE TIMES to go over to customer service to verify the marking down of the coupon, to also stop tying up the register so others could check out, and take care of this issue at customer service, and was refused all five times.
So, I’d been at the checkout for nearly 15 minutes now, with a line of people behind me and I’d finally had it, put my hand up my forehead, closed my eyes and said very quietly “I don’t f’ing believe this”. She said, “Ma’am if you use profanity again, I will have you removed from the store.” OMG, I was about to have a minor breakdown at this point. I said fine, you can keep everything, which was around $150 worth of goods including clothing, walked away from the counter, and towards Customer Service.
I walked over to Customer Service and asked for the corporate number, and called and verified that they do mark down the coupon if it exceeds the cost of the item. I saw the young girl talking to another woman and walked over to them. I asked the agent on the phone to repeat what he had just said. He repeated it. At that point I said her name, and said she told me that I could not do that. She wasn’t happy when I said her name, and rolled her eyes, and huffed and believe it or not, even stamped her foot like a child. She was shaking scared. The agent on the phone again repeated that it was policy to mark down coupons however, at this point, the agent began to have issues with hearing me. The young girl told me to just hang up the call. I refused.
The woman the young girl was talking to was the manager on duty. She asked to see the coupon. She looked at it and said yes, you she can do that. The girl then said, well, she’s going to get it free. She asked what I was buying, and I said the travel size at $0.97, I only wanted five of them.
The young girl looked at the coupon again, and said, no, she can’t, its only good on a bottle, see the picture? And it says, “$1 off any Tide, 2 benefits, 1 bottle” with a picture of a bottle of Tide. At that time for some reason the agent on the phone was having trouble with his headset, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I did finally end up hanging up because I couldn’t hear him, and he couldn’t hear me.
The manager looked at the coupon, and said, yes, its only good on bottles. I rolled my eyes at this point, and could not believe this. I told her he says ANY SIZE, not ANY SIZE BOTTLE. She handed the coupon back to me and began to walk away. Well, at that point I said I had another coupon for $1/1 on any Tide, and lets try both on a box of Tide. She, the manager on duty, continued walking away.
Meanwhile, two security guards were standing behind me that I didn’t even notice until I turned around to leave the store.
I took that coupon, and went to another Target, and got a box of Tide, and a travel size of Tide. The first coupon went through, the second had to be adjusted. I returned the box. I had no problems.
I did call corporate and complain, but that was two weeks ago, and I have never gotten a call back.
Needless to say, I will never EVER EVER shop at that Target again, at the least, and never EVER shop at ANY Target again, at the most. If they can not train their employees, or managers properly on coupons, then I can take my business elsewhere. Especially at a store that likes to attempt to intimidate with security. You never know, us couponers just might be psycho! And I refuse to be treated with disrespect from a store manager, and lied to by both. That is truly unprofessional and unethical.
Jaime DeVries
The last time I went to Target I was trying to get the Chef Michaels doggy food. I was usuing one target and one Manufacturer’s coupon. Of course thte cashier said you can’t do that and called over somene else (not a manager). She then tried to say I couldn’t either. Another customer behind me backed me up and I stood there while the two employees figured it out. After they fought me on it again I said “I have your corporate policy out in the car if I need to go get it I can.” The cashier said, ” I know our policy!” I couldn’t help but laugh and neither could the lady behind me. Of course when I start laughing so does my toddler which made it even funnier. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know what coupons she could take but she “knows their policy”. It was a rough check-out but after she said that it kept making me smile the rest of the day.
Steele- I had that exact same response when I tried to use a coupon for the travel size Tide at Walmart.
Jillian
You poor girl! I m sorry you had to go through that.
Trisha
I personally like Target and haven’t really had any problems with coupons. Why I like Target? They have clean stores with decently wide aisles, even in the city. I remember when I lived in Chicago, Targets seemed clean and bright, while Wal-Mart and K-mart seemed so dinghy and you could only get like one cart down an aisle, so you had to back up if someone was coming the other way. Sorry, I just had to say something good about Target because I really like the store.
Kris
I bought five boxes of Kashi cereral last and I used coupons with it. It was a great deal because you got a $5 gift card with 5. These was the only items I rung up with the order. The employee tried to steal my gift card. He never told me, “oh you get a gift card.” Nothing at all. I saw the gift card flash on the screen, he quickly went in his draw scanned the card face down…so it blended in with the keyboard. I paid, he gave me my items and a bye. I said “where’s my gift card.” I knew he was ticked, because he thought he was going to get away with stealing $5 from me. I thought what a crook. Watch out for these employees!
jennifer
My Target was great and now they will not take more than one of their own coupons. I had 13 Ragu coupons and wanted to stack them and they would not let me use more than one target coupon for the ragu. So I am going to have to do a million different transactions??
Jessie
My Target is usually really good with coupons, and contrary to some of your experiences, I find the older cashiers are more likely to push the coupons through without questions. I bring my 2 year old and she sweetens them up :) (I have the most trouble with the teenage boys, I avoid them like the plague) :{