The policy is copied below, along with my commentary. To print the official policy, I suggest printing directly from Safeway.com. If you have any questions, please leave a comment!
You’ll want to read all the way to the bottom of this new policy. The highlight– we can now redeem competitor Catalinas, including Walgreens Register Rewards AT SAFEWAY! Woot!
Manufacturer and Store Coupons:
1. Coupons are redeemable only by a customer purchasing the specific brands and product(s) stated on the coupon, with the face value of the coupon deducted from your retail or club card price.
2. Coupons must be for products sold at Safeway and coupons must be presented at the time of the transaction.
3. Coupons are subject to advertised offer limitations and all limitations and restrictions on coupon.
4. Coupons cannot be applied against the free item received in any offer where a customer buys one or more items to get one or more items free.
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs $4.99
Store Promo: Buy One Oscar Mayer Hot Dog, Get One Free
Use ONE $1.00/1 coupon (this is saying we can’t use two)
Final Price: $3.99 for two packages of hot dogs
5. Coupon amount may be reduced so that any combined discounts and coupons do not exceed the value of the item. See number 12 below.
Thank you! This is going to be valuable for those of you who’ve had trouble with cashiers refusing to accept a $2.00 coupon for a $1.98 product, or any coupon that exceeds the item’s value. This simply states that the cashier may manually enter a reduced discount of $1.98 instead of the full $2.00 face value discount of the coupon. [I would like to point out that, for any store who reduces the coupon value so as not to pay overage, you should make sure your cashier is hand writing the adjusted discount on the coupon and crossing out the original face value. Without doing this (and possibly even when they do), the store will be reimbursed for the full value of the coupon. Most stores have this policy against paying overage; it is very understandable and I don't have any problem with it, but the truth is that the store is usually pocketing the difference between coupon value and product value.]
6. Coupons have no cash value.
7. Accepted coupons must be Manufacturer or Safeway store issued coupons.
Okay, so Safeway won’t accept a Target store coupon or any competitor coupon; we already knew that.
8. Safeway will accept valid manufacturer coupons that display another retailer’s logo or name.
Awesome! This means that manufacturer coupons printed from Target.com, or a coupon that says “valid at your local supercenter” with a Walmart logo CAN be redeemed at Safeway!
9. Safeway will accept valid Catalina manufacturer coupon that is issued to a customer by another retailer only if such coupon is for a specific item.
So, although we won’t be able to use our $10.00 catalinas and $5 Register Rewards, we will still be able to use item-specific Catalinas. Example: $2.00 off Folgers Coffee Catalina Coupon printed at Albertsons, with Albertsons logo, or $0.50/1 Dentyne Ice Gum Register Reward with Walgreens logo. And Remember Rule #8 allows us to use any other manufacturer coupon with a competitor logo, such as a Manufacturer coupon for $1.00/1 Kashi Product with a Target logo, printed from Target.com.
10. The coupon must have an expiration date and be presented within valid dates.
11. Coupons are void if they appear distorted or blurry, are altered in any way or copied.
12. The transaction amount may not fall below zero value, or go negative, meaning we will not give the customer money back.
13. All sales taxes are paid by the customer at the full value of the item.
14. All bottle deposits on the purchased and free items are paid by the customer.
15. Safeway reserves the right to refuse any coupons at its discretion.
Internet Printed Coupons:
16. We gladly accept internet printed coupons. The same manufacturer and store coupon rules above apply to all internet printed coupons.
You hear that ladies? They’re accept them gladly! Hold em to it now! We want to see smiling faces people!
17. Internet printed coupons must scan at checkout.
18. Internet printed coupons must have serial numbers and follow an industry-standard format.
19. Manufacturer internet printed coupons must clearly indicate that they are a manufacturer coupon and have a valid manufacture address on the printed coupon.
20. We will not accept “free product” internet printed manufacturer coupons.
What rule is missing here? That’s right! They finally listened to somebody and got rid of the “printable coupon cannot exceed 50% of the item’s value” rule! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called corporate and left messages telling why that was the dumbest coupon policy rule I’ve ever seen! All you ladies who’ve been getting the run around- it’s time to do a happy dance!
Load to Card Club Coupons:
Doubling of Coupons:
Someone update me if this information is out of date or incorrect, please:
Safeway: Colorado & Wyoming double coupons up to $0.50 AND they round $0.51-$0.99 coupons to $1.00. Oregon & So Washington stores distribute in-ad ‘double coupons’; use these to double up to 4 coupons $0.50 or under.
Randalls & TomThumb: automatically triple coupons $0.39 and under and double coupons up to $0.50, (one identical coupon per transaction).
Coupon Stacking: (Hawaii stores only)
23. Safeway does not allow a customer to redeem two or more manufacturer coupons against the same item in a single transaction.
24. Coupon stacking policies for manufacturer coupons apply to paper and electronic coupons that have been loaded to a club card.
25. If a customer presents two coupons for the same item in a single transaction, Safeway will only accept the first coupon to be applied in the system.
Hawaii residents, today is the first time I’m not jealous of you! My only guess is that food is harder to keep stocked in Hawaii and they’re trying to avoid shelves being cleared by coupon ladies stocking up.
For the rest of us, this is awesome news. My inbox has been brimmed with emails complaining of a supposed ‘new policy” where you cannot use more than one copy of the same coupon. If there was such a rule, Safeway would have included it right here. Since they didn’t, you need to print this policy and take it with you to your store. As long as you don’t live in Hawaii, flashing this policy around once should solve your problem. Safeway or any store will never accept a copy, meaning photocopy, but they will accept multiple valid printable coupons.
Rainchecks:
27. We reserve the right to limit Rainchecks quantities based on product availability and advertised limits.
28. Rainchecks can be written for a limit of no more than 3 items unless otherwise stated in the advertisement.
We may change this policy at any time. All coupon redemptions are subject to the policy in effect at time of redemption. Policy changes may not be advertised. The current policy will be posted at the customer service area in each store.
Does Safeway have store coupons?
Yes! Find Safeway store coupon in their weekly print ad as well as at Safeway.com.
Can I use a store and manufacturer coupon together on one item?
Yes! Kate, author of the official Safeway Blog commented this “You can combine a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon. . .”
Does Safeway accept eCoupons?
Yes! eCoupons are a great way to save at Safeway. Go to one of the following websites, enter your Safeway club card number, then load coupons from the web directly onto your club card. When you swipe your card at checkout, or give the cashier your phone number you will automatically receive the eCoupon savings. You’ll be able to see the savings on your receipt. eCoupons available on the following sites:
Cellfire.com
Shortcuts.com
PGeSAVER.com
Upromise.com
What is Safeway’s sale cycle?
Safeway sales and weekly ads begin Wednesday and end Tuesday. The new ad and the coupon match-ups on KCL post every Tuesday afternoon.
Does Safeway double coupons?
Select stores double coupons (depends on market competition in your area). If your store doubles, they will double coupons up to $0.50 in value 7 days per week. I don’t live in an area that doubles, but I’ve read that coupons $0.51 or greater are rounded up to $1.00.
Does Safeway pay overage?
When the value of a coupon exceeds the value of the item, the register alerts the cashier and the cashier will have to manually type in the value of the item purchased. In my experience, Safeway does not pay overage.
Someone please inform me where I can find Safeway’s coupon policy on just regular cut out Sunday paper coupons/manufacturer’s coupons.. and.. I never get to see in any policy of HOW MANY ITEMS DO THEY ALLOW PER PRODUCT etc..sorry guys..I’m a newbie and trying to do my homework..
Why is my safeway (Northwest) saying that I can only use 1 printable coupon per transacation? Are they misundering the language of per purchase? Will it help to bring in the printed coupon policy off their website? I told them that is not what the corporate website.
Safeway’s rules are not silly by any means. They accept only ligitament printable coupons. If they do not scan, don’t go to another checker or come back to try again – they will not accept them! If a printable coupon is for a free item, it is counterfeit and will not be accepted Safeway or anywhere for that matter.
As for Jeanette’s comment – if the coupon says “do not double or triple”, they cannot take more than 1 per transaction. This is just a general practice that any stores use.
Not all “free” product coupons are counterfiet. I’m sure there are lots of them, but I have had plenty of free coupons that were 100% legit, printed from the manf.!
I left a comment on the Facebook page- they just changed the policy & this is what they replied: “We apologize for the confusion this has caused. Our coupon policy has been clarified and updated on our official web site: we will only accept competitor Catalina coupons for a specific item. This means that we will not be accepting any competitors’ Catalina coupons that are for a dollar amount off of a future shopping trip, such as Walgreens Register Rewards. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
I know there is a Safeway rule stating, We will not accept “free product” internet printed manufacturer coupons.
I went to Safeway today with BOGO coupons and was told about the “free product” internet manufacturer coupons, and was told that it included BOGOs. The checkout lady allowed the coupons, but mentioned it like they were going to start enforcing it.
Has anybody heard anything on this?
Can an eCoupon be used with a manufacturer’s coupon for the same item? I tried this at my Safeway and was scolded by the cashier. She told me that eCoupons are considered manufacturer coupons and I could only use one or the other.
I just had the worst experience at Von’s. I showed up with a huge stack of freshly printed coupons (from this wonderful site!) and the cashier looked at me like I was dirt. She told me that most of the printables do not work. She was right, they didn’t! Did it have something to do with her lack of trying to properly scan them? Yes, I think so! Anyway, she rudely informed me of the “new coupon rules”. She and a supervisor told me that they will only accept one internet coupon per item. Example, I had 4 Arm and Hammer detergent coupons and 4 Arm and Hammer detergents. They would only take one coupon. They told me that Von’s is cracking down on coupons and will be enforcing the rules. I was also accused of coupon fraud by this woman. I still saved 76%, but think they need to clearly state their policy. Next stop, Vons.com to see if they updated there.
Just checked the site and it states,” 16. We gladly accept internet printed coupons. The same manufacturer and store coupon rules above apply to all internet printed coupons.” I do not see any new rules!
I just had the worst experience at the Alameda CA Southshore store. I was informed after my entire cart of groceries was scanned and bagged and my “real” manufacturer’s coupons were scanned and dropped in the drop box that they do not take internet printable coupons at all. The cashier went and spoke to the asst. manager (only manager on duty) and she said no internet printables. I had the cashier suspend the sale and waited to talk to the asst. manager.
After discussing things with her and getting no real answers I asked her to cancel the entire grocery order and had her get my “real” coupons back from the drop box. I know there is a problem with coupon fraud, however I welcome them to go over my internet printables with a fine tooth comb since I am not one of the people perpetrating fraud. I am sick of being treated like a criminal for trying to be a smart consumer and save money by shopping the sales and using coupons from legitimate sources.
Until I can speak with corporate and/or he actual store manager I will be taking my business elsewhere.
I had a horrible experience at my Redlands, CA Vons today! I’ve couponed there before with no problem. Then, today, they told me that they’re no longer taking more than 2 of any particular coupon per transaction. This means that for the 4 boxes of Ritz and 4 boxes of Saltines I got with STICKY COUPONS ON THEM that they would only let me use two of those coupons???!!! These were printed from the manufacturer (not internet) and were for $1 off 1.
It’s only $8 but seriously, it’s $8!!!
I will be driving to another local Vons (further away) next week to see if this is a trend with them. And this time I will come armed with the official coupon policy. But the impression that the manager gave me was that it was a local store policy, not a corporate one. Anyone have any suggestions with dealing with local store policies such as this?
Had a long email conversation with corporate. Here’s what they finally said (to confirm that I cannot use more than 2 coupons of the same type):
The information can be found under “Coupon Stacking” which is as followed:
Coupon Stacking:
23. Safeway does not allow a customer to redeem two or more manufacturer coupons against the same item in a single transaction.
PLEASE NOTE: This is referring to paper manufacturer item coupons only. We do not accept multiple manufacturer paper coupons for the same item. However, we will accept 1 electronic coupon and 1 manufacturer paper coupon for the same item. The exception to this rule belongs to our Hawaii stores. In Hawaii, if a customer presents 1 manufacturer paper coupon and 1 electronic coupon for the same item, only the first coupon (paper or electronic) that the customer presents to the cashier will be accepted.
24. Coupon stacking policies for manufacturer coupons apply to paper and electronic coupons that have been loaded to a club card.
PLEASE NOTE: We will accept 1 electronic coupon and 1 manufacturer paper coupon for the same item. The exception to this rule belongs to our Hawaii stores. In Hawaii, if a customer presents 1 manufacturer paper coupon and 1 electronic coupon for the same item, only the first coupon (paper or electronic) that the customer presents to the cashier will be accepted.
25. If a customer presents two coupons for the same item in a single transaction, Safeway will only accept the first coupon to be applied in the system.
PLEASE NOTE: This rule is for Hawaii only. We will accept 1 electronic coupon and 1 manufacturer paper coupon for the same item. The exception belongs to our Hawaii stores. In Hawaii, if a customer presents 1 manufacturer paper coupon and 1 electronic coupon for the same item, only the first coupon (paper or electronic) that the customer presents to the cashier will be accepted.
So even after re-reading this, it still reads to me like this: That I can’t use two coupons for the same item unless they’re one store and one manufacturer. Which is fine. NOT that I can’t use 4 of the same coupon on 4 of the same items???
Anyone else having this problem or concerns with this?
So I called corporate. They say that when the policy refers to “same item” it means the PRODUCT (so 4 boxes of Ritz would be ONE item).
This has HORRIBLE ramifications for couponing, IMO. I will not be shopping at Vons in the future – it simply isn’t worth my efforts if all I can’t combine coupons with sales and catalinas for more than two of the same item. Too bad, they had some good sales.
From what I gather in this website – at Target, Rite Aid (i.e. in-ad or VV), etc, the mfr coupons with the store logo are considered store coupons and can be stacked with mfr coupons from the Sunday paper. How about Safeway? Are the register CAT mfr coupons considered store coupons so that I can stack them with another mfr coupon at Safeway? Does anyone know? I am new at this and it is all confusing. Thanks.