Albertsons Ends Double Coupons And Has To Remind Customers They Accept Them At All

Fresh off the heels of Albertsons ending double coupons in Texas effective 04/09/2014, a story that we here at Reality Retail & Couponing broke first, here we have the first post-Memorial Day ad from our local Albertsons dated 05/28/2014.

And in the header it states as above "We Accept Manufacturer Coupons At Face Value!" Is this supposed to be something new? Are they reminding us of this as a way to say they are doing us a favor by actually accepting coupons at all !??

To further add insult to injury here, they post this advertisement next to their classic "Crazy 8's" sale. This sale used to be a bastion for couponers getting ready for the summer season with dirt cheap or free condinments such as ketchup, mustard, snack pack pudding, barbeque sauce, baked beans, etc.

Under the old Albertsons double and triple coupon policy you could really have scored a good deal here and wow, I know I did and so did many of you.

Now they've resorted to insulting the couponers in this fashion.

Or maybe they have lost business from the couponers and felt the need to reassure them they are still coupon-friendly. Fact of the matter is that I alone have made about 75% less trips to Albertsons since they killed the doubles in early April of 2014. Hazard to guess I am not alone, as often on many days of the week and early on weekends the parking lot just isn't as full as it used to be.

Is it the lack of double and triple coupons? Is it the across-the-board price increases that many of these Albertsons stores in Texas have put in place since early April? Is it the lie of "better manufacturer coupon deals" that their Facebook page promised and has never delivered on? Or is it a combination of all of the above? My guess is the latter.

So now, with Albertsons flying and boasting about how they accept coupons at all,  this ad will be good for one thing and one thing only - price matching at Wal-Mart or Target.

Albertsons may still accept coupons, but they sure won't be mine.

Coupon Blogs to be Blacklisted by the CIC.

Have Google Adsense on your blog or coupon forum? Well, you better make sure it is squeaky clean otherwise the CIC (Coupon Information Corporation) will have your website blacklisted from advertising.

Yes, this is where we are at - a new level of Retailer's Revenge.

When we read this article titled "Coupon Blogs May Pay a Price for Irking the Industry" it kind of hit close to home as well, this is pretty much what we do here. And what that is - is to bring "Reality" into focus for couponers, extreme or otherwise. Citing the article above and the "new best practices" guideline that came from their annual meeting that states “We believe it is counterproductive to directly or indirectly fund individuals or organizations that attack the coupon industry or actively support practices that violate basic industry policies,” we kind of raised an eyebrow and read on. "Directly or indirectly fund" means that basically to put your coupon blog or forum advertising based on keywords from Google. This means that in their mind they are "legitimizing" or "funding" the use of online blogs or forums via their advertising showing up on your blog.

I can see that. But really, how much money is anyone making off of the Google Adsense linked to your blog or forum? Pennies a day if that? 

The issue here isn't the actual money - it is the mentality behind it. Did we speak out here and expose them for what they really are in this post titled The CIC Exposed For What They Really Are - And it's not about informing you , yes we did. Did it upset them? We hope so. And we will continue to bring real issues to light here as well as expose the continued tactics of the billion dollar a year retail manufacturers and companies and their attempt to limit the savings and make you pay more for your groceries and food items than you actually should be. They will not stop raising prices and using tactics to "save their interests," translation: to pad their fat wallets - and we will not stop posting to save your interests. I won't miss silly amount of money this blog generates. That's far less than one of the coupons that you and I can no longer obtain or use in the manner that we used to due to the strongarm of the CIC.

Although the "new best practices" statement is either not on their website or is in an impossible to obtain area, we will cite the original poster and take their word for this one. It falls right in line with the bully pulpit practices of the CIC over the past few years, so it makes sense.

What we did find on their website are some new and revised items, geared toward threatening you regarding the use and/or sale of coupons, and one startling admission. See the screenshots below taken from their website:

So basically the CIC now admits on their website that there is no direct criminal penalty involved for anyone selling coupons. So if you see a troll on a forum be it on an eBay message board, coupon forum, blog, or otherwise, please link them to this blog that now officially states from the CIC itself - that coupon sales are NOT ILLEGAL.

And then, a new favorite:

 

Wait a minute. Does that mean that the local high school charity, sports team, band, or extra-curricular activity group that goes door to door selling coupons is now a con artist??

That's the way it reads to me. Your child - is now involved in organized crime by selling coupons for a charity or group and to "never buy or sell coupons."

Wow.

Are there exceptions? Of course. We're not blind to common sense. Are there real con artists of course. But what the CIC (who work for the manufacturers and retailers as proven in the blog above) wants to do it pick and choose who, what when and how their coupons are sold.

That's not how the real world and the law works. 

You can't say this person can sell coupons door to door for a charity, you can't say it's ok for the retailers and manufacturers to "sell" their images and coupons to both Red Plum, Smart Source and your local newspaper to be "transferred via sale" three times before you get it then tell you that you are a gang banger or involved in organized crime for selling the same coupons that are authentic and obtained. Open your mind and think about it.

So the next time that kid from the local high school tries to sell me a book of coupons to support his local football team or cheerleader squad I will tell him that the "Coupon Information Corporation" says he is involved in organized crime , a con artist and that I would be the same if I purchased them. Then I will give him the contact information for the CIC.

I'm sure that child's parents will be none too pleased.

And with all of these antics going on that effect millions of families and their grocery bills all over the country - you shouldn't be either.

Kroger Ends Double Coupons in Michigan - And infuriates their customers.

Kroger began their personal purge of double and triple coupons in the Texas area beginning in 2011 right as the "Extreme Couponing" took off and ever since has not only been closing stores, but eliminating doubles everywhere in the country. Latest victim: Michigan on May 14, 2014.

Despite the outrage on the Kroger Facebook page , they continue to state the following, almost robotic sentiment to the many, many customers that have voiced their displeasure with the recent changes, here is their robot response to yet another angry customer:

Yes, we believe you too Kroger, we believe you. 1%? That must be the "coordinated" response that Albertsons, Safeway and Kroger and the rest of the greedy retailer whore mongers have come up with to justify this swift retaliation to not only Extreme Couponers, but every single person that utilized that reward for being a customer of Kroger. If you also watch on their page, you will see that Kroger's lie is also very much the same as Albertsons' lie and whoever else is ending double coupons to pad the coffers of the six figure management of these companies. 

This robo-sponse makes it seem like they are doing us all a favor by accepting coupons at all. 

This flagrant disregard for their customers says all you need to know about where the tide is turning in the Supermarket and retail landscape as we have said in this blog time and again - the dark days for consumers looking to save money are upon us and faster than we would like to realize. 

"Invest additional resources into lowering prices on everyday items." Yup, we believe that too Kroger. Just like the other areas of the country that had the prices actually increase once Kroger eliminated their double coupons.

Next stop on the Kroger Kill Wagon : Tennessee. 

The last area on the country where Kroger will double your coupons. 

For how long, remains to be seen.

Be smart and thrifty my friends - it's the only way we will be able to survive this true climate of  retailer's revenge.

Albertsons Ends Double Coupons - And Nothing Changes.

As a follow up to the story that we at Reality Couponing and Retail broke first here regarding Albertsons elimination of double coupons , we decided to give them about a month to see if their promises of "new and exciting manufacturer's coupon deals" to replace the double and triple coupon elimination would actually come to fruition. 

And well, clearly it has not. 

The ads since are full of the same (literally) products over and over again, and with their prices not lowered, but consistent where they were at prior to the elimination of double and triple coupons with actually some being higher.

A message sent to their Facebook page on April 30, 2014 received no response questioning where these new savings are.

Their lack of response speaks volumes.

This is right in line with both the Kroger policy to end double coupons in most areas and the bold and shameless Safeway announcement they are raising prices instead of lowering them as promised

articles linked above.

And since Albertsons acquired Safeway, we can safely assume that this is part of a larger price jump for all Albertsons stores and their subsidiaries now including Safeway and United Supermarkets.

It appears the dark days for not only extreme couponers, but all consumers are rapidly casting their shadow over the landscape.  

This all makes CVS Extrabucks, Walgreens Balance Reward Cards and of all things Wal Mart and Target price-matching basically the only luxuries that people looking to get good deals on groceries can utilize anymore.

That is where we are at. And to consider those items "luxuries" is a scary proposition in and of itself considering the past and present practices of those retailers in regards to honoring prices and having sale items in stock.

Combine all of the above with the lack of quality tear pads being posted in the stores and the complete dearth of usable decent-expiration-date coupons in your Sunday paper - and what you have here is a war being waged by the retailers and the manufacturers.

And the victim is the consumer.

The CIC (Coupon Information Center) Exposed For What They Really Are - And it's not about informing you.

Hello everyone and welcome to long-awaited CIC expose. "CIC" is the abbreviated name of the

"Coupon Information Center" or as their website states "Coupon Information Corporation." Either way, it's still bad for you and your family despite this bemusing facade they have. And here, we are going to expose why with real terms in real time. Worst of all, by explaining what their purpose really is - in their own words.

Before we launch into some "reality" about the CIC, let's point out the one good thing that they do - notify the public about truly fraudulent coupons and practices. This list of fraudulent coupons and offers seems to be updated quite frequently and gives just about the only "information" that consumers should be aware of. I think we all can agree that people that make coupons and commit real coupon fraud should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And as so eagerly boast here that they have never lost a case while working with law enforcement. The CIC is not a legal body and has no legal authority whatsoever! This kind of verbiage gives the false impression that the CIC is some arm of the law regarding the monitoring of coupons and their use and transactional process throughout the industry. But an impression is all it is , and all it should be to you and your family as this entity as a whole has no legal authority whatsoever in the real world. It's easy not to lose a case when you catch people red handed with fake coupons committing coupon fraud in a store and someone calls the cops. Let's be real here. The CIC works for the retailers and manufacturer's.

Who does the CIC work for?

And this is where we being to unravel what exactly the "Coupon Information Center/Corporation" is really about. Below is a list, taken from their own website, regarding who they "represent" which we all can easily say "sponsored by" or even a better translation - "Paid By:"

 

They "represent" the companies above by doing the following below:

The third bullet point and the notation at the bottom is where the true focus should lie. "Continuously seek new and better ways to protect their shareholders' assets," and "you owe it to your shareholders, employees and clients and "other" stakeholders...to participate in the CIC - the industry's only watchdog group."

Only watchdog group?

If you can find me another entity that includes every single one of the manufacturer's listed above, to regulate their coupons and provide "loss prevention" (aka people using coupons) well hat's off to you. People must read these posts and when I talk about "coordinated efforts to shut down coupon sales, savings and promotions," that I am some kind of a crazy person. I know I would think of it that way too. But they are all "coordinated" with the CIC now aren't they? I mean, they admit it above. Can't get any more crass than that.

Coupon Sales on the Internet

This is our favorite topic. And here's the CIC's take on that. From here on out we can pretty much assume the term "CIC" includes every single retailer above as that is who they "represent" and are "paid by:"

Oh my dear friends at the CIC, you really should update this section with all of your achievements over the past year! Like being the sole reason that webstore.com has restricted coupon sales as shown here via a message I received last summer:

But even this is conflicting as per this webstore.com response, you can still charge for your time and supplies, and per the CIC screen grab previously, you can't do that as it "admits you are doing something improper." Improper is different than illegal. Improper is letting your 15 year old daughter sext out her nudes to her 24 year old boyfriends' friends. Hell, that's more "illegal" than this. And even less "improper."

So their theory is shot one way or the other, either it is or it isn't. Besides, who in 2014 actually still uses that terminology? That terminology was born in the mid 1980's from work from home scams stuffing envelopes for thousands of dollars in cash a month that never seemed to appear. Maybe they should update this too.

And of course, they were a driving force behind the massive eBay selling coupon policy change that was instituted last year. At least for the top two lines, instead of "should" it really should now say "all." 

Except Couponfleamarket.com. How that is even still running with all of this going on is a mystery to me. It can't be for much longer.

The last four bullet points are amazing and take this misconception of what the CIC really is saying to that special level. Every one of those statements say "may." Let me ask you, in legal terms, does any law regarding this say "may?" It is legal or is it not.  If an officer arrests you and charges you with theft, when he reads you your rights does he say "you may have stolen that item?" Nope.

May we have some clarification?

The Non-Transferability Clause

Sheeple on the internet as well as trolls that drop snippets and parrot from the CIC on coupon and eBay discussion boards will tell this to you until they are blue in the face. 

Like it is law. 

Like it has a law. 

Isn't the "non-transferability clause" a contradiction in and of itself?

If it is such an ironclad thing, then well, why isn't it a law already and why hasn't it been enforced?

The rationale of why it can't be enforced is actually pretty simple. Think about the common chain-of-possession of the coupons and inserts from your Sunday paper.

They are transferred from the retailers and manufacturer's to Red Plum and Smart Source (the two primary,) this is transfer via sale #1. 

Clearly, they don't send them to them for free.

Transfer via sale #2 is Red Plum and Smart Source selling them to your local newspaper to place in their newspapers to sell to you. If they didn't, how many Sunday papers would they really sell? 

This is transfer via sale #2.

Transfer #3 is completed when you walk into your store or into the newsstand and purchase your paper. 

So by the time you actually get them in your hands, the non-transferability clause HAS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN THREE TIMES !!

And now once it hits your hands, it is supposed to magically kick in and be Gospel. If you sell them, you are breaking the clause, if you give or get them from your grandmother, you are breaking the clause. If you are a newspaper delivery person and purchase them from the newspaper to deliver, you have also broken the clause, as has your customer. If you donate the coupons to charity. You are breaking the clause.

Lots of criminals out there. 

This above is exactly why selling coupons is not illegal. 

I want to see that law stand up in court. It never will and it never will because it makes no sense. Any coupon that states "void if transferred or sold" is in violation the minute the manufacturer sells the image to Red Plum and Smart Source to reprint, reproduce and profit off of.  But according to the CIC:

"Any sale or transfer voids the coupon." See the statement above the screenshot, then re-read it all again. 

See why there is no law and this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors?

My absolute favorite snippets here are the parts about "people purchasing coupons have often been associated with organized criminal activities," and "individuals selling coupons to crime rings have been charge and convicted of criminal violations."

If this isn't enough to scare a sheeple person or someone given this link for "Coupon Information" wouldn't be scared out of their wits thinking if they buy a coupon on eBay that they are on the same playing field as the mob, then I don't know what is.

It is probably the most ridiculous two paragraphs on their entire site.

Re-read them again and think about what they are saying to you, with absolutely no law on the books to back it up !! 

What absolutely is mafia-like is consorting with the manufacturer's that pay you to "watchdog" how their coupons are being used and distributed to stop "loss prevention" for their "shareholders, stockholders and parties with interest."

But hey it sounds cool to call the housewife , stay at home mom, someone trying to supplement their income or unemployed person trying to make a few dollars to survive in this brutal economy a mobster!

That will scare them off !

The only way they could potentially get you for reselling coupons is via a copyright infringement for the "use of their images without consent for profit." But that clause simply doesn't exist on a coupon, it has this ridiculous "clause" that people worship as the Word of the CIC Gods.

The reality is far different.

The reality is that the "Coupon Information Center / Corporation " is nothing but a strong arm for the manufacturers who want to tell you what coupons to use, in what area to use them in, where to use them, what price point to use them at and how many you can use at once using deceptive and manipulative practices to give the impression of being "law enforcement" to protect the interests of the shareholders, stockholders, employees (translation: six figure management), and parties with interest of the manufacturers listed above.

We have proven this here. In their own words nonetheless. People just have to step up their knowledge and education.

This isn't an "information center," it is a bully pulpit.

If you sell or buy coupons you are a gang banger and a mafia member and contribute to organized crime rings.

But only after that sacred clause has been broken three times before you even touch your weekly insert.

Better get the paddy wagon, there are about 33,000 criminals on eBay right now. That doesn't even count the buyers or bidders, probably closer to a quarter million.

 Prosecute the real criminals, not the people selling legitimate coupons.

Leave the rest of us alone.

Thank you for reading.

Please click here for the July 2016 update to this posting!