**I am reposting this because I still receive emails about the new policy. If you are new to Addicted to Saving or if you are new to couponing at Publix, please make sure you read the information below. 🙂
Thanks to everyone for emailing me this as well as taking the time to take pictures and forwarding them to me! I’m using the pictures of a coupon policy from Sarasota, FL Publix. The Sarasota store was giving out this policy to people coming into the store. From the pictures of the policies others of you have emailed me, it looks like the policy is going to be the same from store to store. I’ll dissect the policy below. Feel free to leave comments with any questions you might have.
Okay – so the above competitor policy is going to vary from store to store. You can see that the Ringling Shopping Center will accept competitor coupons from the four stores mentioned. Again – this will vary from store to store.
Okay so the Publix Coupon Policy with the black background above is the consistent policy that all of you are emailing me. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is the new corporate policy. I’m going to dissect this for you so that I can hopefully help you if you have questions. The policy is in bold, black ink, my thoughts are in purple.
1) Publix accepts manufacturer’s coupons (limit one per item) This is nothing new. None of us should be using more than one manufacturer coupon on one item Publix coupons (originals only-no copies), my only concern or question is for Publix coupons that are printable coupons because it is impossible to tell if they are original printables or copied printablesvalid Internet coupons, no problem here – none of us should be using coupons that are fraudulent Internet coupons and coupons from nearby competitors identified by each Publix store. (Competitor names are posted at each Publix store.) The competitor names will be posted much like the example above for the Sarasota store.
2) We will accept coupons from competing pharmacies.
3) We will not accept percent-off-items or percent-off-total-order coupons. No problems from me.
4) We will only accept coupons for identical merchandise we sell. No problems from me – we should only use coupons on their exact items. Otherwise, we are committing coupon fraud. You all know that already though.
5) Acceptance is subject to any restrictions on the coupon, and we reserve the right to limit quantities. For those of you, like myself, who have been able to use more than one of the same Publix store coupon in one transaction, I’m reading the policy to say that if the coupon limits one coupon per transaction, then we will no longer be able to use two or more coupons in one transaction. Regarding limiting quantities, I will be interested to see how this is enforced and what the “allowable” number will be.
6) Manager approval is needed for individual coupons above $5.00. No problem. This should help reduce the use of fraudulent internet coupons.
7) For a buy-one-get-one free (BOGO) offer, each item is considered a separate sale. If each item is considered a separate sale, we should be able to use two coupons on the two items.
8 ) We will accept a manufacturer’s coupon and either a Publix or a competitor coupon on the same item. No problem. I’ve never been able to use a Publix store and a competitor coupon on one item. This will be an adjustment for some of you.
9) Dollars-off-total-order coupons will be limited to one Publix and one competitor coupon per order. I’m actually very impressed with this. So, this is saying you could use a $5/$30 Publix coupon and a $5/$30 competitor coupon in one transaction.
10) The order total must be equal to or greater than the total purchase requirements indicated on the coupon(s) presented. No problem. This is saying that if you use a $5/$30 Publix coupon you need to purchase $30 of groceries in order to use it.
What are your thoughts? Truthfully, the policy above is exactly how my store has run things except that my store has allowed me to use more than one of the same Publix store coupon in one transaction – regardless of the coupon verbiage. This is beyond fair and will still allow us to get amazing deals! Would love to hear your thoughts/concerns/complaints/compliments/etc!
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
My store accepts Target, Sweetbay and Save-a-lot (Publix at The Plaza at Palmer Ranch in Sarasota). They put the new policy in the kiosk that holds the sales and coupon books near the front door, but my cashier also handed me a copy.
Thanks for breaking it down for us!
What about overage? It doesn’t really say anything about that. Is that still going to vary by store?
They don’t seem to have a problem with overage at any of my stores and it is NOT addressed in the new policy which leads me to believe that that part has not changed. But, as always, check with your store before you ‘count on it’. 🙂
The way I understand it and the way the asst. store mgr. explained it to me, you can use $5/30 Publix and $5/30 competitor but the total must then equal $60 or over….not just the $30 or over for both coupons.
I spoke to my Publix about the store coupon part and what they said is that you must PRESENT a store coupon for each item. They will no longer punch in the LU codes for coupons if you do not have the hard copy in hand to go with each item! They are NOT limiting the number of coupons within the transaction though! UNLESS (see next paragraph)
Quantity limits… they will not accept ‘shelf clearers’. They will, however, accept special orders for products in any quantity and honor the sale at the time of the order. They just will not allow ‘extreme couponers’ to walk out of the store with all of their stock anymore.
REALLY can’t complain now! 🙂
i went to publix yesterday here in tampa bay. two things happened.
first, when i went to get a raincheck for hellman’s which was out of stock. i was told they will no longer do rainchecks and mark the coupons ok that will have expired dates on them when u can finally use the raincheck. that is a bummer. it is not our fault if they do not order enough stock or a shelf-cleaner comes through and buys all of the item.
secondly, as i was checking out i handed the cashier two coupons that i had printed at home. she stated they were copies (which they most definitely were not). i asked her to get a manager. the manager knows me and told her how to read the coupons correctly stating they were not copies.
they are reading the printed bar code numbers for duplicates now. the smaller barcode is the one that is unique not the long one.
i am looking forward to see what others post for the new policies as well.
My store has always allowed #9, even a store and competitor $5/$30 on the same $30 transaction. Now it looks like the same combo would require a $60 transaction.
Last Saturday, my Publix cashier took all of my coupons and spread them out, separating manufacturer and store coupons (I only had Publix, no competitors) into two piles. She then took my receipt and checked off each item before scanning the coupon. It took some time for her to do that and I didn’t mind because I knew all my coupons were legit. Now, the week before this same cashier complimented me on how “neat” my coupon stack was (I had manufacturer and store coupons together) and she just scanned them without checking off the receipt. I’m just wondering if anyone else had this happen to them. I didn’t mind it, I just hated it for her because she spent about 10 minutes doing the whole exercise.
Yesterday, the cashier asked for my coupons (before she began to ring up my order), separated them in much the same way and as she rang up each item, she scanned the coupon(s). It took her a little longer to ring up the order, though. So I imagine in the short term, the lines are going to move a little slower.
They should not have to go thru the exercise of sorting & checking. In this age of computers a coupon will not scan if the item that it is meant for does not match up with an item in your order that has already rung through on the cash register.
Regarding #6 – Do you think this means we have seen the last of the $10/1 Am Ex gift card deal? I can’t imagine managers wanting to bounce around the registers all day approving that one. Hopefully that will be an exception. 🙂
I doubt they’ll have any issue with a Publix Q like that.
They will allowed #9 before coupons?
I spoke with my Publix about this and they will take them after coupons 🙁
Can we post what stores accept what coupons here or would you rather not have that on the website? I have been to a couple in my area to see who they accept 🙂
I am really disappointed in this change in policy. I live in Parrish, FL – I was told by management that they would honor Sweetbay (they will honor stores within a certain distance. I have not seen anything in writing yet). Because we are not close to many of these competitors, I was able to get the same, if not better savings by using competitors coupons at Publix without having to drive further. Now I am going to have to weigh out if the savings is worth driving to the competition or to a different Publix store. In the meantime, the people who have the competition right there, also get the extra savings from Publix.
There should be a little black square card in the spinning kiosk with the fliers that has the new coupon policy on on and on the back it should have the store they will accept. My store is not being rude or anything they will gladly accept multiple manufacturers coupons, however they actually highlighted all the coupons and their shelf tags that say 1 per transaction. The good thing is there is another one really close that takes more than they did before in competitors so I will just shop there.. The downside is the store is set up different so shopping trips will take longer 🙁
Both the Parrish stores (Chin Rd and Old Tampa Rd) accept Save A Lot and Sweetbay only.
Should have mentioned – Publix in downtown Palmetto accepts: Save A Lot, Sweetbay, Winn Dixie, Bravo and Albertsons.
I am also so disappointed by the policy changes…I think the media attention on couponing is causing this 🙁
Our local store now only accepts Winn Dixie, Albertsons and Target as competitors. Strange since the closest Albertson’s is 40 minutes away. No more Whole Foods, no more Walmart (even though a Walmart Neighborhood store is the closed store to them).
They are also limiting quantities at our store. I wanted to get about 30 Temptations Cat Treats and they only allowed 3 🙁 They will not allow multiple transactions during the same day.
My husband does our actul shopping and he is a positive, upbeat kind of guy – they said they are now treating the heavier couponers with a real attitude and he swears making it as unpleasant as possible 🙁
Like Julie we may now be forced to shop different stores and make more trips which partly defeats the whole thing and it will cause my local Publix to loose some of our business to other places – not a smart move on their part.
The Publix coupons which say “One deal per coupon per customer” are to me the most confusing part of this policy. At one store I was not allowed to get two deals using two Publix coupons (they don’t mind your using two manufacturer coupons)and at the other store, the manager said of course, Publix will still allow this but reserve the right to limit deals. Very confusing since not everyone at Publix is on the same page.
I have a few $5 of $30 Winn-Dixie coupons from an Enjoy the City booklet I purchased. I used one yesterday and was told that per the new coupon policy, if these coupons say “customer reward card required” (which all my W-D $ off coupons do), they can no longer accept them. Anyone else experienced this?
Check your Publix for new competitor policy. My closest store (on the corner of Enterprise and McMullen Booth Road) is becoming very restrictive. On the 23rd they will no longer take Albertson’s or Target coupons. I was told today, they will only accept Sweetbay, The Fresh Market and Winn-Dixie coupons.
The checker was actually upset about the policy because she knows they will lose a lot of business in that location.
Just as she was afraid of, I will simply find a Publix store closer to Target, that will continue to take those coupons.
My Publix by River Crossing in New Port Richey is Taking Target, Winn Dixie, Sweet Bay & Save A Lot. I close friends with the girls in Customer Service. They said that it goes according to the closest Stores. They will also accept
Walgreens for Pharmacy, but that’s it.
Apparently not true in all cases – ours is taking Albertson’s and the nearest is 40 minutes away but they won’t take Whole Foods or Wamart – a Walmart Neighborhood store is the closet to them – just frustrating to now have to run around to different stores to use coupons 🙁
Was told by a store today that IS accepting Save a Lot as a competitor that they will no longer accept the save a lot 5$ off of 25$ dollar coupon. Supposebly the issue is that in order to get the savealot coupon you have to sign up for their club, and since publix doesn’t have a savings club(ummm…publix has like 10) its not the same thing so they wont allow it. They will allow any other coupons from savealot(pretty sure they dont offer any others tho.) On a side note, the store .5 miles from that one(yeah a half of a mile, i know its weird) said they will still accept them.
Forgot to mention that my closest store, which is only taking food lion and winn dixie currently, said if enough people complain, they will allow target. So much for consistency….
Is disappointed that my Publix won’t accept Target coupons any longer, even though it’s only a block away. But does accept Winn Dixie and Food Lion that is miles away (but no real good coupons). I have been loyal to Publix every week, but may consider some trips to Target sometimes.
I went to Publix yesterday (in Davenport, FL area) to buy a few things, and had two Bailey’s Creamer coupons. The cashier told me she had to ring each of the two Bailey’s creamers separately now since I couldn’t have two of the same coupons in the same transaction(?)
I said that I knew you could do two for the buy 1 get 1, so then what? She said she’d have to call the manager. Honestly, if it’s going to be that difficult to use coupons, I’ll just do most of my shopping at BJ’s and Costco. I go to this store regularly – and sometimes I have a small pile of coupons, sometimes one or two, sometimes none at all. I’m not an “extreme couponer”, I’ve even not see the show – but I like to use coupons anytime I can for a good deal on what I use.