Effective 9/1/12, Walmart made change to their “internal” coupon policy. This does not mean any changes were made to the official Walmart Coupon Policy, however, you may see changes at the register when you shop in the future.
Summary of change to internal coupon policy:
- All Walmart Register systems were updated the new GS1 Bar codes that most coupons have switched to and all will eventually be using.
- All coupons must be scanned on the flatbed scanners. Cashiers are instructed to not use the handheld scanners to scan coupons any longer.
- The coupon must scan and they are not allowed to be manually entered if they do not.
- If the coupon does not scan, they have been instructed to return it to you. This applies to printable coupons as well as newspaper insert coupons.
Reasons behind these change:
- Coupon Fraud – Walmart stores are consistently exceeding $10,000 per month in expense because of fraudulent/counterfeit coupons. This is each store so imagine what the company is taking in as a whole!
- Employee Coupon Fraud – There have been several stories about massive scale coupon fraud being perpetrated on Walmart stores by their own employees.
- Coupon Bar Coding – The old bar code has a lot of info that could be deciphered and used on products they were not intended for. The new bar codes will eliminate that.
Thanks IHearttheMart! & Budget Savvy Diva
