Coupon Question and Answer: Ask I Heart Publix 9/12

If you have a question about couponing at Publix, this is the place to find the answer! Each week my buddy Christy over at Winn Dixie on a Dime and I have a little coupon question and answer session here on Ask I Heart Publix. Keep sending in those questions – we love to answer them! Just remember if we didn’t get to your question this week…we will do our best to cover it another week!!

Remember–there is a tab at the top of the site under “About” titled “Ask I Heart Publix” where you can find the questions and answers from past weeks!

Here are this week’s questions:

1. How will Publix handle a B1G2 Competitor coupon?
2. Can you use more than one $5 off $25 coupon from a competitor?
3. Are there specific days of the month that I would be able to find Publix flyers and booklets?
4. Did I get the best deal?
5. Is the store responsible to honor the coupon value of an expired peelie when it is removed directly from the item being purchased?

And here are the answers!

1. Blythe wants to know: At my Publix, Albertson’s is a competitor, so I am able to use coupons that they have ($5 off $50, ect), which is great. My question is this: Albertson’s circulars often (weekly) include coupons for things like “Buy 1 Get 2 free London Broil, Identical or Lower Weight Only”. I’ve been nervous to try these out, and the last time I asked Customer Service something, they were short with me, it was Friday night rush time, so I’ve been hesitant to ask, but thought I’d ask you. I know Albertson’s hikes their prices up for these types of sales, but Publix won’t.

How will this work, or should I just bite the bullet and ask Customer Service?

Michelle: I am going to defer to Christy on this one as there are no Albertson’s stores in my area. Though, I would guess that you would need to ask your specific store.

Christy: We had a few Albertson’s in my town a few years ago and my Publix accepted them as a competitor (they have since all closed down). I was able to use the B1G2 coupons on certain items – my store required that they carry the exact item that Albertson’s was advertising in the coupon (for example, I couldn’t use coupons for “Angus” meats since Publix doesn’t offer “Angus”), and they would only honor the coupon as a B1G1 rather than a B1G2.

That said, every store may be a little bit different and you are going to have to ask your Customer Service desk about how they will handle those coupons. You may want to plan to ask them on a day or time that you know they are not very busy. I will sometimes “cruise” the Customer Service desk – just walk by a few times and wait to ask my question when they seem the least busy.

2. Penny wants to know: Can you use more than one $5 off $25 coupon from a competitor?

Christy: My store will honor more than one $5 off $25 coupon if my total before coupons meets the requirements of both coupons – so if I am using 2 $5/$25 coupons, I would need to spend $50 before coupons in order to use both coupons. Be aware that most $5/$25 coupons from the same store will say “limit one per purchase” so you should not be attempting to use two of the same coupon for a single order.

Michelle: Here is the scoop from the official Publix coupon policy:

Dollars-off-total-order coupons will be limited to one Publix and one competitor coupon per order. The order total must be equal to or greater than the total purchase requirements indicated on the coupon(s) presented.

3. Becky wants to know: I live in Florida in a very small county and it its rather difficult for me to get a hold of the Publix booklets and flyers that contain their coupons. Unfortunately I do not live very close to a store, so I don’t normally just pop in to see if there are any new flyers available. Are there specific days of the month that the flyers are available in the stores? I realize there are expiration dates, but do you know if they put them out earlier than the dates specified, or its it just luck of the draw?

I always seem to miss out on the good ones and I would sure like to get some of the flyers, booklets or mags that have the coupons I need. I have signed up for all their publications, but I believe I live too far away from a store to be on their regular mailing list. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Michelle: Boy I wish it was as simple as going a specific day. Coupon booklets are very elusive little boogers! I probably only find 60% of what I report. A while back that number was even lower. Since my store started keeping the booklets at the customer service desk, I actually get them more often now!

Once you see them reported here on the site, I would suggest asking the customer service desk to see if they have seen them and if they have a copy available.

Christy: Coupon booklets are always a “luck of the draw” kind of thing. Some stores do seem to get more coupon booklets than others, but there’s really no predicting which store will have which booklets (and on which days). As we’ve suggested before, your best bet is to use the I Heart Publix Forum to trade for the booklets you need.

Flyers, such as the Green and Yellow Advantage Buy flyers, are a different story. You should be able to find these flyers in your store (either at the Customer Service Desk or in the turnstyle next to your weekly ad) every 3 weeks. I know there are some stores that don’t ever seem to get these flyers, but those seem to be pretty rare.

4. Tim wants to know: I’m in the Atlanta area, home of the half priced BOGO and not true BOGO.

A couple of weeks ago Dr. Pepper was Buy 2 Get 2 and there was that Publix Yellow Advantage Flyer Coupon for Buy 2 Get 1. I wasn’t sure what the best route to go with this was, as I was pretty sure the Buy 2 Get 2 is not my “normal” Publix BOGO, but the “true” BOGO. So I went with Buy 2, Get 3 free. But I’m not sure if I could have only bought 1 and gotten 3 free. Did I do the best deal there, or could I have done the Buy 1 and get 3 free with how Publix would have worked the coupons?

Christy: If your Publix flyer advertises a B2G2 sale, then that is the deal they will honor. What is different between “half-price” BOGO stores and “true” BOGO stores is the way the items ring up. At a half-price BOGO store, if the item is BOGO $1, then each item costs 50¢ according to your receipt. At a true BOGO store, if the item is BOGO $1, the first item costs $1 and the second item costs $0 according to your receipt.

This is an important distinction to make since it affects the value of a B1G1 or B2G1 coupon and reduces the amount that you will actually pay for the deal….for half-price BOGO, the value of the free item is 50¢, while the value of the free item with true BOGO is $1.

I’m going to let Michelle answer the part of the question about what your best deal would have been…I BELIEVE that you got the best deal possible, but I am also way better with true BOGO scenarios since that is what I am used to!

Michelle: With a B2G2 sale you must purchase all items to get the discount (same with a B3G1). This is a bit different that what those of us in half price BOGO are used to. With a BOGO sale we can just grab one item and pay half price. With B2G2, B3G1 and the like you must buy all items for the discount to kick in.

So, to answer your question – you could have only bought 4 items and used the B2G1 coupon. Two items would have been free with the sale and the third item would have been free with the coupon. Make sure satisfy the sale requirement first. Once that is accomplished you can look at the coupon requirements…as long as you have satisfied both you are good to go!

5. Amanda wants to know: I have a question regarding expired peelies. Recently a friend was telling me a story about how she found a peelie on an item stating that if she bought two of said item, she would get $5 off. She did not check the expiration date on the peelie. When she got to the register, and the cashier took the peelie off the item (per her request), but then discovered the peelie was expired. She could not get the deal she was expecting.

My friend was venting her frustration about this to me, and stated that the manager should be the one to take care of this. I understood her frustration with the expired coupon, but I disagreed that it was the store or the manager’s fault. I ALWAYS check expiration dates first. I know there is a “peelie person” who places these peelies on certain items, but do you know more about this peelie situation? Is the “peelie person” from the manufacturer? Should a customer be upset at a store for there being expired peelies on items? (Just to be clear, the item in question was not food.)

Christy: To the best of my knowledge, the store has no control over which items have peelie coupons applied (or whether the coupons are left on the product after they have expired). It is a manufacturer’s representative that comes into the store and applies those coupon, so it seems like it should also be the manufacturer’s rep that removes them if they are not used before the expiration of the coupon. That’s about all I know…I’d love to hear more from anyone who knows more about how this process works!

To answer your question, though, I don’t feel like the store should be responsible for honoring expired peelies since they will not be reimbursed for the coupon in question. Commenters, what do you guys think?

Michelle: I actually used to know a person who was a peelie placer …tee hee. I called her the “Coupon Angel”. She rolled a cart around the store with a huge bag filled with coupons and her job was just to stick peelies on products. We got to be buddies and she give me the scoop on what she was sticking in my area She did not work for Publix and was paid by another company.

I had a long conversation with my store about peelies at one point and their take on the coupons was  - peelie coupons were of no consequence to them until they were redeemed at the register. Basically saying that it was not their responsibility to “police” those coupons. They were only concerned with them once they were redeemed at the register.

I don’t think your friend is correct in blaming the store management for an expired coupon. Publix did not place the coupon so ultimately it is not their responsibility.

I hope our answers to these questions were helpful! Make sure you ‘tune in’ next week for even more Q&A with I Heart Publix. If you have a question you’d like to see answered, email me at contactiheartpublix@gmail.com.