I see a lot of bloggers posting about the CVS Brand $3 off coupon. Everyone is going in and getting a bunch of stuff for free with this coupon, and I’m sorry to say that I am going to have to step up and say something.
First off, this is an unauthorized reproduction of the coupon done online by a newspaper. I have heard straight from corporate that this is an illegal copy. And the wording on the coupon states: “CVS/pharmacy will not accept offers printed from unauthorized internet postings or reproductions, copies, or facsimiles of this offer.” So why are the stores still accepting these coupons if the printed ones are illegitimate? Can you imagine the confusion and chaos that would ensue with our cashiers and managers if corporate sent out a mass email to all CVS stores not to accept these printed CVS coupons? They would probably start refusing all of our legitimate coupons that we receive via email from CVS. Not to mention ALL couponers would be scrutinized and probably looked at like thieves. Not good for customer relations, right? I imagine this is why CVS is still accepting these coupons. They do not want the legitimate coupons to be refused, thus causing problems with honest customers.
My second issue with this is that everyone is printing multiple copies of this coupon and using it to get a bunch of stuff for free. CVS does NOT get reimbursed from a manufacturer for this $3 coupon. The same goes for all of the unauthorized $3/15, $4/20 coupons that get put out on the internet. Can you imagine if just 500 people used 10 of these $3 coupons? That is $15,000 that CVS is loosing. Imagine if you had your own business, and you put a coupon in a local newpsaper. Then that newspaper posted that coupon online without your permission, and thousands of customers came in trying to get you to honor the printed version.
Here’s my question for you: Do you want to continue to get deals at CVS? Then stop using these coupons! It’s only going to hurt CVS, and in turn make it harder for us to get deals there. They will become stricter with coupon usage, there will be less deals to be had and CVS will stop putting out coupons.
In the past, I have linked to and notified you when coupons like these come out, and I am sorry that I have. Newspapers are not authorized by CVS to put their coupons in the online form of the newspaper. Usually the coupons are just put in a local paper, and are not meant for mass distribution.
I am of the opinion that if you can’t get a deal honestly, then it is not worth doing. There are plenty of deals to be had by using coupons legitimately.
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Just my two cents…..BR/BR/http://savingourcents.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-thoughts-on-responsible-couponing.html
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Delores – 2 coupons on a BOGO sale is legitimate unless you have heard directly from a corporate store to the contrary. Seasoned couponers and all the major coupon sites that teach others in couponing, all agree that you can use 2 coupons on a BOGO sale. Some managers/cashiers will refuse to do it, but it is legitimate.
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i never printed it as i knowits wrong as we can only use this coupon if we have a subscription with a newspaper and because of coupons being abused my cvs accepts only full page of ip Qs even though i live in a small city, i think people should stop abusing coupons its a one time gain or them but in the long run they will be the one to face problems if the stores stop taking internet Qs like the walmart and target in my area. its uptp people even if you see a coupon like this use it wisely not abuse it by going out for 100s of stuff thats cheating
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Thank you so much for posting this! I had a feeling it was not legitimate and therefore chose not to print it or post anything about it on my blog. Thanks for stepping up and saying something!
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I agree. I don’t want this to get ruined because others are abusing this. I saw someone complaining when the 200 they tried to print didn’t work… I love a good deal, but saving $3 isn’t worth my integrity.
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My question is why haven’t they pulled the ad at The Beacon then?
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I havent used any of these, for this very reason. I only use the ones they email to me, and those I only use 1x each.
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Thank you Thank you Crystal! I’ve had an awful time trying to convince people that these Qs were fradulent…especially since they consider one of the main sites that posts them extremely reputable. Thank you again!
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Crystal- I appreciate your stance on this issue and truly respect your stance and the fact that you will not be posting these offers. However, I feel like the vast majority of your comments are from people who are being slightly self-righteous about this issue. I am an attorney, and I can tell you unequivocally, despite all of the comments that state otherwise, that the people who are using this coupon which is available in a newspaper are doing NOTHING illegal.BR/BR/CVS has the right to refuse the use of any coupon. They are choosing to honor this coupon. As a few previous posters have stated, the company can do many things to fix this situation and chooses not to. It is CVS’s responsibility to police these things. People who choose to use the coupons are not criminals. They are not obtaining the coupon in a fraudlent manner. Therefore, while our own consciences may restrict our use of the coupon, it is not fair to call out others who have a different opinion.
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The coupon is still available as of today to download for your self from the Beacon. CVS should know about this by now. Why haven’t they asked to have the coupon taken down? I know that’s almost pointless now that it’s been circulated. But because i could download it myself and not someones saved version I thought it was ok. Either way the coupon states one per customer! Anyone using it more than once is in the wrong. I think all CVS coupons should be linked to your CVS card and just print out from the scanner or CRTs or only print them in the “local” cvs ad market they were meant for.BR/My Walgreens just put a special insert in my ad for our local Walgreens for a $3 off $15 and the coupon states only good at that location. Easy enough.
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Anonymous – I realize that it is CVS Corporate’s responsibility to handle problems with their coupons. But if you know something is wrong and that you can get away with it because the “police” will never catch or stop you, it still doesn’t mean you should do it. BR/BR/Thanks though for your honest opinion. I appreciate your feedback.
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Crystal-I don’t believe the “police” need to catch you or stop you, and I did not mention the police in my prior post. But, I also don’t think it is necessary for every person to call CVS corporate and try to track down every coupon to see if its bad or not. That respobsiblity and the responsibility for notifying the stores what is and isn’t acceptable is on the company. CVS can issue a letter to their stores demanding they stop taking these coupons. This coupon was available in a newspaper that CVS paid to put there. They did not put a limitation on the coupon that says “not valid if printed off the website” or “only valid in Atlanta” We can safely assume that they paid to put the coupon in the paper, knowing that people could use it to get things for free, to increase traffic to their stores. They have not had the newspaper take the coupon down.BR/BR/Obviously, many of you have called them, so they are aware of this coupon and they have still chosen to do nothing. That is their choice and corporate responsibility. People who decide to use this coupon should not be made to feel like they are committing a fraud or participating in an illegal act, because they are not. My point is that it is a personal, ethical choice. I respect your choice not to use or post about this or similar coupons. But, I have a problem with people comparing people who make a different choice to criminals!!
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Anon- I don’t know if you’re the same anonymous as this, but this is who I was replying to: “It is CVS’s responsibility to police these things.” So this person did say police. BR/BR/If anyone would like to comment but wishes to remain anonymous, at least use a nickname so that no one gets confused as to who is replying to whom. BR/BR/And I would just like to say that just because the coupon is still up, it doesn’t mean that CVS hasn’t and isn’t doing anything about it. I personally did not contact the company about this. They contacted me. I don’t necessarily believe in contacting companies regarding every little thing. But if they want to contact me specifically regarding coupons, then I see that as an action on their part to do something about it.
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I agree, keep couponing legit!
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Crystal, I’m proud of ya! I just think you’re standing up for what you believe and you shouldn’t be belittled for that. At least you had the guts to take a stand. Good for yoU! I don’t feel like you are trying to push your belief on anyone or make anyone feel bad, you were just standing up for what’s right to you. SO you should be proud of yourself.
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Good for you!!! I agree, I wouldn’t post them either. I don’t understand how/why stores would accept the coupons….. You’d think they’be more careful.
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I agree with the person who said CVS would not allow it it they did not want to allow it. Accepting these coupons, posting these coupons in an online source obviously benefits them…OR THEY WOULD STOP IT. So I will print my coupon from the legitimate online source and use it without hesitation. It is there to be used.
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If CVS has the time to call you, a blogger, to tell you to not post their coupon, then don’t they have the time to tell the Beacon to take it down???
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If CVS has the time to call you, a blogger, to tell you to not post their coupon, then don’t they have the time to tell the Beacon to take it down???
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I did print the coupon a week or so ago and made a conscious decision not to use it because I felt that it was “taking advantage” of a possible oversight on CVS’s part. The Beacon is a free senior newspaper distribued in VA/DC/MD. I don’t believe when CVS bought the ad space they thought the coupon would be on the internet newspaper. I have an MBA and have worked with big companies in marketing and sometimes these things happen. Your point was right on as to what would happen if corporate contacted CVS managers and said not to accept this internet coupon and how it would effect the usage of our legitmate internet coupons and the confusion it would cause. As many of you are aware, even original printed coupons confuse some of these CVS employees. It really is just like photo copying the coupon which is illegal, so let your own conscious speak for yourself. Crystal, you do so much and I value the time you put in to your website passing along all the deals and information that help us all save money and provide the most for our families.
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I have to agree with Stacie. I think CVS could stop it if they really wanted to. This is not the first time they have allowed these to be printed. They know that the paper has an online addition, before they write the check for advertising. They could do many things to stop it, but they choose not to. Why? It’s a marketing stunt. Look at how many people have gone out and bought CVS brand items who would not have otherwise. I used it five times. I bought items that I wanted to try and I would not have taken the chance otherwise. Out of the five items, I liked all of them. When I need more, I will go back and buy the CVS brand instead of spending more money on the national brand. CVS will receive my dollars in the future. They win in the long run. CVS, with a huge legal team, is not dumb or wimpy. They know exactly what they are doing. Should we be greedy? Of course not. Should we feel guilty for taking advantage of THEIR marketing ploy? Absolutely not. Just my opinion!!!
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Crystal, I’m proud of your post! I don’t visit many coupone sites, but I have liked the way you do business.BR/BR/On another note…BR/BR/Yuck! Boy, oh boy, was naive! I didn’t know there were so many coupon scammers in the world-referring to the “returning” things to Wal-Mart without having bought it there. I never even thought that people would photocopy coupons. BR/BR/There is a price for everything, whether it’s your time, resources, integrity.BR/BR/I hope that there are still enough of the couponing good guys out there to make up for the…others. It would be a shame for the folks who really do need and use the coupons legitimately to lose the privilege because of some foul fellows.BR/BR/kelly
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I’m so glad you blogged about this. I’m pretty new to CVSing (about a month) and as I’m learning about it I’m also running into all kinds of ethical and moral questions that I never expected. I want to be upright and honorable in my use of coupons, and I appreciate your help towards that goal.BR/BR/I did print and use this coupon. I assumed that since CVS put it into the paper, it was “authorized”. Now I know how it works and that it isn’t! One thing that should be obvious, though, is that it is meant to be used ONCE per customer. It says so right on the coupon. So I’m not sure how anyone is justifying using it more than once? Anyway, just wanted to add my voice – good job and thank you for the education!
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Also it isn’t right for someone to go through the store taking all the peelies off products for their own use. That is stealing too.
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I also used multiple copies of this Q. I waited several days after I saw it linked the first time, saw it linked on several *legit* large blogs and never printed it from anything other than the direct link to the newspaper. I will not use them anymore but I also feel I did what I could to make sure they were legit. Also the Q always scanned and never had to be pushed through.
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I agree with Stacie and Anonymous. Guys you can not ‘take advantage’ of a multimillion dollar corporation. Its not an oversight…its good marketing. Any marketing ploy that leads to 70+ people debating this on a blogger’s site is one GOOD marketing ploy. I would not hesitate to hire them for my business. They are geniuses!
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Thanks! I was also wondering about this, so I called CVS yesterday to ask them about it. They told me it wasn’t legit and that the only legit online CVS coupons would be directly from cvs.com. Calling CVS is an easy way to find out about a coupon if you’re not sure about using it.
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Excellent post. I whole-heartedly agree!!
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I bought 8 toothbrushes and 4 toothpastes today – used coupons (which doubled) and got a $5.00 register receipt for my next trip to store. I got paid $8.00 to take these items. then I come home and read this post. Now I feel sick. It was fun, but it really didn’t seem right.
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I’ve used this coupon twice now and it didn’t beep either time, and the cashier didn’t look twice at it, but she scrutinized some coupons I printed from cokerewards pretty closely! I think tonight I’ll ask the manager at my CVS if it’s ok to use – he hasn’t once ever questioned a red CVS coupon I’ve used.
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While the discussion about what is legit/not legit is going on, I wanted to mention that CVS only intends ONE Extracare Card PER HOUSEHOLD (that’s why all the sale flyer limits say “per household”). I just read a post on another blog about a guy who has 12 cards! Talk about taking advantage of the system… I wonder what ever happened to having a conscience? I have noticed so much greed in the world of couponing – of course not everyone but it seems so widespread. It’s really sad and discouraging.BR/BR/Christine
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There seems to be a bit of hypocrisy… you condemn the use of this coupon, but post about overages. Hmmm okay.
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Anonymous – Overage is something completely different that I have a different stance on. While I appreciate your point, overage is not something that is wrong across the board. It greatly depends on stores. I actually consider it wrong for stores to not allow the overage. Stores get reimbursed for the FULL value of the coupon + .08 cents, yet they will reduce the value of the coupon for us to not allow overage. I think this is completely dishonest on the part of companies. CVS ALWAYS reduces coupons to not allow overage, yet they never write anything on the coupon. So you know they are getting the full amount from the Manufacturer. BR/BR/And on a side note some stores do allow overage. If it is a store’s policy that overage is okay, then I see no issue here. Especially since the store will get ALL that money + .08 cents back from the manufacturer. BR/BR/Thank you for bringing that point up, though.
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Oh wow, I can not believe CVS is letting some of these go through. I usually look on the back on my coupons anyway just because I don’t wanna get up to the cash register and be embarrassed. LOL!BR/I have been known to try and use outdated coupons ….OOPSIE!BR/BR/Linda
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There are a lot of blogs that rely on CVS deals to draw people to their blogs.Entire days are devoted to what can be gotten for free at CVS, and these bloggers are getting lots of publicityand attention -mainly due to their CVs free stuff blogs. How ethical is it to be greedy and just stockpile forever because it’s free? I think it’s up to CVS as to whether or not they wqnt to accept the coupon,and it’s up to the consumer to decide whether to print it or not.
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Hi, I just found your website from the GCC but saw this post and could not agree more! I clicked the link to the paper when I first saw it on a blog and read the not-so-fine, clear as day print that said no internet copies. Even without that, I read it was from a Baltimore paper and assumed CVS was not putting this out there for the entire world to use. I also was a little sad when I realized that my local, newly opened, CVS would not put out a coupon like that for my area because the other one had so obviously been abused.
I also disagree with the posters who tell you to use other computers to get extras of coupons that have print limits. I don’t think that is the intention but it is just my opinion!
I can’t wait to read more of your blog!
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