April 19th, 2011 Warnings About Online Coupons
Some newly enforced rules at national grocery chains could end up costing coupon users money if they aren't careful at the grocery store this weekend. For example, Kroger has installed new register software that will prevent shoppers from using online coupons that they have loaded onto their Kroger Plus Card in addition to paper coupons.
This practice is known as "stacking", and it is not allowed through store and manufacturer coupon policies but had been practiced by many consumers anyway. Shoppers can expect to run into issues if they've loaded electronic coupons onto their shopper's card and try to use a paper coupon for the same item in the same transaction. This can happen if you are not aware of what e-coupons have loaded onto your card. In most cases, a paper coupon will be more valuable because t hey double, meaning that any coupon under $1 will double in value up to $1, while e-coupons don't have this feature.