A Sign of Things to Come at Kroger? I Hope Not!

Since I was in town this evening I ran in Kroger at Hannan Plaza to get some more Bumblebee Tuna Packets (using the recent 55¢ coupons - makes the 2.5 oz packets free) and some more Lysol cleaning products. Yesterday I printed Lysol coupons from homesolutionsnews.us, the Reckitt Benckiser (Lysol) website. As with most printable coupons, I was able to print 2 copies of each coupon from my computer. The thing is, my computer is out of color ink - has been for a while now - so the pictures don't print. Everything else prints & this has not been a problem anywhere I use coupons until now.

When I checked out, the cashier told me that she would have to ask permission because the coupons were black & white - not color. She said they're really cracking down on the black & white coupons because "you can make copies of them on any copier." She called the manager? customer service manager? on duty and was told that I could only use one copy of each coupon. I'm am not blaming the cashier, she was SUPER nice and this is not her call. But give me a break - one of each coupon just because they're black & white! I can't afford to print all my coupons in color - color ink is just too expensive. And what about my friend who has to print most of hers at the library because her dial-up is too slow? (Yes, I know some papers had Lysol coupons in them on 9/13, I used some yesterday and plan to use the rest of them.)

You can legitimately print 2 copies per computer of most coupons; if you have more than one computer, and your parents have more than one computer, or your friends who don't coupon let you use theirs, or your employer doesn't care if you use their printer as long you do it on your break.... these are legitimate coupons... ooohhhhh! Can you tell I'm not happy? LOL

Our options for grocery shopping in this area are already soooo limited. Food Giant doubles up to 50¢ and I've used IPs at the Reidland location with no problem, but their selection and sales aren't as good as Kroger. Super Valu won't take any IP except the ones you can print from their website, and they don't double anything. What's a person to do that can't afford to shop any other way? How many of us do this just for the fun of the game? Most that I know do it because they need to make every penny stretch as far as possible.

I'm curious now; I just shopped Southside Kroger yesterday and used multiple printables (Old El Paso - which were on three different websites so I could get six from each computer anyway) and had no problems. I just really hope that this is not a sign of things to come. You know, saving for a monthly grocery trip to Nashville is looking better & better. Think I'll send a letter to the manager at Hannan Plaza and see what comes of it. Maybe they just need to understand that if I'm making copies, when the duplicate gets kicked out at the clearinghouse they'll have my ISP address to come find me to prosecute me for coupon fraud. Which is WHY I DON'T MAKE COPIES, and neither does anyone I know. I'm pretty sure going to jail would take all the fun out of couponing - DUH!