Bought an item at Walmart using a coupon, then need to return it? Don’t expect to get the value of your coupon back anymore.
That’s one of several new changes Walmart has made to its coupon policy, in what appears to be part of a stepped-up effort to fight fraud.
The policy, last updated a couple of years ago to eliminate coupon overage and overrides, was updated again just this week (though for some unknown reason that Walmart has not explained, the changes were backdated to July, even though they were not actually published until Monday).
“When an item is returned, the refund credit will not include any manufacturer coupon credit that applied to the original transaction,” the new policy states. That’s in contrast to the previous policy, which explained that “returns of items purchased using Manufacturer Coupons will include the coupon value returned to the customer in their original form of tender.”
That means if you buy a $5 item using a $1 coupon and later return it, you’ll get $4 refunded to you instead of the full $5 you used to get.
Other tweaks include the added statement that “Walmart prohibits the use of a manufacturer coupon on prepaid products or gift cards,” and a slight rephrasing of the previous “Manufacturer coupons are not accepted on mobile phones” to the new “Manufacturer coupons are not accepted on digital devices.”
They may seem like unrelated changes, but they’re all policy loopholes that fraudsters have long taken advantage of. Some Walmart shoppers have been known to scan fraudulent coupon bar codes from their mobile devices. The tweaked policy makes clear it’s not only coupons displayed on phones that are prohibited. And many of those fraudulent coupon bar codes deduct money from the purchase of gift cards, which essentially allows fraudsters to convert their fake coupons into cash. The new policy makes clear that’s not allowed either.
But the return policy change is the one most likely to have an impact on honest couponers as well. The policy is fair, in that you’ll be refunded what you actually paid out of pocket if you return an item purchased using a coupon. But it’s a little less than fair, in that you don’t get your coupon back, so you lose the ability to use it on another purchase in the future.
It’s a similar change most notably made by Target a couple of years ago. Critics of such a policy have argued that it means the retailer itself would now get to keep the value of the coupon, since it’s already been submitted to the manufacturer for reimbursement. Walmart has not responded to requests for comment about its new policy or how it will be applied, but Target said at the time of its policy change that it would credit the value of any coupon back to the manufacturer, ensuring that no one profits from any returns.
Neither retailer has publicly admitted that combating return fraud was the reason for their coupon policy change. But returning items for profit is a favorite form of fraud, with one high-profile case occurring at Walmart just a few months ago. In that case, two men in Virginia purchased ten cases of Red Bull for a total of $220, using counterfeit coupons worth a total of $200. Then they went to another nearby Walmart and returned them all for the full $220 in cash. “These suspects have perpetuated this fraud at numerous Central Virginia stores resulting in a total loss of about $12,000,” local police said.
Walgreens is now one of the only major retail chains that still explicitly says it will give you cash back for the value of any coupons used when you make a return. Most other retailers either make no mention of it, or they state – like Walmart and Target now do – that you’ll only get back what you paid out of pocket.
So use your coupons carefully at Walmart, if you think there’s any possibility you may end up returning your purchases. Because if you do, you won’t see those coupons, or their cash equivalents, anymore. Most importantly, though – neither will the fraudsters.
Image source: Walmart
