Response from Coupons.com

I had sent in a question to Coupons.com about the "redeem/redeemable only" coupons we are seeing a lot of these days.  Here's the response I received:

We're sorry to hear you had trouble using your coupons. Please rest assured that coupons printed from Coupons.com are valid manufacturer offers and that we are working hard with the retail community to address their concerns, and to satisfy you, our mutual customer. For example, you can go to PrintCoupons.com right now and authenticate a printed coupon, which we encourage store managers who have questions or concerns to do. I have attached some information regarding our online coupons for your review.

We have been working directly with many major retailers and almost all of them have an official policy to accept printable coupons as long as they are not for free product and as long as they scan properly at the register. You can usually find a coupon acceptance policy online at the retailer's website. If that policy says the store accepts printed coupons, we recommend you print it off from the website and bring it in with you on your next visit to the store.
Customer Service didn't really address the issue of "redeem/redeemable only" coupons.  It really seems like no one has a specific answer to the question!  I think the decision to accept or not accept these coupons will be left up to the store.  This is a "your mileage/manager may vary" situation until I can find someone who can actually answer the question! 

Have you had any luck using one of these coupons locally?  I haven't tried it, but I have used the catalina coupons from Walgreens at both Kroger and Walmart without much trouble.  The catalina coupons look very different from a regular paper coupon so it caught the cashier's attention in both stores.  They initially told me I couldn't use them because they were Walgreens coupons, I think they say "redeem at Walgreens".  When I explained that it is a manufacturer's coupon the cashier scanned it, and the register accepted it.  It may not work out this way every time, so I'm always prepared to have the coupons returned to me.  If the coupon says "redeem at" I would go ahead and use it at any retailer, because "redeem at" is more of a suggestion to the consumer.  But, the coupons that have "only" in the wording, those I'd be a little more cautious about.  If any coupon is going to be denied, it would be those "only" coupons!  Good luck!

Thanks again, and happy couponing.
--The Hopkins County Couponer (7/26/2011)