A number of readers have reported some drastic changes to the previously challenging coupon acceptance policy at Oak Ridge. One of these changes is noted on the front page of the new ad: no internet coupons. All locations now appear to be using a new and highly restrictive coupon policy, which includes these new rules:
- Double ONE identical coupon up to $1.00. One additional identical coupon will be accepted at face value. Additional identical coupons will be refused.
- NO internet coupons.
- A coupon will not be allowed to double if it would make the item free.
Other readers have had increased difficulty using coupons at Oak Ridge in general, with some being accused of attempting to redeem “mass cut” coupons (coupons with identical cuts/edges). Apparently management is also concerned about coupons cut in groups.
While it’s highly possible that Oak Ridge feels that they are losing money by doubling coupons, they advertise “double coupons up to $1” mainly to entice shoppers. These hefty restrictions are misleading and hidden, printed in each ad “additional details in the store.”
Because of these coupon-unfriendly practices, I’d like to encourage you to:
- Share your feelings and concerns about the recent change in policy with the management. Phone numbers are listed below or you can email a manager directly.
- If necessary, take your coupons and business elsewhere, preferably where coupons are welcomed with reasonable restrictions.
Bargains to Bounty readers are some of the best shoppers out there. I strongly believe that there is power in numbers – and that if we all take the time to comment, our voices will be heard. Whether Oak Ridge will reconsider their changes remains to be seen – but they’ll be forced to take notice when multiple shoppers speak up.
In the meantime, I regret to inform you that Bargains to Bounty will no longer be featuring Oak Ridge deals until further notice.
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OAK RIDGE MARKET LOCATIONS
VIEW the OFFICIAL OAK RIDGE COUPON POLICY as previously published; you’re likely to find changes if you choose to shop.
FRASER – 31240 Groesbeck (at 13 Mile) 586.296.7230
WARREN – 30800 Hoover Rd (at 13 Mile) 586.558.8500
WARREN – 26700 Ryan Rd (near 11 Mile) 586.754.0016
ROYAL OAK – 2560 Crooks Rd (at Webster, between 12-13 Mile) 248.280.2820
As I did with my local Spartan store…take your business elsewhere. If couponing brings you into their store, they should be thrilled to have your business.
Agree!
I will definitely, although politely, share my concerns with the management. If and until the policy changes I will take my business elsewhere. There is no point shopping there when their everyday prices are high on most items and coupon usage is so restricted.
I completely agree with you!
I sent an email to corporate. That policy is ridiculous and frankly, I feel sorry for their cashiers having to be the bad guy explaining those crazy restrictions. The Hoover/13 one is not far from my house and I explained in my email that I drive right by their store to go elsewhere thanks to their coupon policies.
I said the same thing!
Thank you for the info.
I agree:
“I will definitely, although politely, share my concerns with the management. If and until the policy changes I will take my business elsewhere. There is no point shopping there when their everyday prices are high on most items and coupon usage is so restricted.”
Thank you B2B, for taking a stand and not wasting your time on Oak Ridge.
I will be emailing a mgr, this evening!
I am glad to see the coupon community stick together, I will not shop at Oakridge till they make changes to policy. I will miss their meat as it is good , but I did not like going in the store (13/Hoover) and being treated like I was a coupon counterfiter!! The customer service lady yelled at me and basically accused me of coping my coupons, it was embassing and when she started on about the coupons being cut the same, stacked as she called it, I was totally shocked with disbelief, I do not think people should have to experience that kind of treatment when they are only tring to save a little money. I will contact the store and voice my opinion. Hopefully they will listen.
You said it Suzie!
I thank you for all your help. I only went there once a week or two for a specific number of things. I learned about them from you. I would have never gone there otherwise. It is a bit out of my way but managable when I go to a meeting northwest of there about once a week.
I loved it when I first learned about free Bounty! THANKS to you! I went on my usual Thursday and went back for a few items today due to the ad changing before I can get back. I figured from your poll showing low numbers for the store that you would probably stop posting. I will e-mail them as you suggest. I don’t think I will go there without match. ups….maybe I will just go for Bounty towels.
Use this email address, plus corporate. Store managers have no control over the policy, I’ll bet.
Ben is the manager I have been given the phone number for when I had previous issues with coupon acceptance. They told me he was the General Manager.
Ben
Supervisor, Grocery Buyer
(586)-296-7230
[email protected]
Louann- Thanks for that info. Is that for the Fraser store (the info you posted).
I support your decision to delete OakRidge from your website. We wil take our business to a grocery that is fair and coupon-friendly!!
I have also sent an email to corporate, the general manager, and the Hoover store manager (where I’ve typically shopped in the past). Sounds like I’ll give all of my business to VG’s and Meijer in the future!
FYI — the response I got from Ben Brandenburg (general mgr):
Due to tough economic conditions and some customers taking advantage of our previous coupon policy, we were forced to make amendments to our coupon procedures. I do in fact apologize for upsetting you and I hope that I can keep your business at Oak Ridge Markets. We still accept internet coupons as long as they scan, but unfortunately due to fraud we will not double them. Our company has lost a considerable amount of revenue due to fraudulent internet coupons and abuse of our previous policies. I know a lot of honest people are going to be upset with us, but we had to make a hard decision as we continue to survive in this tough economic climate. Our ads and prices are very competitive and I hope that it will still be a facture in keep you as a valued customer. The only alternative to changing our policy would be to increase retail prices and/or reduce the aggressiveness of our ads. This we cannot do. Again, I apologize for upsetting you and I hope that you will still remain a valued customer of Oak Ridge Markets.
He’s right – their regular retail prices are already quite high. At least you got a response, but a change in the new policy doesn’t seem likely right now. Will you be back?
Nope! And I agree that it doesn’t sound like they’re willing to change their policy. My time is too valuable to spend it trying to navigate complicated coupon policies and uncooperative employees/managers, especially when their prices are so high. I’ll spend my time (and money) elsewhere!
Wow just read Ben’s reply. Until you change you policy back to where it was you have lost another valuable customer. I will be taking my business to VG’s and Meijer. If we all stop going to Oakridge maybe they will rethink their coupon policy when their revenue really drops from losing all their customers!!! Perhaps letting the manufactures know that they (and other) stores are not accepting internet coupons all the grocery stores will rethink their policies. i.e. Kroger, Shoppers Market!!
P.S. I have e-mailed corporate and never gotten a response, how did you do it?
As Louann posted, you need to use this address (he’s the general manager for all stores): [email protected].
I stopped wasting my time there over a year ago because of their restrictive coupon policies. Haven’t told them about it directly though, so maybe I need to speak up.
Yes, Carol, it is time! We need everyone we can to try. I am composing my email to Ben right now. If we all spend the time we would have spent looking over this week’s ad, writing an email instead, that will show Oakridge how very unhappy we are about this insane change. As I am pointing out, if they are afraid internet coupons are fraudulant, so they won’t double them, why take them in the first place? That would be like a store saying, “oh, I can’t take your counterfeit $20 bill, but do you have a counterfeit $10 one, because that will be OK with us”. LOL!
The problem is not fake coupons as much as a store not being able to tell which are fake. They should be asking why the coupons aren’t being reimbursed, and learning how to turn the fake ones down, and only accept ones with unique code numbers, security measures like dots in the corner, etc.
I agree with that entirely! Stores need to put more time into educating their employees on how to recognize a fake internet coupon – something that’s not difficult to learn. There will always be people trying to abuse the system. But there are easy ways to recognize copies. Coupons.com, Redplum and SmartSource printable coupons (although Oak Ridge registers won’t scan SS coupons anyway) have distinctive watermarks that disappear when photocopied.
I haven’t shopped at Oak Ridge but this is definitely not going to entice me to start! I stopped shopping the Kmart “double coupon events” when they started harshly limiting. At this point why do the stores even bother to offer the doubling at this point I think it’s hurting rather than helping increase their customer base.
I just emailed Ben. I will not be shopping there anymore. I used to shop at the Fraser location,
Sent an e-mail to Ben – goodbye Oakridge!! They are going to lose so much business by doing this!!
I live 2 blocks away from your Ryan store and now I drive right by your store to head over to your big competitor, I also got my WIC from your store and many times would pick up something else that I didnt have a coupon for. In this recession, you simply can not afford to turn away customers, with or without coupons.
I used the Fraser location also and won’t be going back. I pass too many other stores with deals and acceptable coupon policies to get there.
I went there today, Bounty paper towel is on sale 10 / $10. I had a $1.00 off 2 rolls manufacturer coupon. I was told that if doubling the coupon makes them both free, then they cannot double it.
This is false advertising!
I am glad you are not posting their deals anymore. They do not deserve all of the other money that I USED to spend there.
The same thing happened with me with the Bounty paper towels and I was so bummed. I will not be shopping at Oak Ridge.
My email:
Ben,
I am sure that I am not the only one sending an email about how disappointed I am about Oak Ridge Markets’ new coupon policy.
Over the last year, I have shopped at the Royal Oak store once a week minimum for everyday essentials. I have always respected the store’s policies and had the best interactions with employees (even if one employee didn’t know what alfalfa sprouts are, which I found to be kind of funny).
Anyway, the sole driver of me going to Oak Ridge has been that I have never had to pay for a roll of paper towel. Bounty Basic paper towel goes on sale once a month for $1/roll, and with a $1.00 off 2 rolls coupon I was able to get two rolls for free. At the same time, I would pick up bananas, ground meat, chicken breast, spices, cereal, cheese, and eggs. The majority of these items don’t even have coupons available.
All of these items are available at Meijer down the road at typically lower prices. Meijer isn’t giving away free Bounty Basic with a coupon, but then again, neither are you. I would much rather shop at your stores than the giant local competitor, but Meijer’s coupon policy is much more generous and doesn’t assume that I am trying to commit fraud by cutting out coupons.
Until the coupon policy is changed to allow free items with coupons (you do get reimbursed from the manufacturer for those!) and doubling of legitimate internet coupons (which DO scan), I will no longer be shopping at your stores.
Sincerely,
Elyse Moore
Former Oak Ridge Shopper
Dear store managers,
I regularly shop in both your stores. The groesbeck location is near my work and the Hoover location on my way home. I have always found these two stores to be clean, well stocked and have a freindly staff. Oakridge offers good sales and quality meats and produce.
As a single parent, with one income and 3 teenage boys my grocery budget is a challange to say the least. I rely heavily on the savings I obtain via coupons and store sales and the combination there of. I know that I have to shop smart if we expect to have food on the table.
I have to say that in the past the coupon policy at your store has been challanging, so challanging in fact that it has at times detered me from shopping theree. Recently it has gone from challanging to down right restrictive. I relaize that offering double coupons dips into your profit margins and there should be restrictions on this, however limiting the number of manufacturers coupons a shopper can use and disallowing valid internet coupons is a inconvieniance to myself and other shoppers.
It doesn’t make good sense to tell shoppers we only accept 2 identical coupons or force shoppers to buy different varieties of a product in order to use a coupon. It discourages people from shopping at your business. Especially since those of us that use coupons know that the manufacturer reimburses you the face value of each coupon plus a handling charge.
As you may or may not be aware, your stores have been featured on a local coupon blog, bargainstobounty.com. This blog posts the best deals at local stores, with and without coupons, helping those of us that use coupons to do so more efficently. Us readers also forward to the blog owner the deals we find at various local stores, which are than added to the lists. This blog has hundreds of followers, both on the blog site and on facebook. Your stores, due to the restrictive coupon policy’s will no longer be featured on this blog. You may think this is a good thing, however keep in mind that it was free advertising and coupon shoppers are also prone to purchasing impulse items and other good deals they find in stores. Most of the time when I shop with coupons, I spend more than I palnned due to the the signage in a store, or because I realize I need an item.
I have to say, that for me, I will spend my shopping dollars at stores that are more in tune to the needs of their clientell and until your coupon policy eases up I won’t be inclined to spend my dollars at Oakridge. Because I don’t get your ad where I live, and your site will no longer be featured on bargainstobounty.com I won’t even have opportunity to make a shopping list with an intent to shop there.
Sincerely,
Lynn Johnson
Its sad I think they will lose business the doubling of coupons brought me into their store where I never shopped before and found myself buying things that were not even part of my coupon list but I guess they dont realize that it still increases their business but I also have to say they are the rudest people when they would have a coupon issue which made me stop shopping there after the cashier made me feel humiliated in the mean time she was incorrect in what she had done and I had later conatacted the manager to question the situation to find out that I was correct the cashier was wrong and she was talked to right after our phone conversation per the manager because apparently I wasnt the first to complain of this rude cashier this happened at the groesbeck location and I dont mind that they wont be on the site anymore I refuse to shop there it never seemed to be a pleasant experience. I love this site it helps so much being that myself and my fiance are on Social Security Disability so it is so helpful keep up the great work!!!!
Time to go else where thats for sure. Soon they will have no customers.