By Liz F. Kay , Sun reporter|June 17, 2008
Theresa Jenkins is a coupon queen. By combining coupons with sales, she has accumulated a lifetime supply of dishwasher detergent in her garage, as well as 30 cans of tuna for a penny each.
But she was upset when a Giant Food supermarket confiscated her coupons after one she had printed from a manufacturer's Web site for Rice-A-Roni wouldn't scan properly.
As the price of food and everything else rises, consumers are increasingly turning to coupons to cut their bills. And many are finding a small but growing supply of them on the Internet as manufacturers turn to print-it-yourself incentives to get buyers to try their goods.
FOR THE RECORD
An article in Tuesday's business section about online coupons incorrectly reported eBay's policy on selling manufacturers' coupons. The Web site permits auctions of coupons with some limitations, such as banning the sale of expired coupons.
The Sun regrets the error.
But some people, such as Jenkins, have been frustrated to learn that some retailers won't honor the coupons because of an increasingly costly problem with counterfeits - including some that are bought and sold online.
"You can't say you accept coupons if you only accept certain coupons," Jenkins said.
Superfresh, part of the A&P chain, does not accept coupons printed at home at all, said spokeswoman Lauren LaBruno.Nor does Klein's Family Markets, which banned home-printed coupons after they were struck by a rash of altered coupons for nationally branded products.
It's difficult to distinguish between legitimate and manipulated coupons at the point of sale, said Howard Klein, Klein's vice president and general counsel. The thieves would replace UPC codes from legitimate coupons on ones for other products.
"We don't want people replicating coupons en masse," Klein said. "It's like cash counterfeiting."
Some chains in the Baltimore area, such as Giant and Wegmans, state that they only accept home-printed coupons for cents-off, not free items.
Others, such as Rite-Aid, will take only online coupons from their own Web sites, or limit their use. For example, Harris Teeter will not double or triple online coupons.
Moreover, individual cashiers and store managers at stores that generally accept online coupons might not always comply with corporate policies.
The result for consumers such as Jenkins, 29, who runs a day-care center at her Abingdon home, is less savings from coupons.
"With the fear that certain stores aren't going to accept them, I've used them less and less," Jenkins said.
Ron Larson, a professor of marketing at Western Michigan University, said the retailers have a legitimate concern.
