Walmart Changes Policy In Texas Stores And Is Bad News For Shoppers

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Have you made a trip to the grocery store lately? I bet it seemed like you needed to take out a small loan to pay for those groceries too. Thankfully East Texans can save some money by clipping coupons from the sale ads or using digital coupons from their phones.

We've been doing it for decades, clipping coupons and saving money and in some cases even getting money back, but that all silently changed at Texas Walmart stores when they recently updated their coupon policy. For those who are into extreme couponing, an act where you get paid to buy items by using coupons, those days are now over at Texas Walmart locations.

Coupons In The News states that the

new policy changes have brought Walmart’s coupon policy in alignment with other retailers, in eliminating overage, imposing like-coupon limits, and declining to override the register if it rejects a coupon.

Walmart silently updated its coupon policy in September. It is now becoming public knowledge because customers are realizing that some coupons are no longer being accepted. Plus, customers are learning that Walmart is no longer applying any overage of a coupon to the receipt total. This includes any WIC or SNAP transaction.

Here's a look at the updated Walmart coupon guidelines that were updated and pushed out on September 24, 2023:

Walmart accepts the following manufacturer coupons accordingly:

• All paper coupons must be presented at the time of the purchase and have a scannable GS1 barcode.
• Coupons must scan at the register, as the GS1 on the coupon must validate to Walmart’s master file.
• Walmart does not give cash back nor will any overages apply to the remaining items in the transaction if the value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item, including WIC and SNAP.
• The value of a coupon will be applied up to the price of the item and any excess value will not be applied to the transaction total.
• Accept only one paper manufacturer coupon per item for in-store purchases only.
  Limit of 4 identical coupons per household, per day (unless otherwise noted on coupon).
• There is no limit on the number of coupons (variety) that can be used in a total transaction.
• Walmart does not accept expired coupons.
• Items purchased must match the coupon description (brand, size, quantity, color, flavor, etc.). Acceptance of unmatched coupons is against policy and will be systematically denied.
• Coupons are void if copied, scanned, altered, transferred, purchased, sold, or as prohibited by law.
• Manufacturer coupons are not accepted on mobile phones.

Internet (print-at-home) coupons will still be accepted as long as certain guidelines are met along with stipulations on certain BOGO coupons. However, digital coupons that are scannable from a mobile device will not be accepted.

Among the changes, if the coupon is not recognized or the transaction terminal deems the coupon invalid - overrides by store management will not happen at the register. Store management is encouraged to follow this policy and not override any coupon that is not recognized by the register.

Why Did Walmart Make A Big Change To Coupon Policy?

Two big reasons - counterfeit coupons and coupon misuse. Walmart isn't the first major retailer though to make adjustments to their policy, they're actually following Target's lead when it comes to coupons.

Another change that is upsetting some Texas Walmart customers

Coupons are for in-store purchases only and may not be used when making purchases online for delivery or pick up at the store. All coupon transactions must be completed in-store.

So the days of extreme couponing and making it into a TV show are done at Walmart!