Freebies at Target: Fact or Fiction?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought couponing at Target was not worth the hassle. I probably shouldn't generalize it like that. Target does have some good deals since they put out their own Target coupons which you can combine with manufacturers coupons. However, I was having bad luck with the freebies. I would go to sites like Money Saving Mom, and be enchanted by long lists of "freebies" at Target. There would be about 8-10 things that you could get absolutely free - who could pass that up? Most of the items were trial sized - but who cares, right? They are free when you use coupons. And since I buy the Sunday paper every week for coupons, might as well use them before the expire.

So I gathered a few coupons and went to Target one day on my lunch break to try to snag a few freebies. The trial sized items were mostly 99 cents. The coupons however, were for $1 off. These coupons did not say "Excludes Trial Size" as some coupons do, so in theory, you should still be able to use them. Well the cashier scanned them and they all beeped at her and she wouldn't accept them. She told me I couldn't use a $1 off coupon on an item that was only 99 cents. She also said I couldn't use them on trial size items. I pointed out that it didn't say anything about not using them on trial sized items on the coupon, but she said that was just their policy. I tried to explain to her about MoneySavingMom and all the community of couponers out there who shared the weekly Target deals on the web and how it was working for other people...She just stared at me and shook her head. She did ask another employee if I could use the coupons, and they said the same thing. Not wanting to cause a scene, I just said ok, and didn't end up buying the products.

I went back to the computer. Time to do more research. Money Saving Mom is a very high traffic blog with paid advertisements and I'm sure thousands of readers. Obviously these deals had to be working for someone or they wouldn't be posted continually. I read through the comments section about many people having trouble with cashiers accepting the coupons. The reply to those comments was to contact the store for their coupon policy, and you will see that it IS in fact their policy to accept those coupons, and just ask a manager if you have any problems. So I decided to email Target to get their coupon policy to see if that was true. Target was very friendly, got back to me right away, and gave me their policy, which said they can indeed manually adjust the price of the coupon down to the price of the product. They won't give you a penny back if the coupon is for $1 and the product is 99 cents, but they can enter the coupon in the system to be 99 cents.

A few weeks later I saw another alluring list of Target freebies. I decided that I needed to give it one more try. I printed off the corporate email and brought my coupons to the store. I nervously went to the check out line. Same story.

Coupon beeps.

Cashier: Um, you can't use a coupon that is for more than the price of the product.

Me: Oh, well that is what I thought too at first, but I emailed corporate and they said you can just manually adjust it down.

Cashier: (Frustrated Sigh, calls another employee over)

Other Cashier: No, you can't use these coupons.

Me: Same explanation.

Cashier: (Pages Manager)

Me. (Uh oh, nervously smile at the people behind me in line who look like they want to beat me up)

Manager: You can't use these coupons because....blah blah blah.

Me: Ok, but there is this blog I read, and it explains about Target coupons, and I have this email from corporate, let me just show you...

Manager: (Annoyed) Ok, fine, but I can't let you have anything for free. You have to at least pay one cent.

Me: (Hmmm, that sounds made up). Um, ok, fine, if you need me to pay you one cent I will pay one cent.

Manager leaves and by this time the line has cleared out behind me. I am THAT LADY. Oh gosh. I felt so bad. The cashier tries to do what the manager told her, but even when she adjusted it the coupons STILL wouldn't go through. Something about trial items, etc, etc. Unbelievable. So I think I left with one trial size item and it still ended up being 50 cents or something.

In conclusion, I have decided to cover my eyes and run the other way when I see lists of Target freebies. They just have not worked for me. But every Target is different so it would still probably be worth a try for others who want to give it a shot. Obviously some people are getting these freebies and loving it. Maybe your Target is more coupon-friendly and the cashiers are better trained on the coupon policy. Just my experience. If you have had luck getting Target freebies, please share!