Every Sunday I get similar questions to this one, “I am so Mad! I picked up four newspapers this morning and got home only to find that someone had stolen my coupons! The store I bought them from wouldn’t take them back and now I am out that money! Is there anything I can do? “
My answer is always the same, “I’m sorry there isn’t anything you can really do.”
There are a few reasons why your newspaper might be missing coupons:
- It was never there to start with. Newspapers are given inserts based on the amount of home delivery subscribers they have. If a newspaper has 100,000 home delivery subscribers Smart Source and Red Plum may provide them 115,000 insert packets. So after home delivery papers are stuffed with the inserts there are 15,000 left. The newspaper might print 30,000 additional papers to put in stores and vending boxes. So right away there are 15,000 newspapers that are put out that have no coupons in them.One of my local papers only gets enough Red Plum to put into the newspapers for those in the city. The rest of us outside the city only get Smart Source…so I stopped buying that paper!
- There was a mechanical error. Have you ever gotten a newspaper that had 1 page of an insert and then nothing else? Many newspapers are now put together by machines. If it gets off rhythm then several papers may have different pieces of inserts.
- Someone stole them. We know the value of coupons and sadly so do some unethical people. They will open boxes and take the inserts (if there were any to start with) either to use themselves or to sell.
So how do we ensure that we get the coupons that we are expecting?
- Get the newspaper delivered. Most newspapers will guarantee a complete paper if, and ONLY if, it is delivered. My local paper if you call early Sunday morning and alert that your paper was missing a section will redeliver a new, complete, paper. If you buy from a store or from a box- most papers will not replace the missing pieces. So the best bet is to get home delivery (I’ve used this site and gotten a discounted subscription before). Call your paper and see if they are offering a Sunday Only Special (I’ve seen it as low as $1/issue) or a bulk subscription (i.e. get a discount if you buy 4+ each week)
- Choose in-store over a box. When you put your quarters into those boxes it is a real gamble to ensure all your coupons are there. Instead of taking that gamble find a gas station or grocery store that carries them inside (I’ve had the best luck at Sheetz gas stations). Then you can look through the paper before purchasing it.
- Don’t support coupon sellers. It’s impossible to know 100% where people selling coupons get them (besides being a violation of the terms of the coupon and causing Smart Source and Red Plum and P&G to send ceast and desist letters to sellers)- when you buy coupons you may be buying coupons that were stolen from newspapers or obtained in other questionable ways. In addition, by supporting your local newspaper you are ensuring that that paper gets coupons for all the couponers in your area.
It’s always frustrating to waste money ( and we can only read the comics so many times) so a coupon-less newspaper is upsetting. I really suggest having it delivered each week to avoid this frustration plus you can just walk to the end of the driveway instead of having to search for one in the stores.
I don’t get the newspaper delivered because we travel fairly often and I don’t want to deal with the hassle of stopping it. I do go to gas stations and get the paper weekly, because most of the time I’m already out anyways. One tip I can give to those looking for a paper is that the stores and gas stations in town are the first ones out of papers. I go to the gas stations by the highway where the gas prices are a little higher and it is mostly people passing through. It is only a couple miles out of my way but I have always been more successful there and it prevents me from having to drive all over town to find the paper.
Also, don’t be afraid or embarrassed to look through the papers to see if all the inserts are there. An employee asked me once if I was stealing the coupons and I was shocked at firs,t then I just politely told him that I was making sure that all the inserts were there and asked if he would like to help me. I have never been questioned since at that gas station. It’s your money and you have the right to inspect what you are getting.
I always check to make sure the inserts are there.
In Mt. Airy, the Sheetz gas station sells the Winston-Salem Journal for $1.50 each. All other places here sell them for $2 each. I move them away from the stack and always look to find the coupon inserts. The clerks don’t know why they sell them cheaper. It saves me a dollar on the 2 I buy.
I would call the paper first. They don’t put coupons in thepapers every Sunday . If they did and your was gone, they should either give you your money back or find enough insert for each paper. That happened to me once and my paper came out of a box.
Having them delivered doesn’t solve the problem. They are missing on delivered papers also and all they will do is give you a credit for the week but you still don’t have the coupons. If you buy the paper out just check for inserts BEFORE you buy it. Isn’t that just common sense?
I guess it depends on your paper- mine will redeliver incomplete papers.
I have my 5 papers delivered because they are cheaper plus the paper guarantees the inserts will be in them.
The Raliegh News & Observers sells 1 paper for $2 but each additional paper delivered is just $1.
My mother added mine to her subscription as a birthday gift. So I get 5 papers that cost my parents $5 each week. It was a great Birthday gift that will last all year. Not many gifts do that. Those same 5 papers cost $10 at our local store. That’s a 50% savings.
FYI there is a huge reward for anyone that gives police a lead on newspaper theft which also explains the missing inserts and the lack of papers in the boxes. We deliver papers and have tried everything to avoid the theft even leaving a sign on the boxes letting people know that the papers the steal are coming from our pocket not from the observers but the continue to steal. It is a felony to steal papers.