Dear Couponers,

Due to unfortunate circumstances we are forced to announce a change to our approach of certain coupon stacking programs. This change will affect the pre-ordering of mass quantities of products and the use of mass cut coupons for all of our vendors for the purpose of coupon stacking. In addition, London Drugs has been advised by SC Johnson Company, that no SC Johnson coupon can be combined or stacked with any other coupon, regardless of the wording on the back of their coupons. Unfortunately, both of these areas are impacted due to increasing abuse which cannot be supported, and negatively affects all customers.

Pre-Ordering of Merchandise

Effective immediately, with those products where coupon stacking is permitted, London Drugs stores will only sell shelf quantities of product for the purposes of coupon stacking. As is a longstanding policy, we have always reserved the right to limit quantities and this will be enforced.

We have had increasing pressure from an ever widening number of coupon stackers to pre-order large quantities of products expressly for the purpose of coupon stacking. The requests are not modest: increasingly these order are for cases and half pallet or pallet quantities of merchandise. On top of this, it has been reported that increasingly these large quantities are used for resale, and not for personal consumption.

The manufacturers and London Drugs cannot support this excessive ordering of large quantities, as this is not what coupons were ever intended to provide for customers, and jeopardizes London Drugs ability to get reimbursed for coupons, causing potentially large financial losses for both London Drugs and its suppliers.

SC Johnson Company coupons

London Drugs has been advised by SC Johnson Company, that no SC Johnson coupon can be combined or stacked with any other coupon, regardless of the wording on the back of their coupons. London Drugs attempted to work with the legal counsel representing SC Johnson to alter their wording on their coupons as many other companies have done. Unfortunately, they have made a unilateral decision that because the abuse of coupon stacking has become too widespread on their products, they will not continue to reimburse London Drugs for any coupon they deemed was stacked.

London Drugs is very sorry that these practices have had to change. As one of the very few retailers that have allowed and supported coupon stacking, we’ve worked hard with coupon stacking forums and organizations to make policies clear, and prevent abuse. Despite this approach, the widening abuse has caused these changes in approach. It’s frustrating for London Drugs and the coupon customers who have worked responsibly to maintain the practice to date.

Dear Couponer,

We understand your need to save and stretch your dollars and our coupon stacking program is a great way for us to help with that. Up to now we have been able to support and make this happen. However, we are facing tremendous pressure from manufacturers and we are at risk of losing the stacking program all together. Please help us maintain this program by following these guidelines.

1. Respect our legal and ethical responsibility to ensure coupons are accepted properly. Our cashiers have both an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure that coupons are accepted as outlined on each coupon. If you present a coupon that is not eligible for stacking or that cannot be accepted, know that this is not a result of London Drugs being inconsistent in acceptance, but that we are living up to our legal responsibility to accept coupons as per the manufacturers terms and conditions. We cannot and will not tolerate customers who bully or try to intimidate our cashiers into taking coupons. Our cashiers know our policies. Please respect their need to enforce them.
2. Read the back of each coupon carefully. We have an excellent relationship with our manufacturers and ensure coupons are accepted as they have outlined on the back of each coupon. We are open with manufacturers that when there is doubt on how the coupon wording is crafted, we will interpret on behalf of our customers.
3. Understand vendor stacking policies can be different than our store policies. Many Manufacturers continue to change the language on the coupons in an effort to restrict stacking. This affects our ability to stack coupons – but it is not a change in our policy.
4. Be considerate of other customers. We are proud that London Drugs provides an excellent opportunity for couponers to save money but we are equally proud of the shopping experience and service we routinely provide to our customers. Help us serve your needs better by choosing to make your coupon stacking trips to our stores during non-peak hours or discuss with your store manager in advance to ensure the best experience for all.

We welcome you to continue to realize savings through our current couponing practices. Know that the future of our coupon program at London Drugs is highly dependent on your willingness to help us meet our ethical and legal responsibilities to our staff, customers and manufacturers. Please help us share this with the coupon community.

Thank you once again for your support.