Scope (?): Buxr

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Coupons we have to take down (Take a Poll)

submitted 200 days ago by YanBz in "Buxr Website / Contests"

We just had to take down a legitimate coupon from a company which advertised the offer in an newspaper. It wasn't a counterfeit, it was available online to the subscribers of the electronic version of that newspaper. Earlier today we received an email from the representatives of the company with a request to take it down, and as the result it is now gone from Buxr.

I know some of you are probably upset about this, and I want to get a discussion going on the subject, so we together can see all sides to this story. Did we do the right thing by taking the coupon down? Here are two opinions, pick one you agree with:

1. It was the merchant's fault to have published it online. Finders - keepers. We should keep the coupon and benefit from using it.
2. The merchant is at fault, but if we keep using it the merchant will call stores to ask them not to accept the coupon. Enough calls like this may upset store owners and force them to change the policy to not accept any internet coupons in future, which is bad for us all.

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professor

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Posted by CouponNut 200 days ago

[reply]

Thank you for the topic Yan! Since I am the submitter of the deal and the news came after the contest was over, well to be honest I thought I had a winner of a deal. I know everyone was curious where such a coupon could come and obviously no one thought it could be a e-newspaper coupon which would be available to anyone on the web. These coupons are very much available and you can do an instant print. As a e-newspaper subscriber, I downloaded the entire newspaper, at which you can PDF any page and this is how I posted the deal. If Community Coffee did not want this page included in the e-newspaper, they should have their page removed, afterall it was an entire newspaper page and available to everyone, everywhere. The deal posted merely shared the page with anyone who was interested in the coupon. Of course we have no idea how many outsiders actually took advantage of the coupon and I personally would not want my store to stop taking internet coupons over this. Furthermore, I do not think I am at fault for posting, as other deals also have internet coupons too which are cut & paste from emails, webpages and other deal sites. So at most, it was an accurate & correct posting and congratulations to anyone who was lucky enough to partake in the coupon redeemption. I'm not here to profit by anything, I enjoy deal posting and the Buxr community

admin

Posted by YanBz 200 days ago

[reply]

You did nothing wrong, CouponNut. My understanding is that Community Coffee didn't do a due research on social aspects of their promotion. They believed that it wouldn't go beyond Atlanta area, which is the market they target - a naive idea to put it mildly.

It is a really simple question to ask yourself, "What will happen if the coupon I publish online starts to spread via Twitter, Facebook and other networks?". We all would be better off if more marketers asked themselves this question before they start the campaign.

professor

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Posted by CouponNut 200 days ago

[reply]

The campaign obviously spread moreso than just Buxr, the Sunday full edition is no longer available, only local & national news tidbits. I plan on contacting Community Coffee to comment on the full-page ad for the free coffee because their mistake is coupon expiration date of 1/31/2012, rather than keeping is to a mere 7 days or so. When you publish on line, be prepared!

professor

Posted by jack69darin 200 days ago

[reply]

Maybe the coupon was just meant for the paper edition, and they didn't realize the newspaper would put it I'n the e-edition. We all make mistakes, remember the Kfc free meal ... I don't think there should be a backlash against community coffee. By all means I love my coupons, don't want to miss out! Yan you did the right thing. With extreme couponing and misuse, I worry companies are going to limit them as much they can, they don't have to offer them .

professor

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Posted by CouponNut 200 days ago

[reply]

Perhaps it was AJT newspaper who did not inform Community Coffee of the e-subscribers, afterall the coupon was an advertisment. Good point jack69darin and yes Yan did the right thing.

master

Posted by josetring 200 days ago

[reply]

Too bad , the merchant should honor the coupon. No backlash, but they should honor whatever coupons are out there.

professor

Posted by DebsFreebies 200 days ago

[reply]

The bottom line is that the electronic coupon is here and here to stay. Same goes for the "freebies" these companies offer and then "run out" after just a few hours. If their marketing department doesn't have a clue as to the impact of social media and viral spreading of a their offer, then that company needs to hire a new marketing person.

guest

Posted by Robert 199 days ago

[reply]

That coupon was also in the Chattanooga Times Sunday paper. (full page ad) Our local stores did'nt have it in decaf so I left the coupon on the store shelf for another shopper to use.

professor

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Posted by clover 199 days ago

[reply]

That coupon was ok Robert. It was in the paper. That wasn't the issue here so don't feel bad about passing it on. CouponNut posted a great deal. Community Coffee made some mistakes with their advertising. Keep in mind that in October they also posted a BOGO coupon on their Facebook page. If they have to eat these coupons it is their own fault.

130497

professor

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Posted by orangearrows 199 days ago
[reply] 2 0

I got the PDF and I made copies

professor

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Posted by clover 199 days ago

[reply]

I made the decision not to use it because (A) it wasn't at my Walmart and (B) I just didn't have a good feeling about it. I think we are definitely going to see changes with couponing. For those that got it....it was a great deal!

master

Posted by josetring 199 days ago

[reply]

Big companies make enough money, this is a drop in the ocean for them. They sure achieved some publicity, now everyone here knows about community coffee

professor

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Posted by CouponNut 193 days ago

[reply]

Another website posted the Community Coffee PDF coupon just today. It was on a women's club blog website.

admin

Posted by shawndiaz 193 days ago

[reply]

I for one believe we did the right thing. Regardless of where the fault lies in the industry, if any merchant asks us to remove something for reasons unknown to us as shoppers, then we should do so. The questioning can come later to possibly help us understand better. I would rather save money overall then not save anything in the end. Thanks Yan!

admin

Posted by HouTex 193 days ago

[reply]

Unfortunately for Community Coffee, their coupon was distributed beyond their intended target markets. They ran full-page newspaper ads in 3 select cities where they were introducing their product, expecting shoppers to clip the newspaper coupon and redeem it. They apparently didn't realize it would be posted with the digital version of the paper online. I thought it was a "too good to be true" offer for nationwide distribution when I read the text in their ad about introducing their coffee. A few sites posted the offer differently by saying "Check your papers from Sunday for this awesome coupon! There is a full-page ad for Community Coffee..." where the correct audience would be alerted to the offer. I personally don't believe in taking advantage of merchants' mistakes, but that's just my opinion.

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