Happy Friday: Rewarded w/ Coupons for Saying Thanks
Sent from reader, Melinda:
A couple of years ago, you posted a note from a reader who had taken your advice and written some favorite food companies about their products to see if they would send coupons in the mail.
This is the second year I’ve taken the time to write a long list of companies and the second time Earthbound Farm has sent some very generous coupons. Some companies say no, but Earthbound Farm sent two free product coupons (up to $5.99 value), two $1 off any product coupons, a $0.75 off any product coupon, and a $1/2 products coupon. All of the items in the photo were less than $0.91 at Meijer this week after the coupons. Plus, I still have more coupons left! We are just starting to get the mail coupons so there are some surprises in store, but I would never have thought to do this if you hadn’t suggested it on your blog. Thanks!
HAPPY FRIDAY! 😀
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That’s awesome! I’m jealous! Ha! Do you email them? How would u know which to write? We use so many products from so many companies! Thanks!
Agreed ! Do you just ask for coupons ? “Will you please send me some?”
It is always nice to start off with something complimentary about their products, or about why you use them. THEN you can ask politely if they perhaps have some coupons they could share with you?
We filled out contact forms on the websites of products we always buy. I told them we are faithful customers of their products and make an effort to be frugal, and ask if they are willing to send coupons. We are big fans of Earthbound Farm and buy it weekly. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I had 2 bad bags of the Barnum Animal Crackers, and I’m not usually a complainer. I emailed them and they sent me a few coupons to cover the cost of new bags, which I thought was very thoughtful.
I’ve done this a few times with bad product. Each time companies have sent me coupons for freebies. I think its awesome that they care that much. 🙂
I bought bagel bites one time and something was wrong about them and they didn’t taste okay at all. I politely complained to the company, didn’t even ask for coupons, just letting them know. I didn’t expect anything in return. I think I got five or six coupons for a free medium size box of bagel bites and a few $0.55 off ones. It was a great feeling especially when I didn’t even expect it!!
I have done this in the past and it worked really well! I need to do it again. I got several great coupons the last time I did it. The one that stands out the most is Purina, though. They sent me a coupon for $10 off any bag of Purina food. I saved it for a sale and got a huge bag of Dog Chow for like $2.
Purina has been great to us, too. I just remarked to my Mom last week that a couple of companies stood out for going above and beyond to show they valued my time and cared about my frustration: Purina (litter rebate form on 3rd-party clearinghouse site experiencing errors on deadline to submit rebate) and Frito-Lay (samples handout where employee never showed up).
Caitlin, I know it’s nice that they sent you that coupon, but please please google the Purina dog food and see what is in it if you feed it to your dog. Or check dogfoodadvisor and see what they say. I stopped feeding my dog that kind of stuff years ago and am so glad I did.
I have had 4 goldens each live past 13 years and all were Purina dogs! The company has been around for a long time feeding pets as well as farm animals. Each pet owner should make their own decisions concerning food and health.
Yes! I love doing this and companies are usually glad to send them. I recently became a new horse owner and started emailing equine product companies asking for samples. So far I’ve received coupons for supplements and leather cleaning samples 😉
Wonderful tip! I have horses as well and also contact those companies regularly. Be sure to sign up for newsletters and email lists for the grain you feed too!
I signed up for Purina because I had heard they will send you coupons for grain. I feed my horse strategy. I have not received anything. What companies are you girls getting coupons for? I would love to get some as well! Thx
I should do this, too, since I buy Earthbound all the time. Great tip, Hip! 🙂
i am pretty sure I recall that original post—-there were many that thought it was rude and others that felt if we “all” did this, then they would stop and folks were taking advantage of these companies…..I have only contacted companies when I have either been exceptionally pleased with s product or service, or exceptionally displeased—both of which are rare. And I have never asked for anything, just let them know the problem or the awesomeness, and it’s true—most of those (few) companies did send something in return. I would never take advantage though just to “see”.
I’m usually with you on only emailing rarely to either rant or rave but if you buy a particular brand often and never or rarely see a coupon for that product it doesn’t hurt to ask. My husband has a dairy allergy and I buy alot of expensive dairy free items, alot of which are very rarely on sale and no coupons available. I’ve emailed one company and let them know I was thankful for their products and that my husband loved them. I never asked for coupons but they sent some anyways 🙂
I have also emailed companies when something was wrong with the product (moldy cheese in unopened bag, not expired) and go-gurt that split open in the box and got everywhere! Both companies sent coupons to replace products and a little more! If you’re ever not satisfied just let them know! But be honest too 🙂
I wrote to a bunch of companies but they never sent me anything
That’s awesome! I have done this several times with my favorite companies. Its always fun to see what coupons you get!
The lady who taught me about couponing told me I should call a company if I love their product or if something is wrong. Her reasoning was that for every person who does call, one thousand don’t.[Not sure what the number was but you get the idea;)] That means your opinion, in a sense, is weighed as heavily as if 1,000 people had called in and said the same thing. It’s important for a company to receive feedback on a product.
I like her way of thinking.
Demets Turtles is one of my favorite chocolate candies and I tried their sea salt caramel and did not like it at all. I actually emailed the company about how I didn’t like it and appreciated how they were bringing out different flavors though and they actually emailed me how they would mail coupons. Even through email they were very polite. A week later I received coupons in the mail and one happened to be for the Flipz pretzels which I had no idea they made!
Lol the Demets factory is right by my house, I didn’t know they mad flips either!! Yum!
My husband has many food allergies and found a lunch meat that he could eat, and liked but then the manufacturer ..Eckrich.. changed the ingredients which meant my husband could no longer eat it. I emailed them to tell them of our issue with my husband’s allergies and dissatisfaction of the change. They sent us nice coupons to use… then about 6 months after that they sent a letter stating that they’d had so many issues/complaints with the ‘new ingredients’ that they were changing the lunch meat back to the ‘old’ ingredients and sent MORE coupons… I was very impressed that they had listened and then followed up with us months later.
I love this,we as consumers spend lots of money every year on products.the companies make millions a year.I have emailed about a product that had something wrong.the company sent packaging for me to mail the damaged product to them.They sent free product coupon to replace it.I love emailing companies when I love a product or when its defective, they send coupons.one company sends me coupons every three months.some companies always send them.
Thanks for reminding us of the importance of acknowledging credit where it is due. I rarely e-mail or call to complain/compliment. However, I had an exceptionally bad experience recently at Starbucks an walked away very frustrated. I visit Starbucks at least weekly and this experience made me not want to return again anytime soon, so I thought they should be aware of it. I e-mailed them and received a resolution within 24 hours. I was pleased and it changed my thoughts about Starbucks for the better.
I did this once with Luvs diapers because the package I had bought had a strong chemical smell. They sent coupons for a couple free packs of diapers.
I emailed colgate and got some high value coupons including a free toothpaste up to 3.99 value and $1/1 any colgate toothpaste and many more. Bobs red mill sent me like 10 coupons for $1 off any product. I also received coupons from Tropicana and Heinz.
I emailed a shoe company complimenting them on the comfort and durability of their shoes. A week later in the mail I got a pretty, reusable shopping bag and a water bottle! And I only meant to thank them for a great product! You never know…
I got a bad Pure Leaf tea once(mold floating inside and I drank some with out looking…yuk!) and they sent me 5 free 6 pks coupons! I combined it with the Target deal getting $10 gc $50 food for an awesome deal.
I got eucerin manufacturers Q in the post when I requested them where to get their coupons. They are awesome
We purchased earthbound salad for years. A few months ago I found a piece of plastic in a box. Emailed the company, and got an apology. No coupons, refund, or anything. I suppose some people have more luck than others. We buy a different brand now, obviously.
We found a bug in our spinach once! Email earthbound farms and they apologized, but no coupons or anything. Took it back to Costco and they gave me my money back. I love Costco now. Not too sure about earthbound farms.
I have contacted companies when I have had a problem with their product, and when I have been happy with their product – most recently I explained my aunt was undergoing cancer treatment & having dietary problems, she was having problems upping her protein intake as products were upsetting her stomach, etc… I have been pleasantly surprised with the companies thanked me for letting them know I had problems/liked their products and received coupons for free product and/or $ off product. I have gone to their websites and used the “contact us” feature. If you have a problem it is good to keep the empty container as sometimes they do want to know product info to try and track down what might have happened in processing.
I was the reader who sent in the post a few years ago, and couldn’t believe how many hip2savers were leaving rude comments about my happy friday post. It sort of sucked the fun out of being chosen for a happy friday post.
I am so glad that you have had success in writing companies and getting free products! Keep it up!
Thanks! Your post really resonated with us and helped our family, especially since we have made a conscious decision not to print internet coupons because of all of the software installation required.
That’s a bummer. I’m on h2s daily and I can say there are defiantly some rude and unhappy people who tend to make an appearance with their negative comments weekly/daily. I’m convinced if you gave some of those people a million dollars they’d still find a reason to complain about it.
However for the most part the higher percentage of people are awesome, positive and helpful. Don’t let those people get you down. I’d be willing to bet your happy Friday post had more of a positive impact than you thought. People tend to complain about things more than complement things.
I too just did the same about a product complaint with PF Change egg rolls, they say eight count but only have 7 in all the packages I bought. But I told them I like their products and will continue to be a customer, just wanted them to know they had a manufacturing issue, and they sent me a bunch of coupons.
I’ve emailed in the past, complimenting products I frequently use and have never received coupons. Just a reply email saying thanks and they value my opinion.
Cvs was great about this in the past, there was a problem with one of their brand OTC medications. When i called, they sent me a gift card for $7 to cover the cost of the medicine, a ups envelope to mail the remainder to them, and a $50 GC for my trouble. I thought that was very generous, of course the GC went a longgg way with coupons!
Udi’s has a $1 coupon on their website when you sign up but did not offer any additional coupons upon request.
I know they send them out when you have issues with their products though. I’ve had issues at least 3 times with gigantic holes in their bread. Each time I’ve gotten a coupon for a replacement product. I will not buy their bread anymore.
I called Quaker one time because I had some oatmeal packets that had some dark brown lumps in it. They sent me some free oatmeal coupons along with a bowl that we still use. Most recently, I had a complaint with Learning Resources at Christmas and they went above and beyond to make it right.
Not to long ago I purchased a box of the pretzel shake n bake coating mix for chicken and there were no bags included. So I sent a nice email, with all the requested info, and they kindly sent me a coupon for a free replacement box. Just wanted to let them know. Most likely the machine ran out of bags while packaging.
Recently I purchased a Stouffers meal that tasted horrible and made us sick. Emailed about it and they called me and sent 3 free family size coupons. Last week, we had a horrible experience at Red Robin. Took the survey and left detailed comments about the service and food. The next day they emailed me a $15 gift card as an apology. I rarely contact companies unless there is a big problem.
I emailed Turkey Hill to tell them how much my son LOVED their ice cream (it was a limited edition flavor), that we had it at his bday party and hoped they would consider making it part of their permanent collection. I sort of hoped they would send coupons but it was mainly about telling them how much we like the flavor so I didn’t ask for any. They sent me a TON of coupons and a personalized letter (“Please tell your son Happy Birthday from us…”). So nice.
I emailed eucerin this last week to tell them how much I love their lotion. Just wanted to let them know, I didn’t ask for coupons and today I received 3 $3/1 aquaphor and 3 $1/1 eucerin. Was a great surprise 😃