ALERT: $2/2 Johnson & Johnson Counterfeit Coupon
First off, I am literally sick to my stomach. Just a little bit ago, I received an email from an awesome reader, Kristen, who alerted me to the fact that the $2/2 Johnson & Johnson coupon pictured above is counterfeit. This coupon actually had bricks.com in the URL and appeared to me to be 100% legitimate; and as a result, I have referenced the coupon on Hip2Save several times in the past few weeks and have printed it myself. The Coupon Information Corporation (CIC) just added this coupon to its list of counterfeit coupons as of yesterday, April 15th.
Now that you are likely sick to your stomach as well, you are probably wondering what you should do if you already unintentionally used this coupon at a store and/or have this coupon in your possession?! First and foremost, you want to immediately destroy any of these coupons that you may have. If you used the coupons to purchase items that are still in un-opened packages, I highly encourage you to take the items back to your store and return them immediately. (Please note that I mean that you should return the items and only be reimbursed for the purchase price minus the coupon amount so in some cases you may not be reimbursed at all if the item was free after the coupon). Stores that accepted these coupons will NOT be reimbursed by the manufacturer so by returning the items that you purchased with this coupon, you are preventing the store from losing money. If you have already opened/used the items purchased with this coupon, I am honestly not sure what to advise you to do; however, I would encourage you to contact your local store manager and ask him/her what is recommended in this situation.
From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. I spend countless hours researching deals and evaluating coupons to ensure that all deals on Hip2Save are 100% legitimate. I value all of your trust and am still in shock that this was a fake coupon.
Please feel free to share your thoughts below….
you do a great job! no worries, once and a while one can slip past even the best of us! i love your site, you are still my go-to woman for coupons and deals!
We know, Collin. We may feel bad for using this coupon, but we are adults. We printed it, we used it. It is not your fault.
You cannot blame yourself!!
Is this the same coupon that came out a couple of months back, when Rite aid had Johnson products on sale?
No, I first posted about it on March 23rd (I have since removed the post).
Collin,
I got an e-mail from Albertsons dated March 23rd that offered this coupon. Could they have meant it to be a store coupon but put manufacturer coupon on it by mistake? I still have a copy of the e-mail if you want to see it.
Wow. I feel bad about the situation as well. It’s not your fault in any way. You do your best- which is above most everyone’s hopes! Keep up the great work that you do for all of us. I am very thankful for you.
Please don’t feel bad about this!!!! I know you do everything possible to make sure everything is legitimate! There are undoubtely going to be one every now and then that slips through your fingers. I still have mine and will get rid of them asap. I appreciate you updating us and keeping us informed Collin!! I enjoy and trust “Hip2Save” more than any other and this does not change a thing!!!!!!
THANKS for all you do!!!!!
Thanks so much for posting this so quickly after finding out. I have this printed and in my binder but had not used it yet. There was something disturbing about the combination of products for me, but since it was a bricks coupon, I was trusting of it too.
I felt the same way. There was something wrong about this coupon. I am going to destroy it.
I’m destroying mine as we speak. I, too, thought it was an odd combination of products, but it appeared to have all the right things on it (expiration date, 2 bar codes, watermark, remit to address, etc) and since it would only deduct $1 off each product, the value didn’t seem unusually high. I agree with what everyone else is saying, Collin, it’s not your fault! These things happen, and you’ve already done the responsible thing in alerting your readers the second you found out about this. I appreciate the heads up.
I’m really confused as to how this is a counterfeit coupon (and also how anyone was supposed to figure that out!) As far as I can see, it has all the right pieces of information, and bricks coupons are the ones I trust the most! If this one isn’t legit, how are we supposed to know if ANY bricks coupons are legit?
It was an honest mistake so don’t be so hard on yourself. Usually counterfeit coupons are high dollar so this is a surprise.
This is a sad thing…but aww don’t feel bad Collin. <3
It was a mistake, mistakes happen! We all know that you research the coupons and deals you post very well before hand. It's not your fault that any of us may have used this coupon.
Love your site, love your deals and love you for all the hard work you do for all of us! 🙂
Wow, that is crazy! Don’t worry! You won’t be losing any fans over this! I have a coupon club and my first suggestion to new members is to follow your site! Thanks so much for the update! Fortunately, I did not have or use this coupon!
OMG. I used this coupon last week at Target for band aids. OMG!
@ Tisha – Hi, I’m so glad you posted something today, you just jogged my memory about where I usedmy coupons. I also bought bandaid from Target with that coupon. I will be looking for my receipt and returning the item.
just return them
I used that coupon at Walgreens last week as well. I do remember that coupon wouldn’t scan they finally hand keyed it but were leery about taken. Can’t believe people would create counterfiet coupons, they need to find a life.
Its not your fault at all who would ever think a coupon wouldnt be legitamite.
Oh my gosh. I used this coupon today at Target — two of them, actually. And, the weird thing is that these were the only 2 coupons in my stack of coupons that would not scan. The cashier manually entered the amount for me. I put these toward my Zyrtec purchase. I opened the Zyrtecs as soon as I got home and added them to my bags. I am sick to my stomach.
Collin, please don’t feel bad. We really appreciate your honesty and know that we can always look to your blog for the newest, hippest legit deals. This one sure looked real to me! You couldn’t have known any better.
Does anyone know if the $5/5 that was similar was legit? I tried to use them at CVS when Listerine was $1 and they wouldn’t scan. They wouldn’t accept the coupons. This $2/2 looks almost identical to the $5/5.
Oh! Nevermind! It was the $2/2 coupons I was trying to use. The Listerine was on sale $5/5. I’m a ditz sometimes. Sorry…
Collin,
How did they know it was a fraud – Did someone ask J & J?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how does one return the items? Just insist that they don’t give you money back for the return? Inform them about the coupon? I’m just not sure how couponers would go about fixing this.
Return the item with receipt with the expectation that you will get back what you paid for the item(s). You have your money – the store has their item(s) – and the worthless coupon that isn’t going to be honored anyway is now not going to cost the merchant any money.
And yes, tell them about the coupon and how you learned of its “fakeness.” (I love inventing words.)
if you didnt pay for the item and got money back then the merchant is still losing the money. just return it with the receipt and have them keep the money in the drawer
You can tell them the amount of the coupon you used and only have them return the amount you paid. Then you have your money back and they have the product.
Colin do you remember the deal you posted with this coupon it would help me figure out if I used it. Thanks for all you do, there is no way to tell this was fake . The bricks stamp would have got any one.
I’m not sure if your would’ve done this deal, but I remember seeing it for travel size band-aids at CVS
Everyone make mistakes and the consumer needs to be educated and make the final decision on each coupon/purchase. Don’t worry. I think your advice about how to “make it right” is right on and hopefully the stores will be understanding and appreciate all the honest customers.
This coupon is still on Bricks? If it is counterfeit why hasn’t it been removed?
It just goes to show us all how good the scammers are out there. It’s too bad that things like this happen. It makes stores leary of all internet coupons. I too was sick over this but I realize that not everyone is honest in this world. Don’t be so hard on yourself were at the mercy of computers for alot of our data. And mistakes happen. NOT YOUR FAULT. We all adore you and the hard work you put into this amazing web site.
wow! thks for letting us know …mmm i was getting ready to use it 2morrow! ur awesome Collin…Thks again for all u do to help us save $ and keep ourselves out of trouble…hip hip THANK YOU 🙂
That would explain why it wasn’t scanning properly. Thank you for letting us know so we can correct this with the stores who honored these coupons. Didn’t it appear to print like the normal Bricks coupons?
I had printed these – but had not used them. But I don’t understand because the link DEFINITELY went to bricks? Don’t you think that would mean that coupons.com themselves messed up? How else could a coupon end up in their system? Do NOT feel bad. That coupon came from their site and we all know what that site looks like and how it acts. If we cannot trust coupons.com themselves where would we ever get IPs?
but it looks the same sall thr rest i dont get it
Don’t be so hard on yourself! I’m sure no one blames you for what happened, and you can’t blame yourself. It’s a gamble you take when you use printables sometimes, and couponers need to understand that. You do an amazing job, don’t let this get you down.
I printed this coupon and read it several times trying to match it up to a sale with all the restrictions listed on it. I havent seen a coupon that listed so many individual products that it wasnt valid on. So I havent used it and Im happy I can throw it out. 🙂
If you read more carefully, the fine print of the coupon has the word “balue” instead of “value”, so its validity is certainly questionable without the CIC actually labeling it as counterfeit.
Mega-giant retailers like Target & Walmart aren’t going to give a flying monkey about not getting reimbursed $2 when their markup on items like these are already incredibly padded. Ask the store manager what to do? You are seriously suggesting wasting the time of someone who has an entire store to run, by asking them what you should do about an item on which you used a coupon which you had no idea was counterfeit? They’ll feign thankfulness that you brought it to their attention, tell you to keep the items, say “have a nice day”, then forget you ever talked to them.
but their markups is what keeps them in business, it gives them profit. also who knows how many couponers out there used this and possibly got free items, it would be like people walking store and grabbing bandaids w/out purchasing them. the money lost by the store would rack up quickly if there happened to be a lot of couponers at that store and they dont get reimbursed for those coupons..
DN, yours is the best post I have seen on this subject. I have read elsewhere that the CIC declared this coupon to be counterfeit, simply because someone made numerous COPIES of the coupon and in their infinite wisdom declared ALL of them to be bad. I wish Collin would have posted the OFFICIAL reason from the CIC and an explanation of HOW this coupon came to be on Bricks. Then I MIGHT consider this coupon a problem.
I used the coupon last week at Wal-mart, and they always give me a hard time if the coupons don’t scan they won’t take them, in fact I used 2 of them, bought 3 band aids and one listerine. They did decide to put it in manually, but now I feel bad about using them.
That is really scary. This looks like a perfectly good 100% legal Bricks coupon… No one can blame you for not knowing any better Collin. Still, very scary though that couponing has come to this in some cases… 🙁
Collin – it is nothing that you did! I didnt use mine – but I still have them! I just shredded them! Thank you for the update!!
Wow…I’m shocked! I JUST used this coupon tonight to get a ton of Listerine at CVS for free! 🙁 I guess I’ll be taking it back tomorrow…how embarrassing. :/ Thanks for letting us know, Collin. I wonder how it was identified as a counterfeit? And how does a person profit from publishing a counterfeit coupon? I mean, really? They don’t make any money from it…I’m a little confused. -and bummed about losing my Listerine deal.
Noelle, I was wondering the same things! Another thing I’m confused about is why you can’t just give the money back to the store even if you did open the item. Isn’t it the same thing when a store overcharges you and they give you the difference back? Just curious…
I would assume they go out and use the coupons they make. Why they share them, that I don’t know.
Wow! It looks so REAL! I wonder why anyone would want to take all that time to create a fake coupon. I had these printed, but hadn’t used them. Thanks for the head’s up!
Wow Collin there is no need for you to apologize! It did not look counterfit. The people that should be apologizing are the losers who made the fake coupon!
That just makes me so angry that people do this crap! It’s not your fault at all Collin! It’s those jerks that try to get away with things! What is the point honestly?? The worst part is they post it somewhere for everyone else to use, so we all feel guilty for something we didn’t know was wrong. I’m going to take my band-aids back to the store in the morning. Thank you Collin (and her friends and family) for everything you guys do. We all know that you meant no harm.
I attempted to use them $2/2 coupons at CVS when the listerine was $1 as well. It actually added $2 to my total instead of subtracting it! Fortunately, it was the only item I was purchasing, so I didn’t use it. The manager there said if it doesn’t scan right, they don’t accept them. I never thought about it being counterfeit.
Gee, I was going to us this coupon tomorrow at CVS. But I am confused about this situation…the CIC says this is counterfeit, but the number on my coupon has one different number than the one posted on their site, does it matter? Does that mean its still no good? Also, I checked this coupon on the Coupon Resource Center site and it said “valid.” Is the CRC site just behind on this new information?
Thanks for your post…I went to the website Coupon Resource Center and it verified my coupon when I input a number on an unused coupon and it says its valid. I’m confused???
This is what it said:
You entered Veri-FI code 0829403398813601
This code is VALID.
The coupons bearing this code
must read as follows:
Summary Save $2.00 on any Two (2) LISTERINE® Antiseptic Mouthwash;
Description: or STAYFREE® or CAREFREE® item (except 20ct and 22ct. sizes); or any ZYRTEC®; or any AVEENO®
UPC Code: 9 9411677319 3
EAN Code:
Exp. Date: No Later Than 4/30/2011
Timestamp: 3/25/2011 6:43:14 PM
I’ve thought about this as well… as people stated above, it is a legit bricks coupon. It is indeed fraudulent though. This means someone hacked into the bricks coupon system where they post coupons. Perhaps it is someone who has experience with putting these coupons on a legit coupon site. They definitely had to hack into the system to do it though.
Hi Rita,
If you get a response on this please let us know. Have you tried emailing the CRC to see what they say? I do not have this coupon or I would try this. I’m very curious why it’s showing valid? Just looking for some clarity. Maybe the link Collin posted was ok?
I emailed the CRC just now and I will post their response when I hear from them. Thank you that was a great idea to contact them and see what they say.
It looks so real… and not high dollar. I have one in my coupon stash and will tear it up. I was going through the list on the CIC and some of them definitely yell ‘red flag’ but not this one. I tried to use it one time but it wouldn’t scan so I took it back… now I know why!
I really believe in Karma! I can’t stand truly dishonest people like the creators of this coupon!!
I used this coupon a couple of weeks ago on Hello Kitty Band Aids and it did not scan. The cashier did it manually and now I feel bad! I will talk to the store manager tomorrow when I go in for my free bag.
Thanks for the heads up.
free bag?
You can get a free reusable bag at Target on 4/17, while supplies last. I think you have to make a purchase. Get there early!!! 🙂
It’s ok Collin, don’t worry about it, it can happen. I was able to print this one, however, other brick coupons wont let me print, it states that I have already printed it . . . but I haven’t . . .
Oh, thank goodness I didn’t use it…however it was probably b/c for some reason had slipped on in front of it and I had forgotten about it!
don’t worry Collin…you are GREAT and we all know that you work very hard and do everything possible to make sure everything is ligit!
dont blame yourself for this. everyone on here has the option whether or not they use online printables, and you are doing a great thing here by informing everyone and giving suggestions what they do with the coupon/products. ITS NOT YOUR FAULT! a bit of topic, but this incident sparked an idea in my mind for your site…before seeing this post, i never knew of the CIC list. maybe you could add a tab (like between coupon newbie and FAQ) that would be a direct link to this list. because i see the tabs up there multiple times a day, and so does everyone else on this site, but everyone wont be seeing this post everyday and be reminded to check if any of their coupons are on the list. if it were a tab, people could easily zip over there, check for new posts on the list and be good to go! just a suggestion! thanks for everything you do!
I agree! I hadn’t heard of this site until last week when I was googling the extreme couponing stuff to see what all was going on.
The effort you put into your business/ site is obvious to anyone who visits you. We all do the best we can…. thank you for all YOU do, Collin!
seriously… “immediately destroy any of these coupons that you may have.”
How about just not using them?
She just means to get rid of them so you won’t forget and accidentally use them later.
OK. Now we’re at a whole new level here. I understand that you didn’t catch it, you really shouldn’t have. How are we supposed to identify these? I know not to print from sketchy sources, etc, but from Bricks? Or from pretend Bricks? Those Bricks links are a hundred miles long sometimes, it would take forever to evaluate each link and make sure they are legit.
I just want to say that I’m so impressed that everyone feels so badly about this. It would be such a shame to come and see people glad that they “got away” with something. We are all so grateful for everything you do, Collin, and it’s not your fault!
I actually have not seen this coupon. Whew.
i, too, used this coupon a few weeks back on the bandaid deal at cvs, i dont know what to do because i paid for my items with ecb and received ecb’s for the transaction. any advice on how to go about returning these items? i have not opened them and still have the receipt.
Cristal,
If you aren’t going to the store anytime soon, maybe call the store to speak to a manager to see what you should do on your end. I’m sure the manager will appreciate the fact that you are trying to do something about it.
Thanks I still had them.
Colin,
Thank you for letting us know an suggesting we make returns. That’s the right thing to do once you know about a fraud. It’s no ones fault. I thought it was an odd coupon – ‘never got to use it.
Take care and feel better – you do a wonderful job everyday!
Best Regards,
DianeG
I love you Collin. It’s ok and the earth is still rotating. Do not stress!!!!! How are you/we to know?
Thank you for the heads up. I had printed, but did not use. I am a huge fan of your site and even more so now that you caught this and were so apologetic even though it was not your fault. Keep up this awesome site.
We just sooo appreciate all that u do….u r awesome!!! Dont worry…if we can remember where we got the product…we will return it!! Wat was the scenario w this coupon?