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I wrote a post about this a while back and thought it would be a good time for a refresher. 🙂 Please feel free to add your tips and suggestions in the comments. We all learn from one another, which I love!

The most frequent e-mail I get is from readers whose Walgreens Register Rewards didn’t print.  There are a variety of things that could cause your RR not to print.  So, let’s talk about a few of those…

1) The Catalina Machine was not working. This is the most frequent reason that I personally experience for my Register Reward not printing. The machine could be down, unplugged, out of ink, rebooting, out of paper, have a paper jam and the list goes on. I had one store ring me up and after my RR didn’t print tell me their machine had been broken for 6 months! How crazy is that?

TIP #1 Ask the cashier if her catalina machine is working.  Most cashiers will know and be happy to send you to another register if there machine is down.  Think of the headache it’ll save both of you if you know ahead of time!

TIP #2 Look to see that the little green light is on. If it’s red, or if it’s blinking or there is no light at all, that’s a bad sign. Pick another register.

2) The item you bought was not included in the deal. Sometimes it can be a difference in size, variety, package, flavor, etc. You have to be very careful to buy exactly what is included.  I know it can be confusing, after all who knew that Oral B made that many different types of toothbrushes!

TIP #3 Look for the Register Reward Signs under the items in your store. Each included item should have a sign underneath. ( I know some stores are better than others at this).

3). You did not purchase the right number of items or you didn’t hit the purchase amount needed to trigger the Register Reward. If it says you need to buy $10, you can’t buy $9.99, it won’t work. Sometimes an item will ring up for less than what is on the sign. Maybe the item is on clearance or they are running an unadvertised sale, even a penny less can throw off the best planned scenario.

TIP #4 Watch the register closely while they are ringing you up to make sure everything is ringing up as it should. If something rings up for less than planned either throw in another item to get you over the $ amount or have them void the transaction.  You can then regroup, change your scenario and try again.

4) You paid with a Register Reward you received for buying the same item, or from the same company AND for the same amount. So if you get a $3 RR from P&G from buying toothbrushes and use that RR to pay for more toothbrushes, the RR won’t print. Or if you use that $3 RR from P&G to buy another item that generates a $3 RR from P&G, even though it’s a different item like Tide, that RR won’t print! However if the Tide prints a $3.50 RR you should be good. Why? The code on the coupon with a value of $3 has to be different than a code with a value of $3.50.

TIP #5 If you are told that your RR didn’t print because you used a coupon, point out that the ads often promote “Coupons in Most Sunday Papers” for items that offer Register Rewards. I keep an old ad with me that says as much with me in my binder to pull out on such occasions.

TIP #6 If your Register Reward doesn’t print have them re-ring the order with no coupons. Chances are good the machine is on the fritz and it won’t print without coupons either. Then you can give them that little “told you so” smile.

TIP #7 Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason as to why the Register Reward didn’t print. Sometimes they didn’t include the item in the deal an it’s their mistake. So if you can’t figure out what happened, it’s ok. Return the items or call the Catalina Company 1-888-8COUPON and let them know what happened. There’s always a chance to try again tomorrow. 🙂

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