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Giant Eagle Cracks Down, Clarifies Coupon Policy

PITTSBURGH,None — If you're an extreme couponer, changes to Giant Eagle’s coupon policy are going to affect you because you won’t be able to clear out store shelves. If you're a normal shopper, they may come as a relief because you should be able to find what you're looking for.

The supermarket chain said these are not major changes, just clarifications, and it wants to make sure customers know Giant Eagle will still double manufacturers’ coupons up to 99-cents, but there are some new limitations.

The policy states customers can use a maximum of 12 coupons on the same 12 items in a 24 hour period. That means if a customer has 20 coupons for peanut butter, they can only buy 12 jars. After that, the customer will have to pay the full price.

Another change is that customers can't stack electronic coupons on top of paper coupons, because both come from the manufacturer. In other words, a customer can't use two coupons on the same item.

Finally, if customers are printing coupons from the Internet, they can only use two coupons for the same item. That means a customer can't print a dozen coupons for green beans, only two.

Giant Eagle said the changes have no impact on sales or promotions. If, for example, bottles of iced tea are 10 for $10, the customer can still use coupons to save even more than the sale price.