Have a product your family loves and uses often? Take a few moments to shoot an email to the manufacturer through their contact form, tell them how much you enjoy their products, and ask if they can send you any coupons they have available.
Be polite, be concise, and be sure to include your mailing address. It only takes a minute or two, it costs you nothing, and the worst thing that can happen is that the company doesn’t respond or writes back to say that they don’t offer coupons.
But more often than not, companies will send high-value coupons or even coupons for free products–all because you took the time to ask!
Have you ever written to ask a company for coupons? If so, what was the response?
Find more Supermarket Savings Tips here.
Thank you so much for the idea to write the company of the products we love. This year our grandson was born 3 weeks premature and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. During the first weeks of his life we were unaware of his illness, and though he was healthy and happy he was gaining weight very slowly. After his diagnosis he was put on Enfamil Premature 24 calorie iron fortified ready to use 2 oz bottles. You can’t just run to the store and pick these up, they have to be special ordered by the pharmacy department. They are very expensive, however thanks to the enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and this type of formula our grandson is growing like a weed and very healthy. After reading your post I decided I would atleast write Enfamil and thank them for the product. They called me the same day I sent the email, they are sending a case of formula, bottle of vitamins, and coupons! Praise God that is a huge savings for my children and a wonderful blessing! Thank you for the post encouraging me to write them and for your website I find it very helpful.
I have called several companies and told them how much I liked their products. Drisscoll’s berries sent me a coupon and so did Press N Seal.
I have had problems with a couple of products and let the manufacture know about it. Reynolds foil was bent on one side and would not easily come off the roll so I called the company to complain. They sent me a coupon for a new full size roll free. When one of my Tums looked strange, I called them and they sent me coupons for new bottles of Tums. Also going to websites pays off. I did a little survey online for WhoNu cookies. I told them how much my family loved them and they sent me coupons for 2 free boxes and several 55 cent coupons too. Lofthouse cookies has a birthday club. Sign up and you get a free box on your birthday. That can be done online.
I called Johnson and Johnson to complain about their “Naturals” Baby Wash. First of all, it smelled very chemical-like, and the shrink wrap was nearly impossible to remove from the neck and top of the bottle. They sent several high value coupons right away.
I’m going to contact Kraft about some of their new products which I have fallen in love with–those Fresh Takes are awesome! and they have been putting coupons out heavily marketing them, so they have been free. But I still love them. And want to let them know.
I recently contacted Align and told them that I use their product everyday, recommended by my doctor, how much it has helped me and how nice it would be if they could offer some coupons once in a while. The product is on the pricey side comes loaded with P&G coupons inside but not with one for the product itself. They wrote back within hours that their a limited number of coupons for Align, not even offering to send me any considering I take one a day. I was very surprised and disappointed.
Lorraine
I did this for Consort hairspray. I told them their non-aerosol kind is the only kind my husband will use and wondered if they had any coupons available. Sure enough, I got about four $1/1 coupons! For something I’m going to be buying anyway that NEVER has coupons in traditional sources, this was the way to go. 🙂
I’ve emailed a two companies for coupon requests. One sent me several coupons and told me I could request again in 6 mos and the other said they get a lot of requests and only offer certain coupons, blah, blah, blah. I just use more of the product that offers coupons. 🙂 I have emailed a few companies with legitmate complaints. I had a package of Huggies that had tabs that easily ripped off. They sent me a $5 off Q and a few $1 off Qs. I had a package of Kotex U tampons where the applicators just popped apart and they sent me 2 $1 off coupons and a free product Q. I think KC has great customer service. I recently got 2 free product coupons for shaving cream because the “soothing vapors” stung my husband’s eyes and I had purchased it months ago and no longer had the reciepts to return it. I am always polite and honest if I make a complaint and request a coupon. A few years ago, I would have just accepted the defective products, but now I have no problem asking for compensation.
I would never write just to ask for coupons, I usually write if we really like or dislike a product and then recieve coupons from that.
If you read Couponingtodisney.com, she actually has a whole feature called 5 a day and what she does is encourages you to write or e-mail 5 companies a day and let them know about using their product. She doesn’t endorse asking for coupons but many of the places she writes do send coupons. She now has a spead sheet to help you with this task.
Right after I had my baby in December, I discovered Luna Bars. These are so yummy and packed full of the nutrition a breastfeeding mama needs. I called the company and told them just that and asked if they could send me some coupons. Not only did they send me a bunch of coupons, but they also sent me an organic cotton baby blanket with the Luna logo and a beautiful card signed by the ladies of Luna Bar congratulating me.
This is a great idea. I have saved quite a bit of money over the years by contacting companies. Sometimes, I write the company to let them know how much I like their product. Other times, I write them to let them know about a problem I experienced with their product. Sometimes I get a response and other times I don’t. But it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of my time!
A few months ago, we had a can of Schick Hydro shaving gel (which my husband loves) and it was leaking out the bottom. That had never happened before, so I emailed Schick. They sent their apologies and mailed me a coupon for a free Schick razor or cartridge pack!
And just recently, I had a Cascade detergent pac that didn’t work properly in our dishwasher. It never opened up fully and left chunks of soap everywhere. I love the Cascade pacs and use them all the time! I emailed them and they sent me a coupon to get ANY Cascade product free. I was able to get the 85 ct. box of pacs for free at Walmart with the coupon! B/c of that, I am stocked on dishwasher detergent for over 18 months. 🙂
I also like to email Udi’s occasionally and let them know how I much I love their GF products!
I got a great response from Cascade, too. I had gotten their citrus scented dishwasher detergent, and it “flavored” all of my plastics – seriously. Baby cups, rubber spatulas, storage containers – all smelled and tasted like citrus soap. I wrote to them and they sent a note back explaining why it could happen (older plastics, etc.), but they also sent a free product coupon for Cascade and a couple other products.
I was impressed. Bounce had a similarly good response when I tried their new dryer bar and it left white residue on heavier clothing.
Annie’s is the only company who has told me they won’t send coupons – supposedly for environmental reasons? Then put them on the inside of the boxes! =0)
I did the same with Cascade when their new action pacs wouldn’t dissolve. I got a huge box for free thanks to their response. Love Cascade!
I wrote Yo Crunch yogurt & received coupons in the mail. I used them at Harris teeter during triple coupons & got free!!!!!!
I emailed the company for Bolthouse coffee/smoothies and received 5 $1 off coupons. I saved them for when they were B1G1F and it was a huge savings and a special treat for my kids!
I did this with Coffeemate. I love their creamer! Can’t have coffee without it! 🙂
I absolutely have done this! I use and prefer a very expensive brand of contact lens cleaner (Clear Care), and you can apparently write them quarterly, asking for coupons!
All I know is Pepperidge Farms has the worst customer service. I wrote them when the new Milano Melts came out and I got a burnt/hard as rock batch. They never responded when I wrote them and so I finally called and they acted like nothing could possibly be wrong with their product. All they would do was send me some low value coupons to make up for it. Very disappointing.
I also called to complain about those cookies and they sent me a high value coupon. Maybe $4 or $5.
When I had my twins I wrote to a TON of different companies asking for coupons or samples and got a response from quite a few. Some free items, free item coupons and large $ off-some with no expiration-the ones I didn’t use or need I shared with other Mom’s in my Mom’s group. I also had a bottle of Cascade that I bought from Sam’s that was like water, my husband told me to just pitch it, but it was quite a large bottle. I called and they said they had a batch that froze in transport and sent me a coupon for 2 free bottles since mine was so large-worth asking-all they can do is say no.
I do this fairly regularly and have been pretty successful!
I really wanted to print a Sugar in the raw coupon, but was having trouble printing it. So I asked if they could send them to me. They sent me 3 25 cent off coupons and 6 sample packets too!!
I developed an allergy to certain make-ups and found that Cover Girl sensitive formula foundation was the only one that didn’t cause me problems. I e-mailed the company and told them what a life saver it was and they sent me coupons for two free Cover Girl products.
The ham I bought for Christmas dinner was so good that I sent an email to the company just to tell them how pleased we were and they sent me 2 free product coupons. Guess whose ham I will be buying from now on!
Back when the Huggies slip-on diapers came out and there were great deals on them (*sigh* I miss diaper deals), I bought a pack of them … and didn’t like them at all. There were multiple reasons those diapers did not work for my son. I called the # on the package and was very friendly with the woman in customer service, just telling her that we really like Huggies but that these particular diapers did not work for us (and the reasons why) and that we’d be sticking with regular Huggies in the future. She asked for my contact info and address, and several days later I received a pack of coupons similar to one of the women who posted a bit above this — one or two free coupons, two or three $3/1 coupons, and several $1/1 coupons.
I’ve been meaning to contact Neutrogena to ask about coupons for the face soap I use — their coupons usually don’t include that particular product, but I’ve been using it for more than 20 years. I’ll buy it either way, but a coupon would be nice. 🙂
Huggies is a great company to contact. Once my husband washed a swim diaper in the washing machine and the gel pellets got all over everything! I wasn’t sure if I could dry the clothes to catch the pellets in the lint trap, or if I needed to rewash or what. I called the # to ask and the representative sent me coupons for 2 free pack of diapers and $$ off other products. I wasn’t expecting that, but it was great 🙂
I was disappointed with Luv’s diapers when our baby was a little younger. Even though I would change her frequently, she was still wetting through the diaper every single night. I contacted Luv’s per their guarantee on the box, but I didn’t expect a full refund because I had bought the largest box available off of Amazon Mom. I talked with the rep and he refunded me the entire box of 200 some diapers! I couldn’t believe it. Their company really did stand behind their guarantee.
I took your advice and decided to write to Domino Sugar. Within a day or two I got a very polite reply thanking me for my time & interest in their product. Just yesterday I received a coupon for a free Domino sugar & 2 40cent off 1 coupons with no expiration date! Thanks for the tip!
Once I emailed Domino sugar because the package was rock-hard and solid. My email was polite, but very specific. I got back a huge letter with no apology or coupon telling me that is was the store’s fault for having too high humidity. I will never buy Domino sugar again.
I tried doing this for a while, sent emails to about 20 companies and generally got mass generated “thank yous.” Only one company sent a coupon, so I decided it wasn’t worth my time.
I emailed an organic yogurt company letting them know I would like to try the product but it was pricey and having a coupon would help. They sent a free product coupon and a 25 cents off coupon which doubled.
I did this about a shampoo – that I liked the shampoo a great deal but recent price increases meant it was close to 10x the price of my cheap shampoo + coupons. I got five $1 coupons good for just about anything from J&J.
OTOH Edge never got back to me about the shaving cream can that leaked.
I have sent emails to various companies usually with compliments or criticism depending on the product. I sent one email to a juice company explaining my daughter loved their juice and I received no reply email, but in a few weeks I got 6 $1.50 off coupons in the mail. We were able to stock up on a double coupon special and buy one get one free with lots of free juice.
It does not always work, but it takes so little time to write an email it is worth trying.
I’ve never written to ask for coupons/freebies, but I have contacted companies to politely let them know when something’s wrong. A reputable company will apologize and try to keep you as a customer (often with free product replacement or a refund), whether is is Kimberly Clark, a regional dairy or a local farmer 🙂
We once purchased a bag of Angie’s Popcorn that didn’t taste quite right so I went to the companies website and filled out their little form.
I got an email the very next day asking for more information from the bag so they could look into the issue further and my address if I was willing to provide it.
A couple days later there was a CASE of popcorn on my doorstep!
This wasn’t for me but for my cat. I bought a bag of Science Diet cat food for my cat. I had gotten a ride and it was out of my way to return it. After I opened the bag it had a lot of dust particles from the food. I took most of it out but a lot was left at the bottom of the container. I emailed the company and they requested the squ number for the bag but unfortunately I had thrown it away. I sent them a picture and a copy of my receipt. They sent me a coupon for $20 off of my next purchase. I thought that was great customer service in my opinion.
i called them and told them i was pregnant with number 3 (this was about 2 yrs ago) and the diapers with my first were always so leaky i never used with child 2. i called and told them that i wanted to give huggies another chance but i needed decent coupons to do so. they gave me a free coupon and a 7 dollar off and several 3 dollars off….and their diapers have improved )
That’s funny. Huggies always leaked with my kids too, way back when…
i used to do that and got some good coupons but since the extreme coupons they have said that there are coupons out there, so not as many as much
I agree, about 4 years ago I wrote to a lot of companies and most sent coupons. Recently I did it again and only received a few. Most said to get coupons from their website, newspapers, etc. Very disappointing.
Yes, it works great!
I know Turkey Hill, Goody, Popchips, Baby Ray’s BBQ and many more send goodies! 🙂
Goody sent me a trial pack of hair products!
Popchips sent me 6 single serve bags to try 🙂
This is interesting. I sent Goody an email about bobby pins I bought that were problematic (long story) and I never received a single response back from them.
I also watch dates. The same grocery store…different location …fast forward 15 years…I bought Bob Evans sausage, got home and started cooking it….smelled a foul odor. Was expired by 2 months! Went back…the whole shelf was expired! A few weeks later, Same packages…same expired dates! Called Bob Evans…they sent 2 free product coupons out. As well as a rep to that store. I now pay attention to ALL datez! Also found another grocer in town charges HALF. The price for the sane packages!
I have some horror stories about dates! I check everything now, including “non-perishable” canned goods and boxed items.
Must have been Bi-Lo 🙂 I have found bacon expired by months there.
Our local ShopRite has done the same thing several times so I now constantly check dates. I purchased ready made pie crust at such a great deal i was going back to buy more. I told my husband about the great price. He is a phobe when it comes to expiration dates etc. so of course he checked the date and it was 5 months expired! I returned them to the store only to find all the othes on sale were also expired.
But in response to question I do regularly call or email favorite brands to request coupons.
Our local grocery store has a policy…if it scans incorrectly, it is free. Years ago, I went to purchase cheese-it crackers. There was box with one price. Then a larger box that said 50% more free. (I don’t remember exact sizes and prices.) I purchased the 2 (which I had intended on doing regardless) of the larger boxes. It in fact did ring up the higher price. I spoke to a manager and insisted I pay the lower price. After I explained why I should get it at the lower price, he agreed they were in the wrong on the pricing. He gave me both boxes free. My reason was that was a form of price gouging. It clearly stated 18 oz for the price of 12 oz. A week later, it was still marked that way. I purchased a couple more to see if it was changed in the computer at least. Nope. I then contacted the manufacturer. I received 5 coupons for free product and 5 $1/1 product coupons. I watch promos for that reason. Stores trying to make an extra buck off consumers. Some things are a little harder as representatives are in the stores more often then 15-20 years ago.
I did this alot when my kids were on baby food. Got lots of coupons for jar food, snacks, etc. Even wrote to get coupons for formula. Can’t hurt to write and ask…
I have gotten high dollar coupons from writing to Blue Diamond, Earth’s Best, Avalon Organics, and Happy Baby, all brands I love!
My most recent: Chobani Greek Yogurt sent me a coupon for a free yogurt and 3 coupons for 30% off which I got doubled at my grocery store! I got 4 things of Greek yogurt for the price of 2!
I was pleasantly surprised by this years ago. I got an Edwards frozen pie (Moose Tracks, I believe–yum!), and I noticed the little Jesus fish and a Bible verse printed on the side of the package. I wrote a short note to the company about how nice it was to see them include their faith on the packaging. In response, I got a thank you note, a little card with the history of the fish symbol, and a coupon. I can’t remember what it was now, but it was either high value or a free product. I wasn’t even fishing for coupons, but I haven’t forgotten this response in all the years since I wrote them–great customer service.
thats awesome and great to know. we try to support companies that have the same values 🙂 thanks for sharing
It would be great to have a list of faith-based companies. Wonder if anyone has ever started one like this? And how wonderful if that someone were to share their list 😉
Written several manufacturers, the ones we are most loyal to, most of the time they do mail coupons. And when they do send coupons they tend to be extremely high value ones, anywhere from $1 up to $5 per coupon, some with no expiration dates too. But more and more lately the manufactures have websites where they already are giving out coupons, and they will email a form letter back directing me to their promotions website.
But I have been asked to give a testimonial to a new product I really loved and raved about to a manufacturer. I was promised some coupons from them, but never received them. No big deal, I still love the product and I rave about it to my friends.
I have been “hired” to check out a manufacturers products in our local stores, report back to them how the product is displayed, the price, and quantity. It only paid $5 per trip, but hey.. that was an opportunity I wouldn’t have otherwise had if I hadn’t contacted the manufacturer! I haven’t had much opportunity to make use of this “job” but its nice that I could help them out the few times I’ve been able to. Hopefully my work helped get MORE of their product in the store for my future shopping trips!
And don’t forget to complain, when you have a problem with a product the manufacturer wants to know! They will usually try to make it right. I had purchased some nice hair coloring from a very well known brand, and it streaked in my hair, despite following directions, despite my hair being in excellent condition! They apologized, and sent me a coupon for a new box of their BEST coloring product. Haven’t tried it out yet, but I really appreciated the company trying to make my experience with their product better.
ALWAYS email, or send a letter to a company who’s product you really like. It might brighten one of their customer service rep’s days, and help them keep similar products on the shelf!
I am doing this lately! I read about it on your site first (thank you!). So far I’ve written to 12 companies and two have said they are sending me coupons. Only one said they didn’t have any coupons, and I’m waiting to hear back from about five others. It’s exciting!
There were tons of studies from regular people.. I think one that a certain male did once got quite a lot of media, he sent out requests to about a 100 different companies. He asked for anything they’d be willing to send, some sent coupons, some sent free trials to things.
I’ve sent constructive e-mails out to companies like the ladies have mentioned so far, some I’ve gotten no reply from, some I’ve gotten a “thank you” e-mail that had a mass sort of feel to it (i.e. something they send out to most people) and others I’ve gotten coupons from. No free trials here yet, sadly. 😉 It may be positive, it may be negative, or it may be a bit of both, but I just try to be honest and polite about it!
I contacted rol tel to tell them how much we loved their product and in return they sent two coupons that made it free at kroger. :))
I have gotten some great coupons this way. Some will say no, some will put you a mailing list for future coupons.
I found that companies are interested in HONEST feedback even if it is negative. For instance, I told Charmin that I was dissapointed in the Charmin Basic toilet tissue (because I did not like it) but I was very polite about it. I got a coupon for a free 4 pack of Charmin toilet paper in the mail. I thought that was great.
You can also find instant chat on some web pages. Companies really want constructive, polite, helpful feedback and will often reward you for it. Just don’t be mean or rude or make things up.
Obviously, they love the positive feedback too. Didn’t mean to sound negative.
I have gotten several coupons by doing this! I find it is best to go from an “I love your product, I love to coupon, can we work something out” perspective. 🙂