I’d like to apologize for any inconvenience I’ve caused by posting the Maple Leaf coupons yesterday. Here’s what happened: Many people were saying these coupons were fake so I decided to look into it. I naturally assumed some people were assuming they are fake because they are hosted on imageshack and not on Maple Leaf Foods website. So I spent some time digging until I found the official Maple Leaf Foods Revenue Report and the report was certainly legitimate and hosted on Thomas Reuters which is a reputable company. Inside the report were the coupons so I automatically thought this means the coupons are legitimate. I was all excited and blogged about this on SmartCanucks.ca without reading the fine print. Had I done so, I would’ve found out that the coupons cannot be printed and the original copy of the report was necessary to redeem the coupons.
I have removed the coupon links from the blog and I am sorry for any inconvenience I have caused any of you. I’ll make sure to read the fine print before getting all excited about a coupon from now on.
Hi Boo:
I managed to print the coupons and get the maple leaf weiners and bread at wal mart
me too!
I mean I got the bread and weiners
Boo:
Everyone was excited, and everyone makes mistakes. It would have been an amazing deal if it had been valid.
I got bread at Sobey’s yesterday
They were a nice offering of the company. Maybe I’ll buy some share! 🙂
I printed the coupons, but since I know they are not valid, I won’t bother trying to use them. Even if people are saying some stores are accepting them, it’s dishonest if the store wont be reimbursed. Thanks for clearing that up Boo. 🙂
Everyone makes mistakes! Keeps us reminded we are only human 😉
Sooo, how do we get a copy of the report? I promise to use it as scrap paper once I use the other side 🙂
Just called them at 800-268-3708 and requested a copy of the report – they don’t have any available but are looking for a solution as they do realize the demand for coupons. They took my address so I am hoping for something in the mail 🙂
TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED THEM:
THANK YOU. You have just made it harder for yourself and for the people that use legit and legal coupons. Your store – once they realize that they lost money because the coupon is fake, will make it harder and harder for you to use even the legit coupons. They will start training staff to be more careful and maybe even refuse to accept coupons.
John, “fake” is the wrong word to use and it’s not their fault anyways…. get over it 😛
A lot of these people used these coupons before knowing they were not supposed to.
John,
Maybe you should read the previous posts – they used them YESTERDAY, before Boo pointed out they weren’t valid. Man, why you gotta jump all over everyone??
It’s ok Boo! Lots of people were fooled by these coupons. They met all the criteria that legitimate online coupons have to meet. Thankfully I only used 3 of them before I knew they wouldn’t be honoured by the company. I still can’t figure out why Maple Leaf allowed them to be posted online. I was able to find the report through Google! Surely they must have known that people would think they were real!
why all the drama ? no need to apologize . Loblaws accepted all 4 coupons this morning. looks like we are having hot dogs for supper !
“They met all the criteria that legitimate online coupons have to meet. T”
No, they didn’t
It was unbelievably obvious these were not intended to be printed Sad that not only did some use them, but printed out multiples and used them, and continued to post their intent to try and use them after it was pointed out without a doubt
This type of behaviour is no different then the person stealing by putting item sin their pocket and walking out.
Thank you for clearing this issue up BOO! I personally did not print as due to the DANONE coupon in the summer. It’s unfortunate that we are not able to use.
omg. what have I done ?
at least I didn’t sell them on ebay.
oh my gosh ! i wonder how bad it is that i have used like ten and sent some to my mom which she has also used yikes! ooops!
Oh no! I have used then too! What a shame. I guess all there is left to do is jump off a bridge and DIE
C’MON YOU GUYS GET A LIFE
oh yeah, specialy you, john
Boo, i got a freebie the other day that was kinda neat. you might want to get one too. it was one of those credit card magnifying glass things.
LOL.
Boo, thanks for keeping your site honest. Another freebie site still has the coupons posted and they are screening their comments. I tried to warn people not to use them and my comment got deleted. Only the “Thank-you! I used them with no problems.” comments are allowed.
People will always be greedy. They hate being ripped off, but won’t hesitate a second when they get a chance to rip someone else off (printing off tons of freebie coupons.)
Thanks, Boo for following up with our concerns.
I don’t think there was any intent to “rip” anyone off. Some of us are fairly new to this and have no way of knowing if an offer is legitimate or not. Since it was endorsed by this site, some of us assumed that it was acceptable. How could we have known otherwise. I must admit I do not normally read the “fine print” and in any case don’t always know how to interpret it. Many of us have had difficulty with cashiers who will not accept legit coupons, and who hold up the line while they literally scrutinize each and every coupon, yet this one was accepted without any qualms.
I just wanted to thank you for clearing this issue up. I would have printed off these coupons myself (before I had known better) if my printer wasn’t out of ink. I ordered a copy of the Maple Leaf report from their website and it arrived within 2 days. It came with the coupons.
I used the coupons yesterday at Walmart. No questions asked. I didn’t know they weren’t legitimate.
At least my kids can eat tonight, regardless if it was “dishonest” or not. If they didn’t honor them, they should not have been published. End of story.
I used all 4 coupons, before I knew they were invalid.
I printed several of each off, and gave them to my son.
His wife works at Sobeys, and she used all the coupons also,
not once by 3 times for each coupon!
After I told my daughterinlaw that they were not valid..she went to the manager of the store – he checked with head office, and yes they are valid…. Any customer who uses them will be given the product free…. and yes Sobeys will be reimbursed.
End of story!!
Sure sobeys will get there money back…
not likly.
Whatever makes u sleep at night deb.
I hope they remember u
If you are an honest shopper and want to use legit coupons you may go to the Maple Leaf website and request the REAL report that has the coupons. There is one coupon in there that gets you a FREE package of Listeria – one per person.
Silly sheep, how soon people forget!
Shrug I talked to Maple Leaf personally and stores will NOT BE CREDITED
People are mass producing these and using them.
It makes me so mad. They are not any good. Stores might take them, but they are not going to get their money returned.
I hope the stores confront to the customers that are using them.
People are so greedy.
Thank you to all the honest people who chose not to use these.
This is not a matter of people being “honest” shoppers or not. If you truly believed the coupons were legit before the moderator pointed out otherwise, that does not make you a bad person for using them!
These are times are economic uncertainty, and shame on those of you who cannot understand the meaning of “pinching pennies” as a necessity not a choice.
penny pinching = stealing food.
yeh, that makes sense
Not knowing that the coupons are not valid does not equal stealing.
If you feel that way than I suppose you’ll sleep easy at night.
I however do agree that it is wrong to use the coupons, knowing that they are not legitimate.
NO APOLOGY NECESSARY: FREE MAPLE LEAF FOODS CANADA COUPONS
Go to http://investor.mapleleaf.ca/phoenix.zhtml?c=88490&p=irol-inforeq and fill in the request for a complete set of financial reports and the original coupons. Tick the box for 2007 Annual Report – Complete Annual Report and fill in your address.
I received my copy after a week. Maple Leaf sent it by courrier. The coupons are good until December 31, 2008.
SmartShopper & Sally,
I think you should check your sources again….
Sobeys (& all other merchants) WILL BE reimbursed by MapleLeaf Foods for these coupons.
These coupons are valid, but must be printed showing both front & back, & showing the UPC code and address for mailing….
And by the way SmartShopper…. I sleep very well at night.. Thank you for asking.
lol…
I work at Sobeys and stores were sent information about the fake coupons from Maple Leaf and won’t be reimbursed. Our store alone lost a few 1000 dollars.
Thank you S…
We all new they were not good
to Deb and all others..
I requested a copy of the financial report and received it today. Enclosed are the coupons along with a letter from Myriam Ford – consumer response representative. In the letter she explains that “reproduced coupns such as computer dowmloaded,photocopied ot scanned copies are not permitted and will not be honored.” You can call Maple Leaf at 1800 268 3708 for further information.
.
my wife father’s grocery store lost $1832.25 in total. They are no longer accepting the coupons.
Thats very unfortunate 🙁
I didn’t use any, but Deb, the mods,admins and other sources was Maple Leaf themselves.
I posted quite a ways back that these coupons would not be honoured but many people still used them – I had phoned Maple Leaf to check on them and was told the stores would not be reimbursed and posted the info. It’s a shame that the real losers in this situation are the stores.
Wow, who knew coupons could cause such an uproar and make people act so vehemenently in their honour! For anyone who used the coupons, good for you for saving money in these difficult economic times! Enjoy your food! For those who are condemning these people to a lifetime of purgatory for using *gasp* coupons … get over yourselves. Since Maple Leaf Foods is aware of this problem and given the fact that they are trying to rebuild their reputation, I have no doubt that they have filtered this information down to the grocery store chairs who have filtered it down to each individual store. If the stores are not making a big deal of this issue then why should we? In the end, I’m sure Maple Leaf will end up correcting their mistake and will indeed reimburse the grocery stores. Again, they are trying to rebuild their reputation, not tarnish it further. And if the stores don’t get reimbursed, is this small, inconsequential coupon fiasco going to bankrupt them? Is it going to drastically alter their bottom line at all? Doubtful. I think we consumers, who are trying to make ends meet from day to day while at the same time providing healthy nutritious food for our families can benefit more from a few freebie items than the grocery stores will be hurt by them. Get over yourselves all you nay-sayers. Look at your life and ask yourself if you’ve honestly never done anything similar. If you haven’t, then you should be taken to heaven to sit at the right hand of God because even Jesus made mistakes.
Ok, first things first this might piss someone off!. Boo and the moderators of this site take their valuable time and spend hours and days trying to make this a great place to hang out. Boo has already apologized for his mistake which we all make!, Check the threads theres proof!
For anyone that used this coupon before they know that is completely understandable however the ones still using it should feel some sort of guilt.
There are alot of comments on here that I swear are just posted to piss others off. Penny Pinching is not stealing food, what kind of ridiculous comment that was! It’s those kinds of people who act like using coupons is a crime but at the same time would take a hand out before the hand was fully extended!
There was alot more I could say but I do respect the mods and users so I think I will stop there before noone here likes me… LOL
NO BALONEY?? 🙂
Get over it.
Poor poor Maple Leaf Foods. Getting another little slam from the public.
Here’s my opinion:
I haven’t used any coupons yet. Now that I know they are not really I probably won’t even try. Not because I care if they store doesn’t get reimbursed. Just pure embarrassment if the store already knows they are fake. With the price of groceries around here being what it is and the economy being what it is then I really don’t care much for the big bad supermarket and whatever I can get free from there without actually putting in my coat and walking out the door I will. $100 of groceries doesn’t even fill the bottom of a shopping cart anymore!! It’s disgusting!!
Too bad for Maple Leaf not to have actually done this!! Might have really helped with their image after all the poisonings this summer. What a good way for the company to actually make amends. And I think now that a lot of people had thought that Maple Leaf DID do this and turns out they HAVEN’T then they just look that much worse in everyone’s eyes.
Amie
Holy crap, who is not really thinking about this? Stores have a mark-up to cover theft & damage losses. So does Maple Leafs foods.
If you have ever been caught by a scam, you will know the feeling of being taking advantage of. Even if you hate Maple Leaf Foods, why would you do that to anyone?
Every time a person eats from the bulk bins, uses invalid coupons, steals or breaks something in any store the mark-up is to cover that. So the disgusting price of milk is in a round about way paying for every invalid coupon.
Hello, that is how companies stay afloat. If they could make money selling for 75 cents they would. When someone is stealing bread & weiners, the price goes up.
What you would have to do to actually get any deal is to walk out of the store without paying for anything. Not going to happen unless you are unidentifiable & can run like wind.
Think about what you are doing.
Wow, I used the coupons before reading this, so I quickly read the fine print. Do you realize that only 2 coupon actually say they cannot be reproduced? The other 2 say nothing of the sort. If this is a big mistake, Maple Leaf Foods should really cover the coupons that said nothing about reprinting.
I think stores that are out the money should be fighting for that.
Interesting line you draw there Amie. Stealing food by using coupons you know are invalid is fine but stealing food by shoving it in your coat is not?
Wow
As a cashier and a shopper, I understand that getting free products is a great thing. What I can’t quite get a hold of is why a customer has to take it out on us because coupons showed up on the internet that shouldn’t have been made available to the general public. I had a customer yesterday that was thoroughly ticked at me because I wouldn’t accept them. We received a letter from our parent company and also a letter from maple leaf themselves making us aware of these coupons and that we were not to accept them, anymore unless they were the real thing and you can tell the difference now that we have seen the real thing. Please, don’t take it out on us. We are only trying to do our job, we make minimum wage and really put up with alot of abuse from the customers over these coupons and why should our little store not get reimbursed for these coupons, it’s only hurting us in the long run.
Well Well Well, lol i am just sitting here with my girl friend who was sent them through her work email (Lawyers office). We used them and we are eating our illgotten hot dogs and pasta right now. (very tasty) Most of you have your heads on straight and some have them up their A**es lol. I want to thank Maple leaf for their mix up and you all for the laughs. and just as a side point… Jesus didnt make any mistakes, shakinghead. It would be a little hard to be PERFECT when you are making mistakes. but im not bitter.
got to go get the mustard mmmm
I hear they are going to rebrand the website to: “Dumb F..k Canuck” Boy, it really rolls off the tongue nicely..As long as your face isn’t stuffed with all yer free weenies..lol
Okay…long story to get to a point…
I work for Weston Bakeries…one of my colleagues has a cousin who works for Versacold (cold storage). After receiving a forward of these coupons I quickly responded to all advising of the legitimacy of them. The Versacold employee (who is also an old friend from school days) verified the coupons with one of her customers – Maple Leaf Foods. They confirmed they are NOT valid.
If anyone wants a copy of the letter, I will be happy to forward it to you.
Boo, it may be worthwhile to post it….i’ll need your email
Slainte,
JeLLo2775
I would love a copy of the letter as, no one believes me when I tell them that these coupons are not valid. I have heard that some of these people have used the color ones and have got away with it. I, personally will not be using them as, I hate being embarrassed.
I work at Zehrs and am a cashier there and we have all been told at all of the Loblaws owned companies to not accept these coupons as they are fake so if you still plan on trying to use them…don’t go to any Loblaws owned company because you aren’t going to get away with it. 😛
We even have print outs at our cash registers of what the coupons look like so we know not to accept them.
Absolutely correct, I redeemed real ones at Zehrs yesterday, I kept them in the report and the official letter. There the first ones that shes seen in fact she didn’t scan them until I showed her I had the real ones. She said tons come in everyday trying to use them since someone is mass emailing them.
people on the great white north freebie site are still using these printed coupons they are even telling everyone which stores are still taking them, what a shame but in the end it will be their loss when the store will not take any printed ones
As soon as there was a doubt and also saw that the coupons’ front and back printed on two different sheets I knew something was not right. I did not use them…threw them straight into the trash. I dont want to be labelled as a person not using legit coupons.
There actually was a news report on tv tonite saying that Maple Leaf has warned ALL stores Not to accept them.
We received info today from our head office not to take any of the free Maple Leaf coupons real or not. So even if you have the real ones our stores won’t take them. See what happens when people get greedy everyone loses. Gonna make internet coupons a little harder to use in the future, I think.
I was talking to a Zehrs cashier tonight and she said theyll take the real ones, but mine are still the only real ones shes seen *shrug* I dont know why they wouldn’t accept the real ones anymore, perhaps Maple Leaf knows what a PITA its going to be to sort the fake from the real.
What store chain do you work for?
A lot of this HASNT stemmed from freebie boards though, especially ones that promptly removed all links like ours, its these mass emails someone started sending out that have snowballed.
I called Maple Leaf and got the report with the real coupons in it, and went to Sobeys, and they wouldn’t take them because of all of the fake ones that they have received. Now I have to try and use them somewhere else.
what I would like to know,….. is why were the coupons made up in the first place? Seems to me that they should honour their mistake! I had originaly thought that maybe they were trying to get back customers that they lost last summer. I “would” of been one!!!!! Trust is not an easy thing to get back!
Well, I ordered the report but they are “out of stock!” Since redemption is an issue, I won’t worry about it. But I did call Maple Leaf during the whole listeria outbreak and for my trouble (I double checked that what I had was safe), they sent me two five dollar coupons; and I got a follow up letter today with another three dollar coupon. So….I guess I won’t sweat it.
It really is too bad how people abuse things. It’s selfish.
I just got off the phone with Maple Leaf and from what the lady on the telephone says they will honor the coupons used so far but that might just be lip service but she said the PDF file was sent out from they end in error and that all stores have been notified that they are no longer to be accepted. I personally never used them because these are not products that I use but if I had I wouldn’t kick myself for it. Maple leaf should be more careful it was from their end, they staff that forward this file.
I’m not trying to be disrespectful John but I find it very hard to believe that your father-in-law lost that much money the highest product on that list was $4.99 he would have had to have a lot of each product in order to provide people with free items and I’m sure that Maple Leaf would have pointed out the problem. Once again I’m not trying to be disrespectful perhaps he miscalculated you can’t use any coupons if you don’t already have the items in stock just my opinion I’m sure it will upset you.
Tammy
Ann did you bring them still in the report with the letter? As soon as the cashier saw them in the book it was absolutely no problem for me to redeem.
You guys are a bunch of idiots…do your homework before you decide to be so gullible.
From: http://investor.mapleleaf.ca/phoenix.zhtml?c=88490&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1235659&highlight=
December 12, 2008
A series of four coupons included in Maple Leaf’s 2007 Annual Report have recently been posted to coupon-sharing websites and are being circulated among the online community via email.
These reproduced coupons, which have an expiry date of December 31, 2008, are not valid. Only original coupons clipped directly from the annual report, released in March 2008, are valid. It is unfortunate that reproduced coupons including computer downloads, photocopies or scanned copies have been generated and are being circulated via email. It is important to note that these coupons are invalid and are not eligible for redemption at retail stores.
Maple Leaf has only distributed these coupons through its annual report and has not distributed nor authorized the reproduction or distribution of these coupons to consumers via email or other means.
We regret that this abuse has occurred and apologize for any inconvenience that consumers may have been caused through the misrepresentation of the validity of these annual report coupons.
As a note, on the back of the coupons in fine print states: Reproduction of this coupon is strictly prohibited.
Well, its on the back of two of them anyways.
“Maple leaf should be more careful it was from their end, they staff that forward this file.:”
Maple leaf didn’t forward those coupons to anyone. Like all public companies they keep a PDF version of all their quarterly reports on their site. No one looking for a coupon would ever have know that…until someone posted it on a deal site. Despite it being obvious they weren’t intended to be printed, some printed them out and used them…some printed piles and used them. Beyond me how anyone could put nay blame on Maple Leaf for that..
http://investor.mapleleaf.ca/phoenix.zhtml?c=88490&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1235659&highlight=
Maple Leaf Statement on Invalid Reproductions of Coupons from 2007 Annual Report
December 12, 2008
A series of four coupons included in Maple Leaf’s 2007 Annual Report have recently been posted to coupon-sharing websites and are being circulated among the online community via email.
These reproduced coupons, which have an expiry date of December 31, 2008, are not valid. Only original coupons clipped directly from the annual report, released in March 2008, are valid. It is unfortunate that reproduced coupons including computer downloads, photocopies or scanned copies have been generated and are being circulated via email. It is important to note that these coupons are invalid and are not eligible for redemption at retail stores.
Maple Leaf has only distributed these coupons through its annual report and has not distributed nor authorized the reproduction or distribution of these coupons to consumers via email or other means.
We regret that this abuse has occurred and apologize for any inconvenience that consumers may have been caused through the misrepresentation of the validity of these annual report coupons.
I printed it but have not used it, after reading this post, I will destroy the printed coupon.
I phoned the 1-800-268-3708 number and asked. I was told the same, that the coupons are not valid and also that there are no more annual reports left (but there will be more in January). Thanks so much for the useful information!
It’s unfortunate that I had to read through so much crap to get to it.
**START RANT HERE**
Your morals and values are your own and it’s your right to express them. Just as mine are my own and it’s my right to express (or not) express them. So here is my *OPINION* I lose respect for people that feel a need to express their opinions by making rude comments and name calling for anyone that may differ from your opinion in the least.
I would like to think (actually I’m hoping) that it’s the fact that we’re somewhat anonymous on here that leads us to say things to one another that aren’t necessarily nice or polite. But then again in this day there seems to be a real lack of respect and lack of tolerance of people and their views when they are remotely different from our own. People are quick to jump all over someone else when they don’t know the entire story is (ie. context).
Do you seriously think that you are making a persuasive argument of any kind when you are rude, judgemental and disrespectful? If you have a valid point to make when expressing your opinion, you would persuade far more people by making that point without being rude, name calling or just generally picking on other people.
I’m guessing there’s a whole lot of people that don’t have a point (or maybe I missed it in all the crap they were spewing at the same time) and just like finger pointing at everyone else.
Isn’t it great to be perfect? and to have never ever done anything that someone else might not agree with?
**END RANT**
Thanks for entertaining me!
Tammy – you are disrespectful.
I took your comments personally and find them offensive. There were 4 coupons and families with their mother,brother,sister, boyfriend and cousins all had the same 4 coupons. sorry to bother everyone else in the group but sometimes – just sometimes I feel the need to stand up to bullies.
A single person on this site, in a few days, cost Mark’s towards $500. The 4 Maple leaf coupons in total were worth more then the $10 from Marks, for arguably more useful products then mugs etc. I can easily imagine how single store could have lost into 4 figures from this, it would only take a few people like that.
people are still trying to use them where i work you people know they are fake STOP IT!
WOW wee…what a topic!!!
Just got mine forwarded today..Looking Good!!
So you can go into Super-Store and pay $4.49 for these hotdogs..then go to Safeway and pay $6.29 for the same package….tell me they arn’t making a good buck..and thats on 1 item…
So…Wipe the snow off the BBQ…Tube Steaks tonight!!!
Thanks Safeway!!!!!!!!
Have a happy holliday all…even the grinches that dont want to use the coupons!!
Cheers to all.
Steve
John: BITE ME thats coming from the so call bully
Amanda, very well said. I absolutely agree with you.
I got the same email the crappy thing is i used it at were i work now what this was back in the first week of Dec and yes it was at wal mart and i will be sure to let them know about the coupon scam…Laurie
Hey John, why dont you go cry a river somewhere, boo whoo. Go screw yourself. Your a selfish prick with obviously nothing better to do than complain! Take your coupons and your stores coupon and ram them up your ass!!!!!!!!!! Your a piece of trash, your the reason the outbreak happened anyway
John, just because your a idiot don’t be blaming the people! If you were somewhat business smart you would of caught that obviously when people are using photocopied coupons with the same serial numbers on them it would turn out to be a disaster for the business, how couldn’t it?? that’s like trying to take back the same shirt over and over again……..only a moron would keep taking the shirts in, just like your idiot ass kept taking the same coupons over and over again! you deserve to be 1500 in the hole, that’s the payment for being one big idiot!
Im done with you JOHN!, go clip some coupons and get back on the road to savings!!!!
I just used the PHOTOCOPIED coupons at a sobey’s! they took it no problem! and I wrote your name on it too JOHN!!! It felt good to use these coupons knowing how much it pisses you off!!!! Screw you John! Im going to keep doing this intil I get a no…..JUST FOR YOU JOHN!!! YOU KEEP ME GOING BUD!!!!!!!! ………………………………….. moron!!!!!
its really a sad day John Q when you post a comment using a fake name. I bet you didn’t even realize that any one with half a brain can trace that comment back to your isp address. I know who you really are and its a sad day when you resort to immature comments.
LOL, Terrible attempt JOHN, hahahahaha totally out of your element with a comment like that!
LOL trace my ISP hahahaha you are a idiot JOHN!!!! Are you threatening me that your going to come find me??? really scared JOHN….I don’t think you should be spending your money on traveling there big john… you should be working another job to pay for all your losses from the coupon outbreak ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
And Tammy, that was not from me.. I agree with you and got your back lol 🙂
hahaha. this message board is a riot. thank you to the 2 john’s .
I just came home after using these coupons, frist went to Superstore in which they honored all 3 of them ( they didnt carry dempsters bread) so then I went to sobeys and found out they would not except the coupon, they actually showed me the report. I got really disapointed so I went to Independent and they took it no problem. I still used it after knowing from sobeys they were fradulent. They must honor them no matter what. It is not wrong, had I not even gon to sobeys I would of never known there was something wrong. Its right in my mind no matter which way i think about it. my husband disagress.
… if the stores are accepting the coupons, well, thanks to them! you didn’t commit a sin! if other stores refuse them, then don’t push! i would use my coupons to stores that accept them simply because they accept them! what’s the problem?
if you shoplift and don’t get caught – is it still considered stealing ? Stephanie – you have what psychologists call an alternate reality. You are able to convince yourself of what is right or wrong. Fortunatly, you have failed to convince your husband which should tell you something.
are you john qua ?
Well if I went to all the store except for sobeys I would have never known, and yes….call it whatever you want “alternate reality” but the truth is these coupons were issued by a company in which killed many people through their posionous food and made thousands more sick. You think they never intened for these coupons to be released to the public in the manner that they did. They want to try to recover lossed revenue do to the Listerious outbreak through THEIR coupon scam so that they can claim insurance. If you are unintelligent to think aboout the big picture then you are certainaily too naive and will be left out when everyone else will be enjoying the pasta I made last night….mmmmmmmm yummy I might actually now buy it….or i just for you i might print off more coupons and stock up before dec 31st….MMMMMmmmmm thats for the Xmas present Maple Leaf and enjoy your big fat insurance check in the New year.
Woah some of these comments are outrageous.
Id like to point out this report was released in March 2008, someone just happened to read the online report and realized they never voided the coupons on the online report. Which yes was a huge error, but the coupons do say on them that the are not to be printed or photocopied, thus making them invalid.
I don’t think it was a publicity stunt.
Maple Leaf is simply NOT reimbursing the stores, they will have no insurance to collect since its the stores loss not theirs.
So I don’t quite understand why you think Maple Leaf is going to get insurance money out of this.
Maybe to make your feel better that you used them knowing there fake, i’m not sure.
I am not fooled by Stephanie’s comemnts. She will try and say anything to support her own conscience. Steph – the world doesn’t owe you !
the us government has troops in Afghanistan. Alot of them are being killed. Does it give me right to print up counterfeit US and use it on unsuspecting cashiers to bankrupt family business’? Stephanie, you should be ashamed. especially in the Christmas/Hanukkah season. It is about giving and NOT TAKING.
I am a big fat cow. My husband is cheating on me and I try to stay busy by clipping coupons.
Yes maple leaf foods knew that these coupons will be printed, except back in march 2008 they had void on he coupons, after the scandle they removed the “void” They knew that it wouldnt be long before the internet community would download them ( and the little letters in the report that say not to be reprinted was intended to cover their butts) I just got off the phone with MLF and they said they will refund all the stores to their max capacity but to stop using the copouns. When i asked him what was the diffrence in the coupons in pervious annual reports available for the public to view online then this years annual report, he said that previous years had void on them and someone in marketing this year removed the void.
wake up and see reality and what is really happening. plz people and yes with this information i will use it to justify using the coupons. why dont you ask the opinions of the many victims that died because of MLF of the coupon scam, I am sure they will not dare buy anthing from MLF but for those who chose to do, they will be happy the company is being screwed…..by using the coupons towards mlf it will hopefully contribute to the companys closure which should happen after people lost their lives. im printing off 100 today in honour.
I don’t think Stephanie is serious, but I did see the letter from Maple Leaf at my store and it said no fake ones will NOT be reimbursed PERIOD.
If you seriously print off 100 and try to use them please know they may charge you with fraud.
Oh dear.
The only fraud out there is maple lef foods frauds and killers
obvisously they never intended for people to die but they thought they can get away this long not even properly checking the health and saftey of their plants….but the fact that they are making insurance claims against their own fradulan coupons to recover financially from the class action lawsuit as a result of people dead is discusting. And stephanie big fat cow, you must be a big fat cow….luckily im tall and slim and gourgous thats why the store might be honouring my coupons and not your fatso. pardon if i offened anyone else thank u
Dr Lynda,
Stealing…This is not stealing nor close to it! Maple leaf made alot of people sick over this and they should be happy people are even using these coupons for their products! This is a offer that maple leaf decided to give to the people of Canada. This offer was sent out to the masses via an inside person that works for maple leaf. The people did not steal these coupons, we all got them someway or another through emails. The coupons did not say anything about the web on them (most coupons will say not valid for web offers, which means no photocopying)
THESE COUPONS DID NOT SAY THAT OR IMPLY ANYTHING OF THE SORT!\
so conclusion……NOT STEALING. A company that big that slacked off on cleanliness should be allowing these coupons to be photocopied. And maybe after this photocopied coupon story blows over, it might make them think again to maybe have a few more health inspectors around site.
I have no remorse for Maple Leaf cause I have had listeria before and it is probably one of the worst short term sicknesses out there! I can just imagine how the people felt after they went to a store to buy these products and got sick, from a packaged MAPLE LEAF item!
Let the coupons ride!!!!!!!!!
I’ll still eat maple leaf, theres a lot of listeria outbreaks every year, Maple Leaf totally stepped up and recalled as many things as they could.
They will not get insurance money for this. Period. They alerted all the stores that 0$ will be reimbursed for the fake coupons, as its up to the stores to weed out fake invalid coupons.
I do feel sorry for the families that lost loved ones due to listeria, or got sick, but it in no means makes it right to commit fraud.
Merry Christmas everyone.
John Q i agree bigtime with you…fianlly someone else knows what they are talking about…..I was so over joyed with these free items that I actually donated the majority of the free stuff to homeless shealters/food banks….and kept alot to for myself.
harden your hearts a bit people and stop calling it stealing/fraud. why is everyone forgeting the fact that PEOPLE DIED because of them…..if it was a member of one of your family that died, would you honestly even give a XXXx about the dumb coupons.???
Thanks and happy holidays to all, even to the ones against the coupons:)
This company has killed people and sickened thousands and NO ONE went to jail or nothing. They had the big bucks and used it, 27 million settlement is SHIT! And all you people catching feelings over this obviously don’t care about the people who died and the families it affected. Were talking about going shopping for food to soon death…..FOR WHAT REASON???? NO REASON, This would not of happened if they had proper health inspectors and inspections! this whole outbreak was pure crap. And the fact that people of Canada are complaining about fraud and stealing just boggles my mind. BOGGLES!!! MY!!! MIND!!!!! Stop sticking up for a dirty meat company that only sees you as PROFITS! All these big companies always do the minimum until something goes horribly wrong and then they start to give a shit. That doesn’t sit well with me, all these “new” rules and regulations they have should have been implied years and years ago to prevent this!
Please pray for all the kids who wont have their grandmothers/grandfathers this year for Christmas, the adults who lost their parents, and everyone who had to suffer from this sad event.
We can forgive companies for this negligence, but we MUST not FORGET.
I do feel for families losses in this horrific event, but i’m just not sure how that makes it ok to use fraudulent coupons?
‘Tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la’
I’ve taken the last 10 mins to read over all the comments above, found a couple funny ones and some that are seriously concerning. Why are you all allowing yourselves to be so affected by something so small….and yes it is a small issue. Considering that two days ago a little boy was killed in a house fire, this all seems so petty.
I was very excited about the coupons and even printed up several copies to give to friends or family. I won’t use them now based on the fact that obviously the people who have used them are on a one way track to he!l LOL jk
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
why don’t stephanie and John q exchange email address’ and leave us alone from your selfish ways. I just hope the cashiers, managers and baggers at the grocery store remember your face, and all the employees at Maple Leaf fiond out that you used all those fraudulent coupons that eventually lost everyone their jobs.
kudos to you ! Good luck in life ! thank god I am not you.
Thanks for printing the coupons regardless of them later being found out they were fake.
Notices were sent out as early as Nov 18 that these were not valid. I got the coupons via e-mail on Dec 21 and was using them up to Dec 24. I just started hearing that these were supposedly bogus. How can a store like Safeway not have been made aware of this? They were still taking the coupons on Dec 24. If these are not valid and will not be honoured then there is no reason MLF would not have let any and every store that orders their products know that these ‘fake’ coupons were circulating and that they would not be honoured. Even snail mail doesn’t take that long.
I gave out lots of ‘goody bags’ at Christmas consisting of wieners, bread, pasta, sauce and microwave meals. Happy Holidays
Wieners in my goody bag!!! Wooohooo!!!!
Good for you Barb, I did the same thing with the goodie bags.
I was using these coupons like you Dec 24th and I even had one store manager tell me that the was a RUMOR of fake coupons but after she examined mine she said” yours are real”!! that was the Independent Grocer in Kanata. the only question I ever encountered from the stores was that there is a limit of one per person which was eaisly honoured as I used the excuse of the holidays are approaching and dont want to run out of food while everything is closed….and it worked… I was using 7 coupons at a time in stores. noone said anything except Sobeys when they showed me the report…..so what …1 store of the 10 I went to honoured them and had I never went to Sobeys I would of never even heard of this such thing.
Congrats to everyone who used these coupons….even MLF said when I spoke to them ” All stores will be re-embirst the the Max. capacity.” please ppl we only have a couple days left before they expire…..cash in as much as possible.
The stores know they will be re-emburst thats why they are excepting them…They hold weekly meeting with the casheirs to keep them aware of all the scams happening, the casheris now darn well and honour them so that the stores dont get angery customers as they know they will and have already been re-emburst by MLF.
Happy new year all
again at my work some losers are still trying to use the coupons they ask me and i wont accept them and they try at another cashier stop it please you know they are invalid to you people doing this your a disgrace!
I would like people to read these message truely read them. I hear a bunch of babies. Its against the law, its not right, its like stealing. This is why our country has fallen apart, each person is out for themselves. If the stores are taking them then let them. If you are a store owner than do your resource. Don’t leave it up to other people. As far as people using them well lets see Maple leaf did kill people, and are still in business. Hum, I wonder what would happen to if you killed someone would you still walk free. Well maybe today you might get 5 years. Use the coupons as you them as much as you like. Maybe then they would go bankrupt and we would just have to worry about the next producer to mess up.
Printing the coupons seemd a good idea and a good promo. We went to Sobey’s, Loblaws and Metro in Toronto and all refused them. I equate this scam and waste of my time equivalent to their apology
If all of you who are using the coupons and defending the use of them are so hard up that you are using them illegally, what are you doing with a computer and internet? Shouldn’t you be using that money for food instead? Especially “hungry kiddies” (November 21 posting). Unfortunately, this attitude is producing a generation of people that have forgotten what it is to be an honest person. I know these coupons are a small item, and I’m probably going to get blasted for my commens, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Theft is theft, pure and simple!!!!
Comme plusieurs d’entre vous, j’ai téléchargé les coupons de la promotion d.excuses et me suis rendu à mon épicerie locale. Evidemment les coupons ont été refusés à la caisse. A la base je trouvais l’idée très bonne. Quelle belle façon de dissiper le doute après une crise aussi importante. Malheureusement l’humiliation subi à la caisse m’a à tout jamais fait mettre MAPLE LEAF dans la catégorie des produits à ne plus jamais consommer.
Désolé MAPLE LEAF, ma famille vous a offert une chance de rétablir votre intégrité mais vous l’avez manqué.
Martin Dicaire
St-Amable QC
hey martin
I think printing the fake coupons and trying to use them and then getting refused is well deserved. I could not have been happier to read that you are embarrassed. I hope the cashiers remember all of you and whisper about you behind your back. haha.
I got my stuff for free too
thanks
Geez Stephanie – you embarrass the rest of the human race with such vitriol and callous disregard for continuing to commit fraud and encourage fraud.
Besides – you are not credible. You said (Dec 23 2:23pm) you donated the majority of the free stuff to homeless shelters and food banks but kept a lot for yourself. All of the “free” stuff is considered perishable and most needs refrigeration. Donations in a food bank bin would be wasted because it is not refrigerated and the bread would get squashed. I just don’t believe you.
Mark…..I could tell from the words that you typed that you are larger then the size of the rotton couch you laze on. ppl like you should be tranquillized and tagged and relased in the wild. you are one of those sore losers who spent new years eve alone crying about how ugly you are in which your uglyness led to the casheirs at stores refusing to honour your copouns. FYI Marko Dumbo, Meals on wheels, and even the food bank during the holidays will take everything even perishable items, so does the hostles and sal. army… but a stupid selfish person like you wouldnt of known that because marko stupoo never has donated a single penny in your life. you selfish laze. in total i printed 230 coupons and all 230 pages of all 4 products were honoured. unlike you, where you problably tryed to redeem them and they refused u….
Anyways happy new years mark and to all ,
No hard feelings.
“…spent new years eve alone crying about how ugly you are in which your uglyness led to the casheirs at stores refusing to honour your copouns”.
So you have to be good looking for casheirs to accept coupons now? Damn!!!!!!!
stephanie–i hope that boo bans you and everyone finds out who you are on this site. You obviously have no life if you print 230 coupons and go to a bunch of stores to use them, knowing that they are fake. You have no right to say such rude things to people such as your comment on Jan 2 at 7:17 about how we are all ugly. Also, according to your previous comment about how you are a fat cow, you are ugly too. I mean no disrespect, simply using your own words LOL:) There is no room for someone as disrespectful as you. Your not proving anything so just give it up.
this is the funniest thread i have ever read. I cannot believe how people get so mad about something so small. I definatley agree that it is horrible to use those coupons knowing that they are fake. If you didnt know, just like me, it is nothing to worry about. At least the coupons have expired now so people who are chosing to use them, knowing that they are fake, will not be able to any longer.
first of all…..who ever is leaving discusting comments under my name is pathetic….you know who you are and stop it if you have any decency! iF you want to participate in a a chat then at least have the courage to type your own name.
Well Stephanie, or stephanie, speaking of courage — I suggest that if you have any courage you tell BOO your real name and co-ordinates so he can pass it on to Maple Leaf, or maybe you want to call them yourself since you called them before. After all, you have nothing to fear if you did nothing wrong by continuing to print and use coupons when you were aware that they were fraudulent.
Three of the five grocery stores we regularly shop at now will no longer accept “Internet coupons”, even though they are legit and come from manufacturer’s web sites. This is thanks to you and people like you who defrauded the stores. This is known as The Tragedy of the Commons. Thanks for contributing to ruining things for everyone.
Hey John and Steph
chew on this…
http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=207292&sc=49
Last updated at 11:11 PM on 05/01/09
Seller beware
SARAH REGAN
The News
NEW?GLASGOW – With the economy down and the cost of food up, more and more people are likely looking to save a buck at the grocery store.
It’s becoming easier to do this thanks to fake coupons circulated by email.
Illegitimate coupons from companies such as Schneiders, Maple Leaf, Dempster’s and Olivieri have recently surfaced at cash registers in grocery stores in Pictou County.
The first store to be hit was Sobeys at the Aberdeen Business Centre. Cashiers first started noticing the counterfeit coupons last week.
“Sure, these coupons are only allowing people to get a free pack of hotdogs,” says Const. Ken MacDonald.
“But what people may not realize is these fake coupons cost retailers and manufacturers thousands of dollars. If they are available through the internet that means people all over the country and maybe the world are cashing in.”
At first glance, the glossy coupons appear to be legitimate. They come with a bar code and allow the customer to get everything from free Schneiders Juicy Jumbo hotdogs to a free loaf of Dempster’s Smart bread.
MacDonald says customers who have come forward say they received the coupons by email in a printable format.
Zela Mohammad, spokesperson for Maple Leaf Foods Inc., says the company is aware the fake coupons are circulating.
She warns customers to call the company if they receive a coupon they consider suspicious.
“We wouldn’t send coupons to our customers through email. The only coupons we give out are available through our annual report and are administered through our stakeholders.”
The manager of Sobeys at the Aberdeen Business Centre says notices have been posted at each cash register and in the staff lunchroom, warning employees to be on the lookout for fake coupons.
But other than notifying the public and retailers, there is little the police say they can do.
“It’s next to impossible to catch these people,” says MacDonald. “There is no rhyme or reason as to why they create them. It’s not like they are selling these coupons for profit.”
MacDonald warns the public not to download coupons that were sent by email and do not appear to be from a reputable company. He also suggests calling the manufacturer to check whether the coupons are real before using them.
“We understand that it may sometimes be difficult to tell whether the coupons are real, but using them is a criminal offence,” says MacDonald.
My god, maple leaf made the coupons, no one made these coupons, they look like any other maple leaf coupon that anyone in this country has seen. I like how they are pointing fingers at people because of these “hard times” this article made me laugh pretty hard. Just cause maple leaf messed up and removed the no photocopy and email warning!
Article = Garbage
TO ALL THE IDIOTS WHO STUCK UP FOR THIS COMPANY, I HOPE YOUR FEELING PRETTY STUPID, READ THE NEWS TODAY? MORE RECALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cool pics
Well my coupon reign has come to a end, the Sheriff came to my door and arrested me for counterfeiting hot dog coupons, ML is proceeding pressing charges. My life has gone from internet blogging to a hot dog nightmare. Why didnt I listen to you Siobahn, you are so wise and intelligent.
Only if the Johns would of gotten through to me sooner I would not sit here in this hot dog mess. After my trial im doubtful I will see day again, so please learn from this misfortune.
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