What do you think?

Ok... I have a situation that is really bugging me.

Someone in a yahoo group posted a link to a printable coupon that I wanted to use. I went to the site to print it and found that instead of coming up with a "coupon printer" that allows you to print usually 2 copies of a coupon, that it came up with a pdf file that could be printed as many times as  you want and doesn't expire til 12/31/09.  those are really big red flags to me as normally you can only print 2 copies, and the expiration dates on printables are usually pretty short - no more than a month, generally, and often as little as 2 weeks.

So, to be safe, I called the manufacturer of the product, told them where I found the printable. I waited on hold while the employee went and checked into it. She came back and told me that it was NOT a valid coupon and that their only valid printables would be found on the Kraft foods website.

Ok..not legit so I sent the group a message letting them know. I received a virtually scathing reply from the person who originally posted it saying that it WAS valid, that it came from a reputable site and that she had called the company 4x and had been told it was valid all 4 times. Another red flag because why would you keep calling back after you'd been told that once?

So, I decided to get it in writing. I emailed corporate, told them that someone else told me they had been told it was legit while I was told it was not, gave them the link and asked them to confirm which was the correct answer. The response I got stated that they were not currently offering ANY printable coupons and that if they were they'd be on the kraft foods website.  I forwarded that email to the group just so they'd know that corporate put it in writing that it was not legit.  Again the person who originated the post with the link responded saying that if I called/emailed often enough I'd be sure to find someone who didn't have the correct answer so that I'd get the answer I wanted. And that the person didn't directly answer my question.  Huh? I wasn't TRYING to get the answer *I* wanted. I was trying to get the truth as using fraudulent coupons is a serious offense and hurts all of us coupon users. I feel that by saying they were not offering ANY online coupons, was a direct answer. (by the way, they do not have any on the kraft foods website at this time so that answer made sense)

Argh! What is your experience with printables like this? I'm wondering if this person is saying it's legit just because her stores have accepted it. That doesn't mean the store isn't losing out on getting their money back....  But of course she says she called the manufacturer directly.

Now I had someone reply stating they didn't want the drama. Huh? I wasn't creating drama, but if someone tries to belittle me publicly by acting like I'm an idiot, then I sure as heck have a right to defend myself publicly.  My 2nd email was nothing other than forwarding the corporate response.. My final reply was that I was simply forwarding what their corporate office had responded with so people could see it and that I didn't appreciate the tone she was using in her responses to me.  I didn't feel that was "drama"

This has really left me feeling very annoyed, irritated, upset, etc.