Coupon fiasco turns very costly

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Unauthorized versions of a California company's coupons posted online for consumers resulted in a new problem for the retail industry, a coupon specialist says.

Coupon Information Corp. Executive Director Bud Miller, whose group works against coupon fraud, said whoever sold fake versions of vyrl mkt coupons has created a unique situation that has industry officials struggling to react, The Seattle Times said Wednesday.

"We've never run into a situation like this before," Miller said. "It could be hundreds of thousands of dollars before it's over. Potentially, it could be in the low millions. We won't know until the coupons come in for processing."

The situation began after the marketing group began offering coupons for 12 retail products such as Pantene shampoo and Cheez-its as part of a new commercial application through the Web site Facebook.

The nearly $10,000 worth of coupons was copied by unknown parties and sold to more parties than the company had intended. Without appropriate controls on the coupons, consumers have been able to download and share large quantities of the money savers.

A release from Miller's group and the Association of Coupon Professionals blamed vyrl mkt for "apparent negligence or recklessness in distributing or allowing the coupons to be manipulated and distributed by third parties."

The Times said while initial attempts to use the forged coupons were honored, company officials quickly reacted and tabbed all the coupons invalid in an attempt to limit losses.