What offense if any would be applicable for someone who overuses a coupon? The particulars of the case are that a subject shops for diapers at Wal-Mart, and uses a $2.50 coupon numerous times at the self check out, until such time, that Wal-Mart now owes the subject money. With this case, there are fraudulent coupons, however, the coupon that kept getting scanned is good. What offense if any? Theft?

Surely this is not a crime.

If an item is marked as costing $2, but the checker rings it up as $1 and you don't tell the checker, are you committing theft? What if you give the checker an expired coupon but the checker still gives you the rebate? The checker, whether it's a person or a computer, has to be regarded as giving the store's consent to appropriate the property once the agreed-to amount is paid. Many stores double or triple coupons. If Wal-Mart instructed its cashiers to give 10x credit on coupons, that would be within their rights. And if they programmed their computer checkers to give 10x credit on coupons, whose fault is that?

Alternatively, imagine the item is marked as costing $1, the checker rings it up as $2, and you pay $2. Or you use a $2.50 coupon and Wal-Mart only credits you for $1.50. Would you charge Wal-Mart with theft? I would like to think that, absent actual deception, we would require consumers to enforce their own rights at the point of sale, and I don't know why retailers wouldn't be held to the same standard.

The coupon will usually contain conditions that require purchase of the product for a single use of the coupon (and many contain a provision that the coupon itself has a nominal cash value, like 1/20 of 1 cent). Violating the terms of use of the coupon in order to obtain a benefit should be prosecutable as a theft. Obviously this is not a situation where there was an error in the use of the legitimate coupon or a simple mistake. Look at the fine print on the coupon - you should find what you need there.