Big Y World Class Market

The pros and cons of Big Y. Very much on the fence.
Big Y has plenty of positives, but also lacks in comparison to some other area supermarkets. Let’s discuss their haves and have nots.
The good:
Big Y has an increasing selection overall of food, drinks, home care products and even a pharmacy. They’ve also gotten better about carrying more natural and organic options over the years. The service is usually quite friendly and the store has a more hometown feel than their rivals, Stop & Shop. They also have random Buy 1 Get 2 free deals that are quite the steal.
The not-​so good:
Big Y stopped having self-​checkout lines several years ago. I never understood that. Their prices are mediocre and their frequent shopper program is not very good. The silver and gold coins sound like a neat idea, but what’s the point? The silver coin only gives you a slight discount on some obscure items. It’s usually like 50 cents off of a loaf of bread or something else that you probably don’t need. Good luck getting the ridiculously rare gold coin. In that case, maybe you get that loaf of bread for free.
I come here to browse and see what they have, but I usually prefer Stop & Shop, as their prices are consistently lower than Big Y. Sometimes Big Y will have a few good finds, but I rarely walk out of there spending more than $ 10 – 15.

I love Big Y. I have loved Big Y for a long time now. They have quality products, stand behind their stuff, and have great sales if you can hit it just right. I usually only go there for sale stuff and for their meat. I am willing to pay more for better quality food, too. Since I bake a lot, I don’t usually buy their bakery. But I do like to check out their markdowns and items that are off season/​in the get rid of it piles along the ends of the aisles.
I like the fact that I can get my knives sharpened there for FREE. And that when I tell the butcher, «I would ilke to have my lamb cubes in one inch sized pieces» he does exactly what I ask for him to do, save me tons of time in my own kitchen!
There is a learning curve here when it comes to shopping. The better I know a store’s layout, the quicker I am in and out and don’t succumb to impulse buys. I’ll shop at Big Y in the days ahead. The staff are helpful and friendly, I can save a buck once in a while, and it’s a store based here in this country, unlike others I know of.
I like that.

I have a major love-​hate relationship with this store.
Big Y, like many of its chain grocery companions, offers a great selection of goods and has a number of items on sale each week that go for great prices. Sadly, this advertisement of sale items is simply a ploy to get you to go in and do all your shopping there, including buying their non-​sale, high-​priced items. It is well-​known that Big Y is the most expensive traditional grocery store in the area.
So, why do I love them? Because I can play their game and buy only their on-​sale items. Stick a doubled-​value coupon on top of their sales, and I’m saving a ton of money on food. (If there’s anything else I need that not on sale at Big Y, I stick with Aldi and Price Rite, both 5 – 10 minutes away.)
As to why I hate them, it’s because it’s mutual: Big Y hates its customers. No, really they do. They will do anything and everything to suck as much profit out of you as feasibly possible. I once tried to return a non-​perishable item after a couple of months. Even though I understand that Big Y has a limit on returns after a certain amount of time has past, I felt the suspicious eye-​glares from the customer service agent — along with the emphatic «I have to confirm with the manager» statement — was unnecesary to verify whether I could return the item or not. That was a mild incident, though, compared to many other issues I’ve run into at Big Y including:
* Pricing products higher than what is listed in their weekly circular… and then defending their pricing by pointing to the disclaimer in the circular that states «not responsible for misprints». (This happens all the time.)
* Placing similar-​looking, not-​on-​sale products next to on-​sale products, promoting the possibility that customers accidentally purchase the incorrect product.
* Being incredibly tricky in their display of on-​sale products. As a single example, every time a specific brand of bread goes on a «Buy One, Get One Free» special, if a certain product of that brand is cheaper than all the other products of that brand, they will NOT place the cheaper product on the aisle-​end displays.
* Giving the impression that they thought I was lying when I said that I forgot a product at the store and that I wanted to come back and pick it up. (To their SLIGHT defense, the cashier hadn’t reported the item being forgotten.)
* Promoting that with the purchase of 4 boxes of cereal that I would get a coupon for a free gallon of milk… then after not getting a coupon, being told that the free gallon was automatically loaded onto my shopper’s loyalty card… and then after using my loyalty card and still not getting my free gallon, having to go to customer service to get it resolved. I can’t even imagine how many other people, who didn’t check their receipts, were ripped off by this.
* My coupons ringing up incorrectly and the cashiers not catching it until I brought it up.
In all, I see Big Y as an evil I have to bypass in order to get the goods that I want at the prices I want. Yet, it has become frustratingly necessary for me to check my receipt every time I go shopping there to make sure no «mistake» has been made. This differs so drastically from Aldi, which not only has an incredibly loyal consumer base but also holds to a policy of giving you ALL the incorrectly-​priced products your purchased for FREE if you catch the mistake.