Brothers Paul and Gerry D’Amour bought the Y Cash Market in Chicopee, MA in 1936. Y Cash Market was at an intersection where two roads converged to form a Y.
In 1947 the D’Amour brothers opened a second Y Cash Market store. In 1952 the brothers opened a 10,000 square foot store in Chicopee, MA, near the Westover Air Base. Because the store was bigger and more modern than other supermarkets in the area, the brothers named the store “Big Y Supermarket.”
In 1960 the brothers expanded to Northampton, Massachusetts with a 30,000 square foot store, the biggest in Western Massachusetts at the time. By 1968 the company had six locations.
Big Y turned 50 in 1986; on this anniversary the chain had 21 locations and 1,600 employees.
Today Big Y has 60 locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, many of which are located in the metropolitan areas of Springfield, Worcester, and Hartford. Big Y is one of the largest independently-owned supermarket chains in New England and employs 8,500 people.
Big Y FoodsBrothers Paul and Gerry D’Amour bought the Y Cash Market in Chicopee, MA in 1936. Y Cash Market was at an intersection where two roads converged to form a Y.
In 1947 the D’Amour brothers opened a second Y Cash Market store. In 1952 the brothers opened a 10,000 square foot store in Chicopee, MA, near the Westover Air Base. Because the store was bigger and more modern than other supermarkets in the area, the brothers named the store “Big Y Supermarket.”
In 1960 the brothers expanded to Northampton, Massachusetts with a 30,000 square foot store, the biggest in Western Massachusetts at the time. By 1968 the company had six locations.
History
Big Y turned 50 in 1986; on this anniversary the chain had 21 locations and 1,600 employees.
Today Big Y has 60 locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, many of which are located in the metropolitan areas of Springfield, Worcester, and Hartford. Big Y is one of the largest independently-owned supermarket chains in New England and employs 8,500 people.
To Whom it may Concern,
I am very upset by changes this year to the production and sale of Paszkis. First, you have made each Paczki discernibly smaller. Raise the price, but please don’t mess with a cherished product! Second, I’ve been told at both the Old Saybrook and Old Lyme stores that, due to a labor shortage, particular orders of Paszkis must be made a day ahead or the randomly prepackaged accepted. UNACCEPTABLE!!! The difference between your stores and the horrible Stop&Shop is becoming negligible. Get your act together or you’ll lose this long-time customer.
Steve, 80 years old and very disappointed.
I’m a valued customer of Big Y , but ever since the digital coupons came out I’m not a fan . Who has time to spent before your going to the store an loading coupons. Just give everyone the sale with the big y card. Especially the seniors they don’t even have fancy phones. Nobody has time to upload coupons it’s nonsense. Thank you for listening hopefully this will change.
free offer for Schweppes 1783 mixers not available in Monroe CT or Newtown. Monroe grocery manager said he never heard of it and that store did not offer it even though I showed him your offer and picture of the product
does not make any sense
To Whom it may concern,
This concerns my Big Y Norwich, CT.
I am a Big Y shopper. Some times I am in the my local Big Y two or three times a day. This is concerning the bottle return. I feel that there should be a way that on the bottle returns, you should not be able to get cash back, but you would get a coupon towards groceries. The reason for this is, when I have bottles that I purchased at Big Y to return, the line for the bottle return is out the door. Most all these people go in to customer service with there bottle return, get cash and walk out. They tried to isolate one machine for regular customers, but when I pointed out to someone, they ripped the sign down. I have been waiting to crush bottles when I saw how they pour contents from bottles on the floor. Another customer and I said something, but they continued to do it. They come with a truck full and car trunks full of cans, and bottles. I have been there when they yelled at the customer service people, and even the gentlemen who takes care of the bottle return area. It is not fair to your regular customers, or your workers to endure this. I give a lot of credit to Arthur who does not answer them when they are yelling at him about a broken machine. Or when they pour stuff on the floor and he has to clean it up. This is unsanitary, unhealthy and down right terrible. You can hang signs up until you are blue in the face, but signs mean nothing. I feel if you make it so that they have to use these return bottle receipts to purchase food maybe this will cut down on this mess. I have heard them come in an start talking nasty and yelling to your customer service people. Denise, Joyce and the store manager, who very nicely smiled at them and said they are doing the best they can do and someone will be with them, when the machines were full.
I am writing this today because it was the last straw. I had one bag of Big Y water bottles but could not even get close to the machines. People had filled the room and they were lined up all the way out down the side walk. Not with just one bag they had multiple large bags. While I was in the store shopping I noticed that they were just cashing in their bottle receipts and walking out. Over the intercom all you heard was them paging for someone to the bottle room.
Please take my idea of printing out food vouchers, that they would have to spend in the Big Y versus giving them money. They can save these food vouchers up instead of using them right away. Not only that for the safety of your employees, especially when who knows what is spilled on the floor for them to clean up. My big concern is for the employee’s and your regular customers. Your store employee’s try their best to keep the area clean and people happy.
Thank You
Maureen Noblet
40095835XXXX
I used to by your fried fish & chips and eat it in store w/my friend == but you no longer carry the malt vinegar that I use == or if I pick up fish to go == why is that?
You could put a bottle of it in the in store eating area like you do ketchup , mustard & etc at least Please rethink about bring it back thank you Pam Laforte
I recently purchased (4/10/19 ) big y bread in the Branford Ct store .They were b1g1 . expiration date April 15 2019 . stale as usual . My vehicle is broken down so it is not easy for me to get to the store. So I just pretty much paid for the blue jays and robins!!!!!! You really need a secret shopper in that store! I would rather go to stop and shop . That’s another thing big y does have great sales sometimes did you ever consider delivering? I (and others) think that would be great! am even willing to get signatures if need be. 🙂
I recently visited the Big Y in Avon, CT on Main St. The only reason I have not emailed sooner this week, is because I have been extremely busy. Despite being busy, I wanted to make sure I sent a note about one of the employees. I have been very busy, stressed, and agitated due to normal life and career issues. Two or three days ago, I went into the store to get some groceries. I was having a particularly rough day so I just wanted to get in and out. I originally went to the self checkout lane, to avoid human interaction like most that use those probably do, but decided to go to a cashier because I had a coupon. I’m glad I did. As I begin to unload my cart, the very nice lady greets me. Immediately I noticed her very soft and sweet tone. For whatever reason, her mannerisms and light conversation helped brighten my day. It was almost as if I was visiting and aunt I hadn’t seen in a long time. It honestly changed my perception on wanting to only go through the self-checkout lane. She made me realize that I have missed these potential, simple, but day brightening interactions with a local. I’m new to the area and she made me feel welcome. It might sound silly because it wasn’t a very long interaction, but she made the day better. She was quick and efficient, even as she was holding a conversation with me. There weren’t any hiccups or slow downs, as I have experienced at other grocery stores in my hometown. I have noticed at other grocery stores I have been to, the cashier can do either, or. They cannot have a conversation and work quickly and accurately. That’s probably why I started to avoid cashiers and go to the self-checkout lanes. The older woman’s name on the receipt is Patty P. It wasn’t until I was saying goodbye that I noticed her name tag. I believe it said that she had only worked there since December 2018. Kudos to Big Y HR for hiring her! I would’ve never guessed that she was that new of an employee. I’m not sure if there is any sort of “reward system” at Big Y, but if there is, she needs one. Grocery store cashiers are usually just focused on hurrying up and getting the person gone to go to the next one. She took the time to make me smile, and made the Avon Big Y location feel less like a chore when I have to go shopping. Please pass on my compliments.
I went to the big y on East Silver street yesterday. I have shop there quite often. Not sure if I will continue too. Iwanted some fresh cod but it was grey. I had to get frozen. I then went to produce. I got a head of the worst lettuce every threw 90% out.I also got a cucumber tasted horrible . The tomatoes I got were ok. I know Iam nobody to you but I doubt if I will Big y anymore. Being a retired person I live on a very tight budget. your department managers need to start thinking about customers and not trying to sell substandard product.
i went to big y today, in new milford, ct, like i do everyday, i usually spend 1-2 hundred dollars a month on my food stamops, and my family and friends shop here as well, but after what happened today, i am goiung to tell them not to and to b oycott your store, i was told by a bottle clerk that i could take the bottles and cans that are left that the machines do not take, 3 of your employees came up to me, one old man shoved me, and openeed the car door and took out a bag of bottles, he said i stole them and he waqs going to have me arrested, the night before thanksgiving?? and you are going to have me arrested for taking 1.00 worth of deposit bottles i foun\d in the trash, then he told me to get off his property, yet there is a liquor store where i vbrought bottles to and i needed toi go in and get the cash for returning them, the older man got in my face and yelled and then shnoved me, i told him to get out of my face, he then told me to not go into their store and that me and my scumbag family are not allowed in his store, well let me tell you, my vrother spends 200 a month at this store, my ex gf, my aunt, and a lot of my friends, i amn going to go on social media and make this go viral, you will lose a lot of money bevause i am pissed off, and i was threatened by one of yolur employess, there wwere 3 of them, they took a picture of my plate and recorded the whole thing on video, i feel tyhat i have not been treated fairly andf i am going to let the world know about it!!
Good Morning, just some information, this morning I received a telephone call at my home
from the caller i.D. it stated it was from Big Y with a telephone number of 413-782-3107
when I took the call the recording said “this is an important message about your credit card,
I hung up, just another robo call but now they are using the Big Y name as the caller I.D to
entice the person to answer the call. Just some information to let you know this happened
today.
Frank Dube
Springfield, Ma. tel. 782 -XXXX
I have been a loyal BIB Y shopper for years. I have also been the happy participant in receiving a BIG Y donation every month of a I/2 sheet birthday cake for my seniors. I am a Café Co-Ordinator for the Community renewal team in Hartford Ct. I was approved by a woman named Bette at BIG Y corporate about 2 years ago to receive this donation. My senior participants LOVE the BIG Y cakes ! I have recently been told that policy has changed. I am only allowed $25 per month for my cake. I downsized to a 1/4 sheet cake to fall into that cost area. Today, I was told they can’t give me a cake every month. I am extremely frustrated. I am also frustrated about my personal grocery shopping costs of recent. The Butcher area introduced a 1/2 Beer Can chicken a few years back. I purchased my 1st one for $2.50. Last year they went up to $3.00 each. This is a great meal for my wife and myself since we are on S.S. The current price is $2.47 or .49 per lb. That results in a price almost double the original cost of $2.50 . I used to buy small ham steaks to dehydrate for my dog’s treats. The started at 8 in a pack, then 6 in a pack, then 4 in a pack. All for the same price !! Anybody gotten a Gold coin lately ?? Has the family BIG Y sold out to a less family oriented company or changed management at the top. I don’t have an Aldi’s in Stafford Springs but the next town over Vernon does. HMMMMM ?
I was at the Chicopee Big Y today. The one on Memorial Drive. In Isle 12 a man stocking the top shelf with spaghetti sauce had some sort of accident. Not sue what happen if the shelf broke but a lot of jars started falling. Not just a few. A lot. He tried to stop it but had no luck.
It’s what happened after that made me sick. I continued my shopping and could hear on the intercom a woman calling clean up and then paging who I assume is the manager. When I was in the frozen food isle the manager was yelling at a different employee to go over to the employee that broke all the jars and tell him he was not happy and cost him a lot of money. Really? Did the broken jars come out of his paycheck? Accidents happen. I am sure it was not done on purpose or for fun. It made me sick to think that a manager is more concerned about a few jars of sauce then he was to talk to the employee himself in private. Ask what happen and make sure he was OK. Accidents happen and what was said in the frozen food isle was uncalled for. It made me very angry to think this is the way Big Y treats their employees.
Hi there.
I agree with you Susan. It’s a shame greed has taken ahold of corporate companies. I purchased some tenderloin filets on sale a few days ago and brought them home and put them on the grill only to find after eating some that they were rancid. One family member was extremely ill and the rest of us were nauseous. I called the store manager to let them know they were bad and he told me he would remove them ASAP. He showed no concern what so ever and just told me to bring back the rest for a refund. When I returned to to the store they same steaks were still in the butchers glass case. I spoke to John the store manager of chicopee and he said he couldn’t just throw them away! And said they’ve been selling all day without a complaint. He not only lied to me about removing the 5 steaks that were still in the glass case, he also insinuated that my word wasn’t enough and made it seem as though I was lying. Not to mention the poor customer service at the counter from one of his staff memebers. This is the 3rd time I’ve purchased bad meat from Big Y. Three strikes and your out Big Y!
Its sad that a customer of many generations is treated this way.
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH BIG Y.
Greetings. We are huge fans of Big Y and will not shop elsewhere. We mostly shop at your Ludlow, Chicopee and South Hadley stores. We would like to ask your product dept to research Sharrock’s Crumpets of New Bedford Ma sharrocksbakery.com . We travel often and just love crumpets. I know you feature many english muffins, but these are so different and so good. They are a Massachusetts company, so it is supporting local, as Big Y does like to support. It would be a fun advertising, “Time for tea and crumpets at your local Big Y” . Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
I would like to take a moment to comment on two wonderful young ladies
at your East Main Street, Westfield location that both went above and
beyond to help me. Being a senior shopper I am not that up on the works
of my I Phone or I Pad and these two young ladies took the time to help me
straighten it out and sign me up for everything I was interested in. Sharron
and Heidi deserve a big recognition!
Thank you! Linda Sullivan
I am becoming more and more dissatisfied with your stores in CT (North Branford and North Haven). First of all, your plastic bags are very thin and ripe very easily. Not sturdy for the groceries. Second, taking away Senior Discount is devastating. You along with the rest of the world have it in for us. We’ve worked for many years to enjoy retirement on a very fixed income. Now you have taken away our discount and increased the price of everything. How are we suppose to survive? As I was reading the above comments, no one seems to read these statements from very loyal customers. Shop Rite still has their Senior Discounts, therefore, I will be going back to them unless you start treating us Seniors much better than you are now. I love a few of the clerks in your North Branford and hate to loose them as friends, but my pocket book is looking much slimmer than it ever has before. Out of courtesy, please reply to this email. If not, I know that no one cares..
Your Branford store is a mess!!!!! There were tomatoes and yellow peppers everywhere! On your soups to go section there was dirty napkins all over the place! I must say your employee in the pizza department was great and I never met her before or have even seen her maybe she is new? but I give her a 10 !! Your Branford store is going way way down hill!!!!!!
I always shopped at Big Y in Wilbraham and it is a fantastic store. I cannot say the same for the produce department at the Spencer store. The produce is not fresh and when I tried to complain to customer service on line, I got one call back when I was not at home and have not been able to reach anyone since. I am now buying my produce at Hannaford. The choice is not as great but it is fresh. I am quite disappointed with Big Y.
I hope my message finds Mr. D. D’Amour, Mr. White & Mr. C. D’Amour- I received the email below from Ms. Boggis on Monday, December 11th and find it extremely unprofessional. I have worked for 15+ years in customer service and would never reply to a customer this way. I am a small family of 3 and while I may not shop too much with Big Y, I am a customer. I hope this is not the kind of response you find acceptable from your employees.
Robin Krok
Robin, thank you for writing to me.
Helium is extremely expensive, the balloon equates to a few cents – the rest comes from helium.
Think of it this way – that’s like bringing in a plastic, throw away container and asking the produce department to fill it with cut fruit, and then complaining they were charged for buying the fruit. We also can’t guaranteed the integrity of the balloon, and if it explodes while being filled, we would not be replacing. We have this policy to encourage our customers to shop with a trusted balloon retailer. Many times customers bring in balloons from elsewhere and they are defective.
Sincerely,
Betti Boggis
Corporate Consumer Relations
Big Y Foods Inc.
PO Box 7840
2145 Roosevelt Avenue
Springfield, Ma 01102-7840
(800) 828-2688
(413) 504-4423
(413) 731-0087 (Fax)
wecare@ bigy.com (E-mail)
Proud to work for an American Owned Company, for almost 32 years!
In God I trust!
My wife and I wait for the weekly flyers to come in the mail before we make out our shopping lists. We shop at big y for the quality, price and specials. I am constantly frustrated and amazed by the fact that your stores very often don’t have Any of the advertised specials in stock. This is especially true for the bakery dept. We see these tempting items offered for the 1 week specials. I arrive on a friday night ( the day we get our flyer) and I’m told that “we don’t have it in stock” . when the clerk responds to my question as to when you will have it, I’m told ” maybe sometime this weekend”. One time I was told that we Are too busy to have someone make it. If it is an advertised special, wouldn’t you plan in advance to have it in stock? These specials are designed to entice customers to shop there. Sometimes these specials never materialize at all. Isn’t that called ” bait and switch”? I’m sometimes offered a rain check. I don’t want a friggen rain check, I want my dessert for our party or just for our dinner. My complaints to mgmt usually fall on deaf ears. Corporate should either enforce the specials in the stores or stop offering them.
Have you people ever thought of expanding past your borders? Right now I live in Sinton Texas. Portland Texas, Sinton Texas and Corpus Christi Texas have the only supermarket which is HEB. they have no competition. When I was in Connecticut Big Y was my favorite store I was a member of the silver coin club as well. I miss I miss Big Y so bad and the produce section as well as the deli section. Big Y so bad and the produce section as well as the deli section. do you think you will ever come as far as Texas? To one of the towns mentioned above?
On October 20, 2017 at 2:40 pm I went to big y store at 234 Tolland Turnpike, Manchester, CT 06040 for shopping. I was in a line of counter #5, the cashier was John. the Cashier was taking the customers in front of me. when my turn came in, the cashier told me that his counter is closed and cannot take me. Without any argument I went to counter #6. and a lady cashier #4371 rang me at 2:54 pm under transaction #2207. While I was purchasing, I found that the cashier John was taking customer who were behind me. I wanted to take this issue to the attention of store manager but he was not available. After repeated call an assistant manager showed up and briefed her the situation. She assured me that she will take necessary action.
I am a regular customer and a senior citizen,. This store is very close to my house. I worked for the U.S. government for many years and also have vast experience on retail business.
I hope that you will take this complain seriously.
Ansarul Haque
Manchester, CT 06042..
I been going to store 3 for years im not happy with foodservice they are rude the chickens are over cooked management is rude i go there for lunch everyday i will not be going there anytime soon i miss all the girls from before i see all new faces not friendly
i was at your big y store in North Branford on Wednesday night ordering a cake, and saw u make pizzas and subs, the two guys working in pizza area were, so helpful, i had no idea you made subs and pizza, they explained what i can get in subs and pizza, they were so helpful with helping me set my order up for my son’s birthday party, they recommended me to get this power pack deal that saved me money on getting everything together, they were so nice and helpful that i had th say something, i will be back because of those two nice guys and will recommend the pizza department to everyone
Hello I work for the Southbridge, Ma store and im trying to organize something for Big Y to have the CEO to try to have a meeting with all of the big y stores come together to send us employees to Texas to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. I feel that if we work together with all of the chain stores we can do a lot of good by helping those in dire need to help re build and help gather and salvage their lives back together. If other companies can do it so can we to show our customers world class service but all over the us that we can help others afar too. I know there are dozens of employees that have special skills that can benefit the victims in Texas. Please consider this thank you
I have acquired four gold coins have shopped a lot at Big Y in Ellington…First let me say that the clerks etc there have been nothing but the best….treating a decidedly senior senior citizen….everyone has been polite and helpful for all the years since you opened here .BUT WHEN IT COMES TO produce that is another story.. Often I have to go to
S and S to get something you don’t “yet’ have…
However this week I had an experience that really angered me. I was trying to “dispose” of some four or more gold coins..and I picked up a rotisserie chicken. There were only two available: one tiny and one larger..your Express Rewards chart said Superbird size so I took the larger one. At check out I got for the first time a bewildered young man..(being trained no doubt) he refused the coin ” not on the new chart.” I have it before me: the bottom of this one reads “” good until June 14, 2017.” He refused the coin I refused the chicken when I got home I picked up my card which I usually take with me..and there is the date clear as a bell. To make matters worse I got strawberries (( no wonder they were 2 for ….)) I fond too many mildewed and spoiled berries. Stop and Shop is closer to me I have to consider using it in future. Mrs. F. Lee Dutton, Sr.
(retired Broker/Realtor; active Notary Public; GRI APR etc etc etc….
Hi My Name is Linda Laurello and I live in East Haven CT. I shop at the Branford CT Big Y. I love the store and all of the employees. I shop 5 days a week and purchase chicken breast everyday. For the pasts 3-4 months, I have been spending a lot of time trying to get packages that look halfway decent. It really amazes me how they can put 4 nice breasts in one package and then include one that is white/grey and slimy. I have also been finding ones with lines and when those are baked they are slimy. I give my dogs baked chicken each night and this week me and one of my dogs has had a stomach issue and I know it is from the chicken.
I belive Morning Star provides the Chicken Breast to Big Y.
The price is another issue – $3.69 per pound is very high. I wouldn’t mind paying it if I knew I wasn’t throwing away about a pound per package. The other customers tell me I am crazy to buy your chicken as Stop & Shop has it for $2.99 each day.
I believe if you lower your price, those customers would buy your chicken,
I would like to receive some type of compensation as I am $100 a week on your chicken,
thank you Linda Laurello
This is “the worst” BigY store (Southwick, MA… store:0008) I have ever shopped at and ordered from. It is so amazing that your employees dishing out Pizza very well manage our order every single time… WOW! How do they manage that? They have very successfully maintained their standard of getting it wrong every time. What kind of people work at that place. It is so frustrating… my 6yr old daughter went to bed without having dinner. She wanted to have pizza and your “World Class Employees” screwed it up yet again. How does that make me feel?
This is not the first time… it has happened so many times… seems like they do it on purpose… Our order is the same every time, 1 large white veggie pizza, no bell peppers, square cut. This clearly means there should not be any meat… but we are served meat! When it happened the first time we said mistakes happen… so called and they made us another. So, next time when we ordered, we placed the same above order and this time mentioned what had happened to our previous order… so, the person taking the order said OK, will be careful… Were they careful? NO. Oct 13th, 14th, 15th or 16th, 2016, (I remember this time frame because we had a major water damage in our house and our kitchen had to be closed), one of those days we had placed our regular above mentioned order and guess what… there was meat in our veggie pizza. We did not have the time, patience or the drive to call and complain at that point as we had bigger issue at hand. Another time, in Jan one of the Saturdays… either the 14th, 21st or the 28th, we place our regular pizza order and another large pizza half veggie with sauce and half cheese… these guys get our regular order correct, but then only make half pizza with sauce and veggie, but forget to make other half with plain cheese. My husband was their for half an hour while our guests at home waited and wondered where he disappeared. It was very uncomfortable situation for us in front of our guests.
Another incident… we wanted water, bottled water and went to this same store and asked some one working there where the isle was for water, this guy, simply says… I work in the bagging area and that he was not sure. He could have asked some one to help us… but saying that he just walked away. Wow Wow Wow.
Another time… at the Deli… in August or September, 2016… I was pregnant with gestational diabetes and was looking for wraps, bread… anything with low Carbs in them so I get to eat something and not stay hungry. I saw wraps at the deli which met my criteria an asked the lady at the deli if she could get me that particular wrap… she said she had to get it from the freezer, to which I said good and stood there, while she kept doing what she was doing and after 5mins seeing me there she goes, oh.. it will take me a while to get it from the freezer… if she did not have the intention to help me why did she offer to? I was so disappointed.
BigY, 195 College Highway, Southwick, MA 01077 is the worst store to shop at. Bad attitude shines at that store. We have been to so many other BigY stores and have had such good experiences where your employees are truly “World Class”. Southwick sucks and reeks of incompetency and low standards in every department. Your employees should be grateful that they have a job to keep which feeds them and keeps them warm. They act like they are doing us a favor, but no, it is their job to assist people who come to shop there.
We might have not had the time to voice all this earlier, but today when I requested that they be careful while preparing our pizza with out meat getting on their, the guy said “I am sorry that happened, I will make sure it does not repeat again today”. I wonder if he even know how to read and write… because he screwed up our order big time… with meat in it and with bell peppers. This is our Transaction # 0889 on our receipt. I do not know if you can pull up all the orders we have placed so far using our card number… well, it is a mute point now, because I am going to talk about this to as many people as I can. I little went to be crying and hungry… thank you employees of Southwick, MA, BigY.
Very Angry Customer.
i don’t know why someone always has to spoil a good thing, namely your prune filled paczki donut. you certainly must have changed brands because now it’s like a runny diahrea. the consistency and taste are terrible. i used to wait for this time to enjoy these prune donuts , not any more. you made a horrible choice. i’ll be back to shop when you wake up. thanks
So many people complain about service at big y but have you ever stopped and talked to a normal employee? (I am talking about a non manager) about their experience with the company? About how they are hired without being told rules and then threatened when they dont follow them, how they have had all their hours cut before holidays (when they need the money the most) even though their stores are kept open in some areas 2-3 hours later then needed. If the store closed earlier then that person would have been working earlier when the help was needed vs. later on by him/herself when the store was empty. Did you stop to think the employees in big y are made to feel if they don’t pick up extra hours, work 12-16 days straight or more and grab double shifts they won’t get offered hours at later times, then the following weeks to they go from 40 hours to 17? An employee was told by management that his 2 year old son in the hospital from a car crash came only after the company, anything for the $, How about promised health insurance and after hired they taken back And now they have nothing….. Here’s one for you, I witnessed a store manager yelling at his employee making her cry because she went outside on her break for fresh air, saying her breaks are still big y’s time and not her time and she has to be available to work at any time during her break, funny I say her break but what is it if not just a scam telling their employees they have a break and then telling them they aren’t allowed to walk out of a stressful situation. Now I’m sure many people would agree but obviously you shouldn’t be walking off the property but since when can’t you get fresh air, no wonder your employes are always mad, their health insurance was taken from them, even in their 15 minute breaks big y works them and they can’t even go outside and look up at the sky, even criminals get the freedom to go outside (and yes criminals work and get paid in jail lol) hell walk by a punch clock and look at all the rules, they aren’t even allowed to take a break anymore in the café area because shoppers may not buy food there if they see an employee eating lol no just kidding once again it’s big y cuts down its employees for the mighty dollar saying that the 3 out of 10 of so tables I’ve seen in the stores I’ve visited being taken up by employes in the past could have been used by Customers but the employees are buying and eating food too right? no one seems to care when it gets pointed out that there’s never even close to a full house in big y café well not here in northern CT. Ask an employee about how they’re treated, and when they smile and say good, know that even that is big y policy, ask about the 10 foot program and how even when walking out the door every employee is required to stop and ask you if you need help. Look around big y sometime when shopping and imagine having to stop and Ask every single person within 10 feet if they need help, even if everyone said no you’d never get out the door or god forbid to the bathroom. And the horror stories about the intake where videos are shown making people believe unions are bad, you know what maybe that’s the problem. There is no oversight. They say big y is “Family owned and operated” and that’s supposed to make you feel better? Like a whole money hungry group of relatives couldn’t possibly cut theyre employees down to almost nothing just to make a buck…. And before you think “All supermarkets are like that” No they are not even close to as bad to their employees.
Big Y in MA is not a union shop. Stop and Shop is, however, and the employees are treated better because they are unionized.
Please, please talk to your staff about the importance of not being patronizing when talking to the elderly and NEVER, EVER USE TERMS SUCH AS; DEAR, SWEETIE and HONEY!!!!
I am a 67 year old woman and every time I visit one of your stores – sure enough someone will use one of the above expressions when talking to me (when I complain today at the Wilbraham, MA store the lady insisted that it was a “term of endearment” – Yes, it is if my husband uses but not a complete stranger!!! By the way, females are the vast majority guilty of this VERY annoying habit. Thank you and if this doesn’t stop I will stop going to Big Y!!!
OK sweetie
Dear Big Y
I want to thank you for you generous gift. I want to especially thank Bettie Boggis, from Corp consumer relations. I love my Big Y in Monroe ,Ct 06468 Great store to shop. Again thank you for all you do..
Regards,
Paulette Obertz
This is for the CEO of Big Y. I read recently that since the state of Connecticut has an open carry policy for firearms (providing the carrier has a license and a permit) that they are allowed to go into grocery stores among other public places. Some stores in CT have banned open carry in their stores and I was wondering what Big Y’s policy was. I, personally son’t like guns and think we have a right to feel safe while we shop in our neighborhood grocery store. i have shopped at your store in Manchester, CT since it opened more than 25 years ago. I like the staff and the environment and the quality of the food and service. I’m a 65 y.o. man with disabilities and I certainly couldn’t run out of a store if I had to because of gun fire. If your policy is to allow open carry (which I have never personally witnessed), I would have to think about going to a store that doesn’t. I’d be interested to hear from other customers about this. I understand there is a national movement to ban open carry in public places like grocery stores and libraries and hospitals, etc. The 2nd amendment didn’t mean for our neighborhoods to turn into the wild west. I think grocery stores should be gun free zones. What do you think?
Please forward this to CEO Mr. Donald H. D’Amour. I called Betty 4 times, she never picked up the phone. This has been submitted to the Big Y Customer Service website:
Wednesday, 8/5/15, I had an horrible experience as a long term Big Y customer, in the Walpole Big Y. I did my weekly shopping and hoped to redeem a recent raincheck for a buy 1 get 2 free promotion. At the checkout, I had six of the raincheck items, as such I such I should have been charged for 2 items. A woman who was identified as “the front end manager” looked at the raincheck, did not listen to me when I told her that I should be charged for two, and charged me for 3 items. I noticed the error immediately and asked for my raincheck back so that I could get a refund at the service desk. I said “hi” to the girl at the service counter, showed her the raincheck and my receipt to verify that I had been overcharged. She looked at it and said I bought 3 and received 3 free. I showed her the raincheck and the receipt to confirm to her that I should have only been charged for two and offered to show her the six items in my shopping bags. She became explosive and loud and yelled at me “I don’t like your attitude”. She repeated this 3 more times. I did not respond to her verbal abuse. I simply maintained eye contact and offered her a penny so that my refund would be in dollars without change. After she gave me the refund, I left the store. I noticed the “front end manager” roll her eyes at me as I departed. In the surrounding community, shopper can spend their hard earned dollars at Hannaford, Trader Joe’s, Stop and Shop and Shaws. I will be doing just that from now on. If Big Y hopes to continue their successful expansion in the region, I suggest they embrace the retail mantra: “The customer is always right”. The employees of the Walpole Big Y, do not understand this concept. This customer was right then, and she’s right now when she tells Big Y management, with staffers like these – you are not in a customer service business. Your customers deserve better, and they will find that with your competitors. I will not spend another penny in any of your stores and will share that with my neighbors, friends and family.
hello do you know the big y lets its worker treat customer like trash i call the big y supermarket the customer service rep betti think so i ask to speak to her boss and blow me off not tell him i wanted to talk to him if this how you treat your customer someone need to lose there job like the manger derck the manger at the spencer mass store he think it is no big deal that customer are treated like trash from worker in that store let see if the want to make it right talking to betti at customer service no gig seal how fast can they make it right
Please forward this to Michelle D’Amour.
Greetings. I’m writing on behalf of the staff at the Little Y in Southampton. My son Mattias recently aged out at 10 years old. He has some significant developmental delays. Andrea, Nikki, and the rest of the staff have been patient, compassionate, fun, and generally wonderful with him for many years. In fact, turning 10 was a mixed bag for him – wonderful for the new privileges, but sad due to no more LIttle Y. Now my 4 year old gets to play with them, and it is a highlight of his week.
Thank you for this service that serves children and their parents.
Best,
Andrew Foster
No one looks at these email about horrible costumer service in hewlette?
I’m so glad to see that #bigy gives a crap how customers are treated by employees I’m so glad I have other options when it comes to my grocery shopping as I will never ever step foot in the chain again. Telling a customer to move because they are trying to navigate around your stupid thanksgiving display and you are behind me with a hand full of boxes is not my Damn problem. I Was Not Born With Eyes Behind My Head To See You there. Tried calling corporate but nobody available to take a call endless voice mail and I won’t waste my time leaving a vm so maybe someone from this “world class supermarket” will call me back. Move. Not Excuse Me. So done
I would like to know who I can contact about an on going problem with my Silver Savings Card.. My big Y is Southampton MA, I have worked with at least 5 different people at different times to resolve the problem … each time they have assured me the problem in fixed . The problem has been on going since Dec 2013. As of March 2014 I thought it was fixed until my visits yesterday when the problem happened again and the cashier handed me a silver coin ….. I dont want the coins I have a card I want the savings …
My frustration is I think about all the savings Ive missed out on since Dec2013.
My wife buys lunch meat and always ask for the meat to be cut thin. The woman who was assisting seem to understating what my wife was asking for…But when my wife got home all but two slices were thin and the rest thick. I have once before had this problem, complained to the Stratford store and again I received my ham cut way too thick and that is jeopardizing my health due to I can only eat food that I can swallow and not choke on! I think your store needs an internal investigation on how employees are not following customers words, directions! Firing these numbnut no good sob’s who are hurting people’s lives. I ask that you contact us so you can better understand our point. I want to live and not choke on food from BigY Stratford CT.