Key Food Supermarkets — Attraction in New York

The only reason we went here is because we were told they had payout bottles and cans recycling behind this location. The machines have seemed much more convenient than others I used, but only to a point. The glass bottles machine was broken and after a while, the can conveyer belt became stuck. Luckily, there was staff nearby to fix the can conveyer belt problem.

Unlike other supermarkets like Stop and Shop, this Key Foods does not allow shoppers to bring in their own carts. So-called security has flimsy little laminated paper clips with numbers on them. Apparently, before you enter the store sidewalk, you are supposed to guess they don't allow carts because the space between the bars is too narrow. They have shopping carts outside, but by the time you enter the store and are approached by security, you already don't have access to the store shopping carts. Signage needs to be improved. You see the sign after crossing the threshold to the store entrance (the room between the actual store and the parking lot) and then unhelpfully, you see the signs posted well inside the store. They don't let you bring in your own shopping bags either. Signs state that throughout the inside of the store as well. I do not buy the BS reason they claim why customers cannot bring their own shopping items into the store. Other stores don't care, so there is no excuse. I do not like that personal carts are left at the front of the store, where anyone can steal them. The store should be liable for any stolen carts because it is not customers' choice to leave them what might as well count as unattended. Do you really think security is going to chase down thefts of your personal shopping carts? No. You just have to gamble your $20 - 60 personal cart.

Where one would expect to be able to scan the bar code of the recycling receipts is not actually the location to do it. No; instead of cashiers at check out registers scanning it like everywhere else I have been, they have a separate customer service desk you have to walk to receive your refund and therefore, you lose your place in the checkout line.

Besides this nuisance, the deals are lackluster and the prices for most products are not worth it. I would rather travel by bus all the way to Flushing's Stop and Shop with my own shopping bags or take Q20A to the Whitestone target than shop at this Key Foods.

There are better grocery store options than this store. Now that I know the ridiculous nature and risk one has to take with this store, I will first try to find other recycle centers around and will not patronize...

Walked out unhappy again. Waited at Deli Dept for over 5 minutes and nobody even acknowledged me. A girl peeked out from the prep room, saw me and ducked back in. 2 young men were packing stuff out in the Deli area but neither stopped to serve me. I am sure at least one of them was a Deli employee, quite possibly both. Sad situation, work tables cluttering most aisles, in produce Dept. they have tables all over the place and the workers rarely move them if you are coming with a shopping cart, they make you go back out the aisle and go around. I used to like this store, shopped there for 15 years, sometimes would shop there 4-5 times a week. Now I go in for emergency only. Sorry to be so negative but it is what it is. I asked a young man in the Produce Dept. to split a pack of store wrapped fresh jalapeno peppers a couple of weeks ago and he laughed at me and said no. I walked away, but overheard him making fun of me in Spanish, which I understand, saying the package was only 2.50, and that I should have bought the whole thing and he referred to me as a "maricones" which is a gay person in English. I really got a real bad taste of racism and bias that day and I left there pretty disappointed. Really sad what is happening there but I have a feeling it's not an isolated incident at all. My wife has similar experiences at her gym which has become a predominantly Hispanic clientele. They bully her like crazy because she is 105 lbs., steal her spot in Zumba class even after she gets there early to get one. She's from China and dealt with bullies there but here they stick together and bully others. It's sad, I know a lot of people can relate but are afraid to speak out. I am NOT and I don't care who doesn't like it. There is a right way and a wrong way to treat people with the same respect you would like in return regardless of what you are, white, brown, green, or whatever. People today talk about equality, but what do you become after you are already equal and now you outnumber others? Yes, then you become the racist, you become the bully, the aggressor, and the abuser and I see it happening clear as day. It says in the Bible the opressed will one day become the oppressor. That day has...

Convenient location, but some of their staff need to be trained on appropriate customer service. Tonight, I went to the self-checkout, which had one of the three bays open. It was coming close to closing time. The customer there was just finishing up. I rolled my cart towards the bay, and the girl supervising there told me it was shutting down. There was nobody behind me and I only had five items and I asked if I could just ring up fast, and she repeated that it was being shut down. I walked to a manned lane and got rung up. As I l was leaving the store, I saw that the bay was still open and a different customer was ringing himself up. This is the second time I felt that, as a regular customer (over 17 years), I was getting the short end of the stick at this store. This past summer, I needed a container of milk. I ran over to the store and it was eight minutes to closing. Some young kid I never saw before or since stopped me and told me they're closed. I told him I just needed a container of milk. He just turned his back and walked away. Tonight, I asked for a manager. When I spoke to him, I began with the summer incident. His response, "When it's closing time, we have to close." Then I told him of tonight's incident. He tells me, the self-checkout was closed. I repeated what I had told him, that it was NOT closed. One bay was open, and after I was turned away, somehow, someone else was able to get in and ring himself up. With nothing else to be able to say, the manager tried to put me on the defensive, telling me I'm "getting on him", whatever that is supposed to mean. True, there was annoyance in my voice. However, I did not raise my voice, I did not yell or use any obsenities. I was annoyed, and had every right to be. He should have listened. Using his language, I told him I was "getting on him" because for everything I say, he immediately just defends the store and its staff. Funny, in my years as a store employee, I never played that game. In my day, the customer was valued and listened to. Stop and Shop is right down the road, also on Union Turnpike, between Metropolitan Avenue and Woodhaven Blvd. It's 6 times as big, plenty of parking, and I'll take my...