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2006-01-06 22:54:17 I saw the video of the egg farms. They were disgusting Wegmans people were so arrogant —ColagedoBaldosomo
2006-05-26 22:44:41 Wegmans' alcohol policy, although respectable, can also be inconvenient. My boyfriend, who is 22, wanted to buy some beer for himself, so knowing that they wouldn't sell it to him if I were there (I'm 20), we walked through the store separately, doing our own shopping, and planned to meet back at the car. I saw he was taking an extra long time at checkout—apparently while he was checking out, an employee approached the cashier to inform him that my boyfriend had arrived at the store with someone else, and they needed to card me if he wanted to buy beer.
Neighbors of ours, both in their mid-20's, went to Wegmans one day and the man went in to quickly buy some drinks while the woman waited in the car. While the man was checking out, an employee approached the car asking to see the woman's ID. Isn't this going a bit too far? I understand and respect what they are trying to do, but at the same time, I would be interested in seeing the exact wording of their policy. What if I had gone with my parents instead of my boyfriend? Would they have been prohibited from buying beer because I was with them? —RachelBlumenthal
2006-06-28 08:08:08 More on Wegmans's insane alcohol policy: Once, I ran into Wegmans to buy beer with some friends —I was 21 and they were 19 and 20. They went in, bought pop and chips, and left. I was buying a twelve pack. After putting the beer in my trunk, a security guard approached me and demanded that I returned to the store with him and the beer or else he was going to call the police. He was extremely rude, even after I pointed out that my friends had bought themselves pop. As we walked in, he told me that the video cameras had taken a picture of me, and they would watch me in the store and in the parking lot whenever purchasing beer in the future. He then led me to the customer service desk to return the beer. Tell me that wasn’t extreme! —CarlGo
2006-06-28 08:25:12 I am probably going to sound like some kind of crabby devil's advocate, but I've been a cashier in a grocery store, and Wegmans policies mostly match up with what I was told to do at the store I worked in (different chain in NY state, about 15 yrs ago). And the scenarios that the commenters describe match pretty exactly how underage folks go about obtaining beer - going around the store separately, or having someone wait outside. So it doesn't seem that weird that Wegmans looks out for these behaviors. That said, I myself have been frustrated when my wife and I have been prevented from buying some beer (she forgot her wallet), when we were shopping with our 2 squabbling kids - and we are both over 35. —ChrisYoung
2006-06-29 08:23:18 I had a bad experiences with buying beer at Wegmans. I went in with a friend and we shopping for 10 minutes before picking up a 12 pack. The cashier said she saw us talking to someone else while shopping (we never did) and had to see their ID before selling it to us. We told the we didn’t, they didn’t care. I finally said okay and picked up the 12 pack of bottles, saying I would put it back. Somehow, it "accidentally" fell on the floor, breaking two bottles. I apologized but they said we had to pay for it. I said ok, but I am taking the 10 unbroken bottles. They said I couldn’t have them but I had to pay for the damaged 12pack. I said I’m not paying for something that is still partially usable and I can't keep. I said take my money & give me the beer or I’m leaving.
They said they were going to call the cops and I said ok, I’ll sit there on the bench and wait while calling my friend who’s a lawyer. As I sat down & dialed, they said I could leave w/o paying. I told them to F-off and they were lucky I was too lazy to sue them for discrimination. The fact that while walking out, I "tripped" over a newspaper rack, knocking it & me to the ground and sending dozens of "car for sale" fliers spilling over the floor is merely another coincidence. —BadFish
2006-09-15 05:28:14 Well, having NO trouble buying beer, I'm going to comment on the stores themselves. They are great and I have no idea why I love them so much, but I do. Everyone I know that's moved from Rochester misses their Wegmans! Great variety of foods, clean and inviting. I am also addicted to their soda-water. Awesome. Sometimes, the Wegmans "brand" of things are better than anything else. Croutons, dressings etc all all wonderful. —KarenMask
2006-09-15 07:51:20 A follow up to my Beer buying story. That was about 12 years ago and I have matured...at least a little. They were still jerks. We both had valid ID and had it out. I didn't mind getting IDed and understand if they have to ID EVERYONE regardless of how old they look. That said, I still miss the hell out of Wegmans. I have lived out of state for over a year now and miss by twice weekly trips to the evil empire. The Pittsford Wegs was my fave. —BadFish
2006-09-21 18:26:44 Urban legend has it that wegmans came close to loosing their beer license for selling to underage customers. Management took the bone-headed approach, and just proofs everyone. The best you can do is vote with your feet and purchase your beer where the clerks are allowed to think and use their own judgment —MrPhil
2006-11-17 11:00:04 "Ask someone what there is to do in Rochester, and they will mention Wegmans." WHAT? Give me a break. That is so lame. It IS a grocery store. Saying crap like that must make our city seem like some sort of backwater town to outsiders. Ya'll come back now, ya hear! —CarlGo
2007-02-28 21:57:25 And yet we always make sure to bring our out of town guests to Pittsford Plaza and they are always awed, even the ones that shop regularly at Whole Foods. I know it sounds weird to say that a grocery store can be a tourist destination, but it has turned into one and we might as well enjoy it. —DaveMahon
2007-03-25 09:33:02 My Mom works for Whole Foods and since Wegmans opened in the MD/VA area she has not had good experiences at Wegmans. Frequently I take photos of the produce offerings at the Super Wegmans with my camera phone and send them to her as she works in produce for Whole Foods. I do agree that the wegmans in Md and Va are pretty bad, they are nothing like the Rochester Wegmans. —KimBee
2007-04-11 19:24:44 i try to only shop at wegmans. i trust the cleanliness and order of the place. and i agree that wegmans brand is often as good as name brand. —JadeRaven
2007-04-14 20:21:57 Commenting on the first few comments about Wegman's quote "insane" alcohol policy coming from a Wegman's cashier: 1) It IS state law to ID everyone in the party, whether they are 21 or 81.
2) Often times, your cashier there is only a high school student, it is very hard to judge age when you are young. I am 21, and still am surprised by the birthdays I enter into the register for the purchasers of alcohol.
3. They routinely send cops, etc through the lines to check if every Wegman's is maintaining a good alcohol policy and following the law.
4. As the cashier, if your manager catches you a few too many times not proofing people, your job is most definitely in danger, because you are not showing adequate responsibility. —JoannaLicata
2007-05-21 08:12:49 I gave up on Wegmans when they abandoned the Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood. I heard an unconfirmed-but-I-believe-correct (that is, reliable source but I have no citation) story that Wegmans included a clause on the sale of their property on Mt. Hope Ave. that said that the purchaser may not open a grocery store at the property (the eventual purchaser, the University of Rochester Medical Center razed the building for a parking lot.) Wegmans sympathizers say this is "standard practice" — yet it is Wegmans exceptional behavior that makes them great; when they use "standard practices" like anti-competition clauses, they breach into monopoly territory. Anyway, Tops and ALDI continue to maintain a significant grocery presence in the City of Rochester. For most needs, though, I stick to Abundance Cooperative Market or the up-and-coming South Wedge Green Grocer, using Tops or corner drug-stores for cleaning products and drugs. —JasonOlshefsky
2007-06-23 00:35:21 If you're disabled or impaired in any way, they let you get away with just about anything. And don't even fire you for it. —Anonymous
2007-06-28 00:27:02 I certainly understand the frustration with Wegmans alcohol policy and, as an employee for 6 years (and cashier for nearly 3 of those), I can offer some insight. Wegmans did come close to losing their liquor license, so they instituted the policy of proofing everyone. It's not a boneheaded response—although it causes some customer irritation, imagine the irritation if they had actually lost their license to sell alcohol altogether! And BadFish, I'm sorry for the rotten experience you had—that is NOT typical Wegmans policy in any way, shape or form and I am shocked. At my store, I have never heard of or seen anything like the horror experiences people describe here. Also, Wegmans will certainly sell alcohol to parents who are in the store with their children. Those relationships are generally pretty clear. I have found the policy frustrating at points, as well, when I happen to be shopping with an underage friend but I understand that liability makes it a necessity. —ChelseaAllinger
2007-06-28 13:19:11 I've never had any trouble myself buying alcohol at wegmans, but I have seen other people have trouble. One time I saw them ask for ID for a kid who must have been 11 or 12 from his parents who were buying a six pack with their groceries. Kind of crazy, but I can't say I blame them.
I really like Wegmans either way - I've had bad customer service experiences in Tops (especially in Buffalo, where I went to school) and I'd rather shop where I'm going to be treated kindly and have a great selection of products. I also like the little (or big) cafes in Wegmans and their bakery departments. —SaraChristine
2007-06-28 20:59:03 As Chelsea pointed out, the policy is for liability's sake. Be thankful it's just Wegmans that cards 100%; the entire state of Georgia is 100% proofing.
Also, I dunno which stores your mom is visiting, KimBee, but the Fairfax, VA Wegmans is one of the nicest Wegmanses (is that proper? probably not) in all of Wegmandom. A $50mil store that rivals Pittsford for square footage and has its own wine shop... Hardly a "bad" Wegmans. —CalebKelsey
2007-06-29 14:32:32 Thanks Chelsea! Just to be clear, I commented above and am not sure if any other reply comments were pointed at me. I had no problem being IDed. The folks at Wegman's would not let us buy the beer because they said we spoke with another customer or customer(s)in the store (which we did not do) and they said we might give beer to underage people. They said it was our responsibility to identify the people and have them show ID. Ironice since there were no other people. I was polite at first but acknowledge I became quite a jerk well after they were rude. My problem was that they said I talked to someone else in the store when I didn't, then implied that I was lying about it, then accused me of possibly intending to break the law with no probable cause. "100% IDing" isn't fun, but alcohol can be real dangerous in the wrong hands or even the right hands with poor decision making. I have worked behind a counter before and understand the difficulty. That night at Wegman's they got a little too heavy handed. —BadFish
2007-08-11 23:37:20 A note on one of the Virginia Wegmans: I think one has a wine/liquor shop (Fairfax) and one does not (Dulles). Dulles is the same layout as Pittsford only flip-flopped right and left. I think my boss's boss told me that one day when I was conversing with him. (I worked at Wegmans for a long time.) —JoannaLicata
2007-09-24 22:49:01 Wegmans seems to be getting people upset around here. No more stores in Rochester besides, East Ave. Kind of sucks to have to go to tops or leave the city to get grocieries. —JohnJoseph
2007-09-28 13:06:43 I read an article on the D&C online about how wegmans products are being featured in this season's episodes of The Office. Neat! —SaraChristine
2008-09-09 20:26:38 We shop around with different criteria: ALDI, BJ's Wholesale Club, and Wal-Martfor value - each has distinct special values. We do some shopping at [Hegedorns"], but Wegmans is still a big part of our shopping. The reasons are the shopping experience, helpful employees, quality and variety. We are very proud of Wegmans and take our out-of-town visitors for trips through the Pittsford store - everyone has been impressed, even our high-end Swiss clients who expect and demand high quality and service. We also have family and friends close to the new Wegmans in Virginia near Dulles International Airport. This store is now a DESTINATION for the the folks in the DC area and from more than a 100 miles away. The DC merchandisers were Awe-struck when the store was finished by the end of the summer, but Wegmans would not open it for the "Christmas Shopping Period" - simply because they did not have a fully trained complement of the final permanent store employees. This was unheard of among DC retailers and a tribute to Wegmans standards. Many folks in the DC area are now impressed how the Wegmans competition drove Giant and Safeway to upgrade their stores and ways of doing business. —BradMandell
2008-10-21 09:31:41 I used to be the most loyal wegmans customer until I realized that I was wasting money on expensive groceries. The prepared food section is unbelieveably overpriced and I think all of their food items on the wokery bar taste the same. I have found that I can save money by shopping elsewhere like Wal-Mart and Aldi's and their generic items all are high-quality. —ShannonLane
2008-12-07 20:22:56 To Wegmans credit, they have been aggressively competing on price regarding basic food items. —MrPhil
2009-01-16 19:58:39 Many a discussion in my day have revolved around what makes Wegmans Wegmans. I still can't put my finger on it but I think it lies in the prepared foods section. They put a lot of effort into making good food and presenting in a classy way. The quality of their prepared food gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling about buying your groceries there. On top of that, the workers seem to truly enjoy doing their jobs. You don't get that feeling from the white, cold environment of Tops. —BatGuano
2009-01-26 18:49:35 Awesome place to shop! Would never shop anywhere else again! —ELapp
2009-02-18 00:22:17 I shop late at night and have never had any difficulty finding what I need. Having a disability, I still get assistance without any trouble. Always been impressed. Recently their pharmacy had an error stating I had an allergy that was not correct but it was taken care of effortlessly. —PeteB
2009-11-10 06:10:29 Here is my review of Wegmans as an Albany native...
GREAT prepared foods. Unrivaled. GREAT international foods selection. Unrivaled. GREAT customer service. Unrivaled. GREAT beer selection. Unrivaled. GREAT cold cut/cheese selection. Unrivaled.
Where it SEVERELY lacks is in its meat, fruit, and seafood selection. Being an Albany native I grew up on Price Chopper, which is Schenectady based and only goes as far west as Syracuse. Compared to Price Chopper, the meat, fruit, and seafood selection at Wegmans is pitiful. I did not realize this until last Sunday when I went to get supplies for tailgating a Bills game. I knew exactly what I wanted and was shocked at how little there was. Rochester natives who grew up with only Wegmans and Tops will not realize it, but the meat, fruit, and seafood available at Wegmans was about 40% of the standard I'm used to growing up with Price Chopper. Price Chopper doesn't compete in the Rochester market but absolutely blows Wegmans away in meat, fruit, and seafood. In those areas and those areas only (well, and price too.) —NickCassaro
