The Big Issue Avis 

The Big Issue was a brilliant concept, I fully supported it and there were many successful outcomes for sellers. For the last 10 years the Big Issue seems to have become a front for a possible modern slavery racket. Most sellers look identical across the country, one of our ‘local’ sellers has been on the same patch for 15 years! So it clearly is not working as intended to get homeless and unemployed individuals back into society

Lost its direction.. Street sellers now controlled by organised hierarchy across the country.

Standing outside the co op in Earlsdon Coventry is a big issue seller
You have to walk past this person to get into the shop
He stepped out in front of me waving a magazine around in a very aggressive way, I have nothing to say to the man but he continues in a very intimidating way.
I asked the lady inside the Co Op about him she seemed very sympathetic towards him???
Can't be good for business I wont go again while this seller is around the door

My local big issue seller gets out a Mercedes around the corner I was shocked , I thought all sellers were homeless or in great need , will not be buying again

I am sorry to have to raise this, but I am frustrated by my experience of big issue vendors.
I have been buying to try to support for many years. Recently I have experienced the assumption that I will give the extra pound for the purchase. I normally say 'keep it' when it s offered back, but the last several times I have bought it I have only been offered the £5 change,with the excuse I don't have the change.
Today I bought a copy and was told 'I have no change', my wife bought a copy 10 minutes later and was told the same thing.
I will not be buying again! You need to look at standards.

I just want to say that with the current economic climate the price of £4.50 is becoming too expensive. We have one Big Issue seller in our town, I try to buy one off her every week if I see her, I work as a cleaner so my wages are quite low and often I find it a struggle to give her this money. The amount of people that walk straight past her/ignore her is very sad, but I live in a seaside town where work is seasonal and a lot of the population here are on low incomes. This magazine will price itself out of the market I fear……

At first I thought The Big Issue was okay, especially since they inclusively published vulnerable people's poetry and articles. But even back then I saw that the magazine didn't do a lot to highlight big issues, as it name says. Now, the magazine has become even less about social problems and more corporate. The main reason I stopped buying the magazine is because of the way I was treated (in 2012) after submitting an article about the discrimination I have experienced in England. They published it, but they also put very unflattering personal information about me below the article. I felt like that was their response to me bringing forth an issue they'd rather not deal with. It seems like they really can't handle the big issues. Today, I think the magazine is about using the its name for marketing and hardly any substance backing up the name. I received an email from the founder in reply to one I sent him. He mentioned something about homelessness in the US being used to make money, but isn't that what he's doing with The Big Issue magazine?

The big problem is price of this so called MAGAZINE,£4 it's packed with adverts,so much for professional journalism I sold big issue on off eight yrs,apart from the Romanians who are on every street corner,the majority of sellers were white but the London offices the majority of employees were black,something wrong there the majority of employees at the job centre (lissom grove) were black it's like I have a brain yet could not get my foot in the door with any job being homeless and resorted in selling big issue it's now a complete rip off for the vendors who now for six mags fork out £10.50 vendors all day long trying to sell the biggest rip off a mag full of ads HAND UP NOT A HAND OUT that's the big issue motto they should change it to TAKE THE HAND OUT BECAUSE YOU WONT SELL THE MAG,why do the govt not intervene by way of subsidy because they are to busy feathering their own nests and that of birds too and he lives in Spain now ,talk about desertion,what's next one glossy page for a fiver the vendors who do the really hard work are being conned by the govt,internet sales (that was the downfall for the vendor)the most people that do it now are the old boys who have been doing it for years and the Romanian gypsies who are doing it as forced labour by criminal gangs.The big issue is now the worst thing ever created to help the homeless due to selling price for vendor and buying price for customer and more and more people just walk by I watched this girl getting no sales for one hour she was Romanian (is this racism) and I watched this guy sitting down with his dog having chats and being bought a coffee and getting hand outs but no one bought the mag this was 14th September CANTERBURY town centre The big issue as a whole is putting vendors out of business as an ex seller I would not sit or stand eight hrs a day for selling perhaps two mags a day it has passed its sell by date GB should stop and wonder what greed has really become every company has become greedy anyway who cares,no one does especially the religious pretenders who pretend to care with their lip service and the affluent who would buy a mobile iphone for £1000 but not help a person with nothing I would do £50 in sales and a £100 in handouts per week now it's probably just about £12 in sales and £75 in handouts per week the big issue seriously need to stop and go back to grass roots and go back to the days when the big issue actually meant something.

Ringwood 6th September pushy rude big issue seller accosting people to buy his magazine, on speaking to him of homeless he told me from his own lips he owned two houses and drives a brand new car something very very wrong there.

The quality of their bikes is questionable. You have less than one minute to check a bike for free (and it’s physically impossible!) so I was charged a few times for bikes that didn’t work! There should be a cup per day and not per ride (as I ended up paying £21 per one ride where other bikes batter was draining too fast and I had to come back somehow).

After receiving verbal abuse from a big issue seller who was also verbally abusing the seller who had the right to be there( has been reported to police who acted fast) I tried to complain to the national helpline for complaints .
Only an answer machine that either is never checked or they just ignore anyone who wishes to complain.
The issue seller who is verbally abusing the public has been moved on many times by police and last year was told by big issue that that was not his pitch but he continues there so shows the inability of big issue to control or even care what their big issue sellers do.

I used to sell them back in 2005 when there was a lot to read ,then the other day (05,01,2023) it cost £4 and there were more pages of adverts than anything else ,I honestly thought what an absolute load of rubbish, I will never buy another one ,I think they have totally lost what big issue is about, shame on you

I ordered a couple of back issues - these were dealt with by the Tee Tree Group. Exceptional customer service and initiative shown by these people. I had ordered a duplicate so they sorted that out for me then contacted me to offer me an alternative to an issue that had sold out and they apologised for this too. Lovely people to deal with and prompt delivery. Would highly recommend.