Returning things to a charity shop - yes or no?

[Snazzygoldfish]

I bought dd a wooden marble run yesterday in a charity shop. The box was sealed with tape but it looked fairly new. When we got it home and opened it, many bricks were missing and had been swapped for odd bricks which are different sizes to the originals so they don't stack up to the right height to be able to use it properly. There are no marbles and we don't have any of the right size to fit through the small holes...not even sure that you can buy them that small. DD was disappointed but being 3 quickly moved on!

I won't return it because it would feel like taking from a charity but I do feel cross with the people who dontated it knowing it's junk. I was just interested in what people thought of returning something worthless morally. It was £8 if that matters.

Yes you should return it. They should have checked it before putting it up for sale. It sounds expensive too 😳.
I return things to charity shop because quite honestly I find them expensive - I usually try and swap for something else rather than get my money back x

I am an avid user of charity shops.
£8 is a lot of money, and the shop should have checked it. Take it back. Then they will benefit from your custom in the future! and know that their own checking processes need updating, or they will lose more customers.
Oh, and I know it's a bit late but never buy anything in a charity shop without giving it a full once over. I am often to be found counting puzzle pieces, checking for stains, adding batteries etc.

Take it back and ask for refund or perhaps a swap.
If the charity shop then sells it on knowing it’s not fit for purpose, then that charity doesn’t deserve your support anyway.

< Thinks fondly of last summers complete charity bargain of a new and still wrapped box of pictionary for £4.99>

Take it back, I've taken unplayable games back without an issue - in fact ours reminds you at the till that you have 14 days to return anything if you want to (I think that's if you change your mind rather than it being incomplete/faulty).

I would take it back, it’s not fit for purpose and have to agree that £8 is quite expensive for a game from a charity shop

For £8 yes I would, it should have been checked and that is the best part of a tenner.

I have returned things before and occasionally I've swallowed the loss or resold on ebay etc if its clothing that hasn't fit quite right . It depends on the fault/issue, how much I've paid and how close the shop is to return to.

I've returned a jacket before (£25) it was mistakenly labelled as leather but when I got home and checked the label (was in a rush when I bought it!) it wasn't leather.

I think it was an easy mistake for the shop to make because it was a very, very good copy and the label was hard to find.

I think I would return something like that with those faults and for that price.

Or I'd see if I could find another charity shop version of the identical set and combine the two for a monster marvel run! (Maybe eBay?) and I'm only saying that because my two played with their marble run for years and years.

Yes take it back,why on earth wouldn't you? People return stuff all the time.

Unpopular opinion but I think some charity shops take the piss out of their customers. They know most people won't bother or haven't got the heart to return something. The charity shops in my area are totally over priced (think Primark top that probably cost £4 new being sold for £5) they either haven't got a clue or are chancing their luck. And yes, I think £8 for a marble run from a charity shop is vastly over priced (beside the fact that it's broken/bits missing). People need to be more proactive and return things that are not fit for purpose.

Normally I would say no but in this instance I actually would. Charity shop or not, when you buy something you expect it to function. Yes there maybe wear and tear as the items are secondhand but the item should still function.

£8 is quite a lot, I think you should return it
Especially if it is one of the big charity chains not a little local self-run thing

I would take it back so they are aware and I'd ask to swap it.

I volunteer in a charity shop and we price things reasonably such that that would not have been sold for more than £2. At that level most would just chalk it up and not bother to return. However some charity shops are very greedy and for £8 I would be minded to return.

I will never get over reading how little of the funds from major charities actually reach the people/animals they are set up to help.

Return it 100%!

Yeah I would return it. Maybe not an item less than £3-4 though. I don't think principles should go out the window just because its a charity shop. You still have your rights as a consumer and in this case it sounds like you were short changed.

Charity shop volunteer speaking - yes, of course, return it.

We check everything but you get the odd one that slips through - and some customers aren't averse to losing bits all over the shop. Ask them to keep you the next one that comes in!

I would definitely return it. It's not fit for purpose, and you were unable to check it before you bought it because they sealed it up.

£8 is too much to lose because they couldn't be bothered.

Can I suggest an alternative, that you sell the bits you have for the original game on Ebay as spares?

We gave a doll's house to a local charity shop, it was one we'd bought from a friend not that long ago and we knew which shop it had come from and a similar one was still on sale. The charity shop asked us if we knew how much it went for new (IIRC it was around the £25 mark) and priced it down from that price, but not £2-3 total! It had most if not all of the bits (I think I found one chair the other day though!)

I once asked to open a game and count the pieces as I was burnt with a jigsaw before. One piece was missing, the lady at the till and I double counted just to make sure.

She said they have the policy to accept incomplete games/jigsaws back for a refund as they just don't have the time to count or assemble every donation.

But I had the same with NCT Nearly New Sale games as well.

Most charities are run like big business these days
I would take it back

I once returned something as it didn't fit. They didn't have a changing room and I'd taken a chance. I had no idea this wasn't the done thing! I thought they were like a clothes shop but with cheaper second hand things in it! The woman behind the till looked daggers at me. Thing is, I'd buy cheap things most weeks, I couldn't' afford to just give that money to charity and not actually get any clothes out of it.

Yes, return it.

I would take it back £8 is an awful lot of money for a 2nd hand game.

And as someone said i would be wary for a marble game for a 3 year old.Everything gets put in their mouth.Not worth the risk.

I'd definitely return it. But if you don't want to return it, at least let them know that the game was incomplete so they can make more effort to check items in future.