Appalling behaviour by staff at a charity shop

[OooohAhhhh]

I was in a charity shop today browsing at items near the till and I heard the manager and staff member having a conversation about how desperate people must be to be browsing on the £1 and £2 clothes rails. They was referring to 2 women who had been there for quite a while going through it all and they were saying how desperate they are, in a malicious, slagging off manner.
I then went to the till and had to pay for my £1 cardigan, not because I'm "desperate" but because I love a good bargain, just like so many other people do, and is that not the point of a charity shop? It made me feel a bit awkward paying for it. Surely this can't be the common attitude of staff in charity shops?
Just wondering if I should send a formal complaint higher up maybe?

Presuming this means not accepting books by particular authors for 'political' reasons.

I had a doner complain to Head Office about me because I (politely) turned away some donations, Head Office backed me up and confirmed the wording on our website - something to the effect that 'if space permits our shops are happy to receive donations in a clean and resaleable condition'.

So many people seem to think they can give us anything... musty old books, pages missing, kids books scribbled in or with pages torn out etc etc. We send so much to 'recycling' each week .. it's absolutely shocking. And the smug look on (some) peoples' faces when they bring us a bag of rubbish ... have they really got no idea about the type of item we sell in our shop? One woman was recently offended when I turned away stacks of used, old A4 type binders ... she really felt that 'students' would be delighted to buy them. I can't give that sort of thing away for nothing (I have tried ... against company policy but I often put out a box with 'free - help yourself' items which have zero chance of resale - they still don't get taken).

Some ... yes, stuff can get binned (recycled) if it is 'dated' .. there is a huge difference between an interesting, quirky, vintage piece of clothing and polyester 'slacks' or an acrylic cardigan ..... a good charity shop manager will decide what is worth keeping and what has to go for rag. We very rarely have a 'sale rail' in the shop I manage, I like to think we price fairly and if something doesn't sell then it's still not going to sell just because it's £1.

I frequently make this point on charity shop threads but we receive brand new, unbranded school uniform from a well known High Street retailer and I cannot sell it even at £1 an item ... I would genuinely love to know why? I know it is the right colour for the local schools (ie; grey & black skirts and trousers ...).

You'd be well within your rights to complain. Regardless of wether they’re Volunteers or paid 1K per week, If they’re mocking the poor they certainly aren’t suited to be working for a charity.

I volunteered for Oxfam for 5 years. We don't get any discount on any donated things. Everything has to be priced by another staff member, and any sale to a volunteer has to be listed in a book and signed off by the person who was running the till.

Charity shops have many purposes:

Make money for charity
Keep things out of landfill
Give a sense of purpose and a place to go to the volunteers, some of whom have health problems or are too old to work a regular job
Help people to find bargains
Give customers a place to go (some customers are regulars who come in for a chat- maybe the only chat they will have with anyone that day)

Yes I would have spoken to them about it too.
I once told off a job centre manager who was loudly bemoaning the changes to her pension in front of unemployed people.
No need for it at all.

I assume they were JKR books

The point is to sell items to make money for charity. Having dated clothes that are just going to sit there is pointless. I don't know if they are binned or used for rags, it was a few years ago now. Some are sent to developing nations who will take them.

Sending second hand clothes to ‘developing’ nations (think the term is considered obsolete now) used to / does cause all sorts of problems – in some areas it’s totally decimated the indigenous clothing industry. Short-term gains and ill-thought out initiatives that look good on a CV but don’t help anyone are a real problem in the sector.

I was under the impression rags get sold in bulk to be recycled as textiles

Sending 'dated' clothes to overseas countries is a really outdated model, the cost of transportation etc far exceeds the 'value' of any donations... and it effects the economy of the country you are sending items to. We still get people wanting to donate 'winter coats and jumpers' to Ukraine etc and I have to politely explain why we don't do that, but I know there are many 'independent' organisations who hire a small van and drive off with a load of donations to war zones etc ... but distribution of aid is far better done by the charities that have years of experience in the logistics involved.

Clothes are not donated to developing nations, they are sold to them. Everything in a 'clothing recycling' bag has to pay its way, so shirts, bras and blouses will get shipped, the winter coat won't as it takes too much space in a container.

That’s awful! I love a good charity shop and the staff I know feel the same! Why are they working or volunteering there if that’s their attitude? Disgusting.

I wouldn't be surprised, most stuff we do to "help" less fortunate countries is usually not helpful. It's probably more intended to reduce our landfill, I really don't know. Literally just volunteered for a day to help someone out

I just said ‘sent’ - the point still stands!

I must say though, I've never been in a charity shop but I would expect nothing to be more than 2 or 3 pounds in one.
And no, not because I think I'm too good for them but because I buy one or two new pieces of clothing each year and if I'm buying something I want to know it will last years and not be nearing the end of its life.

Charity shops get quite a few designer items in, depending on area and they've started pricing quite cannily, so you'd be unlikely to get any clothing for 2 or 3 quid. Anything worth that little tends to go in the rag bank to be recycled or made into car washing rags and the like.

I have several charity shop items that are nearly new and have lasted for years. I suggest you go in a charity shop, then you might found out what is actually in them. Or, if you can't bear to do that, then go on Oxfam's website and browse the second hand clothes. There's some great stuff on there. Some not so great, but some great.

Can you please tell me which one? I've just had a raise to just less than £11 per hour and that wage would be massive?

People tend to shop at charity shops because they support the charity, are environmentally aware and like some of the vintage clothing as well as the fact often it can be cheaper.

But IME the cheaper bit isn't the biggest draw nowadays when you can go to primark and buy new tops for £1/2.

I would send a letter.

@musixa correct , was also the sneery way it was said, tried to tell me it was "company policy" !

Pray tell, how exactly does it benefit the charity if customers stop buying things because the volunteers are horrible twats?

I worked for scope nationally for a few years, and many of their store managers, were deeply unpleasant bullies on a power trip. I'm not sure it says much about the charity, beyond that it went unnoticed and without consequences. Ultimately, you're going to get arseholes in every sector of business.

@CrumbliestCrumble your sister is lying

I was in a charity shop yesterday and at least three Bnwt dresses in was going for £25. Possibly more than they originally cost in the sales. In the majority of charity shops second hand dresses are over £10. You would be surprised. Someone's buying it at that price

This is very judgemental and unprofessional & could potentially put people off shopping there . Put your complaint in to the shop manager & if it was the manager you’re complaining about copy in to the Charity’s head office. Be specific - names / description of assistants , date, time etc so they can be identified & retrained .

Isn't it just vinted but in real life? So many people are obsessed with vinted so what's the problem.

If complain op. There's no need for comments like that that customers can hear.