Charity shop rant

[blubkins]

Took a donation into the local charity shop over the weekend. The guy at the till told me to take the donation to the back. The door to the store room was open so I put it in there. Another lady came along and put a huge donation in there. Not a second later, a woman who worked in the shop came rushing to the back, shouting at us and lecturing us in a very patronising tone about not going into the back and putting our donations outside the door "because of health and safety". She was extremely rude and said to the other lady "can you please get out" tutting and in the most angry teacher type voice. I explained that the man had said to take it to the back and since the door was open I had just popped it inside (where there were loads of other bags). She insisted on explaining to us why we shouldn't have been in there and I told her back that she needs to explain that to her colleague not us as his instructions were not clear.

The other woman leaving a donation was great, she simply said to the charity shop worker that it was "fine, but please can I have my donation back". At this point the worker realised what a mistake she had made and tried to halfheartedly apologise but the other donator took her bag, left the shop and gave the donation to the other charity shop a few doors down.

I was so shocked at how rude the shop worker was and I pointed out that we were donating items and she shouldn't be so rude. It's a shame because it is a small shop that needs support and I imagine the other lady won't donate there again (and I will reconsider now).

AIBU to think that if you receive a donation you should be thankful and not abuse the people giving stuff in (wealthy middle class area where people tend to donate high quality stuff)?

I knew they didn't take electrical stuff but they denied it ever being there.

Oh well that's not on at all then Mummyme . You are probably right there, it was put aside in an instant .

I think so too. Made me wonder if the helpers always got the good stuff first.

I have been volunteering for about a year now , on the shop floor and till now but was doing the unpacking and labelling and going through the clothing to tag them . . Bought a few things over that time as have some others but can honestly say, at least in my shop, nobody tends to over buy.

Rude of the lady but the guy should not have told you to take it to the back of the shop.

Most 'staff' our volunteers so i would probably cut her a little slack but of course she will not, hopefully, make that mistake again.

When I arrived at my local charity shop with massive bags of kids books he came to the door and helped to carry everything.

Not staff. Volunteers.

Never any excuse for rudeness. Ever. But as a charity shop volunteer we take a fair bit of rudeness from customers too. Not that two wrongs make a right, but the woman maybe had just hd a run-in with a shoplifter, or someone being shitty to her too.

The "not allowed through the back" thing is strictly enforced where I volunteer. It's partly an insurance issue - if someone comes into the staff area and trips, or something falls on them, we could be sued. Also, there is often someone in the back shop counting cash or sorting floats for the next day - we simply can't take the risk of letting people in.

I think people really have no idea about how charity shops work though. Yes there is a massive of post-Christmas donations, and we run out of space. But storing them, or hiring separate storage space, or sending vans around hte country COSTS MONEY and we're always trying to cut costs. We do what we can to shift stock around but it has to be cost effective.

All the "give them more training" - most charity shops have one paid member of staff, who won't be there every hour the shop is open. They have mountains of stuff to do, and training is at the bottom of the list. Also you really don't expect to have to tell people to be polite and say thank you - it's common courtesy.

sloane, I can wager a guest. I used to frequent the Burleigh Street shops ... a couple have always been noticeably ruder than the rest!

I donate to a couple of the Burleigh St shops somewhat regularly; they make it pretty easy by having back doors I can park near for a few minutes.

mummy me, that's terrible.

I have heard of shops where the volunteers cherry pick all the best stuff for themselves, grandchildren, etc before it ever sees the store floor. I would prefer not to donate to the shops that I know do that. Volunteering shouldn't be about getting to the stuff first, which is what that makes it seem like. I know other shops that require all goods to be put out for a certain number of hours (eg 24 hours) before staff can try to buy it for themselves.

I had an excess of plants I had potted up for a charity plant sale we were doing at work and some hadn't sold. There was nothing wrong with them at all, it was simply that we had too many of one particular variety. I took them to a local charity shop as I knew they often had plants outside in summer. The pompous old man behind the counter took one look at them and said "Well you should have watered them before you brought them in!" They had been sitting in the car for an hour on the hottest day of the year. I should have taken them back but had made a special journey in the car to deliver them. I have never donated anything in there since.

I find a lot of these volunteers have no interest in the particular charity they are working for but are doing it either to show they are a do-gooder or do it purely to get themselves out of the house/for social reasons.

I also think a lot of them haven't an ounce of customer care in them.

volunteers cherry pick all the best stuff for themselves

a lot of these volunteers have no interest in the particular charity they are working for but are doing it either to show they are a do-gooder

What is it, give a volunteer a good kicking day? FFS. Most volunteers are lovely. Some are not. Most customers are lovely. Some are not. Shall I go on?

Most of the larger charities have policies about what volunteers can buy and at what prices. The place I volunteer at certainly does. We do get a lot of lovely donations but everyone's taste is different, and size. I opened a whole bag of lovely Hobbs, Karen Millen and Reiss clothes the other day but not good for me as they were a size 8 (I wish) and not to the other volunteers taste. Everything bought by staff is written in a book.

Give them a break - the majority are volunteers and do it FOR FREE week in and week out

That's absolutely true, but let's not forget how often we're told that charity shops "have to be run like proper businesses these days" - even more so since so many of them have ratcheted up the prices. And if someone wants to project themselves as a business, that comes with certain expectations ...

YANBU. I volunteered in a charity shop in a very well-off area a long time ago (when I had the time to do so!) and there were two paid members of staff, both managers. One was lovely and I worked on a day that she did, then they switched days and I was working under the other. She was a total twat, frequently got annoyed at me and the other regular volunteer for chatting in the stock room whilst we were sorting things out, got annoyed that we checked puzzles for how many pieces they had, was snotty with customers, etc. I quit volunteering not long after as she was awful.

More recently, in a different part of the country, I used to frequently go into a Barnados charity shop in the SE, a very well-to-do area with lots of high-quality donations. They were also a stock sorting location and a key drop-off point in the local area and they were the only charity shop that was easy to drop off at, especially when you had a toddler with you (a pedestrianised town centre, they were located just at the edge of the main town centre car park). Every time I went in there with donations (at least once a month) the manager was fine with customers, but one of the volunteers very obviously had additional needs and the manager shouted at her, belittled her and told her off without fail every bloody time I went in. I made a complaint after the third or fourth time but both were still there and the same was still happening the last time I went. Bloody awful behaviour from the managers in both shops.

Hmm, well of course it's horrible when someone is rude to you. She should have said thank you. But my guess would be that she's a volunteer, and sometimes people who volunteer are people who aren't, for one reason or another, able to hold down a paid job

You also said she did apologise. Maybe you caught her at a bad moment.

I'm not sure why the middle class area is relevant. You sound a bit Lady Bountiful with that attitude

YANBU.

Lots of these 'charity' shops are just money spinners now, with very little going to the actual cause. Many shops on the high street are royally fucked off with them now because they get subsidies on rent and rates, and get the stuff given to them. It makes it a real struggle to compete.

They make a killing.

So they probably don't give a bollock how they speak to people.

ToadsforJustice wearing gloves is actually standard for volunteers sorting out donations, if you go into the back of any charity shop you will see volunteers and staff wearing not only gloves but masks as well, however she should not have sorted the donations in front of you that's rude and would not be tolerated in the charity shop my DH manages.

There is a reason for this as some donations are pretty disgusting, my DH has had a cataract operation in one eye, he was sorting through a box of mouldy books, the dust went into his eyes and badly affected the one he had the op on.

He had to fill out an accident report and report the incident under RIDDOR because he had an injury likely to lead to permanent loss of sight or reduction in sight in one or both eyes, it took his eye 6 months to recover.

Now under instructions from his health and safety officer, he is forbidden to sort through books without wearing protective goggles, its entered on his personal risk assessment and in the shops general risk assessment..

Of course the other week someone bought in a box of tatty dusty books and wanted their box back OH was on his own in the shop so couldn't empty the box there and then as his goggles were upstairs, so politely ask the donator to come back in 10 minutes, exit one outraged donator who refused to come back and took their books away.

OH values all the donations to his shop, even dusty dirty books that are only fit for the rag man, only he values his eyesight even more.

So sometimes there reasons for wearing protective gear snootiness may only be one of them

Of course charity shops are money spinners, isn't that the point??? If you donate to a shop belonging to a registered charity, where would the money be going if it's not to the charity? A shop which is only giving a % to charity isn't a charity shop. Have never come. Across that sort of shop.

Charity shops may get reduced rates but pay rent and other overheads at market rate.

I have had rudeness (though not half as bad as this) at one local charity shop when I went to donate. The woman on duty acted like it was the biggest pain in the arse ever that I had a couple of large bags to drop off. After putting them down where I was instructed I happened to see a pair of shoes that would be perfect for DD & the reaction to me buying them was also like it was a total pain. Suffice to say I've dropped stuff off at a different shop on the same street since, where they seem much more greatful!

These threads are always full of comments about how wonderful people re for giving to charity shops (especially in wealthy middle class areas where people donate high quality tat), as if they are doing some kind of wonderful service to humanity taking their unwanted possessions to a charity shop.

If you are consuming, disposing of you unwanted items responsibly (as opposed to being an utter arse and just chucking them in the bin) is the very least you can do. It is part of the process of buying stuff - disposing of it, preferably responsibly. (Next time try not buying something - then you won't have to donate it later on)

The "goodness" in a charity shop is a 2 way street - they do us a massive favour by taking, sorting, distributing, sometimes even selling our discarded items.

I feel very grateful I have charity shops to donate to. They are providing me (and society as a whole) with a service that is so much more valuable that what I provide them.

All the demands for volunteers to show gratitude/bow and scrape/gush at you for your middle class high quality tat is a bloody joke. Get over yourselves.

But no, the volunteer should not have been so snappish - clearly there is a bit of organisation required in the shop mentioned in the OP

No, people who behave so rudely and ungratefully when people are actually trying to help a charity, do not deserve "a break".

hate to burst your bubble, but the volunteers who staff these shops are doing a lot more to actually help a charity than someone dropping off their unwanted tat is.

And lets face it, what you are actually doing when you take stuff to a charity shop is helping yourself - which is OK, but there is no need to ride in on a high horse.

but the volunteers who staff these shops are doing a lot more to actually help a charity than someone dropping off their unwanted tat is

That's probably true, but since the shops (and the money raised from them) wouldn't exist at all without donations, is a simple "thank you" really too much to ask?

And yes, that's a "thank you" I mentioned ... not sure where anyone's said staff should gush or bow and scrape?

I donate to Blue Cross (Worcester and Pershore) and they are both very nice. After a while I get an e-mail stating how much the items sold for and would I like the money? I don't of course! I took a lot of stuff to the Worcester branch and they came to the car park to help me carry it all.

All the demands for volunteers to show gratitude/bow and scrape/gush at you for your middle class high quality tat is a bloody joke. Get over yourselves.

I saw no-one doing this.

Ime, people who volunteer can be very entitled.

Also ime, people who donate can be very entitled.

YANBU. I've had many encounters with rude charity shop volunteers.

My husband dropped some stuff off just last week and said that the woman in the shop gave him a look like he'd peed on her cornflakes and actually questioned the quality of stuff we were donating.

I take stuff to the recycling centre instead now.