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 took a massive bag of decent carrier bags to a local shop a few months back as they don't have their own branded bags , I had had a conversation with the manager when I had been buying something , and asked if they could use my glut of bags and she said they would be very useful. Went to drop them off and the person at the till , got really stroppy with me , tutting and sighing at my bag of carriers and said 'Is this all you are donating ? ' . The manager came out of the back and took the bag from the volunteer and explained that they always needed decent carriers .
I do donate other things to this shop on a regular basis , and buy more than I donate

"Why is it relevant whether the area is affluent or is located in the most impoverished town in the country? Charitable donations from the rich aren't any more worthy or kind than donations from the working class."

The donor isn't being any more generous, but the items will raise much more money for the charity.

Most naive and clueless post on here. You're in cloud cuckoo land if you think the charity in question sees more than 20% of the profits. The majority is creamed off and put into the pockets of the fatcats that run it.

No, I'm a charity shop volunteer for one of a large chain. You, on the other hand are downright rude.

Don't you know that all charities have reporting requirements? Annual accounts are submitted, breakdowns are issued to stores about the turnover of the shop, the overheads and the surplus - all of which goes to the good causes. In fact it's more complicated than that - if you put money in the donation tin on the till that isn't factored into the store takings so an even higher percentage of that goes to good causes. If you'd bothered to check, the charity "industry standard" of what percentage of income is used directly for good causes is 75% plus. The figures are our there if you can be bothered to Google.

As for "creaming off to pay the fat cats" well that's a whole other argument. I personally believe that if you want to run a successful charity with international operations and hundreds of shops you need to pay people to do that. Charities don't run on fresh air and goodwill. You just sound very negative and twisted about the whole charity sector, tbh.

"I'm hoping those people really are there voluntarily and not on some version of workfare."

A friend of mine did workfare at a charity. She was fine about it, but I remember thinking if it was me I'd go in an wear a T-shirt saying I was forced to work there. (Would have probably got sacked and lost my benefits though).

I have been volunteering in a large chain for a year and we've had one person working as part of a Job Centre programme. She was there for a week, no longer. As for the "probably volunteering because they can't get a proper job" - so not the case.

Our volunteers are split into three main groups - retired people, students or schoolkids doing their Duke of Edinburgh award, and stay at home mums whose children are now in school or Uni. Lots of them work part time or volunteer elsewhere too. We also have one volunteer with additional needs, this is quite clear when you speak to him and yes he can be quite rude as he says what he is thinking at all times without filtering if he is stressed or upset.

I started in the shop I volunteer on via the Work Experience at the Job Centre. For 8 weeks I done 16 hours over 4 days . That finished in October but I stayed on .. Do alternate Tuesday mornings and a few hours Friday mornings now. To be honest it helps with my depression too , far more than sitting idoors moping does. I enjoy it .

The carrier bags post . Strangely enough a lady I was serving asked if we needed a load , I checked with the manager who said no thank you to the customer .

Yea you would have been sanctioned Gwenhwyfar . We have no choices there.

when i worked in mental health several of the clients were charity shop volunteers.
my dm is a volunteer, in the back office, sorting as she wouldnt want to be out in the front since the staff tend to annoy her with their gossiping.
she said they also have those sent there by the job centre.

so i try and remember to be a bit tolerant of the workers there, although have in the past been offended when donating.
I leave donations in donation bins now, or give to my DM

there is one charity shop i no longer frequent, sadly because it is quite good, but i bought something but didnt like it, took it back and the manager there was very rude about me bringing it back. i had to change it for different items and ended up getting more than my money's worth as she was so argumentative, refused to give me any change but insisted i swap it all and then just gave me extra items!

My sister volunteers 20 hours per week at a charity shop. She rarely buys anything but if she did see something she likes I think she deserves the chance to pick it before the public.

YANBU. I work for a charity and we do have a wee shop staffed by us and volunteers with special needs. We receive some amazing stuff and some disgusting stuff fit for the dump. But we are grateful for everything and have an informal policy of accepting everything then waiting until donater has left before we skip the rubbish. (We're not that fussy but have trading standards to adhere to). We have also been accused of cherry picking the good stuff so we do our best to be fair and ensure that we don't cherry pick. Our volunteers are gold, the heart and soul of the place and like us are trained in customer service. I hate going in to other charity shops and being treated rudely. We have some customers who are twats, it happens. But we are never rude. OP, YANBU. Charity shops can be big business but no excuse to be rude.

Also we don't do gift aid. FML, I hate those forms!!

ControlledAdult Child . . I hate , hate asking if they do gift aid . One lady said quietly "I do not work so pay no tax" .. I felt awful for her as its an ask not a requirement to Gift Aid !
Another Gift Aid issue we tend to have , and it may be same in other charity shops , is that people bring in a donation and slap their Gift Aid info on a bag and there is no record of them in our files . We need their file as it has the bar codes needed for each item they donate via gift aid. Manger thinks they gift aid for another charity and think its across the board in all charity shops

When did donors turn into donators?

Agree with RachelRagged - gift aid is a pain but we have to ask everyone as it's 25% extra on top of what things sell for which makes a huge difference. If asked you don't have to say you don't work - lots of our donors are retired or SAHM so aren't tax payers. There's no shame in it! But we have to ask.

Also agree that often people say they are registered with us for Gift Aid, we take their name and postcode but can't find them on the computer. There is a misconception that if you're registered with for example British Heart Foundation, that the same number will work in Shelter, Marie Curie and Cancer Research, where it won't.

In our chain stores are targeted on gift aid sign ups and percentage of sales which are gift aided and it's something the area manager is always banging on about.

In my experience too some people are suspicious of Gift Aid forms - they think filling one in gets them on a call list where they'll be bombarded with calls and letters asking them to give more. Our charity doesn't do that, but there has been a lot of negative publicity around cold calling and the "hard sell" from charities in the press over the last years and I think it worries people.

"if she did see something she likes I think she deserves the chance to pick it before the public."

Absolutely, perk of the job especially as the volunteers aren't paid.

"Yea you would have been sanctioned Gwenhwyfar . We have no choices there."

Then I would probably take it out on the customers. I promise you that if I was forced to work for no wages, I'd find some way to make my displeasure known.

Indeed ControlledAdultChild

I smile, process the goods, thank them and give their change . I have also, in the past, tried on a leather biker jacket for a customer to give him an idea if it would fit his wife .

The only things I have issues with are the hanging mannequins . Luckily I do not dress them though but , as with the biker jacket, had to get it off it and on again.

People return things to charity shops that they bought but decided they don't like and expect a refund!?

Also, I have moved away from England and this thread makes me smile - it is the most British thread ever.

Is this me you are questioning MRs Grumpy?
it wasnt a clothign item, it was £12. which I can't afford to write off