To think this charity shop was ridiculous?

[EmptyTheFrickingBins]

Have a fridge, freezer and new double mattress to donate to charity. The mattress is genuinely brand new and has never been slept on because I bought it and then was given a new orthopedic one which was more suitable for my poor bad back! I think I laid on it for less than an hour total.

They've just been and I've never had such an awful experience - they refused the fridge and freezer because "the door seals have gone" (they haven't - I've been using both up until last weekend and never had an issue. The freezer is also missing a couple of drawers (movers dropped and broke them but it's never been an issue)

He then called me a liar over saying the mattress is brand new - because unfortunately I snagged it on the door strip getting it out of the bedroom and it has a few small clicks on the cover.

It has really put me off ever trying to donate anything ever again. I don't have much money and could have sold them in Facebook. The fridge and freezer are a few years old so don't look brand new but do work perfectly well. The way he spoke to me made me feel really small and stupid and I hate being called a liar (I'm ND and not being believed is a massive thing for me.)

If anyone wants to know the charity name I'll share it via PM but it is a big name in the town where I live.

Yes they are paid.

They have to factor in their costs, disposal of items if doesn't sell, storage, transportation etc.
Small new fridges are quite cheap now anyways. So many people dump stuff on charity shops which ends up costing the charity money & in landfill / rag.
I fully get that your intentions are good and there was no reason for them to be rude to you.

Could you complain about that to the charity itself not a local branch?

How ungrateful. I sold a bed on ebay once cheap. The guy who collected was just starting out. I think he'd been in prison. I told him the mattress was stained and he didn't care. I also found him a load of sheets etc to go with it. This was 10 years ago and I still remember him. He also drove a very long way to collect my £20 bed ( it was a lovely bed).

These people are employed by the charity, wear branded uniform for the charity and drive a van with the charity logo all over it.

I was curious so I checked our local BHF Furniture shop facebook page. They had a freezer very similar to yours with 3 perfect drawers priced at £50, how much do they think they would be able to sell yours for? They sell beds too but just had to slash the prices of lone mattresses because people don't want them.

Fuck em then

Did you talk to anyone to see if they wanted the donations?

If I saw someone carrying things through I'd presume my colleagues had already had a conversation with them so I wouldn't necessarily interact with them.

Missing point of thread but I don't understand why you are getting rid of perfectly usable items out of your own choice on one hand but then complaining about charities forcing perfectly usable items into landfill. If they are that usable and you're concerned about the environment why not just keep them?

I'm old fashioned though and only get rid of stuff when it stops working.

It's not the charity shops job to dispose of your unwanted items.

It's their job to make a profit to benefit the cause.

Paid? They were more likely to be volunteers

When we cleared my mother's house a (national) charity came along and took all the furniture, even things we didn't think they would want. Interesting, the way different people's experiences vary.

I couldn’t help feeling offended when I took several bags of sheets and blankets from my late mother’s house to a charity collection point. They were good quality, clean and in good condition so I had no idea they would not be wanted. The man at the collection point just scowled and said, “Put the rags in the bin, ” and pointed at a skip.

I think I must live where you live. There is one big local charity with lots of stores…..but you can’t donate to any of them. There is a (not overly polite) sign outside telling you to take the items to their warehouse, which is only open for a couple of hours on the days it is open…..and the warehouse is only open whilst I’m at work.

If you manage to drive all the way to the warehouse to donate goods they act like they’re doing you a favour and sigh when they see you aren’t giving them brand new Gucci items with tags on.

So, @EmptyTheFrickingBins if your town begins with a W, I totally understand.

Freecycle: Unless they're truly end of life, I list things destined for the tip on my local groups. One man's rubbish is another man's gold (or something like that) and have never yet had someone refuse to take the item they've requested.

I was given a combined fridge freezer which I really needed because of how my kitchen is shaped - my fridge was in front of my freezer which meant every time I wanted to use the freezer I had to slide it out of the way.

And unfortunately the mattress is far too soft for my back!

I offered a piano to the British Heart Foundation, and despite it being in pristine condition, it was rejected. Apparently no-one wants pianos these days. I put it on Freecycle and it went in minutes.

A friend downsized from a 4 bed detached to a one bed flat and the majority of her furniture was declined.
She was really upset, the furniture was good quality and in good condition but apparently not good enough, too old fashioned apparently.

I was in a local charity shop recently and someone came in with a boxed artificial Christmas tree and the woman just said 'we don't take Christmas trees at this time of year, bring it back in December'. She sounded so rude and abrupt.

They are paid by THIS charity. I know this 100% because I used to work for them.

Yes, we had a big name charity refuse a brand new mattress. We gave it and all the other furniture from the house we were clearing to a very small specialist charity. They were really grateful. Gift-aided everything so pleased to know we made them thousands.

🙄🙄🙄

Eh, imo it doesn't matter if they're paid BT the charity or not - they're still representing the "brand" and shouldn't be making anyone feel bad about trying to donate stuff. It's also a bit off to call people liars!

I was in a local charity shop recently and someone came in with a boxed artificial Christmas tree and the woman just said 'we don't take Christmas trees at this time of year, bring it back in December'. She sounded so rude and abrupt.

When it's the third tree you've rejected in a week, it's annoying, Why would anyone think donating a tree in March is a good thing? Put it in your own bin.

It happens constantly, Christmas trees and decorations in March, Halloween decorations in November, we will get Easter decorations next month. They end up in OUR bin costing the charity money to dispose of. The rag man wont even take them.

Still no excuse for rudeness