Charity Shop Staff

[FlexibleShirking]

Took a donation into a charity shop earlier, big bag of clothes. Two older women at the counter, one of whom was clearly new to volunteering there as she needed guidance from the other about gift aid and the procedure.

The new person was very pleasant but the other was horrendous. Short both to me and the new volunteer, audibly tutting when she could find the gift aid form, and then grabbing it out of her hand. Then directing me exactly what to write. The new volunteer looked quite embarrassed.

AIBU to wonder why you’d conduct yourself like that to anyone? If it pisses her off so much, she needn’t volunteer. Just weird and I felt sorry for the other person.

My DD buys a lot at charity shops and says they are generally not very nice. She was thinking of volunteering herself last year but said she couldn't work with those people!

@A@AnAlpacaForChristmasPleaseSanta

We had this behaviour when giving some of my late mum's stuff to a charity shop. What a difference to the Sally Army who gratefully received 11 bags of my dad's clothes (including loads of ties he no longer wore after retiring!!).

From the other side (and I'm always polite) people donating rubbish only fit for the tip is costing us a fortune. Unfortunately we can no longer send clothes for rags either as apparently the main players have stopped.

We can only sell items that are undamaged and fit to be sold without being washed (a quick wipe of plastic toys is ok) someone tried to donate a bike today in pieces in a black sack, he was offended that i wouldn't accept it - we don't sell adult bikes ever and certainly not "projects", another person tried to donated 25 bags cleared from her mums, first bag was underwear - we can't take it, end of because British buyers will only buy clothes in very good condition and certainly not underwear!

@Deathraystare Yeah I don't expect effusive gratitude, either "great thanks/sorry not for us" but it's like some people don't realise that donations are what their shop stock is made up of. If people get fed up of being treated like they're being a huge pain and stop donating stuff then what do they think they'll have to sell?!

Ok better to bin donations then.. won't bother dropping now.. luckily the charity shops near us are nicer than you...thinking Oxfam or another one you work in.. donate local or the community centers or the supermakets..

What a ridiculously rude response to a thoughtful and educational post! I once collected for Ukrainian women-the request was unused underwear and sleepwear. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff people put in-stained and ripped knickers, dirty, grey bras…..luckily there was a small amount of decent stuff!!

@NatalieMars nope, but I wouldn't be disappointed with a fanfare and maybe a squad of cheerleaders! 🤣.

Some.people
are ok some aren't serving in shops generally not just

charity shops. What ithink need to change is the overpriced

Second hand clothes and shoes. The goods are donated
And those using the shops want to save money What's wrong with
charity shops being pound shop charity shops

Rather than being rude to me (as I wasn't engaging/purchasing/donating), one of the disturbing things I have witnessed several times and in different shops, is the awful bitching about another member of the team. I did hang around long enough to know that's what they were doing.
It made me sad. They were older women, and I wonder if that is just/has been usual for them.

I tried to catch their eye - but they were too engrossed.
(And I am older too - just not as old as they seemed.)

Volunteer in Oxfam, older woman, did not have learning difficulties, was incredibly rude to me when I brought in some great donations. I was not only an inconvenience but she raised her voice to me in front of other customers- I was disgusted and complained to the area Manager via their HQ, got a lukewarm apology only when I chased it up saying I would go to the CEO instead. Never donated or browsed there again.

I don't donate to charity shops anymore. There are companies who will come to your door and collect bags of clothes for charities and that is so much more convenient for me so I do that instead.

What do you mean by this judgemental comment?

My local hospice charity shop is staffed by retired women with a manager who never comes out. A lot of them seem nervous using the electronic tills and I often think they’ve never worked directly with the public (always a challenge!) and don’t have much IT experience. This can make them nervous, irritable or snappy depending on their general demeanour. They’ve also clearly been told not to make decisions themselves so daren’t step out of line.

The charity shops round us are so expensive. Our council recently opened a reuse shop and it's so much more affordable so no I donate and buy from them 💕

I run a charity shop for mother and child, I train and consult with charities and I have volunteered for over 30 years and unfortunately I see and witness this type of poor behaviour time and time again.

it boils down to poor volunteer leadership and management.

often managers are low paid or volunteers themselves and just don’t know how to deal with these characters. So they don’t.

it’s like the rude lady you know in accounting in the office - everyone just tuts and rolls their eyes about her - but no one deals with it.

dealing with conflict and difficult people - isn’t just necessary training for dealing with the public - it’s also for dealing with volunteers.

The other thing is folks keep thinking - oh but she’s volunteering so we can’t treat this like an hr thing and have a word or ask her to leave - absolutely can if nothing else works.

and some charities are on their knees begging for volunteers so will just keep the toxic ones they have for fear of having no one. But then often it’s the toxic ones attitude that puts of customers etc from enquiring about volunteering.

And finally - I will often type up/voice dictate some feedback (aim for some positive and constructive/ negative balance - shit sandwich) and send to head office so they know what the customers are experiencing.

so much more to rant about this but food to cook!

This is an example of how unnecessarily rude some people are.

Has anyone used Anglo doorstep collections?

There is a chap who works in one of my local charity shops. His only purpose is to greet and say goodbye to customers. He has some form of disability that affects his speech and walking.
He must get fed up with some people, like me, who go in, zoom around looking for something specific and zoom out again.

There is a hospice one near me and on the rare occasion i take stuff in i get the kind of response you would expect from handing them a bag of dog crap.
My bit of a silver fox husband gets the total opposite and they always take his stuff with a smile 🙄

Why is it judgemental? It's a simple fact! People helping in charity shops as part of their community service are not doing it out of the goodness of their heart or want to be helpful, they're doing it as an alternative to litter picking or removing graffiti etc for as many hours as they are required to do for their sentence. Unsurprisingly they're unlikely to have the most positive attitude towards the work or customers.

Ooh a charity shop volunteer bashing thread..makes a change from the charity shop selling a bobbly primark jumper for £10 thread which appears every six weeks or so….

I witnessed the bitching of another member of the team too. They were talking quite loudly (1M + 1F) as though they wanted this 3rd person to hear, them at one end of the shop and me at the other. I went to pay for my goods and told them I'd heard what they said, was, as a customer, embarrassed at being drawn into the conversation this way, and was mortified for the staff member they were talking of. I then asked how they would feel if they had been the person being talked about. I also suggested that they were not being positive ambassadors for the charity and that I wouldn't be returning.

They were both scarlet faced and muttered apologies whilst looking at the floor as I left. Really awful, but yes, I think they do need pulling up on stuff like this.

I got a brand new scarf yesterday - beige cotton blend, few pearls dotted at each end. I paid £5, but as it was Primark, it probably cost the same in the store, but saved the massive queues, which I would never go near anyway.
Also a small footstool with one broken hinge (that I have fixed already), with which I plan to try my hand at reupholstering (before attempting my ancient piano stool, and equally ancient Lloyd Loom chair) with a lovely olive velvet, which also came from a charity shop.
My closest one is Mind, and I think that the volunteers there are users of the Service. They don't engage in the most friendly way, and the Manager is quite impatient from what I have seen.
Nothing bad enough yet for me to boycott - and I am in there a couple of times a week, looking for bird and hedgehog bowls.

in the national charity I worked those on community service were not allowed to work on shop floor