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.

She may not be a volunteer, store managers can be paid. Shame she treated you like that. Hopefully it's a charity close to your heart and you still wish to donate. I love the letters I get every so often from the British Heart Foundation telling me how much my items have made for them.

If you really "love" the charity who do you think you're punishing here?

🥱 So hackneyed. You do get they are actually working, it's hard work. The volunteers you see on the till are often not sorting the donations, they are on the till. If they want to buy something they like they absolutely can just as you can. For what it's worth the thing they want " first dibs" on ( ick) may be something that next person isnt interested in. Boring.

Answer, you don't.

No need to be so churlish. You are not the charity. Charity shops are not merely free waste disposal.

I recently dragged a massive bag of good quality clothes to a charity shop. All washed and folded neatly. I brought it in and the women looked up and said “take it round to the other side of the stop and throw it in the blue bin”

this bin was massive like twice the height of a shop industrial bin. I am heavily pregnant and just looked at her and said “I obviously won’t be doing that. Shall I take the donations elsewhere”

que withering look.

she was so rude and not even so much as a thank you

Everyone has a choice about where to shop. Nobody has to put up with aspects of a shopping experience that put them off. Nobody owes their custom to a certain shop. Charities would do well to remember that.

I found the same with a paid member of staff who was downright obnoxious that I packed it in, which was a pity as I like talking to people.

This. I'm not asking for a kidney, just some basic manners.

I haven't but would recommend Redonate if you're within one of the areas they cover. So much easier than lugging stuff to a charity shop.

Everyone saying ‘just put it in the charity bin at the supermarket’ should be aware that these are run by commercial companies who sort the clothes into resale and disposal. Many of the resales end up in Eastern Europe, where they are sold for a profit.

The operators pay a ( not very large) percentage of the profits to the charities who are the ‘front’ for the service.

I think this is a lovely thing to say. Why would you take it any other way??

I was in our local PDSA & bought 2 charity birthday cards. The lady behind the till asked if I would round up (by about 75p!) to £3. I said no. She practically threw the cards at me & said nothing else. I just said thank you as loud & jolly as I could 😀

Yes, same here. There was one shop where the staff were not pleasant and not helpful or grateful if you donated items. I stopped bothering with them (they closed down eventually).

@MrsGrimshaw how is asking a customer if they are going to a party patronising them?
I’m a charity shop volunteer and often make comments like this to customers…seems whatever we do is rude or patronising. That is when we are not stealing all the best bits for our selves…

I used to volunteer at the Salvation Army. The majority of our donations were via the bins located in supermarket car-parks. We sorted them out ourselves . They would sometimes arrive soaked due to the weather and thus unsellable . I'd suggest double bagging if you choose this route to donate.

She’s the one in the wrong!

Again, u r being very judgemental.People who have made mistakes need to be given the opportunity to reintegrate back into society with appropriate support.Your post is loaded with bias.

I actually don't care whether you or anyone else thinks I'm judgemental and I stand by my above comments. I agree I am negatively biased towards criminals and don't have a problem with feeling like that.

It’s a Mumsnet thing. People on here are neurotic to the point of never answering their front door and consider people telephoning them to be rude. In the real world people would take it for the friendly small talk it was intended to be.

I respect your opinion . I hope you are not involved in any recruitment or resettlement processes in your line of work, that would be seriously worrying.
My work and life experiences influence my views which I resolutely stand by.
Unconscious bias/equality and diversity training is a mandatory training tool in my industry, I found it very helpful

Lovely post. I frequently donate to charity shops and the staff have all been lovely.
Thank you to all charity shop volunteers

Fuck me, people are so rude about those of us who choose to volunteer.

I am not volunteering because "I want to be as unpleasant as I was when working".
I am not volunteering because I have a learning disability.
I am not volunteering because I have a "sad, empty life".
I am not volunteering because I want "first dibs on anything decent".
I am not volunteering because I am a criminal doing community service.

I have volunteered in 2 different charity shops over the course of over 10 years and have worked with probably 100 different volunteers. I have worked with 2 people who have learning disabilities and this would have been obvious to anyone who interacted with them. I have never volunteered with anyone who fits into any of the other categories, yet in MN-world, every charity shop is staffed by criminals, people stealing all the "good stuff", and people who are just downright nasty.

Sneering at volunteers is not a good look. You are only seeing a snapshot of one volunteer's day, one interaction. You have no idea if this is what she is like all the time, or what had happened immediately before you walked into the store.

Really think people who think charity shops are filled with old dragons and criminals would benefit from giving a few hours and seeing the reality.

Lol!
I’ve been in the antiques trade for twenty years, I know a number dealers who wormed their way onto charity shops staff in ‘good’ areas to do just that, or foster a cosy relationship with staff so they ‘put things aside’ for them. Don’t pretend it doesn’t happen.

We have a regular antique dealer who comes round, he pays the price we ask him to pay and yes we put things aside for him which we think he'd like. Because it maximises funds doing it that way rather than taking it to auction or putting it online, or having it sitting in the shop for weeks waiting for someone to come in wanting to spend £80 on a clock.

We do exactly the same in the shop where I volunteer.