Possible return of unfriendly, bossy volunteer

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  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,791 Forumite
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    Miss_Heartilly wrote: »
    Very true, but for some reason 9 out of 10 of the customers don't want the receipt. Or they walk away before you can give it to them. So probably wouldn't notice.

    Ask a friend or two to come in and make a purchase and get them to pocket the receipts..
  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 9,976 Forumite
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    silverwhistle wrote: »
    Ask a friend or two to come in and make a purchase and get them to pocket the receipts..

    Yes a bit of mystery shopping could be very revealing.
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  • anamenottaken
    anamenottaken Posts: 4,198 Forumite
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    Miss_Heartilly wrote: »
    . . . so there is times when I am on my own some of the day, sometimes all day. . . . .

    Is there a lone worker policy? Has an assessment been carried out relating to this?
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,931 Forumite
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    Bula_Ciorapescu wrote: »
    Been reading the posts with interest - never thought that things like this would happen in a charity shop!

    Don't know why it would surprise you. Can you see a corner shop owner who needs the takings to feed their family putting up with this? The charity doesn't bother because the people that lose out are the beneficiaries of the charity, and they aren't in a position to complain.

    The fundamental problem is that the store manager or owner is not doing their job. They could do proper accounting which would flag up the discrepancy between the stock going out and the money going in, but they don't. They have the right to install CCTV, but they don't. The OP knows what needs to be done but she doesn't have the power to do any of it. The only thing she can do is allege the theft and she doesn't have any evidence. (Even if she sees Maureen physically doing it, it is still her word against Maureen's.)

    In the OP's position I would be leaving before Maureen tries to pin the thefts on me. If this was her livelihood she would have a dilemma but it isn't.
  • Caroline_a
    Caroline_a Posts: 4,071 Forumite
    Maybe you could go to the manager and tell him the customer's concerns. Say that you hadn't seen it yourself, but felt he should be told in case he wanted to investigate? Then you are only reporting what has been said.
  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,791 Forumite
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    Bula_Ciorapescu wrote: »
    Been reading the posts with interest - never thought that things like this would happen in a charity shop!

    My dad was amazed when he helped mum out at a church jumble that there was still shop-lifting there!
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,557 Forumite
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    silverwhistle wrote: »
    My dad was amazed when he helped mum out at a church jumble that there was still shop-lifting there!

    They were talking about this on our local radio this morning.

    All the charity shops have their donation boxes chained in place because of thieves.

    People take stuff into the changing rooms, put on the 'new' washed and ironed clothes and then come out with their old clothes on the hangers and put them back on the rack so it looks as if they decided not to buy.

    On occasion, people work as teams - one starts chatting to the staff while the other/s look around the shop, pick up things but then walk out without buying anything. Staff later find a pile of hangers in a quiet corner of the shop - the clothes have been pulled off them and stuffed in bags and the hangers discarded.
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,623 Forumite
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    Bula_Ciorapescu wrote: »
    Been reading the posts with interest - never thought that things like this would happen in a charity shop!

    Several years ago OH had a couple of friends who worked in a charity shop. They would often cream off some of the best donations for themselves for free or sell to their friends for a few pence in the till at best.

    Some charity shops are easy to steal from because of hidden corners or inattentive and unaware staff (often elderly). Sometimes the staff are too busy chatting to each other.
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  • Tammykitty
    Tammykitty Posts: 1,005 Forumite
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    Malthusian wrote: »
    Don't know why it would surprise you. Can you see a corner shop owner who needs the takings to feed their family putting up with this? The charity doesn't bother because the people that lose out are the beneficiaries of the charity, and they aren't in a position to complain.

    The fundamental problem is that the store manager or owner is not doing their job. They could do proper accounting which would flag up the discrepancy between the stock going out and the money going in, but they don't. They have the right to install CCTV, but they don't. The OP knows what needs to be done but she doesn't have the power to do any of it. The only thing she can do is allege the theft and she doesn't have any evidence. (Even if she sees Maureen physically doing it, it is still her word against Maureen's.)

    In the OP's position I would be leaving before Maureen tries to pin the thefts on me. If this was her livelihood she would have a dilemma but it isn't.


    Most charity shops, the stock coming in is via donations, and the volunteers sort this and price them and include them in the stock, there is no way of keeping track of stock coming in (Some of the bigger shops do scan the stock as it goes on the shop floor, but most simply have handwritten price labels added)
  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,297 Forumite
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    Miss_Heartilly wrote: »
    I did consider this also.

    Until I realised, strangely that the customers seem to like her. Or at least the regulars do. All the time she's been off at least 6 or 7 people per day will ask "How's Maureen? I hope she's coming back soon.' or 'Isn't Maureen a lovely lady, she's so kind the shop is lucky to have her."

    Urm, if only they knew the real Maureen.

    The nasty bully that I have to work with, maybe they'd soon change their tune.

    From the evidence as you tell it she could be giving customers discounts rather than pocketing any money herself.
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