charity ? too fussy by anybodies standards

Old_Git

a local charity shop helped me move furniture from my flat to my house for free . I did donate some items at the other end .

Actually I bought a leather suite off furniture last week from action cancer .
As new condition £270 .

GiveItBack

Pennylane wrote: »

I also have a friend who works in a charity shop and someone donated a virtually brand new lightweight wheelchair. Lovely condition and she reckoned it was around £650mark new.

Pennylane wrote: »

The shop manager said they couldn't sell it because they didn't have room. My friend thought this was terrible and offered to take it to the local cottage hospital. A couple of nurses looked at her blankly and didn't know what to do. Then she saw a porter she knew and he said he'd deal with it.

A few weeks later she saw him and asked what happened to it and he said he was told to dump it. Remember we are talking about an As New item not a rickety old ancient thing, otherwise she would have just dumped it herself.

I've been thinking abut this one, and I suspect that due to the risks involved, and the posibility that not having known the background of the equipment, then since there was the possibility something could have gone wrong with it, their internal rules said not to use it.

The best thing, though would have been to contact you / the donor, as you might have wished to sell it.

linmad wrote: »

i would just like to make clear that the referance to the shiny new car was my way of saying that the behaviour of some of the larger charities makes one wonder how much of the money they collect goes towards keeping big expensive offices and staff comfortable.

I agree, staff should be kept as uncomfortable as possible for choosing to work for a charity...

oldtoolie wrote: »

Wouldn't it be nice if we would all just be nice?

YES!!!

SendACow wrote: »

Some charities are very picky on items but i think each charity needs to let their donors know that all thoughts with regards to donating items should be handled ina polite manner and never with disregard to where or whom those gifts have come from.

YES!! I agree absolutely. Charities (and by this their staff and volunteers),need to be able to be appreciative, even when things can’t be used. Firmly but kindly/politely refuse items if necessary.

purplebutterfly wrote: »

It is just disgraceful that any charity would deliberately wish to prevent another from raising money - even off things it doesn't want!

Agreed, they need rules to make sure things aren't abused, but some common sense would be good, from all parties involved...

Old_Git wrote: »

a local charity shop helped me move furniture from my flat to my house for free . I did donate some items at the other end .

That's a nifty idea - I wonder if it works out well for them..

Hermia

purplebutterfly wrote: »

Across the road (less than 1 min walk away) there is a BHF, Oxfam, Red Cross and Barnardos. When he said he would take them there instead of binning them he was told that it was against regulations to "help the competition" :eek:

What a terrible attitude! I can't believe they wouldn't want to help another charity if they couldn't use something?!

I do not take anything to my local BHF shop anymore. They are forever turning things away and constantly changing the rules. They also don't seem to have been taught useful phrases like "please" and "thank you"... I once took two big bags of brand new recently-published hardback books. I had phoned beforehand and they said I could bring them, but when I got there they said they had just had a lot of books brought in so I couldn't leave them. They told me I could try bringing them in another time and seemed surprised that I wasn't willing to drag them home again. The worst thing is they are very dismissive of any items that they don't know about. I took a pile of Bollywood DVDs in and the woman turned up her nose at them and said no one would buy them. I pointed out to her that the shop was located right in the middle of an Asian area which meant there were a lot of potential customers walking past! A friend who took some Asian clothes in had a similar experience.

I think it's a real shame that charity shops now have to be so health and safety obsessed. So many of them seem to turn down so many perfectly good items because of health and safety concerns. I took some cuddly toys I had won in a competition in to a local shop. They were brand name and very popular. They had tags on and all the appropriate safety information. The shop wouldn't take them though incase a child caught an infection from one! They had a no toys policy which is such a shame for any kids from poor families.

lolababy

Hi Id put things on the freecycle site. Iv given lots of things away through them and people pick them up from you. I know what you mean about fussy charity shops and Iv also found some charging the earth for second hand clothing.

Old_Git

is it acceptable to haggle prices in Charity shops

GiveItBack

Old_Git wrote: »

is it acceptable to haggle prices in Charity shops

you could try, but not many go for the idea.

having said that, one did run a pay what you please trial.
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/inyourtown/melkshamnews/4086164.Charity_shop_s_recession_experiment/


http://www.queerideas.co.uk/my_weblog/shops-experiment/

fifipat

I use freecycle on Yahoo to give unwanted items a new home. The items are listed as 'Offered' and you are emailed with those interested and they make arrangements to collect. There are freecycle groups all over the country.

Savvy_Sue

Old_Git wrote: »

is it acceptable to haggle prices in Charity shops

I've heard people trying it, and they are not usually successful. However, if the customer spots a stain or damage to the garment and the manager is there, that usually works! But non-managers don't usually have any discretion.

Given that many of the 'staff' are volunteers, I don't think it's fair to try to haggle unless there IS some previously unnoticed damage.

symikins

lve always used charity shops for years , donating and buying , now im unemployed they are even more important , however some are getting a bit above themselves, the bhf and cancer research are 2 that are uppermost in my mind , you know l actually found a second hand top from primark that was cost more than a new one in store !!! and thats not just an isolated incident .

l rarely go in those ones now , which is a shame for them as they are such worthy causes which sadly touches most of us at some time in our lives..

miss_corerupted

Where i live i won't go into the barnardos shop purely because of the attiude of the staff, last time i went in she shouted at a 1 yr old boy because he picked up a toy to look at!! And they can be more expensive than new