charity ? too fussy by anybodies standards

GiveItBack

Hermia wrote: »

I do agree. I appreciate how hard it is to get volunteers, but it's unpleasant being served by someone who has such appalling customer service skills that they would never be given a paid job in a shop. There is a ghastly woman in a charity shop near me. On one occasion she was loudly slagging off "pakis" when I was in the shop. On another occasion I went in with a black friend and she followed him around the shop and then pretty much accused him of shoplifting! I complained about her and the woman I spoke to just said it was hard getting volunteers. Surely it's better to be a volunteer short than be in danger of having serious complaints made?!

In this example, I'd complain to the charity's head office - they may have a retail team or a volunteer lead. often the shop managers (who usually get rubbish pay), don't have the skills to properly manage / discipline etc volunteers.

The shop manager in this example seems to look at the small view - I need volunteers, the charity should look at the big view - we need this charity to have successful shops that bring in an income.

Savvy_Sue

Agree with GiveItBack: we don't run a shop but we do use a lot of volunteers. On the rare occasions we have 'issues' we deal with them head on. If that means we lose a volunteer, that's unfortunate, but if they can't or won't change, they can't carry on volunteering with us.

remembered_nights

As there are some charity shop workers posting on this thread there are a few questions I'd like to ask:-

Why do charity shops no longer use the "pile them high and sell them cheap" mentality? Also, why do they charge more for items than they would cost brand new?

Because it isn't cost-effective and raises less money for the charity. Each section of the shop needs to bring in an amount of money to off-set the rent, running costs etc as well as make profit for the charity. The second is (at least in our shop) only ever a mistake. We do have guides to follow but stuff slips through.

Why are books so over-priced? Why are ties and scarves so over-priced?

Our books are 99p - 1.99 and we only put out the best condition ones. When the same book is 7.99 new that doesn't seem expensive to me. If the books are tatty I wouldn't expect the same prices though.

I simply won't pay £2.95 for a t-shirt in a charity shop when I can buy one brand new for less money at many, many other stores.

Doesn't that depend on the quality though? 2.95 for a t-shirt that cost £5 yeah, but 2.95 when it first cost £15 is different.

Maybe I'm the one in the wrong, and the shops are earning loads of money for their charities - I'd love to know if that's true.

I'd also like to suggest to some charity shops that you "fire" the volunteers who aren't useful. One of my local shops has the most ignorant, unfriendly, unhelpful volunteers I have ever come across - I no longer go in there because of them.

It's really hard for managers to get rid of volunteers! And most shops are desperate for staff. You might say it's better to get rid of that person, but getting rid of one person could easily lead to the shop having to close during their shifts instead... I would think that loses a whole lot more money than a rude volunteer. I think a lot of managers feel they can't 'tell off' staff too because they volunteer.

Savvy_Sue

remembered_nights wrote: »

It's really hard for managers to get rid of volunteers! And most shops are desperate for staff. You might say it's better to get rid of that person, but getting rid of one person could easily lead to the shop having to close during their shifts instead... I would think that loses a whole lot more money than a rude volunteer. I think a lot of managers feel they can't 'tell off' staff too because they volunteer.

Was talking to DH about this, and he said "but isn't there a risk that a rude volunteer is actually putting off other people from volunteering?" In Hermia's example, that volunteer is probably closing off whole groups of people who might otherwise volunteer, never mind losing business.

It's also possible to have a 'contract' with volunteers: we have a couple of sheets - what we expect of you, and what you can expect from us.

Where DH works, many of their volunteers are former service users - people who have or have had 'life-disrupting problems' - substance misuse, homelessness, mental health problems etc. That doesn't always make them easy to 'manage' or work with. Allowances are made - but that doesn't mean that they're not challenged when their attitudes or actions aren't appropriate! Sometimes they stomp off, vowing never to return - and that's unfortunate. But if their inappropriate actions are never challenged, nothing changes.

BTW, I never said it was easy to manage volunteers. But I don't think that's an adequate reason for not doing it.

Hermia

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Was talking to DH about this, and he said "but isn't there a risk that a rude volunteer is actually putting off other people from volunteering?" In Hermia's example, that volunteer is probably closing off whole groups of people who might otherwise volunteer, never mind losing business.

Your point is very relevant because the nasty woman in my local charity shop was discussing the fact that an Asian woman had enquired about doing voluntary work in the shop. The shop is in a multicultural area and so she could put off a lot of potential volunteers and customers. I think the threat to the shop's image is one of the biggest concerns. I can imagine our local paper would happily print a letter from an offended local. This woman always seems to be criticising some group when I go in there and she has an amazingly loud voice so I imagine the shop is going to be subject to a serious complaint at some point.

GiveItBack

This is exactly the sort of thing that the charity REALLY needs to know, Hermia. It's so easy for charities to be harmed by one person's actions, and at the end of the day it's the people that the charity help who lose out.

ab48uk

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.

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. :mad:

As an occasional wheelchair user, I find this very upsetting. People like me would be more than happy to pay £50 - £100 for that wheelchair.

In this situation one could try the Red Cross, Macmillan Cancer Nurses, local hospices or elderly persons homes.

As the item was virtually brand new, its difficult to see why it would be rejected by anyone on Health & Safety grounds.

MarzipanFish

I'm trying to clear out some of my old clothes & things but i'm not sure what stuff a charity shop will want and don't want to just be dumping a load of rubbish on them.

Can anyone advise me on whether they would be able to sell any of the following. I'll just fill up my own bin instead if not!
- trousers that are a bit frayed at the bottom
- unused toiletries / make up gift packs
- packs of hair accessories
- earings & jewellery (i'd disinfect the earings but i don't know if regs prevent them being taken)

rarrarrar

Can anyone advise me on whether they would be able to sell any of the following. I'll just fill up my own bin instead if not!
- trousers that are a bit frayed at the bottom Not sellable -will recycle
- unused toiletries / make up gift packs Only if packs are sealed
- packs of hair accessories Probably not
- earings & jewellery Yes

Based on the shop I work at. !

pineapple123

With regret I dont donate to charity shops anymore, since I had several bags of good clean clothing that was refused from several well known ones, the reply was to me 'we get plenty of clothes, we dont need them'
eventually the salvation army shop was really pleased to accept them.
Nowadays I have donated clothing/shoes via a friend to a local homeless shelter, who are always grateful, furniture to local reclaim charity who sell items cheap to low income families, and my local hospital who have a stall with all procees going to local good causes.
In the past I have also had car boot sales in aid of local hospital funds .
Anything like wheelchairs could be donated to the Red cross who also loan out equipment, and do a great service.
Was told many years ago from a reliable source that some (not all)charities only manage to give 20% of donation to the cause the rest is wages and admin etc. I found this shocking and hope that this no longer exists, but suspect it does.