I got yelled at today by the Goodwill Box attendant.

[KitchenWitch]

:eyes:

I brought a bunch of stuff to the Goodwill Box today, and carried it there in a tub (which I wanted back). The attendant yelled at me for wanting my tub back...

:wtf:

[uppityperson]

1. I lost a pair of sunglasses in a goodwill once.

put them on the counter for just a minute and they were sold to someone else.

[Quantess]

16. I think I bought them! Olive green, big eyed, calvin klein?

I always wondered how those great sunglasses ended up at Goodwill...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Talk about them being greedy!

If it isn't nailed down....then it's fair game? WTF indeed! :wtf:

[KitchenWitch]

3. No kidding.

I did snark right back at him, saying something to the effect of, "This is how I get treated when I am GIVING. Next time, I will call one of the charities that will come to my house to pick up my stuff."

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

4. I'd just give to charities if I was you Kitchenwitch

I remember reading somewhere that the CEO of goodwill made like 3 million a year and half the board where related. I'll give to a homeless sheltor or church before them.

[Zookeeper]

5. The charities in our area that pick up....

sell the donations by the truckload to private companies.

I know of one thrift store that buys goods from Epilepsy Foundation (and other) donations, picks through them to find antiques and collectibles for their antique business, then sells the rest through their thrift store.

I always take my stuff to Goodwill, simply because (as I understand it) they do some job training.

[graywarrior]

6. Don't get me started on Goodwill. I used to work for them.

Grrrrrrrr

[raccoon]

7. I would like to get you started. Would you share some experiences with us? nt

[jilln]

10. I agree.

I bring quite a lot of stuff there because it's easy and they give me a receipt for taxes. If there's something bad I'd like to know so I can find somewhere else.

[graywarrior]

19. Well, it's different in every state.

Each location has a different CEO, so they don't exactly run by the same philosophy. The CEO I worked under runs several Goodwills and is expanding across the country sort of taking over other Goodwills, or at least training them his way.

They hire people who cannot get jobs anywhere else: ex-prisoners, recovering (sometimes) alcoholics, drug addicts, people with no education. That's a good thing. However, they do not train them very well in dealing with their co-workers, they pay them low wages (even tho they brag they pay above minimum wage-that all depends on how smart you are to demand the higher wage). Their pay rates when I was there were inconsistent across the board. People who had been there several years were still making &7.00 while new employees in the same postition would get $9.00. They put extreme pressure on managers and assistant managers and are always looking to fire them for stealing, when in fact, it stealing is a way of life and all too easy.

Let me put it this way, the CEO I know makes close to a million a year. Meanwhile, managers work under extreme conditions with difficult employees and get nothing compared to what they should. Health benefits suck.

I never donate to Goodwill. I only donate to Habitat for Humanity now. Goodwill is a huge industry that makes tons of money, a lot of it going to executive management. They'll argue that, but I researched their 990's and was amazed at the top 5 salaries. One of the reasons I quit.

My 2 cents, for all it's worth.

[Phillycat]

20. Hey, whoa, hold up.

I am a recovering alcoholic and I don't exactly fit into the category of people with "no education" or active drug addicts. I work for one of the top 10 hospitals in the country in a management position.

Recovering alcoholics are the same as anyone else - in fact, they may be MORE likely to have high-powered jobs, because they have consistently tested with higher IQ's than the average population.

Just clearing that up.

[graywarrior]

21. So am I, 20 years coming up. I am not talking about people in revocery.

Keyword here is (sometimes). Most times, they are not really in recovery. Managers really don't know who is in recovery, that's confidential. HOWEVER, I know several people who's anonymity was blown because a job coach could not shut up.

You never really knew who the people with good recovery were because they didn't have the need to tell you.

[Phillycat]

22. More like, placements out of rehabs/halfway houses?

Gotcha, thanks for clearing that up. And congrats! (Me - 3 years in October).

[graywarrior]

23. Nice. A bunch of 24 hours is such a good thing.

K.I.S.S.

[Phillycat]

25. I try to!

Nothing like my brain to complicate some shit up, I'll tell ya. :D

[graywarrior]

27. Yeah, well it ain't up to you, is it?

[grasswire]

12. here's what I suspect

I suspect that they are skimming the best of the antique and collectibles donations off and selling them to dealers rather than putting them in the thrift shops.

I suspect that some of the best stuff goes home with the staff.

I know that the prices of furniture and some other household items are too high to help people who really need furniture and household goods -- the administrative costs require certain policies that benefit the institution, not the needy.

[LostinVA]

13. You're right on all three -- I know this for a fact

A close friend volunteered for them, and everything you just stated happened there... especially the staff taking stuff home.

[xmas74]

14. I know someone who volunteered in one

and they do skim the best clothes, kitchen supplies, etc.

Antiques are often sold to someone outside of the store while clothes and other things go home w/ the employees and volunteers.

[grasswire]

24. someone needs to do an expose

There's a lot of scandalous stuff involved, I'm sure.

[xmas74]

26. My friend was really surprised

when she saw it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. We were just in a Salvation Army store today. They had a chest of

drawers priced at $599 that I remember seeing at Big Lots for $279. :eyes:

I did get a Wham! Make it Big tape for 49 cents though! :woohoo:

[Left Is Write]

8. What?

I'll bet you wanted to keep the car you drove it there in too!

[KitchenWitch]

30. Why yes I did, selfish bitch that I am!

:rofl:

[wildhorses]

9. -- and so the season of peace on earth, "good will" to men

begins :eyes:

[billyskank]

11. But not to witches

specially of the kitchen variety. ;)

[ThomCat]

15. No good deed goes unpunished

x(

[jakefrep]

17. What an ingrate

I bet he or she needed the tub.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. I'll bet you were so greedy that you kept the clothes you were wearing.

I've got my eye on you... :D

[yellowcanine]

33. Proly makes change from the offering plate also.

[SoyCat]

28. Yep; an attendant grouched at me for wanting to keep my

laundry basket. I think they tell them to ask for everything they can get.
:shrug:

[graywarrior]

29. Actually, it's probably the first job they had that they have some authority.

[yellowcanine]

32. Maybe he wanted the tub for himself. It happens.