Bad Newton Abbot charity shop experience

By jennifer2009 | Thursday, January 21, 2010, 11:37

Yesterday I went to a charity shop in Queen Street and dropped off a nice coat which is of very quality and in great condition.

After handing over the garment to two ladies behind the counter and heading outside – I overheard one of the woman say something along the lines of “Has she gone yet? I’m going to try this on”.

Very annoyed, I went back and told them that it was to be sold on the shop floor for charity and NOT FOR THEM! They looked a little sheepish and didn’t say too much.

Does this sort of thing go on a lot? Has anyone had similar experiences?

Maybe I’m being naïve but I was shocked that such people, who are supposed to be going a good deed, would be using it as a mirage to steal from people.

I won’t name the shop but I’ll be writing to their head office too.

Re-post Write a story

Ads by Google

Comments

That's strange because there is the exact same post on the Exmouth site, word for word. Spooky to have EXACTLY the same thing happen, word for word, in two completely different places!
http://tinyurl.com/674p63u

Either this is totally fabricated or a serious case of Deja Vu ?

By worktoohard09 at 12:19 on 09/07/11
Report
I have seen dealers going into back rooms at charity shops, to have a chance at buying a bargain, before the general public get a chance

By merrysmate at 21:12 on 04/07/10
Report
I have seen dealers going into back rooms of some charity shops, to have first choice of pictures whatever,they know the real value of some items

By merrysmate at 21:09 on 04/07/10
Report
I agree with esther. I should also say that I've worked in charity shops before and have never known staff taking goods for themselves without paying.

By chrissyh1 at 17:40 on 25/01/10
Report
I work for a local animal charity, and our shop volunteers are required to pay for goods taken from the shop, just like any other customer. I know some shops operate a discount policy, but it's pretty minimal.

I suspect that the only real perk of the 'job' is that they get first dibs on goods, but the manager will often balance that out with the need to sell a good proportion of high quality goods in store, so that customers see variety and will return.

It's quite possible that in the incident you witnessed, she was indeed intending to pay for it. She was probably just waiting until you left in case it didn't look professional for her to purchase it herself.

By esther77 at 21:45 on 22/01/10
Report