Volunteer or Scrounger?

BlueBelle

Not like that in our shop we have a strict policy we can buy with the perk of 20p in the pound off discount It is always adhered too and everything goes through the till with a till receipt
Never have anything under the counter at all there’s at least 30 of us and I would trust every one

We had 25p off in the one I volunteered in.
The thing that annoyed me was the managers assistant. SHE would pick out what she thought would be good bags, empty them out onto the sorting table, go through it and get whatever she thought was worth it then just leave the rest to be sorted by the rest of us.
She was meant to sort and price any items she left, but she never did. And she always disappeared off to 'do something important' when it came to needing an extra pair of hands to do anything. She NEVER cleaned the washrooms, would vacuum if she absolutely had to, but sorting or working the till were below her job and if she ever had to do the till she was very rude to people!
I would love to have seen her having to do the 'menial' jobs the rest of us - even the manager - did!

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Unfortunately I think the behaviour described is more prevalent in the national charity shops. I work for a small group of shops in aid of a local charity. Many of our volunteers have an emotional attachment to the charity. All goods have to be priced by a Manager or Assistant Manager and we give all volunteers and staff a 20% discount. All goods have to be put through till by a Mgr or AM and are logged on form. If items are ragged again the M or AM would say donation amount. All visible and above board.

Mt61 That manager is disgusting!! She aught to be reported and investigated. If she is pulling out “treasures” and taking them home… then reselling them elsewhere for her own profit - that is theft ‼️

People like that are despicable. Get someone on the case!

There was an incident in the 2009 Mary Portas series where a customer berated her for making the shop “middle-class”, said that he would be shopping there less in future. She retorted that she had clothes priced from £2.

She asked him what was the last item he bought. He said he’d bought a Speedo tennis racket with sleeve for 70p. She asked if he would have been prepared to pay £1.50 for it, the price of a coffee. He said no as he could probably get one in another shop (maybe without a sleeve) for a £1.

A basic Speedo (Head) racket now costs around £40-£50 so probably less than that in 2009. To baulk at £1.50 for a decent, playable racket, proceeds of which would go to saving the lives of children seemed very mean-spirited.

Sasta

I actually saw a man haggling with an elderly lady over the price of a brand new wet suit in a local cherry shop. It was priced at £30 and he got the poor lady so flustered and she let him have it for £20. So mean.

We had signs up in our charity shop saying “staff are not allowed to engage in bartering.” But often people still tried it on.

I actually saw a man haggling with an elderly lady over the price of a brand new wet suit in a local cherry shop. It was priced at £30 and he got the poor lady so flustered and she let him have it for £20. So mean.

when I volunteered in a charity shop (for 15 years) I saw many Managers come and go. Obviously they were paid as was their Deputy who covered her days off plus holidays and days when she had to attend area meetings etc.

We had a young Deputy Manager who was very attractive and also very friendly with male customers especially.

We had men in from all over the town while she worked there. They were falling over themselves to get in with her and many loaned her money when she told them she was a single Mum. Unbeknown to any of us she was doing some sort of fiddle with takings and also with the money we got for rags. Then we noticed the donations of quality bric a brac and antiques was right down. One of the volunteers saw her selling stuff at an antique fair far away from our town but she said she was selling a deceased relatives things.

Finally the Police were involved and she was sent to prison for 2 years. All the Managers were great, very hard working and really appreciated all the volunteers apart from one Manager who was a compulsive liar and used to come in and tell us the most stupid lies and expect us to believe them.

I could write a book about charity shops actually. 🤣

Perhaps the shops should be obliged to let people know.
"For every £10 made in your donation, £3 will be deducted to allow volunteers to be rewarded".

I don't understand those who think volunteers in charity shops should get a discount to reward them for their time. Getting first dibs on goods may not be wholly desirable but I think is somewhat inevitable, and should only happen after goods have been priced for shop display, no mates rates. What 'reward' do volunteers in the charity sectors that don't involve retail get? Should NHS volunteers get pushed up the waiting lists as a 'thank you', or are they expected to make do with knowing they've given their time to help others?

Eloethan, if volunteers were only able to purchase items from the shop, they would just sign out at the end of their session then go into the shop and buy what they want. There is no lack of very good stuff left in the shop. My main grrrrouch is that some volunteers think they should get a discount

Grrrn I wish I knew which charity you volunteer for, and I would make a point of avoiding it in future.

I think it is absolutely disgraceful that volunteers feel they have the right to have first pick of anything that is donated, even to the point of not paying. Even if they do pay, nicer items attract more people into the shops. If all the decent stuff is removed, it must affect customer levels.

If people are merely helping out in charity shops so that they can get their hands on free or cheap items, I think that is despicable.

My mum & dad worked for a homeless charity run by a nun, she worked tirelessly for the homeless, anyway in charity shop she opened up, the manager who was there most days would disappear up the stairs with all the charity bags, no other staff members were allowed to go up the stairs, mum said her bag was always fuller going home than when she came in to work. It doesn’t take a brain to work out what was going on!

We gift aid, so get a regular account of how much our donations have raised - and so far we’ve always been pleased with the amount. Occasionally I pop in and take a look at the price tags on some of the higher value donations and have always been pleased to see they’re valued appropriately. However, when I was running a local charity for homeless people I was pleased that some charities were very supportive and would donate items or sell them at a lower rate.

Don't let people who say such nasty mainly unfounded things put you off.

Why would people saying things about other people put anyone off anything? That would be like me saying that I wasn't going to post on GN any more because someone said that some posters are x, y or z. If I didn't see any of that as applying to me, I would ignore it, and if I did see it as applying I would either have the courage of my convictions or try to change.

Absolutely nobody has said that all volunteers are dishonest. Nobody.

Ellylanes1

I shall rethink my volunteering after 6years.
What a tirade.
Not one at my fellow volunteers would steal.
We sort at times through filth, work very hard sometimes without a break.
Put up with some difficult customers, shoplifters etc etc.
Revealing to read how we are thought of.

Don't let people who say such nasty mainly unfounded things put you off. In most areas of life there will be the occasional bad apple but I am sure that most volunteers like you are not like that, I see how hard the cold work in our local charity shops. As for people complaining they don't see their goods on display, good stuff gets bought quickly, I pop into my nearest ones frequently, always worth seeing if there is anything I need, and in just a few days there is such a turn round of items in the shelves that there is always something new. Always new things on the racks you have to buy when you see them otherwise you will probably be too late. One of ours in quite big premises I think often sends stuff to one of the other shops, as parking is so easy, it is in a supermarket carpark so they get too much stuff for that shop. Which makes a lot of sense. I have to say I'm glad if I don't see stuff I bring on the shelves or on the rails, because if I did I might buy them back, especially if it's been a hard decision to let them go.
I have to say though the other day when I did a drop off it was nice to hear one of the ladies say what nice books they were and how well the sewing stuff would sell .

There's a notice in our charity shop saying:
Shoplifters will not be prosecuted
I rather like that.

I worked for a well known charity for 25 years.

Yes, we were allowed first dibs but the manageress had to price the item for you. We didn't get any discount which I was fine about, each item had to go through the till in a recorded book with your name on, price of the item and till receipt number.

But did see some volunteers quite openly putting items in their shopping bags/handbags and not paying which I was angry and sad about and did speak to the Manageress about but honestly don't think she did anything about it.

I did challenge a customer once in the shop for taking an item and not paying and when I confronted her she got really nasty and shouted at me "Well it has been given to you" The cheeky madam and sheer gall of the woman.

If the shop where certain of you work is run properly and above board, and you stick to those values, then I don't see why anyone would be upset at this thread.

It obviously isn't aimed at you, is it?

Oh, not again. How much selective reading can one thread have?

Nobody is saying that all volunteers are thought of as anything. Just that the culture in some charity shops is such that not all donations are sold at full sale price to the volunteers.

I shall rethink my volunteering after 6years.
What a tirade.
Not one at my fellow volunteers would steal.
We sort at times through filth, work very hard sometimes without a break.
Put up with some difficult customers, shoplifters etc etc.
Revealing to read how we are thought of.

LovesBach

A friend's daughter donated several bags full of virtually new designer clothing and shoes - she has an excellent salary. She registered for gift aid and was astounded to receive an email some months later telling her that the amount raised was around twenty five pounds. Clearly something had gone badly wrong - each item must have raised only around fifty pence, and after several approaches to the charity HQ and no response, she decided to sell any unwanted clothes on ebay and give the cash to a local charity.

The items may have been not in season , in which case they’d go into storage until that season . Many people have a sort out at the end of summer or winter and the items are not of that season.
Also were they clean ? We’ve had gorgeous designer dresses donated with fake tan or makeup around the neckline or sleeves . We don’t have a washing machine, so the clothes go into the rag bag .

everything is open to corruption,charities are not immune.

keepcalmandcavachon

Sorry Doodledog, my post was overly harsh, no disrespect intended to your mum and other volunteers who were told that was the system, remembering a few 'chancers' from my past led to me being a right judgy-pants.

No worries. I do understand your point of view.

Even while I worked full time I volunteered for my favorite charities and events. I don’t know why some old people get greedy, grabby and feel entitled to certain things.

It’s a disgrace and I look at them like they are aliens. I don’t want to know them and I do not want to work with them. Chances are they grew up with some kind of ungrateful attitude which seems to accelerate as they get older.

They are giving a bad name (by association) to ALL the WONDERFUL volunteers who contribute time, help, joy and friendship. Organizations cannot operate without them. Hopefully the person in charge of Vols can put some policies in place so all abide by the rules.

You’re not the grumpy one - they are. You’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work!