Complaint Review: Sacramento Goodwill

Goodwill Sacramento harasses and rips off its customers.

1. You're not shopping at Goodwill because you have tons of money, for the great selection, or because its a great place to shop. People typically shop there because the economy is horrible and those who shop there really can't afford to go anywhere else right now.

2. EVERY time you shop, they harass you to DONATE money to them at the register! Seriously?!?  For starters, IF I could afford to donate CASH, I would be shopping somewhere else, and IF I could afford to donate cash, it wouldn't be to Goodwill anyway (see why, below). It would be to a Leukemia or Autism charity, or to foster kids in group homes, anything but Goodwill...and here's why:

3. If you buy something at Goodwill (because you can't afford to get it at Target or Home Depot) and it doesn't work...NO REFUNDS! Or even store credit,not that that would help much, since they don't exactly have working duplicates of the non-working item sitting around. No returns, period...EVEN if the item never worked. Ok, sure, you can "test" a lamp or a small radio at the store...but tell me how you are supposed to "test" a washing machine in the store. They have no water lines for you to hook it up and run a load to see if it works. They don't even have a dryer-sized outlet to make sure a dryer works. Even a shower head...how would you test that in-store? Even a $10 item is $10 I really didn't have in my budget to spend if the item doesn't work! Every purchase is a decision of priorities: electric and water, food for my family, and necessary items. I don't buy "wants". I have no cable TV, no cell phone, etc. because they are NOT necessities, no matter what anyone says. So when I get ripped off for even a $10 item, it really hurts my family.

They sure want to nickel and dime you for cash donations at the register, but NO refunds if you buy something that is a piece of junk. But no, that's not considered a donation...they still want cash! I have asked the cashiers to please QUIT begging me for money I don't have, and they said all cashiers are REQUIRED to beg for cash or they will get FIRED! So these poor gals are begging every customer for money just so they won't end up having to shop here! Can't say I blame them one bit.

The cashiers themselves are the sweetest employees I've found anywhere. (Google articles about Goodwill workers returning $40,000 of jewelry and $10,000 in cash accidentally left mixed with donations at different locations in Northern Calif). So if any GOOD businesses want honest & hardworking employees, please go offer these poor gals a job at a better place. Help get them out of corporate-mandated panhandling for change every day at work!

If any attorneys read this, please contact me to let me know if it is LEGAL for a company to force its workers to beg for donations or risk being fired.

And to any shoppers reading this...do NOT shop at Goodwill, if you buy something that doesn't work...you have just made a non-voluntary DONATION, whether you can afford to or not!!! And PLEASE consider donating to a WORTHY charity, not a fake corporate money-grab operation masquerading as a "charity".

And if you do decide they have something you just can't live without...for goodness sakes use a Credit Card so you can at least dispute the purchase as a "non-working upon purchase, merchant won't refund". (Maybe if we can get some credit card companies outraged, they can help take some action??)

Refer to Huffington Post articles...(May 15, 17, 20, 2013; June 21, 2013) to find out about the huge SCAM that is Goodwill. Guess what?!? Your donations don't even go to "job training" or whatever they tell you...they go to the corporate big wigs at Goodwill who are making six figures a year! What kind of money-grubbing scum do you have to be to drive around in your Bentley and sit comfortably in your mansion while scamming money from shoppers who obviously don't have any money to lose on non-working purchases! (I bet YOUR washing machine works...just ask your maid)!

*Disclaimer: ALL information in this report was VERIFIED by current Goodwill employees at various stores around the Greater Sacramento area. I can provide times, dates, and transcripts of interviews but will NOT release names until they have secured other employment. It's sheer desperation that keeps these poor souls working for a soulless company.