Beware Goodwill Return Policy Waterville Maine (Ellsworth, Hope: sales, credit, buying)

[timsmith2]

Not even sure this belongs here. It's a long rant/story. If you want to skip straight to the point, just read the next to last paragraph.



I don't normally go there but went yesterday because the mouse for my main PC died. For whatever reason, every time I have been there, they have a ton of mouses (mice?) for PCs. This time they only had one. And it was the really old interface, not USB. But I'm cheap. Beggars can't be choosers. So I brought it to the register. The cashier was extremely rude and seemed to be very confused when attempting to make change. Eventually, the cashier OCD folds my receipt three or four times and hands it to me, says nothing, the transaction comes to a merciful end and I left. These are the people who think they deserve $15 an hour. Seems reasonable.



I got home, plugged the mouse in. Long story short, I may as well have connected a potato to my PC. Nothing. This is where it gets wacky. I bring it back tell them I want to return it. 30 minutes have passed, at most. Now I'm dealing with a different person, a manager, presumably. She's standing right next to the rude cashier. She asks if there is anything wrong with it. I tell her it doesn't work. Her response is "That's a bummer". Reminded me of the recent facebook ad where they tell the story of facebook users having their privacy violated by facebook. And when it comes time for facebook to address this in the ad, the narrator says "And then something happened". Wait, what? Something happened? Yeah, YOU happened, facebook. So I have to give her credit on that masterful non apology. It's not like I was expecting one. Just my money back. She has me sign something and then hands me a Goodwill gift card. Something that has about as much use to me as if someone had a pack of German Shepards take a dump in a pan and then handed the pan to me.



It generally takes me several tips across over a year or two to find anything I want there. I hear these stories and I've even seen haul videos on ebay where the person's local Goodwill is overflowing with treasures that are well below market price. There are even people who claim to make a living buying and reselling Goodwill items. But that has not been my experience. Most of the things at the Waterville store are things that I would not take for free. Or, if they do have something decent it is priced higher than it would be on ebay with shipping, and in some cases higher than retail for a brand new item. The Waterville store is nothing like these amazing Goodwill stores I keep hearing about. If I take this card, I'm going to have it for two years, or lose it and get nothing for my money. Their CEO pays himself 400K per year. They don't need my $3. It's the principle.




I take the card reflexively. That's usually what you do when someone hands you something that isn't on fire. This is when I realize they have me by the balls. My first thought is "This is why you don't pay cash at places like this". My second thought is: "Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding". So I inform her that I paid cash and that there was nothing else there that I needed. At this point I'm probably looking at her like she has two heads. Not intentionally. I just can't believe what they are pulling. I'm still trying to process it. So she informs me that they only give store credit for returns. I returned the item in exactly the same condition and with the receipt. I had it for 30 minutes. And oh, by the way, they paid nothing for it. I don't buy crack, but I'm assuming their return policy is similar to that of most crack dealers at this point. I don't know when it changed. But I remember getting an ink cartridge there. Sealed in the retail box. I nearly opened it before realizing that it had an expiration date that was over 15 years prior to my purchase date. They didn't give me a hard time then. They just refunded my money, like any decent business would. I've always wondered if they put it back on the shelf. I bet they did.



So, still incredulous, I told her that their policy was ridiculous. I then added it's $3. As if that would sway her. I knew I was going to lose. But then she relented a bit. Suddenly a look of mild panic crossed her face and she informed me that she had already issued a gift card that she can't give me cash. So I asked her if I could use the card to buy something, return that item and get cash for that. Surprisingly, she said yes. Probably not because it was the right thing to do, but because she wanted to get rid of the guy bothering her over $3. So that's what I did. I bought three $1 items, returned them and got my money back. It just makes me feel gross that they constructed a scenario where my only two options were make an ass of myself over $3, or throw my money away over something that was not my fault at all. really sketchy. Reminds me of a while back when they were asking if you wanted to round up and donate your change? Say what? You paid nothing for the item. 100% of what I just gave you was a donation. Sleazy.



So if you shop at Goodwill a lot, this doesn't apply to you. But if you are like me and rarely go there, just know that they will not refund you for defective items, but give you a Good Will gift card. Once they have your money, you are not getting it back. Keep that in mind if you are buying things you can't test before purchasing. Honestly, it's crazy. They are selling used items, clearly not testing them and then refusing to stand behind them if they are defective. Who in their right mind would purchase products under those conditions?


It's funny, because just this week I swore off the other stores there. By "there" I mean the little trailer trash mini mall in the heart of downtown. It's primarily low end stores that cater to the less fortunate. The shopping experience is terrible at all of them for a list of reasons a mile long. I subjected myself to that for a long time. Even though I hated shopping there, I'm cheap. But I'm finally starting to realize, money is not the be all, end all. I would rather pay a little more for a better shopping experience. Between those groups of people, the panhandlers that hang out there and the homeless that spend half the day there and the new Colby dorm, that should work out really well. Brilliant idea. Could they think of a worse place for that? I know I can't.

[AustinB]

I don't buy computer equipment at supermarkets or at Goodwill.

[American girl]

Originally Posted by AustinB

I don't buy computer equipment at supermarkets or at Goodwill.

Ditto

[Gerania]

Mr. Jinks says that the plural of mouse is meeces.

[timsmith2]

Originally Posted by AustinB

I don't buy computer equipment at supermarkets or at Goodwill.

That's a good policy. One I will adopt. Kind of like my private label food policy. Things with two ingredients or less- milk, eggs, garlic powder, etc are usually fine. Why pay 50 cents more for a gallon of milk just because of the label on it? Milk is milk. Everything else I've learned the hard way to stay away from. Some of the worst food I've ever eaten has been private label. I don't touch that stuff anymore.


In my defense, I never would have touched that mouse if I had known they had updated to such an insane return policy. Went and bought a mouse at WalMart for $7. Works fine. It was well worth the extra $4.


I never finished because it was late and I lost my train of thought. It seems to me, the types of stores that reside in these areas all treat customers like trash because they can. Many of the people shop there are poor and are just used to being treated like garbage so they just take it. Regular stores don't operate the way these companies do.

[jonesg]

All that for $3.
Ive never seen a Uhaul behind a hearse.

[phoenix02]

Is it common for people to return stuff to yard sales and estate sales there in Maine? If so, that is an interesting policy I am not accustomed to. If not... consider Goodwill a yard sale. It's a courtesy to even five back store credit on a used item return. All things should be considered as-is, just like one would purchase from an estate sale.

[slyfox2]

Goodwill is not a store. Its a place where you take the stuff you don’t want anymore. They sell it to benefit their serivces to people in need.

Apparently too many people think that they are a store.

If you buy something really really cheap at Goodwill, and it doesn’t work out for you, you can give it back. But you can’t get money for it. There are benefits to being able to buy really really cheap. But the disadvantage is that nothing is new, and they don’t guarantee that it will work like new either.

Go to Marden’s if you want cheap but new.

[slyfox2]

Originally Posted by AustinB

I don't buy computer equipment at supermarkets or at Goodwill.

Why would you buy anything that has to work like new at a store that sells very very cheaply used?

[retiredtinbender]

We usually drop off clothes and such there when we go to the big city of Ellsworth. Sometimes look around, might see something. I spied two VCRs once (actually about a dozen of them). Since I had stupidly ripped the guts out of mine moving the entertainment case. I bought two of them and figured if they didn't work I could use one to fix the other... maybe. Turned out one worked but neither remote did. Now I can once again watch Harvey and Mr. Blandings Dream House. Remotes went to recycling and I kept the other VCR. Just in case, you know. At no point did I think of returning anything. At worst; a trip to recycle. It's called charitable giving. He77, I don't even claim it on my taxes.