Goodwill Store - Burleson — Attraction in Burleson

I do not write a lot of reviews, and I am normally a big fan of this store, in general, the staff is friendly and helpful, and these facts are reflected in my overall weighting of this location as a 3, but my most recent visit left a bad taste, and would rate as 1-to-2

I purchased a 5-piece stereo system (receiver, turntable, tape-deck, 2 speakers) that came with what appeared to be its original cabinet. I got the unit home, cleaned everything, and then plugged in the units. The tape deck appeared to function, but the turn table did not function correctly, and the receiver could not be powered on, as it tripped its current overload protection as soon as power button was depressed. I repeated this several times with the same result.

I did not test these items in store in part do to being short on time and the fact the pieces were all stuck in a cabinet no where near an outlet. Also, I was aware of the fact that electronics are typically returnable for a refund within 2 weeks, so I was not worried. One week after my purchase, I loaded these items back in my car and took them back for a refund.

When I reached the store, I noticed the price tag stapled to the receipt was not even marked "electronics," but instead was marked as "furniture," I presumed due to the cabinet that was included. (It did also have the notation "wooden, with receiver," marked on it, so it was clear it accompanied electronics. ) Still, I felt confident they would acknowledge the fact this was a vintage stereo system purchase, not a purchase of a cheap particle board cabinet. The cashier even recognized me, as she has sold the item to me the previous Friday.

The manager was called to the front for the return, and she told me that they could not issue a refund because the price tag was labeled as "furniture." She said the manager who had priced this system (apparently, she was aware of it) marked "furniture" on this item because he did not want it to be returned.

I told her that I was disappointed and felt that if he did not want it returned, it should have been made clear with an "as-is" notation on the price-tag/label. She said the fat that it was labeled furniture was my notice that that it could not be returned.

I told her I had not looked at the description on the receipt, as it was a stereo system. She said she was afraid all the could do was offer an in-store credit, and I declined, as there were no items in store that I wanted to spend $100 on, so I would just try to see if I could fix the receiver and turntable or find someone to buy them "as-is" to try to recover some of my cash. The fact that she offered the in-store credit and the cashier was friendly is the only reason this visit was not rated a firm 1.

One could be forgiven for drawing the conclusion that the manager who priced the system was aware the electronic devices did not work (why else was he *not wanting this item to be able to be returned?). At best, he had no misgiving about taking a customer's money and intentionally labeling their merchandise in a manner that would leave them no recourse for a refund . Shame on him.

I have family that has always complained that they do not like Goodwill versus other non-profits for various reasons (you can find rants online that reflect their views), but I have always defended the store. I spend a lot of money there; I have always rounded up my purchase price to help whatever program they are asking us to support; and, I have always donated all our donations to them since moving here, to the tune of $3k-$4k per year based on how thrift-stores price these items.

This experience makes me feel stupid for taking up for them...lesson learned. I will still visit the store because I enjoy thrift shopping, but no more rounding up, no more donations, and I will always check my electronics and price tag description from now on. I recommend you...

Dropped in this store yesterday afternoon - the cashier that checked me out was “Jennifer”!! I explained to Jennifer that on several occasions my purchases at this store arrived home broken because the cashier was not careful in wrapping the fragile items.

Jennifer’s response was “It’s Goodwill what do you expect”?

My response to Jennifer’s comment was “I am spending my hard earned money in this store for items I want for my home and/or family and I would expect your customer service to value/respect my money being spent at your store”

Jennifer’s response “well it’s your item now so whatever”!!!

Really - really......that’s your employees perspective on their customers, their purchases, wishes, etc?!?!

So after sharing my perspective - a porcelain cat was wrapped in an Afghan with no mention it was In the Afghan - guess what - shattered - my hard earned money wasted - and “Jennifer does not/did not care” per her response “Its Goodwill what do you expect”!!!

Let me tell you what I as a customer and all customers expect - we expect great customer service - we are patroning your store and expect to be treated with respect and courtesy and not be told our expectations on our items being wrapped for a safe trip home is not too much trouble for the monies we spend at your store because your store happens to be Goodwill.

Yesterday was my LAST TRIP TO YOUR STORE!!!! When your employees can respect their customers by providing great customer service LET US KNOW HERE - we might...

There isn’t a 0 star option but if there was, I would rate this place 0 stars. The staff was so unfriendly to me. I came into the store about 20 mins before close and the staff was very unwelcoming to me. One worker walked up to me a few minutes before close and was scolding me while telling me they close in a few minutes (which I was aware of, they literally had just told me that when I walked in). I was planning on leaving at closing time. About a minute later, the same worker walked back over to me and told me they closed in two minutes, looked at his watch, and told me “actually, in one minute.” Thank you sir, I totally forgot in the past minute when you told me last time. The workers didn’t even tell me bye when I left. Also, I can’t forget about when they turned off half of the lights 15 mins before they closed. I went up to the front and kindly asked them to turn the lights back on and they said it was store policy to turn them off. I couldn’t even see the pants I went into the store searching for. Overall, my experience here at Burleson Goodwill was absolutely terrible. Direct your business to any other Goodwill location, you...