Community Forklift Nonprofit Reuse Warehouse — Attraction in Edmonston

i had such a bad experience here recently and normally id HATE giving this place a bad review but i was shocked at how rude everyone that worked there was. i wandered around for a long time with no help, had to ask a man to move a $10 door for me so i could buy it, waited for a looong time because the cashier was on the phone trying to tell someone on the phone they dont take cabinets. she asked three other employees for this answer and no one responded to her. so we all waited for her on the phone. once she got off the phone, she was reeeally nice. the friendliest person i interacted with. she was wearing a sopranos shirt but as she was ringing me up, chatting with me the tall man, (that i believe is the manager) with glasses rudely interrupted her and acted weird. first her said “what are you talking about over here?” he wouldnt even look at me and was curt with his employee. i came back in less than 15 mins with a bigger car to get the door. that same man was SO unnecessarily rude to me. he saw me standing there waiting. waiting. waiting. holding my SOLD receipt. he looked me in the eyes. and continuously helped other people buy their lamps and other stuff. no one else was there to help. this was a weekday and they were not busy. he was friendly to other customers but when he finally addressed me he said “WHAT do you need” in a mean voice. as if i was in his way, making things hard for him. i said i had already purchased a door earlier and i needed help carrying it. he snapped at another man to help me. and said nothing to me. i showed him my receipt. and he made me feel like i wanted to leave immediately and burst into tears. that man’s energy is going to prevent me from ever returning. he was so cold. today when i got an email from community forklift his PHOTO was in the email and it triggered me. bad customer service. rude management . no help. this was not my experience when i came here 10 years ago. obviously it has changed. or they just hated me. i KNOW i was polite and they still treated me badly. i wont go back. and the door i bought was listed as the wrong size. no one offered to help me pick out a door. never again. 😭 i work in retail and i know how stressful it can be but you never know when someone is having a bad day. dont make it worse for them. i felt so dumb and so unwelcomed at community forklift. please give a raise to the sopranos shirt girl...

I have been an advocate, customer, and supporter of Community Forklift. When I discovered them, I was really happy for that enabled me to stay in DC area and not go to Baltimore to Second Chance for things I occasionally needed for my Business.

SADLY THAT CHANGED TODAY DUE TO A RECENT EXPERIENCE MADE WORSE BY THE MANAGER nicole.

I purchased and paid for two refrigeration units (a wine cooler and a freezer.) I was able to pick up one (wine cooler) and told the attends that I will need a couple of additional days for the freezer as it was too big for my truck. Anyone who was in DC last week probably noticed the bad weather and constant rain. it made it difficult for me to arrange for the pick.

I came by as soon as I was able to arrange for the pick up, but to my surprise I found that they have sold the freezer to someone else.

I expressed my surprise given that I have not received a curtesy call to inform me they were selling it, which would have either spared me the trip or spurred me to act and remove my purchase. THE ATTENDANTS were also surprised that no call was placed and showed empathy given my real disappointment.

Nicole, the manager, who was not working that day, was anything but courteous, empathetic or simpathetic.

Given that she was the one who authorized the re-sale, I left her a message but she did not call me back, so I left her a second, which she ignored as well. When I finally had her on the phone, she was as thoroughly uninterested as anyone could be. When I went to the store today to get my refund, she told me that she could only give me a store credit at 25% of the purchased value (restocking fee). AGAIN she did not show any empathy, she just pointed to the store policy and shrugged me off.

I rank this experience as bad as the one I had at an airport in Paris when the air france attendant told me that I had to find and pay for my own hotel room when the airline was not able to get us to our final destination. she told her colleague in french that we did not deserve any help. That experience was actually better because when I asked for a manager and told her in french what happened, she was apologetic and arranged for a hotel at the airport and the airline paid for it.

AT FORKLIFT, THE MANAGER WAS THE ONE WHO WAS THE MOST OFFENSIVE AND NOT...

I went to Community Forklift Friday May 26th 2023 about 4:30 PM. I haven't visited in years and within those years, I've stacked up a bunch building materials that I wanted to donate. Most folks who donate and especially take the time out contribute to the cause of sustainability do so to contribute in a meaningful way. When I arrived there was a gentlemen who was backing a Uhaul truck into the donation center so I had to wait my turn. He had a lot of kitchen cabinets that were in great condition. Community Forklift refused his donation citing they were too tired to off load the cabinets. I volunteered to help and still a no. OK, so this guy leaves with donation in tow and I couldn't think but what a waste. I back my pickup in with two new shower pans, 3 solid core oak doors, 1 new storm door, 1 granite sink/countertop, 2 pedestal sinks, 1 pedestal sink without the pedestal (all new), new vessel sink, new cultured marble sink, 200 amp breaker panel and a couple other items. The rep started picking through my donation extracting the most valuable items and rejecting the other items solely because of value. I asked the rep since when this kind of behavior is acceptable. He said he's been working there 15 years and when management changed, so did the business model. I don't know what happened to this place as far as contributing to the greater good but if donating and recycling materials is your objective this is not the place for it. They are greedy and looking to profit off of a nonprofit business model. I can't support this establishment in any capacity. I spoke with someone who shopped there recently and the prices have also skyrocketed to near or beyond retail. TOTALLY RIDICULOUS......