Goodwill Central Texas - Outlet South — Local services in Austin

Dear Goodwill Management,

I am writing to share my recent experience at the Goodwill Outlet in Austin, Texas, which stands in stark contrast to the positive encounters I have had at other Goodwill locations across North and South Carolina, as well as Florida. My visit to the Austin outlet initially seemed promising, given the abundant selection and the quality items I found. Unfortunately, my experience was marred by the behavior of the staff on duty that day.

The employees exhibited an alarming level of discourtesy and aggression towards customers, which included yelling, and in my case, an unwarranted invasion of privacy. While I was taking a moment to rest, I noticed employees surreptitiously observing me from over my shoulder, scrutinizing the content I was viewing on my phone. They then confronted me in a highly aggressive manner, insisting I delete a photo I had taken. They remained by my side until I complied with their demand. Although I adhered to their instructions, the photo had already been backed up to my cloud storage, rendering their abrasive approach unnecessary.

I understand the importance of adhering to store policies, including those regarding photography and videography. However, I firmly believe that a simple, kindly delivered reminder of such policies would have been sufficient and far more appropriate. The use of rude and aggressive tactics was unwarranted and detracted significantly from my shopping experience.

I hope this feedback is received in the spirit of constructive criticism, with the aim of improving the customer service provided at your outlets. It is my belief that fostering an environment of respect and courtesy will greatly enhance the shopping experience for all Goodwill patrons.

I will add that we went to the North outlet the next day & the employees there were extremely nice & chill unlike the multiple staff at...

Updated review: Goodwill needs to do something to prevent the book hoarders. I understand it’s hot to scan barcodes of books to sell online. There is usually more than 1 person interested in that. Which is why Goodwill needs to make people play fair.

Book hoarding is when Goodwill rolls out a fresh bin or bins of books and a person starts grabbing armfuls and throwing them into carts and boxes without even looking at them. This is to prevent other interested customers from seeing the books. They eventually take the books off to a corner somewhere and scan them to see what they are worth and end up putting a lot of the books back, books other people may have been interested in but never had a chance to see. So then allll those books get taken back to the back (bins only stay on the floor for so long and get traded out for new bins) when they could have been sold if more people had seen them. If people want to scan books they can stand there and go through the bins with their phone with everyone else. That way everyone has a chance to see. Today there was a father hoarding with his preteen daughter, they had 2 shopping carts and tubs and were hoarding as soon as the fresh bins were rolled out so they could scan. This is NOT okay and Goodwill needs to stop people from doing that!!

Original review: Please, Goodwill, it is time to stop the cart hoarding. Make it stop. It’s wrong. It makes the place super crowded and gross. People can’t get their hands on a cart because they are all filled with stuff, parked along the perimeter. End...

This location shows favouritism to resellers. Rather than making sure that all customers have shopping cart availability they allow the resellers to take and fill up shopping carts line them up along a backwall and do nothing about the fac that they have other customers in the building. This should not be allowed. One shopping cart per family is what it should be. There should not Is the shopping cart stacked along a wall full of merchandise. If these people really want the merchandise they should be purchasing it and taking it to their vehicle. By allowing the reseller to keep shopping carts you make them unavailable to others. You then have customers who much carry their items in their arms. This is not fair. The management of this location should stop this immediately. Stop allowing resellers to take over the store. I was highly disappointed in this location. The location in Hillsboro Oregon was way more organized. Books, we're kept separate as we're shoes and clothing. Glassware of handled better as well. Not being able to get a shopping cart was just the icing on the cake. Shame on management for not controlling the store better. Also there was no social distancing. When new bins are brought out the resellers rush them so you end up with 3 or more people at one bin. There should be one person per bin to be able to maintain social distancing. If rules are enforced then shopping is...