Society of St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store - Fenton — Local services in Fenton

My experience at this St. Vincent DePaul thrift store was incredibly frustrating and felt deliberately dishonest. I visited yesterday to find clothes for an upcoming vacation, but unfortunately, the fitting rooms were closed. Understanding this limitation, I specifically asked the cashier about their return policy before making any purchases. He clearly stated it was 5 days with a receipt for a refund. Based on his direct assurance, I felt confident making my selections, trusting that if something didn't fit, I could simply return it. What makes this even more upsetting is that you don't get to see the receipt until after the purchase is complete, meaning I couldn't verify their "exchange only" policy until it was too late. Fast forward to today, less than 24 hours later, when I tried to return items that didn't fit (including a shirt with a ripped strap I only discovered at home). A different cashier then informed me that they only do exchanges and absolutely no refunds. When I explained what the previous employee had told me, he casually admitted that other staff "sometimes forget" to mention the exchange-only policy. This isn't a minor oversight; it's a critical piece of information that was withheld. When I asked to speak to the manager, their complete lack of concern for an employee providing false information was truly astounding. They were less than accommodating and seemed entirely indifferent to the situation. It's truly ridiculous that a store like St. Vincent DePaul, which relies so heavily on the generosity of others through donations, would act with such blatant disregard for honesty and customer service. For a place named after St. Vincent DePaul, you would hope for a higher standard of integrity and compassion—perhaps even a reflection of "Christ-like" values. Instead, I left feeling misled and...

Very disappointed with this location. I am a huge supporter of St Vincent DePaul Society as a whole, I've donated two cars, plenty of clothing and toys in honor of my dad, who volunteered with them for years. I picked up a camera that didn't work, so I brought it back to the store for a refund per the instructions I was told when I bought a previous camera. This is the first time I did this, and after consulting with a manager, I was told I could only receive store credit. I asked to speak with the manager, and after some time, the same associate came back and stated they would provide a refund, adding they really shouldn't because this is a charity. I was highly offend by this statement. Because it is a charity, they can sell defective equipment? I've bought a few cameras from this store, and they are always overpriced. A few times they had eBay print out of the same model, trying to justify the price. 1) if you cannot return the camera for a full refund, the risk is much greater than buying through eBay as you are allowed to return for a full refund 2) The price asked by this location are prices on eBay where the camera often has been service with a CLA and new light seals, or tested to be fully functional. This is never the case with this location, so the prices placed on the cameras should be comparable to the "As-Is" camera sale on eBay. Yes, this is a charity, but it doesn't alleviate the responsibility to provide a functioning item, nor does it give you the right to overcharge...

Edit: Revising this down to 1 star. We won't be back. It's not just the staff taking donations that are rude. Today they had the giant sign out that said "50% off blue tags". We spent an hour shopping and had found a cart full of items (with mostly blue tags, yay!). As I'm in line to pay, some guy swaps the sign to say yellow tags. I guess they'd forgotten to change it or someone put the wrong one up? I asked if they'd still honor it since it was for blue while I was shopping. They refused and were rude about it. We left the cart full and won't return.

I like that their prices are reasonable (like a thrift store should be) and what they do for the community, but their donation area needs serious attention. We pulled up with a huge SUV full of nice stuff to donate today (Sunday, 9/24/23). Nobody was out there and no signage saying what to do, so I just started putting stuff in the big cardboard bins that were there. An older man eventually came out and rudely yelled at us not to put anything in the bins, then immediately got called back inside. We loaded everything back in our car and went to donate/shop at Goodwill, where everyone was friendly...