Milton Goodwill Retail Store and Donation Center — Local services in Flagstaff

Welp. I like me a decent Goodwill.

I could tell you all about how they helped save my life, or I could tell you how they helped save my career path for not having hired me, or I could tell you that they held out as long as they could before they gave in to the recent upper-middleclass 'yen for thrift chic' before finally pricing EVERY item in the store as if they were the Buffalo Exchange, but I won't (though all of these things are true, except -perhaps- for the last bit, because Goodwill has been pricing certain items above retail for years and more than once have I shruggingly admitted that Office Depot's price for -say- 50 binder clips was more than reasonable when compared to GW's overshot deal on a lesser amount stapled into a dirty plastic bag on the wall).

Stroll my meandering.

This location has some electrical/electronic rarities that -if I were not visiting from the big city- I would have pounced upon and dissected in my technical dungeon for many dark hours.

This is beside the point, which is; the retail space is rather small for a standalone Goodwill building. Nothing inside the retail space made me aware of any other services that some Goodwills offer. To make up for this, this location has decided to stock very little in the way of clothing. This was doubly notable, since several of the stocking staff made audible contemplations of the large truckload of stuff they just took in from Phoenix. Any Goodwill shopper would know that -within each region- The Goodwills rotate items that are either more likely to sell, or less likely to bother them if they were somewhere else. So, I imagined the right and full compliment of Phoenician clothing with nowhere to go; 'clothes be damned, we must tempt this one with rare and valuable, dawn-of-the-transistor-age Japanese electronica (that he can't possibly carry with him to some semi-ficticious laboratory, that may or may not be somewhere orthagonal to his 'kitchen-with-the-secret-door').

The large-items area was absolutely littered with big cardboard boxes that people had to rout through as if pigs for truffles, and the result was just as messy. The cashier area was essentially the stage of a theater in the round, in which the first few rows of offerings -as would be the arena audience- were practically on top of it. There was no way to make one single line that was cohesive. I generally don't slam the staff in reviews but in this case I thought it was somewhat low-class to announce to a co-worker that she wouldn't be helping and that the coworker coming on in 10 minutes would have to do what she should have done; work the sizeable line down to a minimum by staying open on her register for 10 minutes. It may be Goodwill's policy although I'm sure it's not and even if it is, it's best not to just frowningly transmit this information openly to a co-worker in front of everyone else. I don't know why this particular activity bothered me but it did. So... I say it now and I invoke Plumber's Privilege.

I have been in many of your shoes. Not literally; that honor goes to a creepy man I encountered in 8th grade. More about that later.

'Client first, and everyone is your client.' If you want to throw shade in some kind of humorous way that makes everybody loosen up, as a bartender, a greasy-spoon waitress or an anesthesiologist might, please do. It's a good way to vent and everyone is in on the joke.

Otherwise, the only joke is that this location is tricky to access on a moderately street-busy day...

The prices are too high for used items. There's usually only one cashier and nobody else wants to get on a register. The cashier was trying to flag down a manager and he was chatting with another employee and they both walked right out the front door when there was clearly a long line of customers waiting to make a purchase.

The products are poorly displayed, packed onto shelves where you can't see the products in the back of the shelf. The racks are usually so full that you can't even move the clothing to see it. If you're overflowing with products and your shelves and racks are so full it's difficult to see the products, maybe the prices are too high.

Also, they are totally rude and unaccommodating if you need to return an item. You don't even get your money back, only store credit.

Needless to say I will be taking my business and donations to local charities such as Sharon's Attic, instead of this...

Yesterday was my third time and had the same awful experience - not customer service oriented: the 1st time, although I mentioned to the cashier that I had the $20 coupon, I did not get the discount. I went back the next day, bought more and showed the receipt that I did get the 20% off, the cashier said "we need all the merchandise to give you credit." So, did not get the credit - I live 1 1/2 away. I went Yesterday, and dis not get the $20% off because it was seasonal stuff and the blue tags, which were suppose to be 50% off did not apply to get the 20% either. They are deceiving to say the least and not accomodating either. I will never go back and will tell people I know not...