Goodwill Store — Local services in Helena

I walked into our local Helena store at closing time, unaware of business hours. A woman came toward me and very aggressively and rudely said, “We are closed. You have to go.” I asked her if she was yelling at me. She said, “No, but you have to leave. We have rules!” I said, “ Oh, I didn’t know that. Your doors are still open.” I asked if I could grab the shirt I came for and go straight to the checkout and she began escalating, repeating that had to go, scolding me as I walked toward the exit near the checkout. I told her that was fine, but that it was very bad customer service to talk to a customer that way. I stopped at the counter to ask for the district manager’s phone number. She refused to give me the number and instead called her general manager. She did not say “I have a customer who is unhappy with how she was treated”. Instead, she said, “She won’t leave and is just standing here arguing,” which was untrue. I simply wanted the regional manager’s phone number. The manager on the other end of the phone apparently told the evening manager to tell me to leave or she would call the police. The police!! If you knew me, you’d realize how preposterous this threat was. There was a second attendant who was equally rude, barking at me that she had tried to tell me they were closing as I entered the store, but that I was on my phone. Her statement was accompanied by a dirty look and a dramatic arm gesture. The third attend, a kind young man who attempted to give me the number, was told not to. I was shaken to my core by how I was treated.

I have been a Goodwill donor for years and am also an award winning customer service rep at a local business and have never treated a customer this way, nor have I ever been treated this way. I am simply mortified. I am ashamed that this type of business exists in the community that I care about deeply.

Note: In contrast, I was at the Good Samaritan looking for the same item today and was treated with so much kindness and respect. All future donations will be made...

I have no problem with the nice people who work at the Goodwill in Helena, but they seem to consistently run out of packing paper. When I show up with a lot of glassware, they tell me they can't even use bags to wrap the glass to prevent it from breaking. So there is a long line behind me, so I move all of my glasses to the next closed counter so I can figure out what to do. They finally get me a box...a priority mail box that actually had a little bit of tissue paper in it. That saved me! It was far from perfect, but it helped. I spent over $120 and I expect to hopefully get my items home in one piece. I am in resale, and I buy a lot of glassware. If you want my money, you need to provide proper packing for me to get my items home safely. I told the manager today, that this was simply unacceptable, and of course her hands are tied and she just said there was nothing she could do. When I get out to my car to load, a customer is mouthing obscenities at me as she is driving by. Was it because I was holding up the line or because I had the nerve to complain? They said it takes a long time for a paper order to show up. I hope the owner of this store looks into this and will fix it asap. Whoever is in charge of ordering paper needs some help. I work in retail, and packing paper is a must. You can get it free in rolls at the newspaper....that's where we get it at work. I am just tired of the stupid high prices, damaged items, no packing paper for glassware, but more importantly, the bottom line is you are NOT a non-profit, YOU ARE A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS! As such, you need to step up. So, tried to really see if you are a non-profit or not. You are a part of Easter Seals, so you are? Something just doesn't feel right about this. I hope you will educate me. Do all of your proceeds go to Easter Seals? Or just a portion? I truly would...

If you can, donate your items to another thrift store, like Big Sky Thrift or Good Samaritan. I’ve known for a while that Goodwill will comb through donations and any popular or high value items will be sent to an outlet or listed online (I mostly just relied on the fact that whoever is in charge has bad taste so you’d still find some cool items) but what I experienced last time I went was horrible.

I found a cute little solo Pyrex dish marked at $4.99 (which is honestly what they sell for online anyway). When I got to the checkout counter, a female employee says “Wow, you’re not supposed to have this! This wasn’t supposed to be put out!” and begrudgingly finishes checking me out. Before I go, she proudly tells me how a couple weeks prior an employee got in trouble with managers/bosses at the store for accidentally setting out a complete set of vintage Pyrex in a popular color and pricing it how GW always prices glassware, and then rambles about how much they make when they list them online.

99% of the donated items we see are the bottom of the barrel - damaged or dirty/stained. It’s a gross way to go about things and there are much better organizations in town to donate to, ones that actually support and give back to the community, and give your donated items a new life! Not...