Goodwill NYNJ Store & Donation Center — Local services in New York

The point of this review: To express my feelings of disappointment and to show their incompetence. The way they handled the situation was incomprehensible because they had to put back all the clothes anyway. It would have been easier to wait 10 seconds so I can walk up to the register to pay. They wouldn't let me pay for any items even though the store was not closed yet. It made no sense.

The story of what happened (TL;DR included after this review): I went in about an hour before closing with my sister. We tried on clothes that we gathered throughout the store. We were willing to spend $200 since we needed clothes. While we were trying clothes on the staff was rushing us because they were closing the register soon (even though the store wasn't closing oficially for another 10 mins). I thought this was ok because stores do that sometimes. At this point we had already tried on most of the clothes and were getting dressed. The cashier and the lady on the floor were communicating with eachother; the lady on the floor let the cashier know we were getting dressed which I thought was great. Even though she rudely kept counting down in a condescending tone: "Closing the register in 5 seconds" and then again while we were putting on our shoes: "2 seconds" (I don't think the condescending tone was necessary to convey this, but maybe she was tired and looking forward to leaving her workplace). So at this point I grabbed a bunch of items and rushed to go pay (my jeans were still open because I couldn't properly put them on while rushing). The lady who was rushing us told us "she's already counting the register"...so I asked the cashier directly if it's any trouble to pay with credit or debit and she said "register is closed". Which I found rude (because why rush me to just close the register anyway?). I asked if she can hold the clothes, but she informed me the store's policy forbids it (understandable). Then, someone else casually said we can just come back early the next day and everything will be in the same place (but how? They were reorganizing everything). When they can just reopen the register to make everything easier. They act like a paying customer is such an inconvenience to them. Also, I'm not from around there. We ended up leaving everything behind. It was very disappointing because one of the things I found was a pair of comfortable flats for an upcoming interview. I could almost never find nice shoes that fit my calloused feet (with a bunion).

TL;DR Why rudely rush us about the register specifically if you weren't going to wait for us to pay? The store wasn't closing for another 10 mins. Why close the register KNOWING that we are going to pay for stuff? Pros: spacious, 2 fitting rooms Cons: Disorganized (women's clothes in the men's section), staff are spiteful, overpriced items (example: a thin polyester h&m shirt with a missing button was $8 plus tax), It was "blue tagged items on sale" day, but hardly any items...

I had the most humiliating experience in the store on 25th Street today. I went in with my sister and son searching for dresses. I picked out 5 potential and ask the security guard to let me in the fitting room. He advised that I can only try 3 at a time. I agreed and went in with the first 3, tried two and returned on the rack in front of the room. I grabbed the other two, tried, returned and chose one. After selecting the dress my family and I were heading to the register when the guard came behind me and said " where is the purple dress u tried"? I responded calmly that it's on the rack by the fitting room, or perhaps another person is trying it and he replied No obnoxiously and added "could it be in your bag"? I automatically felt offended, insulted, upset and honestly words can't explain my current pain. I told him excuse me why would it be in my bag? I open the bag and walked with him toward the fitting room. The dress was returned by the sales lady on another rack on the sales floor but still near the fitting room. After I pointed the dress, he neither apologized to me but decided to walk away, I then called the manager who's name is Sarah, not sure if that is even her real name since none of the store associates have name tags. She was there the whole time, witnessed the entire incident and again no apologies. I asked for her name and that of the guard and she refused to give the guard's name. As if that was not enough as I was checking out, the customer in front of me who was also African American asked to see a bag behind the register, she looked at it and returned to the cashier who then asked her if her personal purse was actually hers or that of the store? This store lacks great training and obviously there's profiling going on. I've donated to goodwill for many years and will never step foot here and I advised anyone reading to share this post. They need to train their employees as we are the one donating and shopping here to contribute to their greater good. I'm emotionally distressed by...

The worst Goodwill store I’ve ever been to in my entire life!

Prices are sky-high. They compete with Buffalo Exchange or Beacon’s Closet. All you’ll get for $7.99 is either a Target or Walmart brand clothes.

They sell stained and defective clothes all the time. You don’t notice it in the store but when you get home and see the stains, holes, or defects, you cannot wear those clothes anymore. So, they go to the garbage!

Employees are extremely horrible, especially the short security guard, the old and tall lady, and the short lady with short hair. The tall woman employee keeps whining all the time. One time, an older customer put a few pieces of clothes on the glass cabinet. This lady asked him to take them and the customer didn’t understand what she said. She scoffed at him and walked away. A minute later, she was gossiping about the customer to another employee. Yikes!!

Another short-haired woman employee keeps frowning all the time and gives you a weird look for some reason, especially towards closing time.

The store closes at 7.00 PM and you find yourself kicked out at 6.45 PM sharp. They walk behind you until you leave the store. I understand that you hate your job and life, but this doesn’t mean that the customers should hate you too! Wait until customers finish their shopping. If you close the store at 7.00 PM and leave at 7.05 PM, nothing happens. Believe me! The employees of this location definitely need some customer service training or something.

I wish the management shut this location down instead of the other locations. They have no benefit to customers whatsoever! At least rotate the employees, so customers like us would have a better shopping experience. At least it would be worth paying all that amount for used stained and...