Had an interesting experience in Vinnies today….after having such wonderful and positive experiences on ebay it was a real eye opener as to perhaps why so many people are going the ebay route. As you know I have had a few problems before...only ever in a particular store ..usually I prefer to encourage and praise the workers but after my husband’s case of workplace bullying was found in the favour of his supervisor and my own complaint was on balance disbelieved I guess I simply cannot take any crap from them anymore.
I went into the store with intent of finding some plus sized clothes…a mammoth job as most clothes there are in standard sizes and it takes forever to go through all of the ladies and also the mixed clothes downstairs. Out of the whole store there may be around five plus sized items…and the store has two levels of women’s clothing….that is how big a job it is. Also problematic are the racks which are stuffed to the max with clothing…one rack over another one and the racks are full of clothing on really flimsy hangers which constantly snap in one’s hand. So after checking out a third of the downstairs I popped upstairs to check the ladies shirts and jackets etc. By then my hands had gone.
A little explanation…due to my silly arthritis and accompanying stenosis of the spinal column in my cervical and thoracic vertebrae I have trouble raising my arms above waist height …my hands go all pins and needles …and they hurt…and then they go numb and I start to drop things. I dropped several tops which I was buying but I left them at my feet as I knew I would only drop them again and I was still looking through the lower rack. A man I took to be a volunteer …he was wearing an apron and was muttering to himself as he went through the store repeatedly….I kept getting out of his way as there is no room to manouvre in this shop anymore. Anyway he came upstairs just as I dropped the shirts and I heard him say…as he looked at the things at my feet…okay just drop them there ..that’s the way to do it…or words to that effect.
I must say I was chagrined and mortified to be spoken to like that and when a few minutes later a worker I know came upstairs and asked if something was wrong I said yes…. I did not like being spoken to by the volunteer that way. I said I felt he was a little unusual and had been rude. A booming what has this particular volunteer done came from behind me and bugger me if he was not directly behind me …totally invading my body space and I felt inappropriately questioning me about what I was discussing with the worker. Well, not one to back down, not after our previous experiences….I repeated I did not like to be spoken to like that. He said he was telling someone else to leave donations somewhere……even though he was looking at me and I saw no other person…although there could have been one….I did not see one however.
Well then I apologised and said I was sorry …that it was bad timing that it happened as he said it to a customer but he was very shirty and kept saving aggressively…I am so over this …it is gone it is nothing etc etc. Well it was not over as I felt both my body space and my disability had been poorly treated. I went downstairs and saw him chatting to the workers on the cash register and he then went upstairs again brushing past me in quite an unusual manner. I asked the workers if the manager was in and they said they would get her. She came down and apologised and said something like …you know we have problems with some people not being able to talk to people properly. I said …yes but I felt that you should know as if it happened to me it could happen to others. I also explained a little about my health and how difficult it is to shop there since the new overstocking of the racks came in. She said to let her know if they could help get anything down for me…which was sweet but not really the point.
So all in all a good day as my clothing order from the US came in the post…trust me you have never seen the like of these jackets etc…silk and embossed, embroidered or quilted! The whole experience was pleasant even picking up the parcels! I did however find a stunning Liz Claiborne handbag and two lovely shirts for myself in Vinnies….I think it was worth it…..I hope so anyway…it just leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Where is Mary Queen of Charity Shops when you need her?
