Goodwill

My oh my what a nasty place with such sour attitudes. I went in to look for a table and was treated with no respect by the people in the store. I asked a question about the price on one and a women glared at me, blew out a lungful of stinky smoke breath and said it is marked, can’t you read, Jose. Very poor personal skills and disdain for those of us struggling to make ends meet. Ugly, Ugly, Ugly!

I generally love coming here, but I come here for the random crap you can find… not the employees.
Unfortunately, I had a rather poor experience today. They’ve been hocking the Goodwill Rewards program, which I generally shrug off because I don’t want to go through the hassle of giving them my info, and I’ve been a retail employee before, so I know that most employees… don’t really want to put down the info either, and it’s a hassle if you can’t find it. Well, we came home from California, and were in a good mood, so I made one. Came back today, and this kid (Pretty sure he’s the SAME kid that signed us up) asked if I had a rewards card. I wasn’t going to say anything, but my girlfriend was there who reminded us that Yes, we did have a rewards card. He couldn’t find it by my phone number, and had to look up my name. My name, and phone number were incorrect, but we ended up finding me. It was my first purchase after the sign up, for which they promised 25% off. We had to ask for that — and remind them about three times that YES, we did get it, because it was the first time we’d bought anything since we signed up. Neither of the employees got it, they either didn’t grasp English, or were ready to close up since it was nearing 8PM. But we finally got to apply a discount, whereupon they lowered the price from $ 42 to $ 38. I protested again, saying that 25% of 40 is $ 10…not $ 4. $ 4 would be 10%. They kept telling me NO, No, it’s the tax, you forgot about the tax, the tax doesn’t come off, etc. They argued with us, even got a manager involved, who also argued with us. We were there for ten minutes, arguing over a stupid discount at a stupid thrift store. So, I said whatever, apply whatever you want, we just want to go. Got home, did the math, and sure enough, it was a 10% discount. Look, I really don’t care about money — but if you’re going to hock your crap at me every time I come into the location, and then argue with me over the benefits like I’m an idiot that can’t do math (I checked… but even then, looking at the receipt… what was the discount if it was initially $ 4.99 and came down to $ 4.49? Hmm…) I mean, you’re just wasting my time. Will I continue to shop at Goodwill? Maybe. I mean, you do occasionally have 24″ HD monitors for sale at like $ 15, which is stupid cheap. But I can’t say as I’ll be «rounding up» my purchase anymore. If this is how you spend my spare change, on incompetent employees… well, doesn’t make much sense to me.

A good place to find treasures. I was at the Sterling Store on Saturday, and I didn’t know of the super Saturday sale until I saw the crowd outside earlier in the morning. The staff welcome us with a smile on their face while we were fighting over the shopping cart.
The store was beautiful organized and and the staff helping each other to help us out. My purchase was over $ 200.00, and was carefully wrapped by the manager helping her cashier with the lines. As I reading previous reviews on this store, it makes me wonder. .Why people used social media to be harmful. Goodwill has done so much for the community and my family that your comments go back on you all as having a bad day. Use the media to help our community and NOT TO DESTROY IT!!! Goodwill thank you for all you do and God Bless You! !!!

Hahahhaha to the lady who said the prices are «dirt cheap» have you shopped recently at goodwill!!! First off, this place is not «dirt cheap.» As a student with a tons of student loans not everyone is as fortunate as you. So try not to be too ignorant. For a thrift store these prices are completely outrageous. I used to shop here all the time and realized I was getting totally ripped off buying their items especially from their «boutique» section. I don’t know what your talking about the «hispanic lady» being wrong for reporting harassment but in my experience if your feeling harassed as a customer at a store or in a work place you will always have a right to file a complaint. Bad customer service should be reported especially coming from the store manager. So, maybe try to imagine people who don’t have all the luxuries you have in your life before passing judgement on someone who dared complain about the store manager. Harassment shouldn’t be something to joke about.
To K. P: «don’t ever try to complain.» are you really threatening people to not complain about the store manager? Wow. To anyone reading this, no matter your race, gender, financial status, religious affiliations YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS OR REPORT HARASSMENT. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!
Sidenote: I’ve definitely been there when the store manager was openly insulting customers especially the «hispanic ones.» And I’ve unfortunately witnessed that a couple of times. Hopefully she got the training she needed!

I was a customer shopping one afternoon and saw a Spanish lady switch the price tags on one of her items that she wanted to buy. (She was with her daughter as well) –I saw her take a cheaper price tag, put it on hers, and ripped the price tag that was on her item off. I definitely notified the manager (she had really short hair and wore glasses on the top of her head) so she would talk to the lady because I had VISUALLY seen that customer change the price tag and it IS WRONG. IT IS STEALING and AGAINST THE LAW.
So the customer told the head manager about what happened and said that she was being accused of harassing her and she even wrote a review here on Unilocal.
** This is for the lady that switched the price tag. –Seriously, this is a thrift store, it’s cheap as dirt and if you had to go that low to STEAL and break the law, than I feel really bad for you. YOU ARE WRONG AND THE MANAGER WAS RIGHT. Don’t ever try to complain and get another person in trouble for doing the wrong thing.

Goodwill and I don’t get along very well. However my mom is a regular customer. I drop her off almost once a week but I dare not go inside. Let me just start off by saying I think if you are regular enough you will be happy, as everything is in front of you, when it came how much was it did it sell or it’s on sale. Bought a great great glass dining table with 4 chairs for only 75. Awesome deal.
On a side note let me explain why I don’t go there. We buy stuff and we donate as well. Easy drop off, pull your car over at the back of the store put your donations in the large bins and all done. So couple of years ago I pull over, had many large bags, lamps, furniture etc. I don’t like to block the way so I pulled a little before the huge bins. Opened my trunk and busy unloading. A worker working there gave no acknowledgment. Fine by me. So this other lady pulls up in her SUV and in her high shorts and blonde hair, this guy goes running to unload her –wait for it, a table lamp and couple of frames. Well whatever, his choice.
Very recently had to go to Advanced auto for something, mom was with me so I offered for few minutes. It was probably 8pm on Saturday. I said, you know what let me go in with her otherwise she won’t return. Waited for her in the front by the books and jewelry section. Looked at a great price of rings 99c (BTW they were 99 c for two,) waited 10 min to have someone show it, but hey they were busy. I am looking, mind it there are 100ish rings. I am busy choosing so she is talking to maybe another worker or her friend. She says I have to go to lunch, the other person says well then go. «No I have to WATCH these rings.» Corrects herself, «I can’t leave these out.» OK, store policy, understandable. Then she goes, «Are you done, is that enough for today, is that all you need?» I look up to see if she was talking to me, and yes she was. Then I smiled as in no I am not done. She says, «They would be here tomorrow.» Well pretty busy lady who needs to take lunch, I won’t be. I bought the ones I had picked out walked right out.

Utterly dreadful experience. This was my first visit to this location and it will certainly be my last.
The first thing I noticed was the selection of furniture: the pricing system was very odd. We saw a desk that would have been very nice after a lot of love (stripping, sanding, painting) that was ticketed at two hundred dollars. A similar desk that simply needed some new drawer hardware and a polishing was seventy dollars. The same variances were seen across filing cabinets, chairs, and shelving; there was not even a semblance of a consistent pricing structure. Ridiculous prices could be seen on other items in the store, especially video game accessories.
I was very excited by the large selection of books available and chose eleven paperback, nonfiction titles. We also chose a framed picture, some VHS tapes, a few house wears, and three collared shirts.
By my calculation, the total should have been about $ 40, but it was rung up at sixty dollars…
As a frequent Goodwill shopper, I am always on point with my subtotal, so it was clear something was wrong. The cashier decided to ring up all eleven books (each a different size, and only one 5×8) at the $ 1.59 rate for 5×8 paperbacks instead of the general $.99. We were then told that the two shirts found and selected from the children’s section and tagged with children’s sizes could only be rung up as adult shirts, despite having manufacturers tags with children’s sizing on them. The cashier checked in the back, and proceeded to rering them as women’s shirts, noting «we don’t do that here,» in regards to a different pricing structure for children’s clothes (despite signage clearly indicating children’s pricing). We decided not to purchase the books because I was too exhausted to explain the intricacies of paperback book sizing and don’t have the disposable income to spend 60% more per book. Ultimately though I am disheartened, having spent a good deal of time selecting books of interest; I now know why their selection of books is so extensive.
I would just like to say that as a very frequent customer of the Goodwill in Gaithersburg, I have never had any issue finding or purchasing reasonably and accurately priced merchandise prior to this visit to the Sterling location. Pricing between these two locations is extraordinarily different considering they are both under the DC area division of Goodwill, though the official signage would have you think otherwise, policies are grossly misapplied at the Sterling location with the sole goal of having customers spend more money for the same products.
I regularly donate to Goodwill and patronize their shops, I round up my total most of the time, and I do my best to support their charitable missions. As a low income person I appreciate being able to get gently used clothing and entertainment at a price I can afford while having my purchase continue on to benefit others through Goodwill’s employment and training services.
Today’s visit has soured the good will I have for Goodwill.

Prices are insane. I remember seeing a 4mp digital SLR camera for about $ 200? I literally laughed.
Honestly. I hear about these people finding all these good deals at their goodwill and I’m just sitting here wondering why these people think their junk is worth so much. Because that is what most of it is, though.
Another thing, they keep all the DVDs and games in a book under the cash register. They don’t leave them in the case, for fear that someone will steal it. But honestly, a) it takes too long to get the DVD from the book, and b) don’t you think you’re already stealing enough from us?
smh

I donated a 5 yr old shoes which i bought for $ 15 and they’re selling it for $ 19.99.The lady assign for pricing is basing her price on Google. .and she is so rude. Shes selling Accessories $ 600 bec she said its $ 1200 0n line. The price here is too much for a non profit store. Ive been a regular here for 10 yrs never had these high prices before. One old calvin Klein sweater for $ 35.she said its $ 60 in Macy’s. Please help those low income family. A lot of complain for this lady… help us pls

I’m not sure what has happened to this location. The good merchandise is not making it to the floor or is extremely overpriced. What gives? This location is not even worth my time anymore.

I have shopped at the store on Enterprise Street in Sterling, VA for quite some time now. I usually go in and purchase a great deal of China and crystal. As I was milling about the aisles I kept over hearing disgruntled customers walking around and saying «their prices are ridiculous or this place is a joke, Really? Do they think they’re going to get that for this?» Honestly, I’m not sure who took over their pricing, but they are out of touch with reality! I had picked up quite a few mismatched crystal glasses, by that I don’t mean a small amount of them. When I went to the counter to check out, as the clerk was ringing up the glasses, I noticed that several of the smaller classes cost $ 2.96 and that the larger one were priced at $ 1.96. I asked the cashier why this was done this way since the larger glasses obviously held more fluid ounces than the smaller ones. I said this is clearly a mistake, and asked if it could be corrected, As I had far more smaller glasses than the larger ones. The check out clerk said that she couldn’t do it unless the manager approved it. I asked to speak to the manager then, as this then because a matter of principal to me. They said that a guy named Johnny was the manager, and then A Spanish woman with dyed blond hair came from the back and said he had gone out for something to eat. She then asked me what it was that needed. I explained the situation and the obvious error. She looked at both glasses as I explained to her the obvious mistakes in the prices on the glasses. $ 2.96 on the juice glasses and $ 1.96 on the large glasses. She then got very rude and said «This is done by the back. The prices are looked up and the glasses are priced by them. They aren’t going to be changed. If you don’t like it you can return them to the shelves. I then told her that I came in several times a month and purchased several hundred dollars worth of glass wares from them and because of her rudeness and offense attitude that I will no longer be shopping there. I will not be back, the only reason I would consider returning is IF the fundamentals of the term «thrift store» comes back into play & that the customers are considered right and due respect.

I have made many donations here and the recieving staff have always been professional and courteous. The process is simple and fast. There are donation organizations much closer to my home than this store but I come here because of the service.

I went to a local Goodwill store located at Sterling Plaza II Shopping Center,
22 405 Enterprise Street, Sterling, Virginia 20 164 and I got terrible service. There was a book shelf that I was interested in but had a lot of issues with it. The shelf’s were all warped, there was a shelf missing and the shelf its self was water damaged badly. All there other furniture was 50%+ off. I asked if I was able to get it lowered as it had a lot of damage done to it. They informed me very rudely «unless we have that item for over a month we CAN NOT lower the price. What is on it that is what YOU will have to pay». I explained that all the other furniture is 50%+ off I was then told «oh well we just put that out today and we will not lower the price just for you». I felt like they did not care at all about me. I then put everything back that I was going to get and walked out of the store. That is no way to treat me just because I wanted to get 50% off what they was asking for. it was marked for $ 10 and I was willing to pay $ 5 as all the other items were 50%+ off. This is not at all I was treated very badly at this store.

The people working there are very friendly and loved my toddler, who was being very good in the stroller. They have a variety of items but there wasn’t anything I really wanted except for the basketball my toddler wanted, and it was only 2 bucks.

Now, I won’t say I am outright cheap. But I do know the value of a dollar and what I want to pay for something. Hence, I am always a happy lady when I have a good thrifting experience. I love the thrill of the hunt and in fact, I scored my Mom a gorgeous Pier One Imports antique whitewash table set for just a pence right before last Christmas! All I needed to do wash it down, put a nice coat of gloss on it and it shined like brand new.
This location can always be hit or miss. I generally go in knowing what areas I want to focus on or any items I may want to create into gifts for my friends. But I definitely keep an open mind. I am picky about the types of items I will purchase second hand… mainly things like candle holders, accessories or an eclectic mirror for my mirror wall. Not a fan of the used shoes or kitchen gadgets and whatnot.
From what I can tell, the items change over rather quickly. They are constantly bringing out new product to keep their sales floor stocked.
Solid 3 stars… I would give them 4 but I am not fond of the fact that Goodwill gets 100% of their goods for free yet they still turn an insane profit instead of giving a larger percentage to charity. Its the one thing that inclines me to frequent other thift stores just a bit more.

Never bought anythign from here, but it is a really easy place to drop stuff off too. You can just drive to the back of the store and they come out and give you a receipt.

I seem to always walk out with a goodie or two. Today, it was a Mini Boden dress for $ 0.78 and Hanna Andersson pajamas for $ 2. Like many thrift stores, it is hit or miss. Mostly it is a hit though. Customer service is great and everyone is so friendly.
A+ for the kids play area.

It’s a bit chaotic inside, but that’s how thrift/​donation shops are, I guess!
The clothing section for guys is a bit limited — nothing really that I could find. A lot of larger sizes on the racks.
Their home goods section is actually a nice place to browse for quirky or unique items to add to your home décor or home tools. Found a couple vintage wooden tennis racquets that would typically go for $ 30+ each for only $ 3 each. Definitely can find some highly undervalued items here.
Service seems nice. Overall goods selection isn’t bad, but the men’s section needs some help.

Not a bad Goodwill at all, although not my favorite. This is probably among the best Goodwill locations in terms of having a large furniture selection. However, the prices for furniture at Goodwill are pretty crazy for me. They charge $ 25 for one of those cheap mdf of particle board tv stands.
The clothing selection is just okay. For smaller sizes the selection is quite limited. The pant selection for women didn’t look so great, but there were a number of full suits and blazers for mid size and up. There seemed to be a decent suit selection for men as well.
Housewares was actually very good, among the best in the area, surprisingly. There were some very nice like new plate and bowl sets. A good number of them were very stylish and modern, too. There were also some cool appliances, such as an ice cream maker, in addition to loads of Foreman grills and maybe a crock pot or two.
The movie selection was full of cheese. The books appeared to be separated so that the cheesy drugstore books were separate from the others. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I was thankful that it turned out that way. There was an ok selection of other more serious books, but nothing that caught my eye – nothing particularly new, no language books, only a handful of crappy cookbooks, etc.
In short, I’d come here primarily for items related to the home, whether furniture of kitchen supplies. If you come for that, you won’t be disappointed. Don’t expect awesome furniture though, just ok and lots of it for such a small location.

It’s pretty unfortunate that what begins with the best of intentions meets careless attitudes and chaos. I had a considerable amount of stuff ready for donation and decided to drive it to Goodwill since they stopped doing truck pickups in local neighborhoods. The store was busy and crowded, highlighting the value of supporting such charitable organizations.
TIP: Do not even bother approaching the front of the store. Donated goods need to be dropped off around back, (too bad there is no sign indicating that).
Be careful because although there is room for two cars to pass, there is little courtesy observed. The donor ahead of me left her vehicle in the middle of the road while unloading goods. The employee on duty said nothing and ignored other cars trying to pass her. I waited off to the side.
When I finally had an opportunity to advance to the drop off area I had to be careful to avoid the bags and boxes surrounding Goodwill’s back door. Surprisingly, the clerk disappeared without saying a word and did not reappear. I unloaded my donations, knocked on the door, and got no response. It was totally unprofessional and discourteous experience, inexplicable!