In the midst of a major home remodel, I needed to find a charity to pick up some large pieces of solid wood bedroom furniture (nice stuff -- not junk). Having shopped from time to time at their local thrift stores, St. Vincent de Paul immediately came to mind. I spoke with their very friendly phone attendant, who took my information and gave it to another person in their scheduling department. That person called me a couple of hours later to set up the delivery date. I explained that the furniture was large and very heavy, and that it was important that it be picked up that day because contractors were coming the next day to replace the flooring in that room. I was told that their drivers cannot take furniture up and down stairs, and I asked if they could take it out the back door, since it walks out to the backyard with no stairs. She assured me that they could.
The night before the expected pickup, I hadn't heard from anyone regarding what time they would pick up the furniture, so I called to find out. The phone attendant checked the records and said that the drivers would be at my home between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. By 10 a.m. they still had not arrived. Shortly thereafter I received a call saying they would be at my home between 10 and 12. The drivers arrived a few minutes before noon and promptly told me that unless they could drive their large truck into my backyard, they would not take the furniture because it was too heavy and too big. They also claimed that no one told me that they would be there between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., and that the person who set the appointment should not have told me that they would take the furniture out the back door.
They were coming from a mindset of "no," while I was trying to figure out a way to get the furniture on the truck for them. I even offered to lug it to their truck on their dolly myself and they refused. I asked if my husband could come home and help me move the furniture to the driveway for them and they refused to wait 15 minutes -- even though they had kept me waiting for four hours. I asked if they would come back at the end of their route if I could get it to the driveway, and they said, "Maybe we will and maybe we won't."
Lastly, I had a few smaller pieces of furniture and a couple of boxes of office supplies in the driveway, which they complained about taking because I hadn't included the boxes of office supplies when I told the scheduler what I'd be donating. I asked them to return those items to me and I would give them to another charity, and they refused to take them off their truck. As they drove away, I stopped them to ask where my receipt was and they said it was in the house. I told them not to come back.
I have called St. Vincent de Paul twice to complain about their drivers' behavior, and they have refused to return my phone calls.
The experience left me in a terrible position, with contractors coming the next morning and no way to move the furniture out of my bedroom by myself. Fortunately, the flooring guys were nice enough to move it to the garage for me, and the American Kidney Fund is coming to pick it up next week.
I have seen other reviews of their thrift stores with negative comments regarding the quality of their donated goods. My experience on the donation side might explain why. read more
