i have shopped here for YEARS and have felt like this place was a godsend, and i have recommended it to countless people. i really felt like it was a community of poor families supporting other poor families. but today, i had such a bad experience that i don't ever plan on shopping there again
i recognize that i came in around 30 min before close on a monday, which is nobody's favorite time of day to work. i dropped off a bag of a few books, and there was another bag inside it bc i usually end up buying two bags' (and $100+) worth of stuff. my son had to use the potty, so i ended up only having maybe 10min total to shop. bc of the limited time, i was only able to buy two shirts and one pair of shorts (for a 4T toddler).
i went to the register, and the very nice, knowledgeable, and hardworking associate noticed me. the other one working there said something like, "i got it," but then she proceeded to dust for a few minutes longer before actually coming to the register. while i waited for her to come, i impulse added two hand sanitizers to my pile of things to buy.
then she told me that she had processed the bag inside my bag for consignment. i was confused (i have never seen a used normal shopping tote bag for consignment there) and i said no, that bag was meant for me to use, i didn't want to consign that. she seemed confused and surprised by that, and she spent a few minutes trying to find it to give back to me
then she rang me up and said i owed around $50. i was very confused, since i only bought three articles of used clothing and two small bottles of hand sanitizer. how could that be $50? she said that the hand sanitizer was $12 each. i said "$12???" she said it's "fancy hand sanitizer," and it's cheaper elsewhere but they're a small business, so they charge more. i was astounded. i don't believe there had been a price clearly displayed; if there had been, then i definitely would not have wanted to buy those
she took the hand sanitizer off, and then she asked if i wanted to use my $9 in credit. i said yes. she said my total was now $10. which means my full total for two used toddler shirts and one used toddler pair of shorts was $19. i checked the receipt, and the two shirts were $4, and the shorts were $10. they were definitely used shorts, not new shorts. for $10??
i left feeling really scammed, and i could have been even more scammed if i hadn't been more careful. i realized i had probably been scammed on previous purchases too, but i just always bought so much clothes that i didn't look at the details too much
i don't ever want to shop here again. it's definitely not worth it for how much they're charging. when i buy used clothes and toys from here, they are expectedly not in great quality, but i consider the price and i usually believe it's a fair trade-off. i now realize it's just another way to scam poor families read more