Before I begin, I should just say that I was thinking of running a similar feature alongside this one called ‘Etiquette hero of the week’ but sadly – and this is indicative of the times in which we now live – I was struggling to find one. I will, naturally, post Etiquette heroes as and when I find them – perchance this blog may turn into a boring whine.
This week’s villain of the week goes to the Oxfam Emporium on Oldham Street in Manchester. I haven’t been to a charity shop in central Manchester before – indeed, they seem to be few and far between – but someone in the Farrow & Ball shop suggested Oxfam in the Northern Quarter. So off I trotted.
Oxfam Emporium, Oldham Street, Manchester
Upon arrival I dropped off what must have been £200+ worth of books I no longer required. You would think that the assistant/volunteer would have thanked me for donating my cast-offs, but no.
I unloaded from the the heavy-duty bag – the assistant looked through a few of them; I finished, looked up, said thank you (why was I saying thank you?), and the girl replied “bye”.
Not a word of gratitude! Clearly Oxfam have got enough donations and so we can all stop donating as evidently they’d rather not receive anything.
Charity does not begin on Oldham Street!
Tags: books, charity, civility, customer service, England, etiquette, gratitude, manchester, manners, oxfam, thank you, UK
I had the absolute same thought, that Oxfam no longer require donations. I dropped off two bags of TM Lewin shirts in York. I got a ‘Ta’ before the shop assistant went back to her phone. No reognition, no thanks or sign of appreciation or message on how it will help feed the starving people in India.
I must say I had the total opposite from The British Heart Foundation Shop in Bury a while back. I had loads of items and they were extremely polite and asked if I’d also like to sign up for their Gift Aid, which I duly did. The two assistants helped with the transfer from the car to the back of the store. Some days later I received a Thank You note for adding the Gift Aid and even an indication of how much they thought they’d receive from the sale of the items. I would always go back to BHF if I have any further items.
Owch, this is terrible, but not uncommon, as you mention. I have done this before, dropped off some china and not a word, just told me to *Dump* it on the floor by her side. This was in Cambridge, funnily enough, in Oxfam!
I also spend a fair bit in charity shops on china, teacups etc and often come across rude staff who don’t thank me for my purchases. It really does annoy me, so glad I am not alone!
I suppose s/he might have been thinking “oh no, not more work sorting and pricing…” in which case she’s clearly in the wrong job! Bet you felt like picking them up and leaving with them, if you hadn’t made such an effort getting them there in the first place…and isn’t it funny how often the customer ends up saying thank you and goodbye and not the retailer?
I dont like it when some one is there to serve ME but they talk or text on their phone…..so!!! rude.
Bit naughty you never received a “Thank you” Bye….
All my cast offs go to Cancer Research in Didsbury village. They are very friendly and grateful for donations. They also helpfully suggested that I signup for a Gift Aid donation card so that they could claim tax back on my donation – this I happily did.
Whilst I am generally of the opinion that manners cost nothing, and the general lack of them amongst general society irritates the life out of me, I do feel the need here to point out that the people who work in these shops are more often than not volunteers. In the case of many of my local charity shops the assistants are obviously mentally handicapped in some way, or at the very least are, shall we say, socially awkward. They are there because they are not capable of holding down paid professional work, but want to do something worthwhile with their time. Yes, a thank you would be nice, but at the end of the day you already have the satisfaction of doing your good deed. You can also feel morally and socially superior to those who have no excuse.
An interesting take, and you are probably right in some cases, although in this particular case they looked like very well put-together students, so no excuse. Thanks for commenting!
It occurs to me that, on occassions people need to be gently reminded of good manners. It shouldn’t be neccesary but, I’ve found that a big smile and talking to staff in charity shops about how pleased I am to be donating to them gets a thanks (all be it in an attempt to get rid of me).
I don’t know whether other people are of the same opinion but, I think a little gentle prompting has its place. I do wonder whether people are always aware of how much good manners are appreciated.
My ten year old made me laugh, recently, by asking (a little more loudly than an adult might get away with) whether manners we still important when the trains were really busy. An elderly woman was standing next to us on the train. Of course, the only answer one can reasonably give is that while “I’m sure everyone thinks good manners are important, sometimes people have had tough days and forget to look around them”.