Oxfam Quarry Street
I was in the Oxfam shop in Quarry Street in Guildford today.
The price on a book was not clear and so I queried it. The price I was given was clearly wrong and I explained the book had been mispriced.
The appropriate response of the person behind the counter should have been to graciously accept that a mistake had been made, apologise, and thank me for drawing it to their attention.
But no, the person became aggressive, defensive and blatantly lied, saying that was always the price.
I knew this not to be the case as I had previously bought this book, and this one was in poor condition with broken spine.
I suggested that the the person who was coming across as an idiot, actually checked the prices of the other books on the shelves and he would then find what he was claiming was wrong.
He refused. Not only did he refuse, he called his manager to back him up.
At this point I decided I was wasting my time and decided to leave. On principle I was not prepared to be ripped-off
The parting shot of the idiot was: We are a charity!
Since when has being a charity been an excuse to rip people off?
Yes, Oxfam is a charity, but in reality it is a multinational business providing Third World Aid. Third World Aid is now Big Business.
There are three Oxfam shops in Guildford, one of which is a bookshop.
I walked to the Oxfam Bookshop. I find the book I was looking for on the shelve in better condition at £2-49, the price it should have been in the Quarry Street Oxfam shop if priced as the other books.
I asked that they had a quiet word in the ears of the Quarry Street Oxfam shop.
I then walked to the Oxfam shop at the top of the town. The books were priced at £1-99.
There are two charities that rip people off: Oxfam and British Heart Foundation.
When I speak to staff in BHF shops, they admit that they are overcharging, but they have instructions from external managers. They point to prices in other shops, but get nowhere. As a result the books needlessly circulate from shops to shops because they do not sell.
Periodically I find Oxfam Bookshops stripping the books and filling sacks. The books go to recycling.
An exception for Oxfam is the Oxfam Bookshop in Lincoln. They do not rip people off, the staff know and love their books. It is a proper bookshop. Oxfam in an act of crass stupidity is closing the shop, it will be merged with an Oxfam shop, a few shelves in an Oxfam shop is not a bookshop. A crying shame. The blame though is not entirely that of Oxfam. Sincil Street, where the shop is located, is suffering blight, the area earmarked for redevelopment. One of the few remaining areas of character in the town centre scheduled for destruction.
- Destruction of Sincil Street
Charity shops tell me that before Christmas they were told to open extra hours. Not worth it in terms of sales, they get no extra compensation for extra hours worked.
Prices of clothes go up, at the same time as prices drop elsewhere, making the charity shops uncompetitive compared with Primark or Matalan or ASDA George range.
Not all charity shops are like this. The smaller charities are much better. Often I find refugees from the larger charities who tell me horror stories from the larger charities.
When I talk to people in the smaller charities they are disgusted by the greed of the larger charities, they all get tarred with the same brush.
Books will be 50p, £1-50, £2-00, but no more. If they do not sell, the prices are lowered. One shop, if the books do not sell, they are put by the door at 10p. They never have to throw the books away, they always get something.
Books used to be £1-99 in the Quarry Street Oxfam until greed raised its ugly head. Now they are charging £2-69 and blatantly lying the books were always that price.
One of the best bookshops in the Guildford area is in a side street in nearby Godalming run by a small mental health charity. It is worth a visit to Godalming.
For music in Guildford try Ben’s Records. A far better selection than Oxfam, and unlike Oxfam, Ben does not rip people off, he values his customers.
Tags: Ben's Records, books, greed.Guildford, music, Oxfam
January 21, 2012 at 4:02 pm |
Today I paid a visit to Frimley.
The lady in the Parity shop told me Oxfam overcharge for their books. When I told her of my experience with Oxfam in Guildford the previous day, she was appalled. I do not know what price books were, but those by the door were 30p to get rid of them. The lady said they do not throw books away, they always get something for them.
The Oxfam shop had books at £1-59, considerably less than Guildford.
The two Age UK shops had books at 99p and these were in as new condition.
Oxfam know they are ripping people off. If you query the prices in shops that are overcharging they become very defensive and try to justify ripping people off.
June 30, 2012 at 2:11 am |
Mr Keithpp
I am sory that you feel that way but as you know you always have a plenty of choice if you are shopping from charity shops as you do whenever you buy your grocery from supermarkets compare and get the cheaper one.
I cannot believe that you’ve had that conversation with the person behind the counter over only 20p. As he said this is a charity , the money doesn’t go in people’s pocket it goes to people who desperately need it. If you feel being ripped off then you have a choice to go and get a new one for £7.99 or £6.99 or go to car boot sales and get it for even 5p.
Looks like you have an obsession about making complaints about anything and everything as you have mentioned you had that book before so you were trying to find something to complain and you’ve done. I can’t believe you have checked every single book’s price on the shelves and found especially just one with different price.
Charity shops are not the places to haggle because everything is for good cause. Haggling in charities means that you are not helping people who are in need you are trying to get a help for yourself which is unacceptable in my book. If you are not willing to pay or you dont like the price you have a choice to go and get it from somewhere else.
I think you’d better stop living your life with trying to find excuses and reasons to complain about everything and stop nagging!! Get a life man!!
November 1, 2012 at 2:47 am |
I had no need to go through all the books, I knew what price they were priced at (confirmed by the Oxfam bookshop).
I had picked up a book, saw it had been incorrectly priced,and informed the person behind the counter. But instead of being thanked, I got a defensive reaction and a pack of lies.
Until that point, I had no grounds for complaint.
It does of course help if people read and comprehend what is written, rather than engage in a rant that makes them look stupid.
Being a charity is not an excuse to rip people off. But sadly many of the big charities are now big business, and like any big business, greed becomes the driving force.
This is not true of the smaller charities.
February 4, 2013 at 3:10 pm |
Well said Alice. Keith, quit your whinging. You are free to shop around.
Personally, I think you should purchase your books from Waterstones where you get world class customer service, you will feel comfortable in the knowledge you have contributed towards the great British tax system and you will benefit the author directly.
February 5, 2013 at 10:51 am |
An exceedingly childish post. This is not a blog for trolls to post their rubbish.
Everyone is free to shop around. It does not justify ripping off customers in the hope you can get away with it, any more than it justifies insurance companies automatically renewing insurance policies (usually at vastly inflated premiums), or banks mis-selling their products.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/insurance-auto-renewal-scam/
Anyone who thinks Waterstone’s provides service, obviously has never been in a good bookshop.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/not-a-single-copy-of-neverseconds-in-waterstones/
Farnham has an excellent Oxfam bookshop, very popular, friendly staff, and you do not get ripped off.