Goodwill Bins in Los Angeles

"People were rude and borderline violent. I saw multiple people steal items from peoples carts. I saw groups of resellers tossing the clothes they no longer wanted on the floor and then walking / stepping on the clothing. Multiple employees rammed new bins into me (I was not standing where I wasn’t supposed to) and one bin rolled over my foot. There is no law or order here. However, this is one of the last few thrift stores you can truly get a good deal. I found a lot of really fun and unique pieces for a total of under $50. If you are fine with people encroaching on your personal space and grabbing things from bins before they are supposed to, then you’ll be fine here. I visited the Goodwill Outlet in Panorama City before and the management did NOT tolerate people stealing things from other people’s carts or grabbing things from new bins before all the bins are brought out. Will I be coming back? Idk. The Panorama City outlet felt comparatively much less chaotic."

"Don't bother coming here on the weekend, you're going to be competing with 50+ people for every set of rotated bins. It's ridiculous when it comes to competition since this GW outlet is well known, it's not like other GW bins where it's only a few people per bin. Too many teen groups hunting for their baggy vtg shirts and jeans and resellers elbowing your sides. All the bins that are ignored are basically nearly worthless since they're scavenged clean, unless you know how to hunt for mids that people ignore or are interested in hipster clothes people don't want. And the rumors about the workers and manager sorting and taking all the good stuff before they bring out the bins is true because almost every bin that I sifted through (w/ the 50+ other people) barely get anything good these days. You basically have to be extremely lucky and know exactly what to find if you want to stand a chance of finding some good deals. Be there for the morning rotation or don't bother. Or maybe go to the retail store next door and avoid the crowds altogether."

"The logistics of this location need major improvement. I don't want to come down too harsh since this is a not-for-profit. But even such organizations need to have some sort of standard. A simple eBay pickup order turned into a misadventure. Instead of being able to swing by during open store hours to pick up an order, you are required to make an appointment. Per the pickup instructions, the pickup must be no earlier than two days after the payment date, within 10 days of the payment date, with no same-day pickup offered. That seems like a lot of restrictions, but okay. Got there about 20 minutes before my 10-minute time slot, which was the last available appointment of the day. The pickup area is on the far right side of the building. Door was locked with a doorbell outside. Rang the bell periodically with no luck. I see a sign on the inside for a number to call for online orders. Called multiple times but no one picked up. Finally gave up and walked over to the main retail store on the far left wing of the building to ask if someone could help with a pickup order. Staff told me pickups are on the other end, to which I responded that no one is answering the bell or picking up the phone, and I've been waiting there for a while. He said someone should be behind the walls and should hear the doorbell, so keep ringing and even try knocking on the door. Thought maybe I'm just too early, though my appointment time was only 10 minutes away at this point. So I continue to ring the bell intermittently, knock on the door, and call the number to no avail. The same staff member from earlier, looking like he's on break or off for the day, walks over and I tell him, still, no one is answering. He's not sure why and recommends to ask the security staff in the enclosed fence area to call someone to come to the front. I wait until a few minutes after my appointment time in case someone actually returns from break/lunch. No luck, so I go talk to security. One security guy tells me they're probably in a conference call but said he'll check for me. I thank him and walk back to the front door. After some time, the security guy emerges from the back, opens the door and tells me the staff handling pickups is gone for the day. Huh? I ask why I was allowed to select this appointment time. I politely tell him I've been waiting more than half an hour--can't someone simply grab my order? He sympathizes and gestures that he'll be right back. Finally, someone who appears to be in a managerial position comes to the front. He acknowledges my wait time, asks for my name, finds my order, requests the order code, and hands me my item. If someone in charge of online orders--or any other task for that matter--leaves early, there needs to be a protocol to hand off the role to another person--not just have the staff member gone for the day, and even though there are more customer appointments on the schedule, oh well, whatever happens happens. The solution can't be to let the customer walk around the premises and track someone down who can finally help. I purchased a piece of clothing at a great price, and I don't expect Goodwill to roll out the red carpet here. Just a basic process for me to retrieve my online order and be on my way. Shout out to the security guard who went out of his way to assist with a task that was nowhere in the scope of his responsibilities. Aside from him, please, please do better."

"A few weeks ago, on a Thursday evening, left this store feeling bullied, humiliated, and ganged up on by employees. It was the worst experience in that it has left me traumatized and still reliving it… Had been a customer of this store for years spending thousands of dollars and mostly for charity. Some of the other managers and employees working there on other days can testify to that. Please take the time to read the below horror story. A new checkout clerk, a young woman shown in the 1st picture, smiling to make fun of the situation, started to ring up the person behind me because his items were placed by her register. When I reminded her that it was my turn, she simply ignored me and rolled her eyes. When she started ringing my things, she looked up at me and said “what are you staring at?” agitated but not loud. I thought I had misheard and asked her to repeat, and again she said the same thing. That’s when I paused and asked her louder if she had a problem with me. The manager on duty, who was helping the other cashier for at least 30 minutes with a customer with 5 gigantic bags of clothes to exchange, and while already frustrated, without knowledge of the situation jumped in and told me to not talk to the cashier in that tone. I told her what had happened, and she had a stone cold look and did not care at all. Next thing I know, a very aggressive security woman comes over and tells me to “step outside” so she can match my energy implying she will get physical, very eager to show her power in front of everyone without a care about the incident itself. Then the customer exchanging her and her children’s entire closet, pulls out her camera to film it all as if it’s entertainment (see her pic with the camera) while the security guard asks her to film it and pass it along to her for TikTok and is laughing. That’s when I started taking the pictures and was irreparably upset, Unfortunately, did not catch a pic of the very aggressive and loud security guard. Her picture in an animated pose would be very telling… Have to date left several messages for the retail customer service POC, and a couple of messages for their head of security. Have not received a callback. Is Goodwill going down the drain? Where did this Goodwill branch find these unbelievably unprofessional, aggressive, and trigger happy employees that I had an encounter with? Especially, the guard whom I said I will file a complaint against but whose name was refused to be given to me. These employees seemed to hate their jobs and only wanted to escalate the situation to feel powerful. Nobody cared about the rudeness of the cashier to me. And they acted confident that there would be no consequences for them which makes me all the more determined to pursue this. The manager is the one flashing her badge for the camera in one of the pics attached. She had all the confidence being sure that it was 4 against 1, so I won’t be able to do anything. Whenever I have come across her in this store, she acts very cold and unhappy and seems to despise her job and the people in the store. What is she doing there? This group of employees can all gang up and lie if questioned, I will simply produce my receipts of huge amounts spent here to prove a history of a great mutual benefit with goodwill, and a great past relationship with the other employees, once I get a hold of someone at the headquarter. Just this particular bunch of people working on Thursday nights should be fired. They were the WORST! Bored and hateful, and have no business dealing with customers."