Goodwill

I usually go in every week and usually am pleased, but lately there is stuff laying eveywhere on the floors, very disorganized, I recently purchased a bathtub spa and got it home and it didn’t work, so I brought it back because the receipt said you can get an in store credit for returns, the manager was very rude and told me if it’s electronic they will not accept returns and that it was posted all over the store, how can you check if a spa is working, you need water duh! Bathrooms are filthy and it always smells near the book section.

As with all Goodwill locations, this location is a hit or miss. However, I have found some REALLY NICE ITEMS here. The building is older and lacks in bright lighting, however this location is always clean and pretty organized. Additionally, I must say I always appreciate the customer service at this location. All of the managers, cashiers, and donation staff have been extremely friendly and helpful. The pricing is consistent with other Michiana stores. For example, women’s shoes are a set price ($ 4.49), unless specially marked. The same applies to board games, which are all $ 1.49. This proves to be a plus on Half Price Saturdays! See my photos for the cool thrifted finds.

nice rotating selections

My wife and I went to the Goodwill today to donate our 3 printers and get some items for our kids.
The guy that received the printers must have been having a sucky day. When we handed him each printer, he tossed them onto a pile of other electronics like it were a toy! I guess some people don’t care about keeping a product’s integrity.
My kids found a few items to buy, but I can never find the right jeans from Goodwill. It doesn’t matter which one I go to. Alot of clothing and items inside had collected dust on it and was not very well organized.
After being disappointed again about the jeans, I walked to the book section. The entire section smelled like the inside of a bathroom (there was a bathroom located near by). I have been to plenty of places that had restrooms, but did not smell like a toilet!
How could I forget the masses of older couples coming and going in the parking lot nearly running over anything in their path, without even looking back to see what the hell is going on around them!
Overall, the place could have been a little cleaner and more variety.
I’m on the fence about recommending this Goodwill.

Every time I shop at this Goodwill store, I leave feeling stressed. Yes, the store is loaded with wonderful items. I am a vintage collector and decorator and have been shopping at thrift stores since I learned how to drive 30 years ago. I frequent every non-​profit thrift store in the area, and cannot drive past a new one without stopping. But only this Goodwill, on Ridge road in Lansing, is a travesty. Beautiful, etched crystal decanters, depression and carnival glass, mid century bar ware and ice buckets, etc. are on the shelves with fresh chips, or broken in half. They are always missing their lids, which can often be found a few isles down. Every time I’m there, I hear a loud crash in the back room, which the workers defend as the dumping of «broken donations that can’t be sold.» Are we to believe that people donate bins of broken pottery and glassware? The workers are the ones who break the items! Last week, a girl pushed out a wheeled bin of donations to shelve, and I saw a heavy cd player on top of delicate crystal. When I moved a few things, I noticed one of the decanters and several plates were broken underneath. They blame the customers for breaking the things on the shelves, and no doubt, they do. There are always numerous young children running through the store, grabbing things off the shelves, dumping boxes, separating items, etc., while the adults in their group are elsewhere, probably behaving just as badly. No employees speak up, and the manager seems to have set the tone to look the other way. The problem is that money is being lost and a lot of carelessness and disrespect is taking place. People have treated these items with gentle care for decades, and they end up thrown in bins and carted out to shelves where they are separated from their parts or chipped by a careless customer. I can’t tell you how many times I have purchased something — a vintage ice bucket, crystal decanter, mirrored trinket box, and found the lids on the shelves a few days later. I bought a Japanese lacquered jewelry box and a Magic Bullet blender one week, and found the missing drawer to the box and one of the cups and chopping blades to the Magic Bullet on my next visit. The biggest Good Will in the area is in Tinley, and they use damage free tape to bind all parts of an item together. It is rare to see a broken, chipped piece of glass or pottery on the shelves, and children and their parents are properly chastised when they misbehave. The same goes for Restoration Ministries and Salvation army stores in the area. Why is this store the only one with hundreds of broken and separated items? I reported this to the regional manager, who must have asked the Lansing manager to try the tape method, since I saw a few, random pieces had been loosely and poorly taped the next week. This was abandoned by my next visit though. For what it’s worth, the female cashiers are kind, patient, and professional. The bottom line is this: The manager, and consequently, the workers, have no respect for the beautiful, sometimes one of a kind, or century old items people give them. I stopped donating there when I saw this carelessness in action. It really is a travesty.

Everything you expect from a Goodwill. Plus, it’s huge!

I visited the Lansing Goodwill to sus out disco stuff for a party and wow! what a nice store!
My former Goodwill experiences were with cluttered, disorganized, grubby stores. This place was clean and organized. The only complaint I had was figuring out prices. Some stuff was marked, some stuff was priced based on hard to find signs. Friday was 30% off day and Sunday and Monday are 75% off. KEWL!
I found an awesome vintage herring bone trench coat, a sleazy, glittery outfit for my girlfriend (disco night!) and some tacky Lucite heeled shoes. All items were very clean and neatly hung up.
My total purchases — including a gold sparkle purse — came to
$ 30.00. WAAAAAYYYYY more that I intended to spend but looking back, worth every penny.
I’ve been a donor to GWL but am going to become a customer.
PS No mention of Mom, my erstwhile dinner partner. She sat in the car. Mom does not DO resale.