The Salvation Army USA
Reviews and Complaints

At: salvation army
Sacramento thrift store, 315 16th street, sacramento, ca
[protected].

I walked in this branch to the best of my belief around 11:00 am, and was asked to leave my leather backpack up front, I stated I did not mind but such was/is illegal to my knowledge on the bag law that was passed to save on bags and charge a fee for such. There was a slender man, who appeared to be of foreign decent with a thin mustache and thin black hair and that of an older man around late 40's to 50's. This can be subject to a legal suit under the unruh act-ca code 51 > skin tone/racial. The bag was noticeably unzipped when I returned for it, and not as such when I left it with the staff member.

My husband Envoy Little, retired, is being sexually harrassed by the Family Services employee Doug Rykiel, who is bisexual. My husband will not admit this is happening as he is afraid of losing his office there. Rykiel does not want me enrolled as I would then be of active rank. I have worked with him (Rykiel) and know he is racist, sexist and does not show up to work regularly. Also, my husband was victimized when he was young so is traumatized by this current situation.

On the evening of yesterday February, the fourth 2017 my mother was shopping at your store located in Salinas, California. This is a formal complaint about the treatment she received at the store. My mother found a plate among other items she wished to purchase. When at the register my mother was informed that the plate, although it had a sticker price, was from a set and could not be sold to her separately. My mother understood this and said that it was okay and was willing to only purchase the other items. A supervisor that was nearby to the cashier decided it would be okay for that one plate to be sold separately. While my mother was being rang up a caucasian female approached and voiced she wanted to buy the whole set. The cashier then stopped wrapping the plate in newspaper and proceeded to tell my mother it would not be sold to her even though the supervisor had said it was okay. I imagine if the caucasian lady had not stepped in at that moment the set would have been sold without the plate, it is for this reason that I lack the understanding as to why the cashier decided to stop bagging the plate although she had already input it into the register. I bring up race here because my mother is Hispanic and this very much feels like a race was being favored over another.
I do not know your store policies on sets or policies about going back on the words of your supervisors. I would like a formal explanation as to why this happened along with your store policy. I would also like a formal investigation to make sure that this was not a racial issue. I am not looking for coupon compensation or anything of the sort but I would very much appreciate an explanation for this. If this situation did occur because of racial prejudice I expect a formal apology addressed to my mother.

I appreciate your time and hope to here from you soon.

I am homeless with three children. The Access Point 4 Housing referred me to the 1110 S Puget Sound Ave, Tacoma, WA 98405 branch at 1pm. I called and assumed that I had the wrong number because all I received was "Hello". I asked if I contacted the Salvation Army and he said yes. He was an older sounding gentleman.

Somehow the phone was malfunctioning on my end. He said "Hello" a few more times. I also did in a frantic state, trying my best to avoid a disconnection. Then the man sarcastically said, "Well... I guess you don't need any help". Of course I did! Otherwise I would not have called back five times. Each time I called, he hung up on me, eventually leaving me devastated.

It is now after 8pm, my children and I are still outdoors and I'm sure the employee who mocked my time of need is relaxing somewhere. I am ashamed that my living situation has come to this. That phone call made my day even worse. I thought the Salvation Army stood for Christianity. Even a gentle refusal of services would have felt better than the rejection I received today.

The hispanic lady today on 01/28/2017 between the hours of 5:00 pm to 5:45 pm threaten me and not let me leave and filed another police report mocking Justice's in retailiation of being arrested and supported with conspired Adminstrations of the Salvation Army today. Its all on footage and my civil rights has been violated again by this same hispanic lady that was working in receptionist desk of the Salvation Army in Tyler Texas.

I have been at the children's hospital with my son for the last week. My boyfriend just told me that ylthe salvation army didn't cover our electric bill because I was dishonest. I would like to know how I was dishonest when I told you that I lived with my boyfriend and he owned the house and the utility bill was in his name? I get that you were extremely overwhelmed, but to say that I was dishonest when I sat there in front of you and told you our situation and you sat there and understood our situation and made a promise to me to help breaks my heart. I pay Greg 300 a month in rent and am responsible for the utilities bill. He buys and prepares his owns meals and I buy and prepare mine and my children's meals. Greg is not! A part of my houshold. We live together, yes. But we don't sleep together, we don't share food, etc... I was not dishonest about anything with you. I am very hurt and very angry over your statement to him. He is my landlord. I have my own room and he has his. We may be dating but that doesn't change the fact that I pay him rent and pay the utilities. Now on top of my oldest child's medical bills, the money that "I" paid to have the gas fireplace fixed, the 1st medical bills "I'm paying" for Jacob, giving Greg what money I had to send him to California when his mom was dying and then died, then ending up taking Jacob back to the children's hospital this last week, now I have to pay Greg back the money for the utilities bill because somehow you can't take notes on what a person tells you. I'm literally 50 grand in the whole right now with my oldest's medical bills right now. Greg is not a part of my household, he doesn't help me or my children in any way. I am so insulted on what you said and how you represented yourself and the corporation you represent. A better person would have called for clarification.

Have a tv that I wanted to recycle and the salvation army will take old tube tv. The drivers came and the first thing they said very rudely is I am not taking that tv. I saw that that is part of your program that takes old tvs. Very bad. I said but I am recycling the tv and the other driver said you don't have to yell. I did not yell and the first guy was so rude I was little upset. I did indicate that tv was very heavy on my donation form when I scheduled it. Pick up #167447

Hello, I have been donating items to the salvation army for almost 20 years. I retired 2 yrs ago as a chicago police officer and as a hobby, i started shopping and donating the items to friends neighbors and family. I have been visiting your store at 509 n union in Chicago and as of approx. a month ago they have a new manager there by the name of Gerald. This manager, seems to think he is the CEO of the salvation army, and talks to customers as if they are at his discretion as to whether they can shop at this store when he is challenged about wrong doing among the employees there taking tags off of items to give to their family and friends . Me and my husband has seen him sneakily following us and others around the store which is 3 floors every time we come. He has told this one regular customer that he is only allowed to purchase five items. Overheard him telling a customer he takes pictures of customers that stash items, which me and my husband has never done, it's not that serious. Told someone that corporate gave him permission to barr certain customers out at his descretion at all salvation army stores. There are other instances where he has been very ignorant towards customers. This manager makes you want to stop donating and shopping at the salvation army, what he doesn't realize is that if it wasn't for people like me and others he wouldn't have a job. I wish someone would address this problem as soon as possible. Also speaking with regular customers the reason he was moved to this store is because of the problems he was giving customers at another store.

Thanks Ecina Maddox [protected]

Dear Complaints Board,

This is a complaint about the Salvation Army, Bellingham, WA branch denial of reschedule of an Energy Assistance program by employee, Marcus. I am a cancer patient who overslept the appointment. When I phoned to reschedule, I was told "no" and also that I am "not one of his girls". I presume the latter meant "race". I find this unconscionable as an excuse for denying assistance to a client with lymph cancer. He would not listen to "cancer" as an excuse for the missed appointment. This is neglience. I request firing of Marcus.

Thank you for your assistance.

Tamara Campbell
t. [protected]

The salvation army arc (Adult rehabilitation center) in kansas city, mo is a substance abuse "treatment program" for men. However, the staff who run the "group therapy" and "educational groups" and individual therapy are not trained in either substance abuse or professional counseling.in the past, the staff that are trained and qualified to provide counseling have been fired and replaced by volunteers from a local bible college who advise addicts and alcoholics who are going through withdrawal symptoms to "pray because the devil has you in his grip".
This so-called substance abuse treatment program is doing more harm to persons suffering from addiction.

I sent the letter below around Dec 8. New information received suggests that the employee's race may have caused her dismissal.

"I am writing to express my disappointment in discovering that Delores from Racine SA was let go from employment. I understand that being a personnel matter you are not at liberty to discuss this but I also believe that this is a loss for all of us. Being a dedicated customer for almost 10 years I had the privilege of knowing Delores for almost the entire time. Her efforts at Douglas AV did not go unnoticed by a lot of us. Even injured she showed up and made me feel welcome every time I entered. I was so impressed with her customer relations and my loyalty switched from Goodwill to Salvation Army, due in large part to Delores. When the change to Washington AV took place I jumped in with both feet and not only shopped there every day but became a regular donor. Within the last several weeks I have donated 4 times. So disappointed by this. Contact me at [protected]. I will await a response before I continue up the food chain of management. Being in business, I understand personnel confidentiality but I would ask that you reconsider this situation. Racine needs more like Delores."

**Sent today**
So I guess we just patronize loyal customers hoping they will forget. Think again. I'm getting feedback from several people that this may involve racism because of Delores' Hispanic nationality. I wonder how this will play out in the media? I have recommended that Delores contact an attorney at the end of this week and I will cover the cost. For your sake I would hope to hear something soon. Sincerely, Rick Geller

I work for the salvation army and let me say I never in my years of retail or management have I ever seen supervisors or managers ever treat employees like they do here with discrimination harassment, I have never seen a manager or supervisor give an employee a write up that she did on another employee 3 days later after the fact and have her give it to the employee she was writing up, i'm sorry but isn't that confidential information? Maybe if they separated the clan u would not have this problem cause as we all know if the supervisor is buddy buddy with those few of course their going to protect the supervisor and vice versa', their are employees their who are hard workers and stay out of the drama and those are the ones who get crapped on, the major is suprised to be their for a reason to listen to the employees and problems your supervisors are not always right u really need to open your eyes, sometimes listening to your lower employees can really help u solve the problem, oh yes and the theft u have going on in brick a brac well if I was u i'd check that out but then as we all know the people who are supervisors are not trained or groomed to manage so of course they will bend all rules and get away with much, , all i'm saying corporate really needs to take a close and better look at the supervisors who so called run their warehouse, pardon my french but they spend more time sitting and chatting on their ### and harassing employees then they do anything, they really have u people fooled which is very sad I really though the salvation army took care of their employees and had their eyes open to everything but I know now i'm wrong and it's really a shame, all I have to say is for once open your eyes and ears maybe then your wont be taken advantage of and made a fool of or wasting your time and money on people who are just their for a paycheck and really don't care, please please open your eyes, thank u for taking the time to here from someone who really sees and cares, now let's see if the salvation army cares

Now I know this doesn't do anything cause multiple people have submitted complaints and you guys still do nothing well I'm not ganna give up cause what's happening at my local store is completely unexplainable and unfair. The other day I was in the waukegan illinois store and noticed there is no jewlery maybe a couple small pieces in the cast to say they put stuff out but basicly nothing I wondered where it was going then I went to ask ask friend why they don't put jewlery out and he told me that a couple times a week a lady comes in goes in back and comes out with a big bag of jewlery I didn't get why but aperently it has been happening for the last 10 years this woman has someone working for her in the salvation army and is gathering up aperently lllllfirim the jewelry and selling it to one person instead of putting it out for the general public she controls the jewlery out of the salvation army so I waited to see for my self and sure enough she walked right on back and got her bag. I have talked to numerous people apperentlyllnd because of this a lar few number of people have stopped coming to your stores I will keep writing and doing whatever I can to see an end to this unfair practice this woman is hurting your so called charity by taking money out of your pocket all the jewlery you could be selling and making money for your charity please do somethng to stop this or more people will continue to not shop at your store

As a temporary resident at the Salvation Army Shelter, I have been the target of racial slurs from numerous staff members and other residents, including the n****** word on multiple occasions. It is a regular occurrence at the shelter and has been spoken towards myself and other African American residents.

I would like this type of behavior to be stopped and the shelter policy to be enforced. I was under the impression that threats, insults, and the like, would not be tolerated. All I ask is that this policy be enforced and those that have violated it be subject to appropriate consequences, up to and including, eviction from the shelter or removal from employment.

I am complaining about poor service and unprofessionalism of the manager incharge at the furniture donation location at 65 Pennington Street Newark NJ.
I brought a truck full of items in good condition, the items are donated by customers who are relocating.
The manager ask me to open the truck and in the middle of unloading he ask to move the truck and said he does not want that junk.He was very rude unprofessional.
My company works hand in hand with relocation companies and we use that site to drop off items because that's what the clients wish to donate to.
Please take action it is very disturbing.

I arranged for salvation army, memphis, tn, [protected], to pick up some items on thursday, december 22, 2016. I told them that I had a dresser, 2 book cases, 2 bags of clothing, a karaoke machine. They sent me a confirmation email and said that they would be at my home between 8am - 5pm. I stayed at home all day to ensure the pick up. They arrived a little after 3pm. I informed the worker that I had shoe covers for them to protect the carpet. He told me that it was against their policy. I told him that I didn't understand, because all workers that had come in before wore them when asked. He had his supervisor to call. His supervisor (Freddie) said that it was their policy due to going upstairs and it could make them slip. I said that it was okay, but for him to ask them to wipe their feet off really well on the outdoor mat before walking on the carpet. I will called the workers, worker #1 and worker #2. It seems as if worker #1 developed an attitude from that. They went upstairs and looked at the dresser and book cases. Worker #2 said that they would need the dolly. Worker #1 immediately said, "no", the dolly would mess up the carpet and leave lines. I explained to worker #1 that the items were not that heavy and 2 people had gotten them up the stairs with no effort. He then said that they couldn't get them down without damaging the walls. None of this was true. I believe that he was upset after the problem with the shoes and just did not want to take the items. I will not be donating to salvation army again. They wasted my whole day and gave me nothing in return. If they did not want to go upstairs, they should have asked where the items were, before pick up. I am really disgusted with worker #1's attitude. I did not interact with worker #2 at all.

I was employed as an Executive Assistant to the Secretary Business Administration, a position I held for two years until I could no longer tolerate the internal dysfunction that was my observation and experience on an almost daily basis.

Since I left the Salvation Army, I have had nothing but rejection for other jobs whereas, hitherto, I had received quite the opposite response. Needless to say, this situation raised questions in my mind regarding possible sabotage and it would seem that my concerns were well justified.

For more than a year, I have struggled with hardship, rejection and potential loss of my home, only to discover that my former manager, to whom I had entrusted my livelihood by appointing her as a referee (because I had no other choices), had consistently sabotaged my efforts to gain employment by denigrating me without any justification or substantiation. I know that I did a good job for this organisation and always delivered on, and often exceeded, expectations.

From my perspective, this so-called "charitable" organisation is inherently evil and self-serving. These days, I am ashamed to admit that I ever worked there but, nonetheless, grateful that the organisation that I had hitherto held in high regard has finally exposed itself as just another cult with a high aptitude for feathering the nests of its own before anything even remotely charitable is even considered.

Their members have no clue about real hardship because, almost without exception, they have been raised in very sheltered environments and have no ability to empathise with those who genuinely suffer. Instead, they stand in judgment and pose as "do-gooders" who, to me, are completely clueless and impotent with regard to making any positive impact on society.

May God have mercy on them!

I called to donate a corner desk which was in excellent condition. When your pick up driver got to my house and saw the desk he said that even though it was in good condition he couldn't take it because it had to be taken apart in order for him to take it. I then had a family member come out to my house and carefully take the desk apart and place it in front of the house so it could be picked up with ease. I also added a tv stand. I called and re scheduled another pick up. On the day of the pick up I received a call in the morning advising that the driver did not feel well and the pick up was cancelled. I called back and was told I would have to re schedule again but they didn't have an available pick up date for another week. I went ahead and scheduled it again. Today was the day of this last pick up I scheduled. I got home to find a note that said they couldn't pick up because of the condition. The desk was in the same exact condition as when your driver first saw it except it was taken apart as he requested. Since it was going to have to be outside another week because you guys cancelled at the last minute I covered it with a tarp to make sure nothing would happen to it. I wanted to donate this furniture to your organization because I believe it to be a good cause but it would have been a lot easier to post it on craig's list and be done with it. I now regret not doing that initially as this experience has been extremely unpleasant. I WILL NEVER DONATE TO THE SALVATION ARMY AGAIN AFTER THIS.

I went to salvation army to pick up christmas gifts and maria sanchez told me the gifts were given to another person. She only spoke and gave gifts to Hispanic people. She would not talk to me then she walked in the office and locked the door. I was left talking to her outside in the rain while she was in the office with the door locked. I believe this office is fraud. They have people sign up with documentation and kids the toys to people who dont have documentation. I provided my kids birth certificate ss card my id and proof of income why were my kids denied their christmas gifts?

I went to the salvation army in patchogue by on Wed evening around 6:45 as I often do, today the color was blue .They are open until 8:00 and as I was looking around I found a small lamp which had a green sticker on it . As I picked up the item the girl behind the register said they were closing in 15 min to bring all items up at this time. The woman in front of me asked why they were closing early and she said it was not busy enough to stay open.Now I look and the line to pay was wrapped around the register!so how was it not busy? It was my turn to pay and she rings up my lamp for $9.99 I said this has a green ticket isn't it half price? She said no it has a blue ticket which I didn't see.so it had 2 tickets on it .she was so rude to me and said well it's not half price so it $9.99 I don't know why it has 2 tags on it!.Is that anyway to treat a customer? I didn't want to hold up the line any longer so I just paid and left..This girl did not have to be so rude!..Very Very annoyed!