The Salvation Army USA
Reviews and Complaints

After waiting nearly a week for the pick up date I was given, I was shocked when two extremely rude men arrived at my door 7/9/14 and refused to take the washer and dryer that I requested the pick up for. I have been donating items from clothes to furniture to baby items for years. I figured might as well give them towards a good cause versus leaving them on the side of the road for some random person to pick up (not like we were attempting to sell them, giving them away anyways). Upon arriving I was questioned as to my reason on donating them and then given attitude due to four screws missing on the back of the dryer. He continued by saying the machines were dirty and did not work (which he could not even check since they were not plugged in at the time). The behavior of the two employees today could only lead me to believe Salvation Army only wants prefect items so they can attempt to rip off anyone that wishes to purchase items there versus actually following their own mission statement and helping out their community. Judging by the comments and complaints I read prior to submitting my own, just proves that they could care less about their community and rather rip off others that really could use the help. My washer and dryer could have been used for parts for all I care so long as it was going to help someone in the long run: which is not going to ever happen if Salvation Army continues refusing every item that is donated.

My family had a crisis. I am a young woman alone with two little children. I am also Caucasian/American. I was directed to the Salvation Army for a food pantry, because we had NO food in the house, and no family or friends to help. The woman at the desk told me that because I had food stamps (a very small portion to supplement a small part-time income), I could receive no help. Not even an emergency bag of food. I explained that I had a situation with my children's abusive father, he'd stolen from me, and I was in an emergency hotel placement/shelter. She told me there was nothing she could do, not even a sandwich for my children to share! In front of me, however, was a woman getting out of a nice car, with a folding shopping cart and maybe a thousand dollars in gold jewelry on her neck and wrists and fingers. After a few quick words and laughs exchanged in Spanish, she went in to have her pick and fill her cart up, while we were left to starve. This woman could have pawned one piece of jewelry until SHE got paid, and fed her kids! I had NOTHING. This is unacceptable, unChristian, and I have been told by other White people that this happens all the time. The whole city is having a hard time, but this office seems to, according to others, hold their resources for their country-folk. My own experience hints strongly at this. And that woman at the desk couldn't have asked the other woman, to let me have a loaf of bread and some peanut butter or dried milk? For two little kids? I could see piles of food on the tables, but we were LEFT TO STARVE.

Not enough food provided to homeless families living there...dinner served at 4:30...snack is always skipped because they say they are understaffed an when it is served it is fruit cockyale or pound cake...this is a family shelter an kids are hungry there...they won't allow you to bring food in to feed them...they say they don't have bus ticket to provide the homeless families so they can get to appointments...staff is rude and disrespecrfull...they make the families sign in 3 an 4 timrs a day...probally so they can receive funding from different resources...yet there are no funds...how? These problems need to be addressed right away...espesally the food situation...going without food from 4:30pm till 7:30 am is crazy

While shopping at my local Salvation Army I over heard an African American manager yelling at an employee in the back. He was yelling so loud I could here every word he was saying. This was all over the employee taking to long of a bathroom break. As a woman of faith and a consumer I find this extremely offensive that a company would allow this type of behavior! I'm appalled! I honestly feel like calling local news media to cover these type of behaviors in local charity businesses. This is not the first time I've heard complaints about this organization and their treatment of employees just the first time I've seen it with my own eyes!

front desk and management’s unfair treatment of long term residents.
they treat them like they are nobodies by bullying them to show proof every
time they walk back in the building. and these are management staff who had
known the residents for over half a dozen years and they make them feel like
they do not belong to the place they call their home. the new front desk staff
should make every effort to familiarize with the faces of legitimate residents
so they do not keep harassing and treating residents like
they are squatters loitering in the building by being nice and speaking
courteously towards them and not intimidating them with their loud angry body
language like a bully. it is humiliating and an insult to be always screened
every time you come home.

The manager of the Galveston Salvation Army is a alcoholic . He has come into the facility smelling of liquor he has also thrown people out of the facility for no-reasonable cause just because he can. He was confronted by someone of smelling like alcohol he told the staff members that the person had to leave cause he was going to be trouble. His form of intimidation to keep clients from voicing their opinions and speaking out on him is to have people escorted out by the police, so those that are homeless or needy of their assistant will not come forward. As a person who stayed at their facility I have witnessed breaches of confidentiality of clients. I have also listened to the Social worker, Manager and staffing make jokes about clients and their situations and talk down to them in a very disrespectful and verbal manner. I know for sure that the Social worker has been under the influence of alcohol. My first day stay she came to me and stated that I needed to attend the meeting they were having and I told her that I was not there for any drug or alcohol reason nor any mental issues. She did not address herself to me I asked who she was and then she stated to me the social worker and I said to her you smell like alcohol yourself and your having a meeting. Mrs Karen, and Mr mark, are truly in need to be visited by a higher member of this organizations. Their job descriptions need to be defined and they need to be reprimanded for the poor ways that they are treating people who are down on there luck. They have displayed favoritism toward long term clients as to short term people " mentally disturbed' drug and alcohol. Homeless. The Social worker is dating a client, and is fraternizing with other male clients which do have a problem with her. I asked for Corporates Num# I was told good luck looking it up.'Then they laughed'

I am a person with disabilities, no criminal record, and 100% bondable. In January 2013 I went into a homeless shelter for the first time in my life and was sexually harassed by an older male worker there within the first three nights after being released from the hospital for running from a man who had tried to harm me. Nothing was done to my knowledge.Within a month following this, a female counselor there released medical information about me that was personally damaging to my reputation and hugely incorrect to a landlord without my knowledge or consent. This resulted in me being stalked and harassed by a manager at the new building who was in possession of a handgun and on 10 different medications. When I filed my complaint, she stated that she and the landlord did this to "help each other out because they were friends", Nothing was done to my knowledge. In September 2014 I returned to the Salvation Army Shelter after facing harassment at the residence that the Salvation Army suggested I move into - it was another drug ridden building like the previous one. I was sexually harassed by another worker but did not disclose evidence of the incident until March 2014 due to how I was treated the year before when I told on their workers for misconduct. I had to beg to be allowed into the shelter, being told by the director that I was a liability. The worker had requested me to send him pictures of my breasts via text.I began volunteering when I moved into my new place, a place I chose this time. I cleaned the soup kitchen floors and kitchen floors/garbages 5 days a week for 5 months. During this time I was sexually coerced by a worker into having unprotected sex and possibly exposed to MRSA by him, and in that same time period was groped by his co worker. I filed an RCMP complaint against the outreach worker who groped me, and am currently trying to find out if the other employee has MRSA but am not sure that the Salvation Army is going to provide me with that informed consent to information without a legal battle and court order. He either has it or he doesn't, but it seems they would rather have me find out the hard way than confirm whether or not he has exposed me to an infectious disease. I have seen my doctor and am having blood tests run for EVERYTHING to be certain I am safe physically. The mental harm is another story, but I am getting through it. The man who sexually coerced me seemed so kind and said absolutely everything he had to so as to get what he wanted. I should have known that meeting someone genuine and loving was never going to be that easy. 4 years of waiting for a relationship...this was not a good experience whatsoever. I think it will be a very very long time before I try to find someone again, and I pray to God that he did not do irreparable harm to me physically. I eagerly await my next doctors appointment in the hopes that my tests will be as good as my 2 physicals received 2 months prior - perfect.Damn that deplorable place to Hell. The poor are better off without them. I truly mean every word of this. I would have been safer staying on the street than getting anywhere near that place - I thought the street people were my biggest danger...I was so truly wrong on that one. There are too many workers there who are true predators.

I went to the Salvation Army Thrift store in Jackson, Mo a few days ago and I picked up two stuffed bunny rabbits that were very much alike for my kids. I noticed at least one had a 2.00 dollar sticker and figured they would cost the same. I went to the counter and the lady could not find a sticker on one of the bunnies, so she had me and everyone else wait in line while she went to the back for a price check. She came back and announced that since there was no sticker on the bunny that it would have to be re-priced and would not be available for sale until the next day. Are you people serious? Its a thrift store for heavens sake. Couldn't they just give me a price? No, they wanted to act like it was a big deal. I told her I lived an hour away and she just shrugged. I used to go there once a week but now I will find another place to give my business to, how ridiculous can a person be?

I wanted to reward some of my children from bible school to ice skating and I had previously called to know the prices. The guy that provided the information to me never told me that i had to pay $10 for adults. I had kept in mind that I had to pay $7 for adults. I asked for a group rate and they did not respect that from me. It is very disappointing, that I had the children's parents sit outside and some kids that were older than 12 because they ended up charging me more than I had expected. I suggest next time you guys provide all the information required, because while trying to figure out all the mess you could have explained to me the first time, the children I took lost time skating waiting for the problem to be fixed. Not to mention the lady on the front was very rude about it. Thank you for the hassle you guys made me go through

Scheduled pick up with 8-4 window, no show after calling four times and they said they would be there. Even was told to move everything outside, which I did. Next day scheduled again waited 12-4, showed up at 5:30 after then moving everything inside to prevent getting wet from rainfall. No receipts available, was told they would email me. Nothing. Called again to be hung up on and called again to then be transferred and disconnected. Everyone was rude and not willing to answer questions I had. I will never donate a dime to this organization again. There are a ton of organizations that would have been thrilled to take my furniture and household items. I guess this is not one of them.

I scheduled a pick up of a wood office desk that we no longer need last week, the scheduled pick up was for today Tuesday 10/22/13, Ive been calling since last week to get insurance certificate for our building in order for them to remove the desk. (by the way I still never got that), then the drivers come and say they don't take office furniture at all - Why would they schedule a pick up when I specified that was an office desk if they don't pick up office furniture? I then called the 800 number to put in a complaint and figure out why they scheduled if they don't take that item, the lady over the phone says in my area they only take wood office desks not metal. she then told me to contact the dispatch manager, which by the way ive been calling since last week and no answer or response back to my voicemails yet. I left another voicemail. SUCH A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME
on another note: why do salvation army accept donations if they never want to take anything that is free that people are donating to them? this has not been the first time that we try to give them free and good condition stuff and they don't take it.

The Salvation Army has cult like ways within its operations. Every "major" that I met while being employed with them is married to another "major." ...Curious to know just what the qualifications are when a spouse it is a spouse who promotes the other...Seems silly. There are no real checks and balances from what I have witnessed. Also, if an employee quits, the current employees are told that they cannot communicate with the now former employee. They will ban ex-employee from their stores when----just because the employee quit! They will use two high up people in an office to intimidate during what should be a one-on-one meeting and be abusive together...There is so much to tell. Working for this organization should never be viewed as long term. I have seen so many people get fired. They like to fire because they do not pay into unemployment taxes since they are non-profit. So therefore a person cannot collect unemployment benefits after working for them...and the list goes on and on..they operate like a cult behind closed doors . Very unprofessional. Bad working environment. You will come to view this organization as ugly and corrupt within.

The hiring manager, supervisors, & Shelter Captain -all support racial & job discrimination, and has been responsible for wrongfully firing many good minority employees & supervisors over the years (esp. men). The staff routinely mistreats or discriminates against homeless people in need shelter (many times refusing to help them); due to racism or religious background, staff enforces unfair policies, and the managers constantly fight or deny unemployment benefits to workers, who have been unjustly fired for discriminatory reasons!

my husband family are regular customers at Santa Monica salvation army as we were shopping, we paid for all our merchandise and as we exit store one of the employees we standing outside front door and he then made a statement that we were stealing that the security informed hI'm, well we then presented hI'm with a receipt for all merchandise we had purchased and he seen that nothing was taken, never in my life had i been so humiliated as well as discrI'minated very badly due to the fact other customers were present at this tI'me of accusation, i then went over to the administrators office and her stated he was sorry and he would take care of the matter i then asked for a complaint number which they refused to provide me with and stated to come back next day for an incident report, so i went back and thew would not provide me with one and stated for me just to leave i am very upset and would like to speak with some one regarding this matter, I'm very very upset

I recently went into the Midland, Michigan Salvation Army Family store and I was shocked by the prices that they have on their items. I found several items that were priced higher than retail price. For example, there were light switch covers priced at $2.25. Broken, damaged, and items with missing pieces were priced at retail prices. I cant believe that they are trying to charge so much for items that were donated. Also, I got to the front and one of the items that I had did not take a price on it, instead of helping me out the cashier took off without saying anything to me and took the item to the back. When he came back out he told me that I had to wait for it to come back out in a cart. I am very upset with my experience.

I made an online reservation for a pickup as we have sold our home and have odds and end to get rid of. Website states what they will and will not pick up. Okay, went with their rules and listed only things that did not get flagged on their site as not eligible for pick up. Received call two days later stating that - No desks - have two nice computer desks but they only want fancy roll top type for the big money. No Christmas stuff at all. No garage clean out items. So I said to the guy, your site did not flag this stuff, and he said well its a national site and local stores and pick up units have there own rules. I again said your site does not say this, and said to him why bother coming for the other items and lets just forget the whole thing. He said no, no, we'll come. My point is this. If stores in cities and states can make their own lists of items then it should be stated on the website. I have a nice nine drawer chest with large mirror that is made of real wood, not pressed board, that was going to them but now I will sell it to my neighbor for $25.00 before I give it to them.