Dear Sir/Madam,
I am sending this letter in sincere gratitude for having the policy of not taking books back for exchange/refund. This policy will immeasurably improve my life.
For the past ten years, Value Village has been my store of choice for everything from household needs such as dishes, stemware, etc to sporting goods, to bedding, to clothing for everyone in my family and extended family. I rarely have spent less than 300.00 per month shopping in your stores. I have shopped at Value Village stores from Vancouver to Winnipeg and all of the cities in between. I have also taken most if not all of my unused articles back to Value Village in my hometown to be recycled, upcycled and enjoyed by others.
Last week I spent over 100.00 for books and a few miscellaneous items. After returning home and having a better look at the books, I decided I did not need to add them to my huge library of books, many of which also came from Value Village. I do not usually return my mistakes back to the store, instead, I put them in a bag to be picked up by Big Brothers, or I donate them back to the store about 4 or five times a year. In short, I have mis-spent a lot of money in the name of thrift, and have sucked up my mistakes.
This time, though, I thought it would be prudent of me to take them back and purchase something else, since you do not have a policy of giving back the money spent in haste, or even providing a credit to be used at another more convenient time.
In thanks for my years of loyal service, I was informed that they cannot know for sure if I read the books, therefore I could not return them. That is very funny, considering that Chapters/Barnes and Noble/ and all new book stores will take back a book even if it is returned a month later. It is very likely that any book I buy at Value Village has been read by someone, since they are donated, but you have a ridiculous policy that just in case I got some benefit from the item, it cannot be returned. (by the way, I did not read them; I could not have read all of those books in only a few day’s time.)
As I said in the first paragraph, although this did cause me some consternation at the time, due to the thousands of dollars worth of donations I have made, plus the outright purchases, I realize now that your policy has done me a favour.
Most of the time when I buy things at V.V. I don’t really need them; I simply justify my reckless purchases with the fact that they would cost a lot more if they were new items in a department store. It is a false economy as I end up with much, much more stuff than I need.
I have decided not to shop at any v.v. store from this time onward. If I really need something, i will treat myself to a new version of it and in the process will end up with much less junk , a cleaner home, and more peace of mind. Also, If I do decide to save money on clothing, there are a lot of other consignment options in my city, which I haven’t tried yet.
Once again, Thank you for waking me up and making me realize that your store has made me poorer and more stressed out than I need to be. This was truly a gift. I may even share my experience and the freeing outcome with others that I know who suffer from the same addiction. It would be such a wonderful thing for them to also be set free from this “thrift” habit.