Thrift Shops Find It Hard to Keep Shelves Stocked
Californians who used to shop till they dropped are now wearing it until it drops off.
Thrift shops in Southern California say that donations are down because cautious consumers are hanging on to their old clothes. Ironically, the drop comes at a time when more people are checking thrift shops for bargains.
Goodwill Industries of Orange County recently distributed sacks door-to-door in upscale communities of Irvine and Laguna Hills, in a pitch for what spokeswoman Cindy Gertz calls “good quality” donations. It also put collection bins at local businesses so people can drop off clothes at work.
In Tustin, Children’s Orchard franchisee Cathy Walker complains that she is having trouble keeping her used-clothing store stocked. Because customers are not reselling their used clothes, Walker says she has resorted to scouting garage sales to keep the store full.
Beats a CD: Last week, we told you about the boom in sales of Series EE U.S. savings bonds, which guarantee a minimum 6% return to people who hold them for five years.
Ira F. Molesko, a reader in San Diego, wrote to tell us of a way to get a risk-free 6% return without the long wait. Holders of EE savings bonds can cash them in after six months and use the proceeds to buy HH U.S. savings bonds, which pay 6% immediately. That is double what banks are paying on six-month certificates of deposit.
There’s a catch, of course. John Chater, a Treasury Department spokesman in Los Angeles, says the HH bonds can be purchased only with the proceeds of EE bonds, and the minimum amount is $500. The HH bonds must be held for a minimum of six months, and stop paying interest after 20 years.
Get the message: A firm that says it will deliver telegrams to loved ones after an earthquake is shaking up Pacific Bell customers.
The California Public Utilities Commission says that more than 100 people in the Los Angeles area who claim that they never ordered the telegram service have been charged as much as $35.40 for it. The charge from American Telegram Corp. appears on the local telephone bill under a contract with Pacific Bell. Not much could be learned about American Telegram, because no one from the Beverly Hills company returned calls seeking comment.
According to the PUC, it solicits customers by phone, promising to send telegrams to family and friends anywhere in the country after an earthquake or other disaster. Perhaps not so coincidently, customers started getting billed for the service after the recent series of earthquakes.
No one can say how the erroneous charges ended up on the phone bills in the first place. The PUC says that it can’t take any steps involving American Telegram because it doesn’t regulate telegram companies. Pacific Bell, however, has begun removing the charge from the bills of consumers who complain.
Incentive pay: When a Sears, Roebuck & Co. auto mechanic completes a four-wheel alignment, he earns an extra $3.75 on top of his regular pay. The extra money paid to mechanics for alignments and other tasks gives them an incentive to work faster, Sears says.
Some mechanics claim that the extra pay can lead to overselling. “It can lead to abuse,” said John Ellman, a 15-year veteran of Sears Auto Center in Orange.
Incentive payments are common in the auto repair industry, but they are controversial at Sears. The retailer last month eliminated incentives for automotive salespeople after California officials charged that the commissions and sales quotas led to abuses. And two weeks ago, Sears agreed to distribute coupons worth up to $46.7 million to settle charges that it ripped off California auto repair customers.
Sears doesn’t believe that incentives for mechanics lead to overselling. California Consumer Affairs Director Jim Conran wasn’t aware that Sears continues to pay mechanics incentives. But he added: “We never asked Sears to eliminate their incentives.”
