Accidentally donating something important can quickly turn an ordinary mistake into a stressful search.

A thrift store supervisor tried to help one woman recover a child’s swim shirt she had given away.

Instead of accepting that it might already be sold, the donor demanded to search the private work area herself.

See how far this employee went to prove the shirt was truly gone.

“You SOLD my donation? Let ME check the back, I know you still have it!”

I work as a supervisor in a thrift store that partners with a non profit organization.

Ok, this makes sense.

When people donate at our store, they are actually donating to the non profit, and we pay them by the pound for the items (think of them as our supplier).

There are two ways to donate; a truck will drive thru the neighborhood at a scheduled time to pick up donations, or you can donate right at our store.

Mistakes happen. At least this charity is willing to help.

Naturally, we often get donors who have donated an important item by mistake, and want it back. We fill out a sheet with as good a description as we can, to post at our production stations so the team can look out for it when they process.

Unfortunately most items are never found, because production’s processing speed is around 1-2 days depending on how much inventory we have, and donors will report their items missing many days after they’ve given it to us.

We do our best, but if the item’s gone, it’s gone.

It sounds like they may be able to find this.

This brings us to our story. A woman came in who donated a kids’ swim shirt, and I complete the form with a good description and with items the shirt was donated with. Her item was donated at 6pm the previous day.

I tell her production leaves daily at 3:30 (it’s around 2 now), so we may have a chance. She stands by the entrance to the back and watches me go in and ask around for the item.

This is a very well-0rganized system.

I now discover that processing has been fast today, and most carts of product have been processed already. Any cart I can find with product on it, is labeled with today’s date, meaning her items weren’t on it because they were given to us the night before.

I go back to the front to tell her the clothes have been put out already, and that we can check the sales floor for the shirt. We look around but don’t find anything.

At least she seems to understand.

She is disappointed but thanks me and leaves when I tell her we will continue to keep our eye out in case we see it.

Fast forward to around 7 or 8 that night. I am paged to the front and who do I see, but the lady from this afternoon! Our conversation goes like this (D for Donor, M for Moi)

That is disappointing.

M: Hello ma’am! Our production team has gone home for the day, and unfortunately they processed every cart in the building, so I’m afraid your item is either on the floor, or sold.

D: Okay, but I don’t understand. How could they have processed it all?

It is a pretty simple concept, they are good at their jobs.

M: Well, we didn’t have many carts to go through today, so they were able to finish it all today.

D: Do you see why this makes no sense to me?

M: I’m sorry, no?

Yes, it normally takes a couple days, but not always.

D: You told me earlier today, production takes 1-2 days on average to process. If I donated at 6pm yesterday, and it takes minimum 1 day… It hasn’t even been 24 hours of processing time.

M: (oh brother) ma’am that was an average time. Day by day the time it takes them to process will be a little different.

What does she mean that she isn’t buying it? It is makes perfect sense.

D: No, I’m not buying that. You’re making no sense to me. Let me check.

M: I’m sorry I can’t let you do that. It would be a breech of policy–

Honestly, this would be possible, but she still can’t go back and look herself.

D: Nobody knows my item like me! I bet you looked right at it and had no idea that was it!

M: The description you gave me was correct, yes? That is what I was looking for and I did not see it.

She is getting really upset. Why is this item of clothing so important to her?

D: Let me back there now! Nobody knows my item but me, and I know it’s still back there!

M: It is impossible that it is back there, as all carts in the building have been processed–

Come on lady, go buy a new one!

D: I’m going on vacation soon and I NEED that item! For my own peace of mind, let me back there to see my item!

Okay, peace of mind, fine. I’ll do it.

I can’t believe she gave in and let her into the back room.

I take the woman back there. She immediately points out several items she had donated, hung on racks, and takes this to be a sign that her kid’s shirt IS there. For a second I think, crap, if she finds her item I’ll have to apologize because I didn’t look hard enough.

But lo and behold, we tour the entire back; all racks of unpriced clothing, all 36 empty carts, and even the hard goods table where they don’t process shirts at all.

She is leaving no stone unturned.

Getting frantic, she demands to look through the recycling bins (clothing with holes, stains, etc), and I remind her that if her item was new with tags, it would not have been recycled, and that if it’s not on the floor, it’s sold.

I take this woman out of the production room and apologize again oh so sweetly that we couldn’t find her item.

It is gone lady, give it up.

She begins to woe and sigh that “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be”, and she “hopes what ever mom bought my item enjoys it”, as if I’ll feel bad for her and take her item out of my butt where I’ve been deliberately hiding it from her all day.

She’s off on her way and I do a quick once over of her as she goes, and check the cameras as well, to make sure she didn’t create this elaborate ruse to steal donations.

This employee really went above and beyond.

All clear, but that’s the length I’ll go to prove my store’s honesty.

I just hope she doesn’t continue to mull it over and conclude that we stole the item.

It is nice that she donated things, but come on lady. Once it leaves your hands, you no longer own the item.

She is lucky that this worker was willing to go to such lengths to try to find it.

Keep reading below to see what the people in the comments think about the situation.

People will get upset over anything.

Yeah, this sold right away.

I’m guessing this commenter is right.

Here is a commenter who went through something similar.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who isn’t happy with the company’s new time tracking rules, so decides to find a way around them.

Yup, if you want to go in the back, you need to be an employee.

This supervisor searched the sales floor and the entire processing area, but the donated swim shirt had likely already been sold.

Even after seeing every empty cart herself, the woman left acting like the store had somehow failed her.

She donated the shirt, then acted like the thrift store placed it in witness protection.