Family Dollar Stores

Four years later, I am so moved by this store’s continuing problems that I am writing a second bad review of them. Ok, the store is messy and items are strewn about, items are out of stock, quality is spotty, some items are small or diluted with misleading pricing, prices are too high for the brand image of the store, carts of unstocked items are sitting around, price labels are unclear and misplaced.
Even so, I went in planning to buy stuff due to its convenient location. A large plastic container I wanted to buy did not have any lids visible anywhere near the shelf. When I tried to explain this to the sole attendant at the register, he did not understand English well enough to know what I was talking about. When I asked him if there were any other staff in the store who could help me, he did not understand enough English to respond. When I pantomimed the problem with the lid, he shrugged and said to look more. He was about to come back and look, at least, it seemed, when a line of 5 people came up to the register and he began checking them out. I was unwilling to stand there indefinitely, so I left.
This store is a disaster and a waste of time. Go somewhere else if you can. Don’t expect anything and you won’t be disappointed.

Cons: it’s not even WallMart, so don’t expect customer service or wide isles or some major lighting or other things you used to with regular retailers…
Pros:
PRICE. For someone who is on the budget it’s a lifesaver. You can get great stuff for home really cheap. I even got Tide detergent that was $ 2 cheaper than it’s in WallMart! Also, lots of other things you can get for really cheap like pots and plates for under $ 10. They even have super cheap rugs that looks nice, as well as storage containers! similar to what you find in container store just much much cheaper.
I’m happy this kind of store exists for people on a budget. It’s not super clean or friendly, but it offers great pricing and that is what matters sometimes… and no returns i believe, but again, it’s all the «sacrifices» you make to get best pricing…

Pros:
–In Davis Square
–Has cheap every day good like rope, deodorant and batteries.
Cons
–Only one employee on always! I have rarely seen two employees at the same time
–Not personable at all
–Disorganized, cluttered and cramped
–Dirty floors and bad lighting
–The homeless seem to hide in here during colder weather

They are not friendly. I asked either cash back or receipt they kept me wait for an hour I don’t appreciate
plus small aisle messy

I am so disgusted with their business practice that I’m calling the corporate office. This is the second time I’ve had a major problem with them. Some dishonest customer found my disabled elderly mothers 10 dollars. The customer told the cashier he found money. She let him walk out the door with it. Instead of saying that money belongs to a customer if you don’t give it to me I will call the police! That’s stealing! I would lose my job if I allowed it to happen at my job.

Grungy. Cramped. Abundant.
Lets face it-​its a dollar store.
The grunge really does bother me, but in terms of the selection of items. Tops. I have bought everything from a pic-​nic table cloth to a candy bar here. If you are in a pinch, they are your spot. Would I shop here not in a pinch. Probably not.

It
Is
Smelly.
No air conditioing in the summer.
They sell $ 1 bottles of gatorade — it kind of tastes like lead.
They have really cheap plastic cups.

Hardly ever have products I’m used to buying. Attitudes suck! No customer service skills what so ever. Advertise things in circular, for their specific location, which are on sale and then you buy them and they ring up full price. When you show them the advertisement they say if there is no sign on the shelf saying its on sale then its not! What kind if bs is that?
Davis Square location sucks ass!

No high expectations because it’s a FD. Their standard is very nasty and sloppy by anyone with working eyes and a functioning a brain. Even though Dollar Tree is cheaper and doesn’t carry as much, I’d rather go there than worry about something crawling out of the debris all over this store!

People love to hate on the Family Dollar because things here actually cost more than $ 1 and because it doesn’t have Neiman Marcus level cleanliness and customer service. Come on, people… Can’t we all find something to like here? Why yes, I bet we can.
So yeah, I prooooooobably wouldn’t buy toys here for any kid I cared about enough to not want him or her to get lead poisoning. And the food here is so high in preservatives that it will actually halt the aging process if you eat enough of it.
That being said… There are some real finds.
I got an awesome, modern, beige-​and-​black-​striped kitchen rug here. I get mad compliments on it. It cost $ 10. I have thrown it in the washing machine once a week for the last 18 months and it hasn’t fallen apart… but even if it did, who cares? It cost $ 10.
They have the softest cotton towels here for cheap. You can also find cheap sheet sets here. Sure, they aren’t as nice as even what you get at Target, but Target’s are $ 25. Here they’re $ 12. My favorite is the super cheap sunglasses… Sure, everyone can tell they’re not designer, but even fancy glasses can get scratched, broken, or lost. When your sunglasses cost less than $ 5, you don’t have to worry about that, or about them going out of style. (On a related note, what’s up with sunglasses costing like $ 20 a pair at CVS?)
This store (different location) was a lifesaver when I graduated from college with mega student loan debt and zero savings. I had a job, but I couldn’t wait until I got that first paycheck to set up my apartment, and the salary was pretty measly anyway. Get a knife set here for $ 9.99 and then upgrade later, when you can afford it, to knives whose blades don’t bend. Get your first blender here, and when the motor burns out it’s no biggie because it didn’t cost that much to start with.
Four stars instead of five because it’s no Ocean State Lob Lot.

I prefer this one to the one on Somerville Ave. The place is fully stocked and the staff is quick. It’s a great place to pick up household items.

Come here for:
— Household items that are weirdly overpriced at CVS — baking soda, rubbing alcohol, witch hazel all 99 cents.
— 99 cent Blistex chapsticks.
— Those plastic containers that hold cereal/​oatmeal that are, again, weirdly overpriced in other places (3-​pack for $ 6).
— Kitchen tools that you might need — packs of wooden spoons, potato mashers, strainers, for 99 cents
— Queen Helene’s Mint Julep masks for $ 3 instead of $ 3.99 at CVS
— Socks
— Packs of scrunchies (the ones without the metal part that rips out your hair is also 99 cents!)
— Cheap hand and dish towels
— To see weird people
Don’t come here for:
— Amazing service
— Happiness
— Air fresheners (expensive.although the spray ones are a dollar)
— Food unless you love pain and your toilet

Nothing in it seems to be $ 1, yet the quality of product is the same. I can ALWAYS find the same items at Target and Kmart for a better price (and they are usually of better quality as well). I wish they’d just go out of business so that Dollar Tree (where things are actually $ 1) could take over.

As other reviewers have said, there was a time when everything in the dollar stores cost $ 1. But times have changed, and prices have gone up. this particular dollar store is fairly well stocked and a good place to stop in and grab a few items. I’ve been pleased with some things I’ve got in here– Fuzzy pillowcases, a flannel lined pillow, towels, storage boxes, gift bags, a nice fleece baby blanket. true these items were more than a buck, but they are also better quality then poorly made items. And the prices are cheap. Sure, the place can be a bit messy and the employees aren’t always helpful, but it’s a dollar store and you can get some good bargains here.

I go here a lot because I’m too cheap to buy toiletries and such at the CVS around the corner. I’ve bought some pretty sick stuff here including a mug with a rooster on it, a child’s Halloween costume, and my best purchase – underwear. Two pairs for 5 dollars! And they’re some of my favorite. Keep it on the DL.

True — there used to be a time that dollar stores cost a dollar. But in a college town with a transient population in need of cheap (and cheaply made) Chinese-​made household supplies, dollar store can be rather useful, e.g. getting a mop, a plunger, a (mechanical) sink drainer.
True, employees are not always the friendliest, but neither are the ones at McDonald’s around the corner.
Foodwise, a diet on Family Dollar will send you to the ER with an acute case of gout and high cholesterol.

Prerequisites for employment at the Davis Square Family Dollar:
*Speak little to no English
*Care nothing for your customers
*Have side conversations with other employees
*Ignore customers while having said conversations
*Know nothing about register usage
*Possess no problem solving skills
*Block aisles as much as humanly possible
*Be very afraid of eye contact
*Swear… in front of customers preferably
*Keep a very, very messy workspace
*Maintain a slow place… imagine a slug… now you’ve got it.
*Wear tight jeans… jeans that show off that figure
*Never, and I mean NEVER, tidy up the shelves
*Talk on your cell phone as much as you can. Ignore customers while completing this task.
As much as I love a good bargain… this store is run horribly, and thus earns a giant FAIL.

I don’t care if this place sells cheap stuff cheaply.
The people who work here think everyone is a thief, they have bad attitudes, and they just give me an icky feeling.
Like, I don’t wanna grow up to be like that, you know? So I’d rather not ever shop here again.
2 stars for having items cheap enough that people who don’t care what the employees are like can afford them.

I agree with Erin. Remember when things in the dollar store used to cost. :gasp: a dollar? Not exactly the case in Family Dollar Stores. Nothing in here is really the best buy of the bunch. Many things can be found at Shaw’s or even at CVS at the same price. So what’s the allure? 16 no name batteries for $ 2? Creepy dolls made by no name manufacturers? Meh. Like Kristin mentions, it’s convenience. And for people like me that like to buy random things (IE — a set of 16 Christmas bows. even though I don’t have any decorations in the house or a tree for them. I figure I can fasten them to my fro at some point in my life).
Family Dollar = hangers, detergent when it’s on sale, bundles of sweat socks for winter or charity, and general entertainment.
Oh and dude? Don’t buy any food products.
PS — I LOVE that this is listed under Department Stores.

While dollar stores no longer sell everything for one dollar, they do still sell everything at a significant discount. Prices are so low that sometimes I wonder where they get this crap. Hijacking semis on the highway?
Shopping here on a crowded Saturday afternoon is painful but stop in on a weekday to avoid the hordes of bargain shoppers. Today I picked up laundry detergent, Drano and garbage bags for a whopping $ 12. That’s a serious bargain.
They only accept cash, debit or checks. No credit cards. But damn, it’s all so cheap you really won’t need a credit card.