Freecycle- people asking for too much?

PrincessPlaty

Freecycle has certainly changed over the past few years, I remember when i first started using it i gave away my daughters outgrown baby clothes, the man that came and collected them was ever so lovely and we had a good chat infact turned out he was a member of MSE!!! He even emailed me back once his daughter had given birth to let me know that all was well with mum and baby etc, when he found out i was pregnant again he turned up at my door with bags full of baby bits his daughter didnt want anymore that her daughter had outgrown!!!
Thats real freecycling!!! :rotfl:
It all seems to have changed now though

I have about 20 bags of builders sharp sand sat in my shed that my landlord has told me to get rid of if i dont want it, i was going to put it on freecycle but i really dont know if its worth the hassle anymore

dirtyflannel

Ada_Doom wrote: »

I agree with Tincat. You are not forced to give stuff away, and i am always just glad that i can get rid of something i dont want or can't be bothered to sell. If the "wants" bother people they can just ignore them.

This thread reminds me of people who give money to beggars but insist that is to be used to buy food not booze- imo it is up to the recipient to do with what they wish...

Well Said! People don't have to give things away. I have freecycle emails sent to me and the few things I would have liked have always gone because the emails come too late. What kind of impolite emails do people get? I always say the customary please thankyou thanks for looking myself. I was offered a bed base recently and he said it was because I was the only polite request so cannot fathom what requests they get. lol I wasw going to put a few items on but judging by some of the stories you could end up with a few dodgy characters. Maybe it would be better to leave them to be collecteed outside.

sarahg1969

dirtyflannel wrote: »

What kind of impolite emails do people get?

In response to an offer of a number of different items, I got, "I'll take the lot" followed by a mobile phone number. I emailed and asked him what specifically it was he was interested in, and he repeated "I'll take the lot". Er, no. You won't.

I quite often get responses that say "I'll have this", or "Can I have this", or "Ring me and let me know when I can come for this item". Lots of replies in textspeak, and several asking me to phone their mobile.

I always remove ones that i think are rude and ones with phone numbers, before deciding who to offer my things to.

I had one lady who came round, who was a health visitor (who I recognised) who had answered an ad for some children's stuff, for a client who'd recently separated and left her home in a hurry. When she came round, I felt terrible that I only had stuff for one of the children, and dashed round my son's bedroom for some stuff for her older boy. After she'd been, she popped a lovely note through the door from the mum, saying thank you. I was pleased the stuff had gone to someone who appreciated it. So often, people don't even bother to say thanks.

I know it's just about recycling stuff at the end of the day, and I don't expect people to fall down and kiss my feet, but there's no reason not to use your manners.

Shiny.Side.Up

Wow! So many negative stories! I've nothing but praise for our freecycle - Have got a lot of stuff, including a lovely double wardrobe, computer desk, countless things for the children and even our dog!

ninajewel

Elsewhere wrote: »

Well, broken stuff is sometimes useful for spare parts, so I think it's sometimes worth offering it before it's chucked. For instance, we have a very old but excellent petrol mower that's ot of action at the moment - and a new part would cost us £60. So if someone were to offer a similiar, but not working mower (not working for a different reason!) we'd be delighted.

Totally agree, we needed a button for our shower, so we posted a wanted on freecycle, which we didn't get any replies for (hardly surprising I suppose but worth a go eh?!)

In the end we had to replace the whole shower just because the button was broken, grrr. But its the kind of thing that someone might have said "ooh I have one of those!!!".

But I have to say (and I know I'll probably get slated for this) but our freecycle group has got completely out of hand with ridiculous rules set just for our local group. If strict guiddelines as to how to word your post aren't followed you get a rude and angry email from the mod (for isntance not putting "offered" in capitals, or using one word more than necessary, for example explaining shower has broken and need a button for it!!!). I offer stuff at least once a week, and have given away quite alot of high price stuff (fridge, 2xwashing machines, freezer, tumble dryer). But its the wanted rules that really get me angry:mad:. For instance no wanted over £50 and no more than 2 wanted a month. Sounds fair enough at first but then I requested old dining chairs. I got a REALLY rude and very angry email from the mod saying that was a) asking for multiple items, and b) asking for over £50 worth. When I replied saying you could get dining chairs new in Ikea for a tenner so even if there were 4 of them it would still come in under £50 and that most people would probably have more than one dining chair hanging around and although I actually only needed one I didn't want people to think I wouldn't take the lot off their hands if they wnated rid of them, I got yet another rude and angry email saying I was on a warning for being difficult. And I expect there were loads of people with old dining chairs in their garage just wanting to get rid of them but forgot they were there its not as if I wanted special or nice ones!!!

Then last week I posted a wanted for gothic accesories for a fancy dress party, again I was told (in a rude and actually quite upsetting way) not to ask for multiple items and I was now recieeving one strike for this. This is going to make me sound like a total wimp but the wording of the email actually really upset me and left me in tears!:embarasse

Also sob stories are not allowed in our group, you are only allowed to say "I will have that" if you are posting in repsonse to an offer which I do find very rude but is the only way its allowed on our group. I would really like to hear the sob stories to be honest, would make deciding who to give my stuff to much easier.

I am starting to really lose faith in the whole freecycle thing, frankly I don't care if people want to sell the stuff I give away at a car boot or on ebay, if I cared that much I would sell the stuff myself, the fact is I can't be bothered/don't have the time etc. But there doesn't seem to be any alternative that has enough people on it to make it work so I feel kind of stuck with it at the moment. Especially as I am heavily pregnant mum of a toddler with way too much stuff and find it a godsend for getting rid of old toys clothes etc, that otherwise I would have to lug to a charity shop!

I love the idea of freecycle and I realise that the mods work very hard and for free but if it means they have to impose rules which defeat the object of freecycle maybe they should ask for some help? I would be happy to be a freecycle mod but I won't do it because I disagree with the strict rules imposed supposedly to help freecycle but to me which just makes the whole process a difficult and not a very pleasant experience.

Sorry for the rant but there is no where you can complain about freecycle and obviously can't say anything to vicious freecycle mod as would be struck off for sure :eek: Would love to hear if others have had similar experiences.

PrincessPlaty

My faith has been restored in freecycle!! :j

I put the sand on freecycle last night, within minutes i had at least 15 replies!! :eek: for some sand :rotfl:

A lot of them were rude no please, no thank you, no kiss my bum!!! :rolleyes:

I actually picked two people out and split the bags between them.

They both turned up this morning at the times they said they would be here the first one, had seen a wanted ad i put up a few days ago and asked me how i got on with it and i told him that nobody had even answered me, he didnt say much but within 5minutes of him leaving i received an email from his wife telling me that her hubby had just phoned her as soon as he had left here and she may have some of the bits that i need and she was going to have a sort through her garage this afternoon!! :j

The second one was absolutly over the moon when he asked if he could have the paving slabs that were in my shed too and i said yes, so much so that he told me to keep hold of his email address and once im settled in he will come round n decorate my house for me for free, i told him there was no need and he said it was the least he could do after i had been so genorous :eek:

Just goes to show that there are still some good freecyclers out there :T:T:T:T:T

hayley11

A few months ago, I listed over 30 items on freecycle, as you can imagine I got a lot of emails. Some people literally did just say, i'll have it all. It was such a random bunch of stuff, I can't imagine why anybody would have use for it all. Unless they were planning on flogging it. I generally don't care what people are going to do with it, as long as it's out of my way but I would rather give to somebody who was going to use it rather than sell it.

I was giving away two mobile phones, they cost me about a fiver each a couple of years ago and i'd never done anything with them, I got so many rude emails about them! Somebody even emailed asking me to post them and when I said no, he got quite narky and said he didn't know why I was being awkward!

I saw somebody ask for a DSi recently, i've also seen somebody ask for a working upright Dyson - if you can't afford a hoover, then surely you'd be happy with any hoover?

I've given away quite a bit of stuff now and i've yet to ask for something because I don't see the point in asking for stuff, just for the sake of it, like some people obviously do.

cherie1122

Our old dishwasher broke and a guy advertised on Freecycle that he was after scrap metal (he was a rag and bone man). We contacted him and put it out in the front garden and he collected it free of charge. We'd have had to pay the local council £12 to get rid of it otherwise.

I've given away loads of stuff: magazines, cat transporter, unwanted presents, garden strimmer, etc. I've only ever asked for one item (a 14" TV for my grandson's computer games). My son got an upright freezer (he couldn't afford to buy a new one) I think Freecycle is a great idea.

I know you get people asking for expensive items but I wonder how many of them actually get what they ask for. I'll bet hardly any of them do!

rosie-marie

Ok Here's my experiences of my first week Freecycling which I thought I would share with you

I have given something that was broken and in my way to a man who has long term depression and needs projects to keep motivated (true as I actually knew him), I have given various building supplies to a charity, who are building a unit for the disabled (true as I checked out the project), I have given an old freezer to a wonderful self-sufficient lady for her allotment produce

I have received a fab chair and a playtent for the kids (brilliant!)

I have also experienced;
Emails from someone claiming that their children haven't even got a bed to sleep on (message came from their Blackberry mobile :rolleyes:)

Wayne and Waynetta turning up 5 hours after arranged, looking furious because I have given it to someone else

Two other seperate people who didn't bother to turn up when arranged and no communication!

And plenty of requests from fussy people with a lack of manners


Regarding the WANTED ads, as long as they are polite and not overly fussy requests I don't really mind, it doesn't bother me - its sometimes amusing but thats all. I did put a WANTED ad for a certain piece of furniture but stressed that the condition or size really didn't matter and I can collect at their convenience. Is that OK? Or are all WANTED ad frowned upon?

I also felt a little uncomfortable receiving something for nothing. It just made me feel awkward. But then when I had a friendly chat, and pleasant email exchanges I got over that, all in all, it seems a very pleasant community where people are glad for their things to go to a good home. And most importantly I have kept a few things from going into landfill :j

DCFC79

I saw earlier today that there was a vote to do with which was allowed and not to be allowed and the users of freecycle were able to vote on them, there was also a vote to do with how many wanteds were allowed each month. This of course could be just my freecycle and not others