Greed and Waste

lush_walrus

Spot on James, I've seen people boasting of receiving x amount of such and such so many times on here, which more than anything shows not only that persons greed but their feeling of acceptance on the matter.

Sadly, what happens in some cases are things that were offered free, start to be charged for to stop people selling the free things on ebay...Red Bull Air Race is a perfect example, the first year they were free then the organisers announced that they were going to charge to combat people selling them!!!

ibleedred

lush_walrus wrote: »

Spot on James, I've seen people boasting of receiving x amount of such and such so many times on here, which more than anything shows not only that persons greed but their feeling of acceptance on the matter.

Sadly, what happens in some cases are things that were offered free, start to be charged for to stop people selling the free things on ebay...Red Bull Air Race is a perfect example, the first year they were free then the organisers announced that they were going to charge to combat people selling them!!!

I Understand the frustration of people getting multiple orders, but, the companies themselves must do more to stop it, otherwise people will continue to do it.

kittykitten

I can see your point - I for one was very impressed at the sheer amount of freebies I never knew about before I discovered this site (particularly the forums) just under a month ago.

I've sent for a fair few freebies that have been posted, but they're all stuff I might actually use in future. As a penniless new graduate it's probably one of very few easy, cheap ways I can afford to try new stuff, and the marketing behind freebies really does work on me - after munching my bourneville chocolate sample sent by cadburys the other day (via a freebie tip-off posted on here) I went out and bought a whole bar! Does that make me a good person or just a mug who's easily swayed by this form of marketing?

Apart from anything else I've got too much junk already (bit of a hoarder) so don't see the point in ordering freebie stuff I'll never use! And as much as I like the forums I've got better things to do than sit around waiting for the next freebie tip-off to pop up, don't think my boss would be very impressed if I tried that!

I can see why some people with nothing better to do might order random things though and see it as a game, particularly when ordering from big companies - in my opinion they're fair game as they know what they're doing and we all frequently (probably more often than we realise) get ripped-off by them anyway. Small companies should be careful about offering freebies though.

Idiophreak

I think some people just like to get post, makes them feel loved

I see where the OP is coming from, but what's martin going to do about it..?
I think what's missing from these people that abuse freebies is any sort of decency, so I don't see what's going to change that.

That having been said, I suppose Martin could put a rule up saying "we're nice people here, we only take what we need"...so at least there'd be a good reason for deleting and banning abusers...That would keep them "out of our face" and would preserve the reputation of the board.

James_N

ibleedred wrote: »

I Understand the frustration of people getting multiple orders, but, the companies themselves must do more to stop it, otherwise people will continue to do it.

So, as I understand you, only EXTERNAL control will help with greed, not self-control and being reasonable? And anyone who doesn't like the fact that some people can't do self-control gets abused?

I'd prefer to think that most people could see the point of not being greedy, and act accordingly on their own. I certainly don't want to be a policeman.

masterbrown

Heres a thought.......Imagine this post:
FREE PORSCHE
We have 100 free porsche cars to give away, there is no maximum times you can apply, get as many as you want.

Wonder if people would take just 1 :rolleyes:

I think people are greedy by nature, it's just that some can control it, some can't.

ibleedred

James_N wrote: »

So, as I understand you, only EXTERNAL control will help with greed, not self-control and being reasonable? And anyone who doesn't like the fact that some people can't do self-control gets abused?

I'd prefer to think that most people could see the point of not being greedy, and act accordingly on their own. I certainly don't want to be a policeman.

I think it seems fairly obvious that only external control will help with greed, otherwise you wouldn't have the need to complain.
If that's abusing then I am not really sure what else I can say.
I would prefer to think that most people are capable of not being greedym however you will always have people who will abuse the system, be it claiming to many benefit's, not being arsed to work, or ordering stuff they have no desire to use.

IMO, it is upto the companies to put in safe guards, if i was to offer freebie's from the company that I work for, I certainly wouldn't be setting basic questions to "joe bloggs" I would set questions that would weed out some of the people who would be wasting my time.

masterbrown

by the way heres the link to the free porsche:
https://www.iwillclickanythingtogetafreebie.com

fraoch

There are always people in society who will abuse things and unfortunately its sometimes not the people who genuienly need that do, thereby spoiling it for the majority who are looking for a way to save money and feel good about themselves and make ends meet.

KittyKate

First come first served as far as I am concerned. How on Earth do you know how many people are ordering freebies they don't want? Just because one user offered theirs back? How do you know people haven't ordered them to see what they were like, and then when they haven't wanted them, have given them away to their family or friends?

I send of for everything I fancy regardless of whether I would willingly have paid for it or not. I don't send off for 2 nuts and bolts or a sample of slimfast or anything like that that I'd never use, but I do send off for freebies because I like getting things in the post (sad I know but I like there being a treat for me most days when we get in from work!), if I know my parents would like it I send off for them too, and I always thank the OP.

Personally I feel you are sending an email to Martin as you've missed out on some freebies. Martin can't make people order less freebies nor can he force them to use them when they eventually come. If a company has 10,000 'items' to give away then they will give them out to the first 10,000 applicants. I missed out on the Warburton's watch and calorie counter, the Fairy manicure set, loads of stuff, but on the flipside I've had loads of fantastic freebies, some of which I use every single day.

Sorry, but you're making a mountain out of a molehill, in my opinion.