Freecycle is it corrupt??

ioscorpio

When people have emailed me saying they want something I have offered, if they don't respond to my reply with my address and arranging a time to collect, then I email them telling them I am giving it to someone else, like you say if they say they want it, they should at least be bothered to come and collect.

ioscorpio

Just rec this post on Chesterfield freecycle and the woman lives in Sheffield

"hi there im after afully working dvd player for my kids bedroom but i
need it to be delived as i have no means of transport thanks"

What a cheek, ask on your local Sheffield site, rather than expecting people to drive at least 10 miles to deliver it.

angelatgraceland

raeble wrote: »

The wanted ads really put me off freecycle. If you want something and you can't afford it you save up until you can afford it. Or you buy it on the never never. You don't expect others to kit out your house because you're "poor" or going through a rough patch.

No, the whole idea of Freecycle is to save items from landfill so if somebody wants something that somebody else has got stashed in their shed or wherever, not needed and maybe literally rotting away, is it not better to ask for it and save that item from landfill?
Buy on the never never? Again-no-not unless you have no choice. Never get yourself into needless debt. Why encourage overproduction of consumer items when there are plenty lying around wasted? If people are happy to give there is nothing wrong with being happy to receive. Just keep the balance and give your unwanted items also. I can't believe someone on here is suggesting that you should buy on the never never for the reason that you have little money when there is an alternative! Maybe you have never been poor or had a really rough patch? If you have no spare money you can never be in a position to "save up". However, freecycle is NOT about helping the poor either-it is to keep items out of landfill. That was its primary aim when it was set up 5 years ago. Its not about "expecting" others to kit you out-its about seeing if somebody has an item which they no longer want and that you could make use of.

angelatgraceland

bathgatebuyer wrote: »

I have to laugh at the one on my local Freecycle recently, "Wanted Nintendo wii with nunchucks - will collect". I'm sure you will!

I've been on and off Freecycle - it's served my purpose. Although of the final things I put on recently, it was some work equipment which I no longer need and someone local wanted it, I said ok. 3 weeks later I'm still being promised that she'll collect! How bloody rude! Of the 15 or so people who contacted me, she was the one I said yes to and they she can't even be bothered collecting even though she's within about half a mile of me.

Needless to say, it's been offered to someone else now.

I always recommend a maximum of a week for a person to respond and collect. The other thing i suggest is that you don't give out your address until the time and date have been set. This prevents a lot of the no-shows and the timewasters. If they don't turn up and you hear nothing-seven days later-repost. Most people are great but there are always a few who spoil things. Nothing worse than someone turninig up weeks later when they havent even made an arrangement with you cos you gave them your address. Make them wait for that bit!

angelatgraceland

Sarahsaver wrote: »

I put some stuff on last week. within 5 minutes I had messages, one was v rude simply 'i'll have it' erm...NO you WON'T not with that attitude!!! best put people like that on your junk email list. the people who collected were thankful and polite and turned up when they said they would.
Its a shame theres no ratings like ebay so you could sort out the grabby and greedy or the time wasters from the genuine people.

The feedback rating system isnt something that Freecycle can do partly because it is in Yahoo groups. It has been discussed in depth but generally felt not to work. There would be great difficulty in ensuring that the feedback was accurate. People could falsely give bad feedback for the daftest reasons. Its not the same as when you are paying money for something. Its a shame there isnt some sort of system but even on ebay there is very often negative feedback given by troublemakers. Imagine getting this when you are "giving" something away freely.

ioscorpio

This woman still has no transport

im looking for some tattoo equiptment and designs must be willing to
deliver to lowedges s8

Moderator's Note:
Tattooing is very dangerous indeed in unskilled hands.

zztopgirl

The mod of my local group clearly hasnt a clue on how to run freecycle, she has posted a wanted, but obviously cant be bothered to word the message properly (putting wanted in the title might have helped). :wall: Arent mods supposed to read the rules and regs on running their group?

G-d help the Lowedges person who is going for diy tattoos:rotfl:

mathsus

just as I'm reading this thread my latest Freecycle/ Realcycle e mail pops in ...

this is a great wanted isn't it?

Hello,
My car is coming to its end and I am looking at some huge bills.
I was wondering if anyone had an old car pref diesel and japanese they
no longer want that runs ok.
Cheers

grrrrrr.... or perhaps I'm too cynical

angelatgraceland

Which was it? Freecycle or Realcycle? They are not the same groups.
Re the mod doing it wrong-is this actually a group owner or just a new mod who has started? Is it a new group or a group which has been going for a while? These things do matter-if its a new group with a new owner it will take the owner a while to get the hang of things-nobody is perfect
If it is a new mod-the owner or an existing mod should be training them. Easy to say and easy to criticise but please bear in mind that they do not get paid for any of this and training new mods is very time consuming. The only difference from being a freecycle mod and working as an administrator in an office on the high street is that you don't get paid! Also, when you start a group from scratch you really are jumping in at the deep end. It takes a while to know who to ask for help and meanwhile the group still needs to function. Maybe with this group you mention things will improve in time.

zztopgirl

I've posted about this group mod before, but i think it was on the thread on disccusion time. Its just the one mod running the group and she still moderates every single post. I think other posters here have suggested that there should be more than one mod on the freecycle group, especially as the messages could be up to a week old before they go live.

I dont think things will improve, if the mod doesnt know what she is doing by now. I have read the freecycle rules myself, they dont take long to read and i can tell the mod hasnt bothered.