Freecycle is it corrupt??

Cardew

sarahg1969 wrote: »

I gave my wedding dress to a lady on freecycle the other day, because the wedding shop where hers is has gone bust, and her wedding's in 3 weeks. She sent someone to collect the dress, and I have to say, I felt a little disappointed that she didn't email me to say thanks.

Look on EBAY and see if there is a photo of your old dress for sale;)

sarahg1969

Cardew wrote: »

Look on EBAY and see if there is a photo of your old dress for sale;)

I already have. And I felt bad about being so cynical.

shelley_crow

I gave away my son's old pushchair to a man who was collecting it for his daughter's friend, whose family had thrown her out for being pregnant and had nothing. I turned up to a local car boot sale a week later and saw him there with a large collection of pushchairs. I confronted him and he admitted that he sells freecycle pushchairs on the side to make more money. I got the pushchair back and donated it to a chairty shop which raises money for Staffordshire Bull Terrier rescues.

I gave away a faulty telly to a man who wanted to fix it for his son, who had come back from uni with no telly. He fixed the telly and it was in the local paper classifieds under a week later along with the stand he had received from someone else..

I offered a toy pushchair to a lady who wanted it for her daughter, who played with one at playgroup but didn't have one at home. I gave her my address, no reply and she didn't turn up. I emailed her to ask what was going on and she said that she couldn't collect it because her partner doesn't like the area I live it and refused to get it, would I drop it off to her? Hell no.

I don't use freecycle anymore, it's a great idea but my local group seems to be full of rude and greedy shysters who want to resell. I wouldn't have a problem with it if they were honest.

RacyRed

Many UK groups have now left the Freecycle network and formed a new one.


FREEGLE
Free, Giving, Locally, Easily
http://www.freegle.org.uk/

ladypinkof66

I have given up and then given it another chance and then I get let down again and then I think well I will give it another go but guess what today I have finally given up with the whole freecycle thing.

I advertised 4 items yesterday, promised one item, then a lady said oh i would love love the skirts and what about the cushions too i could take them off your hands. I politely replied and said they were gone but she could have the skirts. I made life easier for them and took them to work so they would only have to travel half a mile rather than 30 miles round trip to my home. I said i would be in work between 8.30 - 5.00 but to let me know what time they would call so i could ensure i was available what with meetings and lunch guess what the woman with the skirts turned up at lunchtime when i was out shopping and i was called by my colleague to see if i could come back. I got back to find she was coming back later, in between then i got another email from her saying ooh i could take all the items off your hands, by then all items were promised and i never even had them with me ! Eventually I got so fed up I left the items with the security guard with instructions of who was collecting what, and guess what the skirt lady told him oh i will drop off the cushions to the other person !!!!!!!! and took them. !!!!! now how on earth did she know who was collecting the cushions to deliver them to this person maybe she was pychic. She was obviously trying it on. I am fuming and fed up with the constant requests of I WILL TAKE THE LOT, i like to share out my stuff and now regretfully am finally giving up and unless I can take it to the charity shop will have no choice but to ditch it down the tip. Makes me sad when some people a few minority are using and abusing Freecycle !!
Sorry my moan over with for today .

becks92

Must admit I have used it a lot to get rid of stuff and also to get stuff. Have met lots of lovely people and the odd shifty one. As yet haven't seen anyone selling my stuff but overall think there are more nice people who need stuff than not. I think I am quite lucky with our groups they seem to be pretty much made up of decent people.

lightisfading

ladypinkof66 wrote: »

I have given up and then given it another chance and then I get let down again and then I think well I will give it another go but guess what today I have finally given up with the whole freecycle thing.

I advertised 4 items yesterday, promised one item, then a lady said oh i would love love the skirts and what about the cushions too i could take them off your hands. I politely replied and said they were gone but she could have the skirts. I made life easier for them and took them to work so they would only have to travel half a mile rather than 30 miles round trip to my home. I said i would be in work between 8.30 - 5.00 but to let me know what time they would call so i could ensure i was available what with meetings and lunch guess what the woman with the skirts turned up at lunchtime when i was out shopping and i was called by my colleague to see if i could come back. I got back to find she was coming back later, in between then i got another email from her saying ooh i could take all the items off your hands, by then all items were promised and i never even had them with me ! Eventually I got so fed up I left the items with the security guard with instructions of who was collecting what, and guess what the skirt lady told him oh i will drop off the cushions to the other person !!!!!!!! and took them. !!!!! now how on earth did she know who was collecting the cushions to deliver them to this person maybe she was pychic. She was obviously trying it on. I am fuming and fed up with the constant requests of I WILL TAKE THE LOT, i like to share out my stuff and now regretfully am finally giving up and unless I can take it to the charity shop will have no choice but to ditch it down the tip. Makes me sad when some people a few minority are using and abusing Freecycle !!
Sorry my moan over with for today .

ladypink - that's horrible May i suggest in future - completely ignore anybody who shows any 'i'll take the lot' tendencies - don't even agree to give them one item or give them your address. There are loads of genuine people on freecycle - just completely ignore the ones who are obviously not!

hula-hoops

Just when I think I will call it quits with Freecycle (Or Freegle as our group is now called), along comes a very pleasant experience to convince me to stay. A woman collected a table from me this morning and was chuffed to bits with it. She couldn't believe I didn't want it anymore and has sent a very nice e-mail thanking me. She was absolutely delighted with our old coffee table.

But I am getting just a little sick and tired of all the politics surrounding Freecycle or whatever they are called now. And also of the moans from the mods about how hard they work, how they don't get paid, how it's a thankless task. A lot of us do voluntary work. A lot of us do voluntary work that is far more physically demanding or stressful than moderating a Yahoo group. I am a member of a Yahoo group with over 12,000 people (not a Freecycle one) and we never hear about how hard the mods work. They just do it.

I have offered to help on our local group so many times, in fact I volunteer to help them every time we get a moaning e-mail about how little time they get to spend with their families and so on. Each time I am told they don't need any more mods. Clearly that's not the case. It's voluntary - don't do it if it takes up too much of your time or it annoys you that you get no thanks. Accept the offers of help - they are well-meaning!

RacyRed

hula-hoops wrote: »

Just when I think I will call it quits with Freecycle (Or Freegle as our group is now called), along comes a very pleasant experience to convince me to stay. A woman collected a table from me this morning and was chuffed to bits with it. She couldn't believe I didn't want it anymore and has sent a very nice e-mail thanking me. She was absolutely delighted with our old coffee table.

But I am getting just a little sick and tired of all the politics surrounding Freecycle or whatever they are called now. And also of the moans from the mods about how hard they work, how they don't get paid, how it's a thankless task. A lot of us do voluntary work. A lot of us do voluntary work that is far more physically demanding or stressful than moderating a Yahoo group. I am a member of a Yahoo group with over 12,000 people (not a Freecycle one) and we never hear about how hard the mods work. They just do it.

I have offered to help on our local group so many times, in fact I volunteer to help them every time we get a moaning e-mail about how little time they get to spend with their families and so on. Each time I am told they don't need any more mods. Clearly that's not the case. It's voluntary - don't do it if it takes up too much of your time or it annoys you that you get no thanks. Accept the offers of help - they are well-meaning!

It is great to hear you had a good experience.

From what you said in an earlier post you are a member of a well run Freegle group. I'm sorry your offers of help have not been taken up. There is a maximum number of moderators you are able to have on a Yahoo group, perhaps your group already has the max?

Just out of interest, do the mods on the other Yahoo group you are a member of have people questioning their integrity on a regular basis?

prowla

Just a reminder that the Freecycle/Freegle ethos is that you give things away that you don't want.
I've received items and given things away; once something has left my hands it is the property of the recipient, and once I've collected something it's mine.
Once it's changed ownership, that's it.
The alternative is to try and sell it yourself, take it to the tip, go car booting, or take to a charity shop.
I wouldn't get too indignant about people selling things on, really.
I mean, fixing an old telly and selling it isn't a crime is it?