Bleeding grabbing gits !

[cyberknight]

Putting a few bits on freecycle in a pre sort out before packing to move house and every single reply for the item has been a " can i have this , my phone is xxxx "
One applicant in particular said he wanted 2 things and i fell for the line till he then asked for another item and he could come... half an hour before he was due to collect the other 2 items.Told him not to bother turning up.
Seems my suspicions about the local freecycle has again been confirmed as all you seem to get is people after what they can get to flog at a car boot /ebay.
The wanted requests are just as bad, today there have been at least 3 asks for everything to set up houses.You see these posts every week but as time has gone on i havebecome more suspicious as who in there right mind moves into a house without the means to sit down or sleep , never mind asking for matching , new furniture.
rant over

 

[Sara_H]

I'm a bit disenchanted with freecycle. I've given away loads of stuff but never once been a successful reciever .

And some of the people who reply when you advertise are quite rude!

 

[biggs682]

just listed a couple of bits on local freecycle , so far no takers

 

[Saluki]

Putting a few bits on freecycle in a pre sort out before packing to move house and every single reply for the item has been a " can i have this , my phone is xxxx "
One applicant in particular said he wanted 2 things and i fell for the line till he then asked for another item and he could come... half an hour before he was due to collect the other 2 items.Told him not to bother turning up.
Seems my suspicions about the local freecycle has again been confirmed as all you seem to get is people after what they can get to flog at a car boot /ebay.
The wanted requests are just as bad, today there have been at least 3 asks for everything to set up houses.You see these posts every week but as time has gone on i havebecome more suspicious as who in there right mind moves into a house without the means to sit down or sleep , never mind asking for matching , new furniture.
rant over

Funny you should ask this. We know of a young lady who has been homeless a while and she has finally found a little bedsit (unfurnished) with a kitchen room and a bathroom. I think that they call it a studio flat in estate agent parlance. Anyway, she has nothing. A wanted ad went up on freecycle and on facebook and her new home has been furnished for her. We live in a mobile home and have very little at the moment but we did manage a crockery set for 4 places and some cutlery. To be fair, the lass was not requesting matching furniture or new furniture.

When we finally get a home, instead of this temporary jobby, we might struggle a bit with furniture as this place is furnished. We might well be relying on the kindness of others ourselves.

However, I know exactly what you are saying about freecycle. Before the OH got laid off and I broke my arm and lost our entire business, home and what have you, we used to freecycle stuff off. People replying with text speak annoyed me a lot, people saying "I'll take that off your hands, ring me" annoyed me too, as did people who couldn't manage a 'please' or a 'thank you'. We never let people have multiple items. Mind you, Gumtree can be as bad. I've been trying to sell a 2' fish tank and I have had people ringing saying "do you really want twenty quid? I'll collect it if its free". I still have the tank. Some people are just pig ignorant and I think that its getting worse.

 

[cyberknight]

Funny you should ask this. We know of a young lady who has been homeless a while and she has finally found a little bedsit (unfurnished) with a kitchen room and a bathroom. I think that they call it a studio flat in estate agent parlance. Anyway, she has nothing. A wanted ad went up on freecycle and on facebook and her new home has been furnished for her. We live in a mobile home and have very little at the moment but we did manage a crockery set for 4 places and some cutlery. To be fair, the lass was not requesting matching furniture or new furniture.

When we finally get a home, instead of this temporary jobby, we might struggle a bit with furniture as this place is furnished. We might well be relying on the kindness of others ourselves.

However, I know exactly what you are saying about freecycle. Before the OH got laid off and I broke my arm and lost our entire business, home and what have you, we used to freecycle stuff off. People replying with text speak annoyed me a lot, people saying "I'll take that off your hands, ring me" annoyed me too, as did people who couldn't manage a 'please' or a 'thank you'. We never let people have multiple items. Mind you, Gumtree can be as bad. I've been trying to sell a 2' fish tank and I have had people ringing saying "do you really want twenty quid? I'll collect it if its free". I still have the tank. Some people are just pig ignorant and I think that its getting worse.

Yes of course there are people in need and i am all to glad to offer items if the response is polite , but it is a donation service for items that are no longer used or someone might be in need of rather than
"I bought a house and want a new chesterfield suite, 4 poster bed and a plasma tv".

 

[Saluki]

Yes of course there are people in need and i am all to glad to offer items if the response is polite , but it is a donation service for items that are no longer used or someone might be in need of rather than
"I bought a house and want a new chesterfield suite, 4 poster bed and a plasma tv".

Ah, in that case, they can go whistle

 

[roadrash]

it seems like a lot of people who answer ads on freecycle dont realise that good manners are also free.

 

[vernon]

I managed to give away a huge pile of logs left from the cutting back of a leylandii hedge. The receiver contacted me from New York. I thought that it was a prank and she had to reassure me that she was serious and had been working a short contract there and was due home in a week. I can't imagine car boot sales people wanting logs.

On the other hand I had no interest shown in a decent Sony Trinitron CRT widescreen TV and it ended up at the recycling centre.

 

[fossyant]

Used it twice, one to get rid of a microwave that wasn't great, someone had it for a new flat, then an old sofa. Both saved us tip trips.

 

[Maz]

Putting a few bits on freecycle in a pre sort out before packing to move house and every single reply for the item has been a " can i have this , my phone is xxxx "
One applicant in particular said he wanted 2 things and i fell for the line till he then asked for another item and he could come... half an hour before he was due to collect the other 2 items.Told him not to bother turning up.
Seems my suspicions about the local freecycle has again been confirmed as all you seem to get is people after what they can get to flog at a car boot /ebay.
The wanted requests are just as bad, today there have been at least 3 asks for everything to set up houses.You see these posts every week but as time has gone on i havebecome more suspicious as who in there right mind moves into a house without the means to sit down or sleep , never mind asking for matching , new furniture.
rant over

Is this rant more about lack of courtesy? Does it matter who it goes to, if you just want shot of it?

 

[cyberknight]

Is this rant more about lack of courtesy? Does it matter who it goes to, if you just want shot of it?

Bit of both
It does matter to who it goes as the whole point of freecycle was to offer items to those who had use for them, till yahoo dropped it and then the new version turned into a free for all .The tip is only a few minutes away so its no hardship for me to take it .
And yes , a bit of courtesy goes a long way .

 

[Night Train]

I gave up on freecycle a while back.

I had got a few things from it, a couple of sofas that Arch and I are sat on now for example, and gave away a few things that seemed to be gratefully received.

It then started going wrong.
I was also seeing wanted adds for matching leather sofas, this year's Xbox (or whatever it was), Plasma TV (must be over 42"), dining table and six chairs must be a matching set with no damage, etc.

I also had people wanting stuff I had offered but wanting me to deliver, at a time that suited them and then no being in when I got there but wanted me to deliver again later on.

I'd rather take stuff to the charity shop or the tip. At least it is gratefully received.

 

[Speicher]

Some years ago, 2006 or 2007, I did well with Freecycle. I found someone who wanted a copper hot water tank. He was planning to make a ground source waste heat pump. Someone took a wheelbarrow from me. Someone else was starting a plant nursery and gratefully received about 200 plant pots. Other things that found a good home included a double-glazed window.

In return I gained an armchair, a bread maker, and a very good French dictionary, Le Petit Robert. (Nothing petit about it, it is very large.)

I think Freecycle has changed completely since those days. It started off not as a "first come, first served" basis, but people could decide who they would like to give the items to. I received a cafétiere on the basis that the donor lived two streets away, and I could collect it by walking there.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

Yeah I always suspicious now as I put up three different makes of 'phone chargers and 3 Nokia chargers, got two different people asking for all of them!

 

[inkd]

Mrs and me have got rid of alot of stuff when we moved and we didnt have to do a tip run and we have had a couple of bits too but not used it for some time. The sob story responses got me annoyed, it was whoever could pick up sooner that got the stuff. Mrs had a nearly new pushchair from our local freecycle a few years ago, did`nt need it but she cleaned it up and ebayed it for £80.