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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed at freecycle admins

51 replies

tjacksonpfc · 14/09/2007 10:44

is it just me or am i actually being unresanoble ive been going on freecycle for about a year and ive got rid of loads of stuff on there including a £300 cot and £150 worth of cot bedding. this morning i put my washing machine on and it flooded my kitchen its been on its way out for a while so i thought i would put a wanted ad on freecycle to see if anyone has one that they no longer need. recently on freecycle there has been a lot of posts for laptops and they have put things like there kids need it for school or that they need a widescreen tv as theres is to small for them and they are claiming benefits so cant afford a huge telly.

i put on it that i urgently need a washing machine as mine had just flooded my kitchen ive got to dcs under 3 and cant afford to go out and buy a new one at the mo i dont care how old it is but i am willing to travel to get it. i have just had an email back from the admin say that she wouldnt approve my sob story post and the idea of freecycle is to offer stuff aswell. now i have never asked for things on freecycle before. when i told her i had offered things before she said it wasnt much as i was asking for a washing machine after all. her whole manor was degrading now is it just me being over sensitive or aibu.

sorry ive seen seen the length of the post

OP posts:
fireflyfairy2 · 14/09/2007 10:49

God, I think you were being perfectly within your rights as a freecycler.

On ours, I see things like TVs & laptops being asked for all the time!

A new washing machine, that someone else might not be bothered trying to fix, but you could fix it for a few pounds sounds like a sensible idea to me.

I'd probably leave freecycle if an admin person spoke to me like that, but then I am notoriously huffy

hertsnessex · 14/09/2007 10:53

she should be tauht some manners - id complain about her. surely thats what freecycle is all about.

hope you get it sorted.

IdreamofClooney · 14/09/2007 10:54

I don;t think that you are being unreasonable at all. I would have been v upset too.

You have already joined in the spirit of frecycle by donating your items so now you are hoping it will be reciprocated.

Perhaps the problem is just that too many people are purely using it to advertise for stuff they want.

chopster · 14/09/2007 10:54

YANBU Is there someone else youc an email, to put her in her place? Or another local group you can join instead?

I got fed up with freecycle after having people keep expressing interest then coun't be bothered to collect - well they couldn't have needed the stuff that much!

NoBiggy · 14/09/2007 10:56

Blimey, do you think she's having a bad day?

What a moo!

j20baby · 14/09/2007 10:56

how mean!

our have a 'can post wanted only once a month rule'

if i was you, i would try again, but don't put the details, just say 'desperately needed'

Original poster
tjacksonpfc · 14/09/2007 11:11

we can only post once a montha aswell but seeing as i have never posted and reading some of the posts that have been on there lately i didnt think i would have a problem obviously im not deemed worthy enough after all im only bringing up 2 dcs under 3 doing an ou course and cleaning in teh school in the evening why wouldnt i have teh money to be able to go out at a drop of a hate and buy a washing machine un likely the family nextdoor to me who have never worked live on benifits because they cant be arsed to work and proudly admit that and have brought a widescreen tv. im sorry but myu whole opinion of freecycle has changed i dont think i will bother with them anymore when you have a patronising admin like that who is so far up her own arse with her own rightouseness.

OP posts:
StrawberryMartini · 14/09/2007 11:12

I must admit I find the whole 'wanted' thing really annoying and rather odd. Someone was on my freecycle recently asking if anyone had a 'spare Phil and Teds buggy lying around'. I mean.. wtf? Those things are worth over £300! So sorry I think that there shouldn't be any wanted posts at all - I can't imagine many of them get successful replies. But I do think that woman was out of order!

lljkk · 14/09/2007 11:23

We took a washing machine to the tip 3 years ago, only weeks before I discovered Freecycle. It was tempermental and rusty and had a low spin speed, but it got clothes clean enough, would have been perfect for someone who just needed something to tide them over.

What a pity about tjackson's experience. Sometimes you repeatedly offer something on Freecycle and nobody ever actually comes to collect, so you're about to give it up and cart it off to tip -- that's when WANTED ads are a good idea.

WendyWeber · 14/09/2007 11:36

YANBU - try a neighbouring freecycle area, tj - it is allowed.

We have a snotty moderator too - I get the impression from odd remarks on here that quite a few of them are, and definitely up their own arses as you said

WendyWeber · 14/09/2007 11:41

StrawberryMartini, I disagree about WANTEDs - yes, some people do take the piss, and some groups ban requests for eg widescreen TVs and laptops, but ours has recently had ones asking for:

a workshop manual for a specific car (1998 model)
odd tiles to finish up tiling a toilet (not bothered about size or colour apparently!)
odd bits of kitchenware
cardboard boxes for a student off to uni

and those are exactly in the spirit of freecycle.

StrawberryMartini · 14/09/2007 11:47

Well yes that sounds reasonable but I still find it odd. And it also annoys me how bloody quick you have to be. I put a freezer on there and it was gone in five minutes.

Lorayn · 14/09/2007 12:05

ugh, pity you dont live closer, I have a washing machine in my shed that sticks on the rinse so you have to switch to the rinse programme but I'd happily give it to a freecycler, also I have seen tons of ads for big things on my freecycle, even cars!!

WendyWeber · 14/09/2007 12:17

You don't have to give it to the first person who responds though - some people put this on their offers:

themoon66 · 14/09/2007 12:33

Thats a good idea wendyweber. I should have done that with my bikes. I was fighting them off.

I did it on first come first served and they went in 2 mins. But the bloke never turned up for them, despite me waiting in all morning. I emailed the next on the list, who never responded, then the next... same story.

In the end I had to put them on again a week later.

Bouncingturtle · 14/09/2007 13:04

yes, Wendy, that is fabulous idea - I've give stuff away in Freecycle, one item was a buggy - I already agreed to give it to the first email, when a more worthier cause came along!
BTW TJ - You are SO NBU, am on your behalf! I would definitely complain!

IntergalacticWalrus · 14/09/2007 13:11

IME, any modoraters etc of these sorts of websites have meglomaniac tendencies.

The emails ourt loca FC admoins send me get my blood boiling, in an irration way

I have seen people asking for cars (erm, yes ok, I look down the back of the sofa shall I?) and I have seen others looking for PCs, and one looki9ng for a Bugaboo Frog, FFS

nettie · 14/09/2007 13:19

Got DS2's christmas prezzie on freecycle last year. He was desperate for a lego pirate ship which they don't make anymore. Posted a wanted ad, got a reply from someone whos teenage son still had all his lego hanging around that he no longer played with, so I got a fantastic lego ship, plus bags full of other lego.
Must admit that people do seem to request outrageous items though sometimes, I mean if your really desperate for a buggy, any will do.

lilibet · 14/09/2007 13:22

Where are you? I have a spare washer/dryer if you want one?

It's not brilliant and it's quite old but it works.

I'm in the North West

bossykate · 14/09/2007 13:26

there are charities who will be grateful for this stuff you know.

here is one -> Evergreen Trust

having read the freecycle threads on mnet i would be very wary of donating anything that might end up being sold on ebay

Paddington64 · 14/09/2007 13:57

Freecycle are trying hard to cut down on the 'sob stories' because we have had a lot of people making our members feel guilty and receiving quite big/expensive items then selling them on to make a profit, which although this still keeps it out of a landfill it's not really in the true spirit of Freecycle.

I am a Group Owner and I use my own judgement on whether or not a wanted ad should be allowed. If it's something like an urgently needed washing machine then I put them on, at the end of the day if someone has a washing machine they don't need taking up space then they may as well pass it on.

You cannot post Wanted ads on other areas though some do allow 'out of area' offered posts. There are a couple of groups that let anyone post but that defeats the obkect of the whole 'carbon footprint' thing and means many more unnecessary car journeys.

We work hard and do our best to keep these groups running and 99% of members are happy, but you 'can't please all the people all the time'!

curiouscat · 14/09/2007 15:33

As another freecycle moderator can I point out that we are not getting paid for our efforts and with busy groups (ours is over 4000) we can sometimes not give the individual attention that a member wants. A broken washing machine is a total pain, but do you really expect other members to have a spare one just lying around for you?

We find too many wanted posts put off potential members and clog the system up. It's supposed to be about giving, and the OP has obviously done her bit in the past.

Just give us mods a break sometimes and stop moaning.

bossykate · 14/09/2007 15:34

or give to charity. they will be grateful and not tell you off!

curiouscat · 14/09/2007 15:35

Oops, have I just outed myself as a megalomaniac?

Lorayn · 14/09/2007 17:28

curiouscat, two people on this thread alone have said they have washing machines laying around that they would give to the OP, I am one of them, so maybe some people on freecycle wouldve had??