To think they'd already sold it?

[Koelner]

Long story short, my freezer is dying a slow death. It may last another month, but I can't take the risk. As the fridge, while still OK, is the same age, I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone as it were and replace both.
Saw a small fridge/freezer on FB marketplace that had only just gone up. I messaged asking if it was still available and saying that, if it was, I could collect at their convenience.
When I've gone on messenger, they've seen the message. Then underneath my message it says "X sold fridge freezer".
As they haven't responded, should I assume that I just wasn't quick enough or should I just wait and see if they respond tomorrow before looking again?

I sold my youngest sons ikea bedroom furniture on FB. Within an hour I had 150 messages and it had been collected within two hours. No way was I replying to all those messages!

Maybe put a wanted notice up, I gave away my 2 year old fridge and freezer when we replaced the kitchen. I just needed it collecting ASAP at the time.

YABU. They dont owe you an apology. They might have had 20+ replies in the space of a few minutes for all you know.

Last time I sold (vacuum cleaner) I had literally 15 replies in the first 10 minutes. I wasnt able to respond to all of them and once I marked it as "sold" then some of the messenger messages disappeared anyway! Messenger can be weird.

Sorry you were disappointed though. Hope you manage to find something.

I would ask on your local FB community group(s), if anyone has one they're not using, to sell / give away.

You never know. Ours includes local chit chat and things being given away and sold. I recently asked if anyone had a spare very specific thing, so I could try it, to make sure I really wanted one before buying new - and after a few days someone said yes and gave me their old, no-longer needed one, free.

Do you have a BHF furniture shop near you? Our sometimes has white goods which are all safety checked etc and you can pick up or pay for delivery.

I sold a bike on marketplace last week and had over 100 messages regarding it. No way was I replying apologing to each one personally

@FrankieDoyle

YABU. They dont owe you an apology. They might have had 20+ replies in the space of a few minutes for all you know.

Last time I sold (vacuum cleaner) I had literally 15 replies in the first 10 minutes. I wasnt able to respond to all of them and once I marked it as "sold" then some of the messenger messages disappeared anyway! Messenger can be weird.

Sorry you were disappointed though. Hope you manage to find something.

DS put his car up on Saturday and there must have been 30 replies within 5 minutes. We had never used it before and really couldnt believe how many replies, although first twoturned out to be timewasters and one of them didnt turn up. Another one asked if he wanted to do a swap

Is there an items wanted page for your area on facebook? Sometimes people don't want the hassle of advertising on facebook because they get inundated but often have things that they would happily give away. We've done this several times because we would rather give things to people who need them than send them to the tip. e.g. kitchen appliances replaced when new kitchen arrived. Or look on the local freecycle page. Even if something tided you over until you could buy a new one then you could offer the appliance you have been given to somebody else.

If not receiving an apology really upset you, then perhaps you could send them a message saying how their lack of apology was bad manners, how upset you are and that you are now giving them the chance to do the right thing and apologise properly.

Op do you have a British heart foundation furniture shop near you? We've donated lots of things (good quality in good condition etc) and they'll sell it for really good value.

Re the fb market place, I think it would be polite to reply but as pp said they may have received loads of messages so I wouldn't put too much thought into it.

OP if you have been on universal credit for 6 months you are eligible for a budgeting loan. All you do is ring and they’ll have it with you by Monday. I think for a single person it’s 340. You pay it back at a small amount monthly for 12 months out for your universal credit payments directly. It might help.

www.gov.uk/budgeting-help-benefits/eligibility

Haven't rtft but could you get in contact with your local council welfare rights team? My local council does provide free and low cost white goods. Might be worth a try. Good luck.

Have you posted on your local freecycle pages? Lots of people re-do their kitchens or move into houses with white goods included and give what they don’t need away.

Do you have a British Heart Foundation electrical shop near you? Our local one has fridge freezers with a 3 month guarantee starting from £40

I agree there are options out there. When our fridge broke, I did end up getting a small one free from a selling page on Facebook. We have a lot of foreign students living in my city, so they often sell everything off cheap when they return home, so I can get some great bargains. It was a bit crap living with such a small fridge for a few months especially as it was summer and the freezer section was tiny, but we made do until I could afford a new one.

People are just trying to help, OP. Life doesn't owe you a freezer. You need to keep looking or do without. It's just the way it is.

I’m sure you could manage without a freezer until you save up especially if you have a fridge x

I think it's bizarre and a bit shocking that so many people are trying to talk OP out of buying second-hand and urging her into using credit, renting or other options that are really inappropriate for someone on a very low income. No wonder people get themselves in such financial messes. Yes, there's a risk to buying second-hand (greatly reduced if you buy from a charity shop instead, as several people have mentioned) but urging someone on benefits to get themselves into debt and advocating that perfectly usable white goods are just chucked into landfill is ridiculous. Make sure you're spending a fair price (not worryingly cheap, but not a premium brand that is therefore still expensive secondhand), I would personally buy from gumtree not facebook and do consider a charity shop and have a look at freecycle - but then purchase, pleased that you've saved money and done good for the planet.

I noticed this a lot with baby stuff and it's so sad - there seems to be a real stigma about buying secondhand goods only among those who really can't afford and shouldn't be wasting money on buying new. If you have to buy anything but a house or, perhaps, a car on credit you can't actually afford it.

Ours used to do that, too, @Namechange2020onceagain, but stopped a couple of years ago because of cuts. All they do now is a voucher for people to top up energy meters and a £20 emergency payment.

Since the government did away with crisis loans and community care grants, it's been really hard for people on low incomes to replace essential household stuff. In my pervious job, I used to spend a lot of time writing grant applications to charities on behalf of clients who had finally got somewhere to live after being homeless.

OP are you older? What is considered appropriate/inappropriate/rude/polite has changed. It has always changed. You would be unlikely to respond in the same way some would have done 100 years ago. Today, it is quite acceptable to not respond to FB marketplace. It is normal to not engage at all with people who you have no relationship with. In the same vein, abbreviated text, lack of punctuation and fragments of sentences are considered normal in casual conversations. These days, calling on the telephone is considered rude by some people as it forces the recipient to respond immediately - some younger people think it is rude and messaging is more polite as it enables the recipient to respond in their own time. You can't argue this stuff. It is what it is. It would be like someone older than you complaining that you don't hand deliver by personal messenger a hand crafted, perfectly calligraphed letter in response to an invitation.

Can you put up a wanted/in search of post?

I have seen a few similar posts and they get quite a few replies. State what you need and how much you have and people may offer.

When my gran died she had a house full of stuff that ended up been sent to a local charity. They work things cheap to people on benefits/low income.

eBay may be good, we put a few things on for 99p just to get rid of them.

Gumtree, and Freecycle are worth a try.

Have you looked if there are any selling posts on notice boards in local shop (our co-op actually has a for sale board)

Start saving what you can from now and see how much you have by the time it gives up (hopefully either you will have found a replacement or saved up enough by the time it gives out)

How much room is in the freezer? Could you freeze a couple of blocks of ice (tupperwear boxes/ bottles of water) so if it does give up it may stay cool enough for a few days that all your food doesn't thaw out?? Like a big cool box?

@LakieLady

Ours used to do that, too, *@Namechange2020onceagain*, but stopped a couple of years ago because of cuts. All they do now is a voucher for people to top up energy meters and a £20 emergency payment.

Since the government did away with crisis loans and community care grants, it's been really hard for people on low incomes to replace essential household stuff. In my pervious job, I used to spend a lot of time writing grant applications to charities on behalf of clients who had finally got somewhere to live after being homeless.

I know there have been so many cuts. Luckily in my area people are quite generous. Our local FB page put a post up a few days ago about a poor fella who had just fled DV and had a new flat but absolutely nothing in it. It was fully furnished by the end of the day with everything he could need and also clothes. People want to help if they can, just need to ask sometimes.

I think our council do still do free white goods but even if others don't, they should be able to direct you to low cost options.

Have a look on your local authority website and see what help is available in your area. Some do a discretionary hardship fund still. Also try Citizen’s Advice as they will know what help is available locally.

Those who suggested credit are giving out really bad advice that could make the OP’s situation so much worse.

Good luck @Koelner let us know how you get on

You get so much messers on FB marketplace. I’ve given stuff away and loads of people will respond, it will take to long to reply to everyone to say it is sold.

YABU. They don’t owe you anything, and there’s no need for them to apologise.

People get inundated with messages when they sell on the marketplace so of course they’re not going to reply to each individual one. They’re not being rude, and it’s clear the item has been sold.

I literally cannot manage without a freezer.
I am organised, that's why I know that I couldn't "manage easily" without a freezer.
Having had it explained that, once something is marked as "sold" you can no longer respond to messages, I really don't need it explaining again or being told IBU for expecting a response when, until someone explained, I didn't know that they wouldn't be able to respond if they had wanted to.
My local council no longer has a welfare rights or fund to help out with appliances. I know this as I was chatting with someone about something unrelated a couple of days ago and it came up.
I'm currently going through the options other people have helpfully suggested and hoping that the freezer lasts long enough for me to get a "new" one.

UPDATE Have found one that is still available. It's a little outside my area (about 30 miles away give or take). I've decided to take the risk with the fridge as it's currently not showing any signs of dying on me this side of New Year. Will be picking my "new" freezer up tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if my 30 year old Hotpoint suddenly drops it's "dying swan" routine and starts working perfectly again as that always seems to be how these things go.