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AIBU?

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Original poster

To hate this type of reply on freecycle

63 replies

jenwyn · 10/01/2009 22:23

I go on Freecycle all of the time.Its great to get rid of unwanted items and get new things-and all for free!! Whats not to like?

Most people are lovely and send 'normal' replies but some send things like this

In its entirety...

[ if u still ave these plese send ur a ddress and i will
arrange pik up ]

No name ,salutation or acknowledgement of what was offered.

I know that text speak is all around and not considered rude by those
who indulge but does anyone else agree that this reply is beyond
normal?

OP posts:
BoccaDellaVerita · 10/01/2009 22:26

I think it's rude but, in my limited experience of freecycle, not unusual. I've had a few replies which consist in their entirety of 'yes please'. At least they said please, though!

PottyCock · 10/01/2009 22:26

maybe they genuinely can't spell? or are very young and that's just how they use cyber communication? yikes, makes me feel like an old fart.

manners cost nowt though, having said that!

Isaidno · 10/01/2009 22:26

I hate rude freecyclers!
I offered a sky box this week.
First email - shaz, I'd like the sky box please. (so far so good)
Second email about 2 hrs later - did you get my email?
Third email - next morning - PLEASE CAN I HAVE THE SKYBOX

He didn't get it; I hate being shouted at.

Mimia · 10/01/2009 22:28

Hmm, you did get a please, but YANBU.

SummerNights · 10/01/2009 22:32

I don't like them either - but they never get my stuff I wait until someone who sounds like they really need / would appreciate it responds (yes I realsie it may all be nonsense but at least they have made the effort to make up and corrctly type a good story )

Original poster
jenwyn · 10/01/2009 22:37

Lol Mimia I actually didn't take notice of the 'plese' tucked away in there but to be fair it referred to wanting the address rather than the items.

And Summer I agree -a good story is always worth consideration.

OP posts:
DesperateHousewifeToo · 10/01/2009 22:55

Yanbu.

I have posted a microwave tonight. Had about 7 replies within as many minutes. Four of them were messages along the lines of ''I need it'', ''HAVE YOU STILL GOT IT?'', ''I need it and I can collect it''.

The others were normal replies that I would send if I was interested. i.e. polite and not assuming that just because I emailed the item would be mine.

Grrr, and the person I have offered it to has not replied to say she can come when I suggested. How long do you wait until offering to next person?

gigglinggoblin · 10/01/2009 22:59

I never reply to responses which arent a bit personal and dont mention the item, it has been known for people tro set up a standard email which goes out to all freecycle emails (so I was told by a mod). If you list several very different items and get the same repsonse to them all let the admin know.

cat64 · 10/01/2009 23:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

jennybensmummy · 11/01/2009 07:11

im a moderator on my local freecyclke and whenn we get complaints like this i put out an admin message to everyone reminding them to use manners etc and even then i have had people reply to me sayig im being unreasonable!!! some of the comments we get that people put when they ask to joine are awful - one the other day was "i want free stuff like a car or new pc" ha ha i refused them!!

LoveBeingAMummy · 11/01/2009 07:44

Jenny thats so funny

AnneOfAvonlea · 11/01/2009 08:11

YANBU

dilemma456 · 11/01/2009 08:56

Message withdrawn

Onlyaphase · 11/01/2009 09:03

Dilemma - that is the perfect Freecycle story and the reason most of us donate in the first place.

Most times I use Freecycle to donate things I wait until I get a response that mentions the item and why it would be usefult to them. I hate the general responses that say "I'd like this if it is still available" - I want to know why they want it. Is that really nosy?

siriusmew · 11/01/2009 11:09

I use free-cycle too. The only irritant to me was when I replied to a wanted and got no reply from it!

TsarChasm · 11/01/2009 11:16

Please could a nice patient mn explain to me how does free cycle work exactly? I've seen it mentioned on here before but don't know the rules. Sounds interesting.

DesperateHousewifeToo · 11/01/2009 12:38

No money changes hands and I think you can pretty much offer anything but, I think, animals or anything illegal.

Find your local group here.

You then have to sign up.

You can post for 'wanted' items or post for items you are 'offering'. I always ask for them to tell me when they could collect the item.

When you click on the message, you can send an email to the person offering/posting it.

It is then up to that person to decide who they want to give it to.

My criteria (if ther is more than one person interested) are politeness in their email, whether thay can collect when convenient for me and whether theyb give me a phone number in case I need to cancel.

A bit garbled but hope you get the general idea.

notcitrus · 11/01/2009 12:45

I give stuff to the first person who responds with when they could collect and has made an effort to say please and/or use punctuation.

Friday night I added a new rule - the woman who responded with 24-point bold Comic Sans text on a flashing yellow background didn't get the items!

When responding I don't tend to say why I want stuff unless I can do it in a couple words, because lots of people say they hate sob stories and don't believe them anyway.

Got rid of lots of small items this weekend by listing 'carrier bag full of x', and all 3 people collected on time within 24 hours! I left one item on the doorstep so the person could collect late at night while walking their dog. I'm very happy with Freecycle.

Clarissimo · 11/01/2009 13:10

I gave a bay swing (indoor motor type) a few weeks back, advertised locally

4 replies: yes but I ant you to deliver 10 miles away (we'd said we could deliver between x and y locations, not to where they lived)

i need photographs first

As long as its neutral, I don't want to know babies sex

Um sorry? You're not doing me a favour fgs! I don't expect much but giving me a set of criteria in order to be allowe to give you a rather nice item is imo, taking the piss!

nyway the oe with photographs was an ebay seller from a bit of research (ben had like that before, someone turned up with a van full of stuff- er yes we could have sold it if we wanted thanks); chair was not neutral cloured enough (navy- like baby would have cared!), then 4th replied politelya sking if still available, asked if we could definitely deliver in X area as they ahd no trasnport then insisted when we dropped it off on giving the kids a few pennies each for sweeties so faith in freecycle vrey much restored (I didnt expect the pennies but it ws kind)

PaulaatMummyKnowsBest · 11/01/2009 13:15

I love freecycle

My children enjoy the fact that other children get to use their toys and clothes that they've outgrown but still like.

It helps me to keep my house clutter free too although it is very annoying when you tell people they can have an item, arrange a time for them to come and then they don't turn up

lljkk · 11/01/2009 13:16

Ah crikey, but what happens in this situation:

I put in a WANTED.

Got 2 quick replies, one local, other a bit further afield. Far away offer said that they'd be taking the item to the tip if I didn't reply again by Wednesday.

I have replied 2x to the far away one (by Wednesday) and 3x to the close one, but they are completely ignoring me. Initially I was trying to figure out which one to go for, then decided to just get both. I Don't want to be pushy, but I would like to get on with collecting the items, if only they'd give me details, make arrangements.

Guess I shall sit on my hands for a week or so, then go back to trying to source the item on Ebay?!

TsarChasm · 11/01/2009 13:20

Oh thank you DesperateHousewifeToo! I will check this out.

I am always on the hunt for things and with three dc always have bagfulls of things to pass on too. Sounds just my thing.

I guess there will always be an element of bad manners with this kind of thing. Most people are nice, a few are rude or plain weird though...

Clarissimo · 11/01/2009 13:22

Ah you get the weird definitely- wanted ads can be a hoot: Car- runner- mercedes or similar; Wii (unused); caravan, good condition for immediate use etc etc etc

claireybrations · 11/01/2009 13:28

Jennybensmummy I tried to join a local network once, for my reason I put something along the lines of "I want to offer things that I no longer need to people who might be able to make use of them". I was refused

The other local network I joined didn't even ask me for a reason.

frogs · 11/01/2009 13:41

I've given away loads of stuff recently, and go out of my way to offer stuff to charities where possible.

It is very very rare for people to email to say thank you, even when they've got something really nice for free. I have to say it does pee me off -- how hard is it to email the donor and say 'Thanks, I really appreciate the item, we'll make good use of it'.

I always do it, just for the sake of niceness, but am staggered how few other people do it -- I would say fewer than 1 in 10. Yet next time I offer something many of these people will be first in the queue again.