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For those of you haven't heard of the Freecycle network, it's a collection of Yahoo Groups that aim to promote waste reduction by passing your unwanted stuff on to people that can use it rather than just tossing it in the bin. As the name says, the items must be given away freely with no intention of personal gain. The moderators enforce this policy strictly.
Freecycle is a good thing and it's all pretty straight forward. If you have something you don't want, then you post a message up on the board and wait for the responses. You then pick the most deserving individual and arrange a mutually agreeable collection time. Likewise, if something that takes your fancy you get in touch with the person offering the item and politely offer to take it off their hands. Notice the use of the word politely there.
That is basically the thing I find irritating about Freecycle. The people that give stuff away are okay (at least the ones that I have met), it's the rude and ungrateful "takers" that really annoy me. Whenever I have posted something up that I don't need, I have noticed that a fair number of people can't even be bothered to say "please" and "thank you". As soon as the message goes up you get swamped by replies that appear to be nothing more than hastily typed out text messages. Is it really that difficult to write a nice polite email with a reasonable standard of English? I usually wait until I received a number of emails before I decide who should get the item, there's usually at least one deserving soul.
Freecycle - greedy, selfish individuals?
Another thing I find frustrating are the ones that don't bother to turn up after agreeing to collect. Why do they do that? If you can't pick up in a reasonable time frame, don't bother to ask for it in the first place. Leave it for someone who REALLY wants it.
Finally, the real villain's are the greedy, selfish individuals who obviously can't comprehend what Freecycle is about. Rather than ask for things that they intend to use themselves, they go around picking up things that they think they can sell either on eBay or at car boot sales. These people should be ashamed of themselves.
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I never, ever give away junk on Freecycle. I've given away new ceiling fans, nice furniture, brand new animal food, and so many things I can't even list them. I know perfectly well that people are reselling many of the things I have given and shame on them. The latest thing we have here are people begging for money to get them back to Texas, Oklahoma, or (fill in the blank). They are all stranded here and, for some reason, unable to call Salvation Army to get a bus ticket. The sob stories are fabulously creative.
18/06/21 Elvis
0
Totally agree. I am unfortunately at the point , where after this week, I won't bother trying to give stuff away on Freecycle.. Rude , ungrateful, terse messages. People not bothering to turn up. Not to mention the eBay and car boot sale touts. It's a shame because the idea is good...most humans who use the site are alas not.
22/12/19 AJ Jones
-2
Freecycle is full of psychotic people who are so anti social as to lose the plot of not filling landfills or paying for trashing otherwise useless items. I blame the "request" option because even though I most hate those who play high and mighty with their trash, I also fully despise the people posting "hey I could really use a washer for my kit and a napkin holder and a queen of spades card for my deck." This brings politics into what should be primarily a GREEN initiative! Your contempt for free loading humans is not interesting you psycho control freaks. You see it everywhere now! Even this extinction rebellion rubbish that is really a contempt for other humans all the while you support western society and shop at super markets and do your part to destroy this planet. Long as you can virtue signal! Long as you can troll other equally guilty people as yourself. Freecycle and its nutters can sod off.
01/12/19 Baz
-1
..oh forgot this classic! I put out a 'wanted' for a particular item. A person responds saying they indeed have what I am after and for me to come around etc. at a particular time, which I did, to the minute! When I get there a relative answers the door and has NO IDEA why I am there! Apparently the offerer went out, without leaving any message for me and, low and behold, they couldn't be reached on their mobile. Strangely, I do remember having this 'odd feeling' about this person, but carried on, wasting my time on going round there. I was so angry, imagine just swanning off and not even letting others there know about it!! I did eventually get an email apologising, but by this time that item was no longer of any interest to me.
It def does take some trust on your part when you are visiting someone's house or they are coming to you. I have also had some very amazing offers, and replies to my 'wanted's' and are very grateful for the people that have given to me.
21/02/14 Babs
It def does take some trust on your part when you are visiting someone's house or they are coming to you. I have also had some very amazing offers, and replies to my 'wanted's' and are very grateful for the people that have given to me.
2
I'm not a freecycler, but think its great.
Well done for not wasting yet more of the Worlds resources. Of course I'm a bigot because I will continue to buy new, but Freecycling will allow the resource to last longer for people like me.
21/02/14 Grateful
Well done for not wasting yet more of the Worlds resources. Of course I'm a bigot because I will continue to buy new, but Freecycling will allow the resource to last longer for people like me.
-1
Having been on Freecycle for about a year, and a regular user, I have had some interesting experiences. I agree with other posters, so many do not bother to say please or thank you, and there are the ones with the sob stories.
Being an 'offerer' I now wait for a while to see the responses, then pick one I feel is genuine. Yes, I too have found emails from certain people if I am the one 'wanting' I will send a polite email, with a 'thank you' or a 'kind regards' and leave it at that. Because of the way I word my emails more often than not I will be the one chosen. I don't get stuff to sell on etc., I only ask for something that is for personal use or someone I know would like or could do with that item.
I have found you will also get the serial 'sob story teller' who will bombard you with emails, like it is their right to have what you are offering and they are the only ones who should be entitled, but after a few emails they usually trip themselves up and you know the real reason for their emails. And yes, some are downright rude and it is like they are doing you such a huge favour for 'taking it off your hands'...!!
I too have had a few 'no shows' and people making up excuses as to why they can't make it after all. Overall the majority of experiences have been good and amazed at the things I have got. It also makes you feel good for helping others out and it helps you de-clutter, at your convenience.
21/02/14 Babs
Being an 'offerer' I now wait for a while to see the responses, then pick one I feel is genuine. Yes, I too have found emails from certain people if I am the one 'wanting' I will send a polite email, with a 'thank you' or a 'kind regards' and leave it at that. Because of the way I word my emails more often than not I will be the one chosen. I don't get stuff to sell on etc., I only ask for something that is for personal use or someone I know would like or could do with that item.
I have found you will also get the serial 'sob story teller' who will bombard you with emails, like it is their right to have what you are offering and they are the only ones who should be entitled, but after a few emails they usually trip themselves up and you know the real reason for their emails. And yes, some are downright rude and it is like they are doing you such a huge favour for 'taking it off your hands'...!!
I too have had a few 'no shows' and people making up excuses as to why they can't make it after all. Overall the majority of experiences have been good and amazed at the things I have got. It also makes you feel good for helping others out and it helps you de-clutter, at your convenience.
1
Well that's because we do not have a Thanksgiving day here in the UK as in the US or Canada. We need one. People need to learn to be thankful. The new facebook/smartphone generation is a complete useless pile of parasites with an "I don't care! I want it!" attitude.
29/11/13 Dave
0
"the number of people who emailed me pleading poverty yet turned up clutching state of the art phones and driving the latest model car was astounding"
The latest "Freecycle" is of course the local FOODBANK,
Give something away for nothing and you will soon have a crowd!
So we get the media going on about the starving children-workers-etc.
One Rag today stated that one in five of the population goes without food for lack of money.
Are we supposed to believe this krap?
A bit off topic.
29/11/13 Stalag 14
The latest "Freecycle" is of course the local FOODBANK,
Give something away for nothing and you will soon have a crowd!
So we get the media going on about the starving children-workers-etc.
One Rag today stated that one in five of the population goes without food for lack of money.
Are we supposed to believe this krap?
A bit off topic.
-5
I'm late to the party here, but I have just deleted my Freecycle account (Birmingham UK) as I think the moderators just don't want to post my offers. Some of my things have sat in the awaiting approval for three or four days; I've emailed them but not had any response.
I did Freecycle about three years ago and I gave away my belonging because I had to move house quickly and the number of people who emailed me pleading poverty yet turned up clutching state of the art phones and driving the latest model car was astounding.
Yes, they helped to clear my way but I felt deceived by them, and it would not have hurt them to have said thank you. The way I was treated, they might as well have been bailiffs.
I thought I'd give it another go, and so far I did have a few nice people but I've also been messed about. I just feel that manners and etiquette are no longer 'cool' and that it's become an entitlement culture. The freecycler in question requested winter clothing, I emailed her and found out she was an 18 year old student, so I thought 'poor girl, let's dig out some nice things'. I emailed her, to arrange a date and time, ok. Then something bothered me, I think it was something about a 'sent from my windows phone' and I had a little nose on the internet and found some interesting stuff on her twitter account.
I shouldn't judge, but if you are requesting winter clothing because money is tight, would you not be saving your money by not going out on benders, trying to decide which tattoo to have next and congratulating yourself on getting free stuff?
Anyway, I intended to uphold my side of the bargain despite my misgivings and waited. I am ill and need rest, and waited and sent her a message to ask where she was and she responded that she wasn't coming because she was ill. Now this was quite late afternoon after she'd already said she would be over after 3pm and unless I'd been in touch I'd probably would not have had any notification.
As it stands the bag of clothes now sits in the corridor and I'm just going to leave her contact me.
28/11/13 AnnoyedEquine
I did Freecycle about three years ago and I gave away my belonging because I had to move house quickly and the number of people who emailed me pleading poverty yet turned up clutching state of the art phones and driving the latest model car was astounding.
Yes, they helped to clear my way but I felt deceived by them, and it would not have hurt them to have said thank you. The way I was treated, they might as well have been bailiffs.
I thought I'd give it another go, and so far I did have a few nice people but I've also been messed about. I just feel that manners and etiquette are no longer 'cool' and that it's become an entitlement culture. The freecycler in question requested winter clothing, I emailed her and found out she was an 18 year old student, so I thought 'poor girl, let's dig out some nice things'. I emailed her, to arrange a date and time, ok. Then something bothered me, I think it was something about a 'sent from my windows phone' and I had a little nose on the internet and found some interesting stuff on her twitter account.
I shouldn't judge, but if you are requesting winter clothing because money is tight, would you not be saving your money by not going out on benders, trying to decide which tattoo to have next and congratulating yourself on getting free stuff?
Anyway, I intended to uphold my side of the bargain despite my misgivings and waited. I am ill and need rest, and waited and sent her a message to ask where she was and she responded that she wasn't coming because she was ill. Now this was quite late afternoon after she'd already said she would be over after 3pm and unless I'd been in touch I'd probably would not have had any notification.
As it stands the bag of clothes now sits in the corridor and I'm just going to leave her contact me.
-1
The people on Freecycle are a cheeky bunch, but it's the ones that run Freecycle that are the real takers. They know what's going on an the owners just sit back and watch.
23/10/13 Karen
-1
Sometimes the moderators are just as bad. My local Freegle group is run by someone who has no qualms at all about adding her own comments to people's offers - whether it's the way it's written, what they've written, or even if they've used too many capital letters of punctuation! Sometimes she just deletes bits of messages if she thinks people don't need to know. How to drive people away in one easy lesson!
11/08/13 ricky
-3
I live in Dartford, which is near to London, and I don't drive so would need home delivery at the weekend.
I will try the 2nd hand store that I got my fridge from originally but they are pricey for 2nd hand, almost as much as new.
There was an ad for a big fridge freezer in my local paper actually so I will try them and see if they will hold it and let me pay half and half until its cleared.
But thanks for the tip, Fed Up Pedestrian
14/07/13 ahforfoulkessake
I will try the 2nd hand store that I got my fridge from originally but they are pricey for 2nd hand, almost as much as new.
There was an ad for a big fridge freezer in my local paper actually so I will try them and see if they will hold it and let me pay half and half until its cleared.
But thanks for the tip, Fed Up Pedestrian
-8
I have been looking for a fridge freezer mainly the freezer as my little fridge has only small icebox at the top and I'd ideally like to buy more food in one go before my money runs out and freeze it for later use. I can't find any cheap 2nd hand fridges in local paper and they only seem to come available when I'm skint.
I would not be ungrateful as it's something I actually need.
Sorry, this is not actually a begging letter to you gripers on here, just stating that I can't seem to find things on these sites as and when I need them.
13/07/13 ahforfoulkessake
I would not be ungrateful as it's something I actually need.
Sorry, this is not actually a begging letter to you gripers on here, just stating that I can't seem to find things on these sites as and when I need them.
-2
Personally my largest gripe is about the "givers" whom are trying to get rid of damaged, defective or otherwise unusable crap, but don;t want to pay the fee to have the dump take their garbage.
19/05/13 syngar99
-4
Sazza