Prove to me you're human...

[ffutures]

I put a couple of things on Freecycle, and as is my custom ended the item descriptions with:

Free to a good home. Please make it clear that you are human and genuinely interested in this item when you reply - if all I get is a message saying something like "I want this" or "plz call my cellphone" I'm not going to bother replying.

So far I've had two "I want this" messages, once cellphone number, and one person who posted "Hi. I am interested. Thanks." six times to the same item. I might actually reply to him, since this does seem to be an attempt to comply after a fashion.

Count me less than impressed.

Comments

[jeymien.livejournal.com]

I guess the trolls are out today :(

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yup. Like the icon, reminds me of a manip I made when I learned that the guy who played Jayne was voicing Superman in one of the animated films:

(http://smg.photobucket.com/user/MarcusRowland/media/jayne.jpg.html)

[jeymien.livejournal.com]

Love that! :)

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks!"

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

We should only patronise Freecycle for nice people. Its odd that people should use the anonymity of the internet to be so rude, when it the transaction will come down to personal contact, and you are choosing who to bestow your largesse on.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I don't mind people being concise - but people who can't be arsed to explain themselves rarely even bother to turn up, and I've gone through that game too many times.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I've said before that Freecycle/Freegle is a last resort for me -- not because I'm averse to giving things away or desperate for the odd pounds that selling groups provide, but because people who pay even small amounts of money for things are overwhelmingly polite and pleasant, and people who get things for nothing? Well, not so much. Perhaps 50% polite instead of 99% polite. On the local selling group I often swap things for bananas, and everyone who's prepared to bring bananas is lovely. Every single one.

The social reformer in me thinks that part of this is that the poor and downtrodden lead lives of such mayhem that normal social manners are beyond them. I'm trying to sell an old phone at the moment, to a mum who clearly has no cash. I'd really like to sell it to her, because I think she's likely to appreciate it a lot more than some other people -- but after three weeks of 'I'll have the money next week' and never getting in touch until *I* chase her, I'm about to give up. And honestly, I'm very soft on pickups; even a single message saying 'can you keep it till the end of the month' would have done.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

My stupid one here was someone who advertised that he wanted a mobile phone, said he was interested when I offered my old tired Samsung, then couldn't be arsed to turn up and collect it, or reply to my email when I asked if he wanted to reschedule. After that I've given up on him.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Yes, my Freecycle list is similar. A lot of people have stopped offering things on it because they frequently have 3 or 4 no-showers in a row. And who has the time/patience to schedule multiple pick up times iwth multiple people for something that you were just going to dump in the bin anyway?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Feeling that way a bit too - another no show today.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I always thought Freecycle lists should keep and maintain a monthly blacklist of no-show people, so that people who offer their time and generosity can weed out the serial failures who ruin it all for everyone.

Because I've definitely noticed over the last few years, the amount of stuff being offered has dropped away by 90%, and every time I went to pick something up, the people always exclaimed to me how nice it was that I showed up always on time when I said I would, because most didn't.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Same here - someone who offers something on Freecycle and arranges to be at home is putting themselves to a lot of trouble, it's a PITA if the recipient turns up late or doesn't turn up at all.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Because what I think happens is there are a s mall number of people sitting watching the lists, and they say GIVE TO ME! as soon as pretty much anything appears. And then they go and check to see if they can make any money out of what it is, and if not, they just don't bother turning up to get it.

And these people really need to be blacklisted.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Definitely - especially in London, where there are usually forty or fifty items on offer a day in a fairly small area and someone with a fast response and a van can possibly score big-time by picking up several items a day. If I owned a van I could really clean up in the used office furniture area - except that there must be others doing it already.