Warm boot recommendations please

[seagullukuk]

Hi,

I had never heard of free cylce til I logged on here and read about it in a message. So I joined and offered some goods. I got lots of replies and decided who I would give my stuff to from the replies. I was shocked to recieve the following message.

 

hi,

i am one of the owners of the group can please tell me why when i e-

mailed you about the ( removed name o item) being taken you didn't reply as i

know i was first to reply to you about them as i e-mailed you before i

posted the add.

 

Am I over sensitive or am I right to be hurt and angered by this message?

I cannot believe that I have to justify to this person who I gave my free stuff too. Those of you that use freecycle can you give me some advse please. I have replied to tthe sender telling them I do not like the tone of their message and fr them to clarify the rules that it is always first come first serve as I was not aware of this rule and if it is the case then I will not use freecycle again. Alas the reply to this was that I had been reported to the owner of the site and would be hearing fromthem shortly. Again a reply I find upsetting.

I do hope the people I have chosen to give my stuff to are more grateful than the first person to reply to me!

Sorry if this is a rant but I am really upset about this.

Thanks for reading.

Now a second egg after my first yesterday would be very welcome .

 

[bellekatz]

I have given quite a lot of stuff away on Freecycle this year. The list I am on says you can give it to whomever you please............. you can do first come first served, wait for a few replies and give to whomever you feel is the most deserving, or put all the names in a hat and pull out one. Whatever - it is your stuff you are giving away! I am sure that that reply is not in the spirit of Freecycle and I would have been really upset as well if that had come back to me. I'm sure they should have sent you an email of rules and how to post etc when you joined? ( i had them from both groups local to me) If so, have a look through and see what they have to say about it. I think their reply was rude and threatening and if your groups rules are the same as round here, maybe you should be reporting them!!

 

Hope you got your second egg

[Cinnamon]

That email to you is really rude & not in the spirit of Freecycle at all

 

When I joined I had an email from one of the group owners saying that when I offer an item I should collate all emails then give it to the person I think needs it most/ is nearest.

This (the distance thing) obviously saves fuel & thats what Freecycle is all about - being GREEN

In this spirit I got rid of a Telescope last week....I had lots of emails about it & decided to give it to a local self learn group rather than the first person who contacted me.

Also you can give priority to someone who can collect quickly if you need to get rid of the item in a hurry or to someone who can come around & collect at your convenience.

 

I would point out to the Group Leader (should they get back to you which I doubt - it all sounds like sour grapes on this other persons part to me) that you are new to this & did what you thought was best.

I would also question the motives of a moderator iwho tried to snap up an item before it was listed by them, which they freely admitted too - I bet THAT is against the rules!!!

 

As far as I know (& certainly in my group) there is no first come first served rule - but being as Green about things as possible is the groups aim!

Edited June 26, 2007 by Guest

[The Dogmother]

That was really naughty of them - as a seasoned freecycler, I am sure that there are rules against the site admin/moderators taking first dibs at anything before they post the message - that's not fair at all and certainly not in the spirit of Freecycle.

[Cinnamon]

Agreed.

I would do this.

Email them again & ASK for the site owners email address, so you can contact them yourself.

Or get it from the site.

Email the owner, tell them what has happened & send them the emails this person sent to you.

 

Its not at all right what they have tried to do

[BeckyBoo]

I agree, we use Freecycle quite a lot and I've always "picked and chosen" who I give the stuff to, you have to because there are some people on here (as I discovered) who will take stuff then try to flog it on for their own monetary gain. Anyway, I think you should report the person who emailed you too, how many other things has he / she had without giving anyone else a chance to ask for it?

 

Mrs Bertie

[seagullukuk]

Thanks for the reply

Glad to see I am not going mad

 

I have sent a post to the group quoting the original post so I guess it will be moderated out, so thanks for the suggestions and support will keep you posted of what happens.

Thanks

Niall

 

No second egg yet

[seagullukuk]

The post to the group was not accepted probably rightly as I named the e mailer in it.

However I responded to the moderator who declined my post and this is her reply to me

 

 

 

Hello Niall

 

I am in an awkward position being a Moderator and not an owner - but - I

think you are right.

 

It is most certainly your choice who gets your items.

No-one - whoever they are - can expect to receive an item, it is totally the

choice of the person offering the item. Even then you would still have the

right to change your mind.

 

You always have the right to make an official complaint to the East of

England Group Outreach and Assistance - east@freecycle.org - forwarding all

emails you have received from ?? if you feel that you have been treated

unfairly and not in the spirit of Freecycle.

 

I should say at this point that your message will not go to everyone on the

board as it would be an owner/moderator's decision to accept it or reject it

- so you can only expect a reply from ?? when he gets to read his

emails.

 

Please let me know if you need any further assistance or if you would like

me to contact the Assistance Group for you.

 

Regards

Sophiestree

Moderator

Epping Forest Freecycle Group

 

 

This is a much better response than the original your post has not been accepted!

I have since reposted a message as I would really like to know what other members think. This time with out identifying my emailer so fingers crossed it is accepted.

 

[Cinnamon]

Thats a more reasonable reply.

I do think you should further your complaint.....who knows how many items this person has managed to sneak out from under the noses of other Freecyclers?

[Egluntyne]

Goodness....your emailer is not behaving in the spirit of freecycle at all and should be thrown out of the group.

 

I'd take your complaint as far as you can.

[Guest]

I agree they should be thrown out of the group. Abusing their position of trust by asking for items before they are posted to the group is appalling.

 

The abusive email to yourself is further evidence that they are not fit to be in a position of trust. It is totally your decision who to give your stuff to. I don't always give mine to the first to ask, I never give to the "pushy" replies "I'll take this and pick it up tonight call me on 07xxxxxxxxx to arrange". I never give to the beggars "I really need this I'm a disabled single pensioner mum and oh so deserving" (I'm rather afraid I tend not to believe them!).

 

If I know the item is going to be popular I just give it a couple of hours and choose the reply I liked best. If I know its unlikely to attract many people then I just pick the first. I've freecycled loads of stuff, from very popular old baby stuff to rather less popular sinks, toilets etc. Only 1 thing I have posted has never had any takers because its a door and seems to be the wrong size for everyone.

 

Don't let this put you off.

[Olly]

I agree - not in the spirit of Freecycle at all. I wondered if it might be this group, I subscribe to them but don't like the attitude - they have recently said, for example, that you can only post 'Wanted' ads on Wednesdays ... I know that a lot of people seem to 'want, want, want' and not offer, but I don't like the tone of some of the moderator's emails.

 

Niall, I recommend you try the Waltham Forest group, it's much larger and covers a similar area!

 

I choose recipients on the 'most polite' basis. I'm fed up with people who say 'I'd like this' with no please or thank-you!

[seagullukuk]

Hi folks

thanks for the replies I probably will try the Waltham forest onOlly.

I have been busy at work these past few days 12 hour shifts Love em!!

Have had time to think about what happened and the response I got from the owner who basically told me off for breaking the rules!!

I tried to post to all the group re my experiences to find out how often the co owner threatened people!!

 

 

Despite the owner wanting to leave things alone now I probably will complain to the freecycle east anglia people as suggested by one of you.

 

 

On a brighter note the person I chose to give the hedge cutter to should collect today and sounds very polite and appreciative!

On an even brighter note we are up to our 4th eggg!!

Maybe I should just stay at work and just let them out say goodbye come home take the eggs and lock the door. Chicken keeping easy. Human relationships far too complicated!!

[Gallina]

The Oxford Freecycle group is wonderful: my only complaint is that there are too many messages. I am receiving at least a hundred offers and requests a day.

 

I have just had a look at the Oxford website in case you think I am exaggerating, and it says at the top:

Activity within 7 days: 189 New Members - 816 New Messages.

 

Now that Oxford has gone over to the wheelie bin system and we can't get rid of anything that doesn't fit in the bin any more, it is a great way of getting rid of large pieces of rubbish.

 

Even if people are taking the stuff to sell on, it is still better than sending it to landfill. (No one could possibly have sold on the rubbish I have got rid of, e.g. a compost frame honestly advertised as broken and rotting!)

[starboyhull]

Hull city council are pretty good.....We have wheelie bins, blue bins and black boxes.....But if you have something that you are unable to get rid of they have a free "bulky item" collection, I agree though, if someone else can make use of an item freecyle is a great way to pass it on........

[Gallina]

Oxford City Council will also do a special collection free of charge for items (sofas, fridges etc), although I would always try Freecycle first.

 

It's the intermediately large pieces that Freecycle is wonderful for. I wouldn't like to summon the council out to collect something as small as, for example, a bicycle wheel, but it won't fit in the wheelie bin and side waste is not permitted.

 

Freecycle is wonderful: I wouldn't like this thread to put people off joining their local group. There will always be a few bad eggs among the members of any group (except this one of course, where all eggs are good).

 

What is really brilliant is that if you are giving what is virtually rubbish away, you can leave it outside your front door when you leave in the morning, and come back to find it gone. The council can take up to two weeks to collect, and then of course ithe stuff lies in landfill for the rest of time.

[starboyhull]

I joined freecycle after seeing this thread, so I dont think it will put anyone off.....

 

Not sure about other councils but Hull is having a real drive on recycling at the moment, the waste site near us has a recycling rate of something like 86% now, which is really good, a year ago none of that would have been recycled so they are really trying to get people to change.

[seagullukuk]

I agree it is really important to remember that all freecycle groups are all different and I am sure my experience is very isolated in fact I would like to think (perhaps naively) that this is the first time the co owner has tried to claim first dibs!! The freecycle groups in each area have their own owners and moderators!

It is a very good point that even if people sell on their freecycle gains at least they are still being used and not landfill.

[Lesley]

This thread has encouraged me to have another go with the Stratford Group and also the Banbury one.

 

I had to register with Stratford and someone is supposed to email you back - I never heard from anyone I'll try again this afternoon.

[Gallina]

To give anyone who doesn't know Freecycle a chance to see what it is like, here are just the headings to the 25 messages I have just received in the latest digest. As you will see, it even includes someone's collection of egg boxes! People often post when things are taken, as otherwise they get bombarded with messages.

 

Messages In This Digest (25 Messages)

1a. Taken STC - ABINGDON - COMPUTER From: Mr & Mrs J Marshall

2. Wanted Breadmaker From: richard976161

3. nokia phone charger wanted From: denise794681

4. OFFERED - ABINGDON - PS2 Computer keyboard From: Mr & Mrs J Marshall

5. Offered: 9 Good Radiators From: brenie_g

6. OFFERED; antique pine chest of draws (wantage) From: bty62397461

7. OFFER: Box Tops for Books tokens for schools I think From: emily_purple_5

8. OFFERED - ABINGDON - radio microphone From: Mr & Mrs J Marshall

9. OFFERED [Headington]: Chain Link Fencing From: jonathan406014

10. OFFERED: Last chance bits & pieces. From: scrambledkatz

11. OFFERED: White bath panel. From: scrambledkatz

12a. OFFER: pram From: emily_purple_5

13. TAKEN: 4 drawer chest of drawers From: trash_converter

14. OFFERED [Headington]: Egg Boxes From: jonathan406014

15. Offered : Computer Monitor and TV set From: lydiaopoku

16. TAKEN; antique chest of draws (wantage) From: bty62397461

17. Wanted:' chest of drawers (Botley) From: Paul

18. OFFERD VEHICLE REMOVEAL From: macplugg

19a. Wanted - Moped or Scooter Type Bike 50cc - 125cc (Headington Area) From: eddiewho001

20. Offered Wool Carpet From: bty34101400

21. Offered: styrofoam "bits" for packing--in Thame From: gemena32

22. OFFERED [Headington]: Garden Sun Lounger From: jonathan406014

23. TAKEN with Many Thanks: all radiators From: chkhuramshahzad

24. OFFERED- armchairs From: Linda Sheppard

25. TAKEN [Headington]: Brass Stuff From: jonathan406014

[bronze]

In the last few days I have got myself a rundown rabbit hutch. It was huge and a little too battered for my liking to be used for chicks but is going to become a perfect wood store. I bought one on ebay for a tenner instead. I have also got rid of my old handblender. Some parts worse for wear but what the lady wanted. This is all the past few days. Now if only someone wanted all DHs old t-shirts (hes too fat shhh)

the first ting I ever did was get rid of a futon we were given. We no longer had room for after finding out I was pregnant again. I have no idea how we would have got rid of it if a nice gentleman hadn't come and collected it. I hate wasting things that could be used and I love knowing that when someone collects something its going to a good home.

[The Dogmother]

I love freecycle and try not to take things off it, but have managed to get rid of loads of stuff via it.