[halloweenfreak]

i listed an item on freecycle about 2 days ago, had 2 people that were interested in taking it. i gave my contact info to the first people who wanted to come get it that first night. never contacted me. so i emailed them the next day saying they evidently didn't want it after all so i was moving to the next person. so i emailed the second person, yes they were still interested. gave them the contact info. did they ever call? no. what is with people?? why do they say they want something, yet never follow thru??

 

[perSue]

i've noticed that a lot with freecycle.
the few things i've given away i always say "let's meet in a public place" - 1) dont want strangers knowing where I live and 2) it's a comfort factor for everyone.

I had a friend who had tried many times to give the same person a few times. This person changed, cancelled or never showed a few times. This friend trying to give the benefit of the doubt, left her goods at a restaurant because she was on a tight schedule & the lady did a no-show again.

I don't get it either.
Only thing I can think of is they forgot, it was a low priority, or were shy or afraid.

 

[monkeywrangler71]

I think a lot of people get caught up in answering an ad as quickly as possible without really thinking about it. After they've had time to think it over they realize they really don't want whatever it was they were initially so eager to have. I find that if that first person doesn't show up, none of the second, third, fourth, fifth, etc people on your list are going to be interested anymore by the time you offer it to them.

 

[halloweenfreak]

hmm i guess so. i finally heard back from the first people that were so eager to come get it the first day. they told me go ahead and give it to someone else. argh, people make me so angry!

 

[monkeywrangler71]

Back when I was freecycling a lot I started making rules in my email program. Any time someone stood me up or sent me rude comments I would flag their address so that future emails from them would be colour coded red. Anyone who picked up on time and/or was polite I would colour code their emails green. That way if I had multiple responses for an item, green responses would get first priority, non-colour coded second (these would be people I hadn't dealt with yet), and red would be ignored unless I'd had no other response.

 

[phoeny_moonstar]

I have noticed that when I was using freecycle as well. People will hop onto the first person who responds to an ad and those are usually the people who are no call/no shows. IMO they are :loser:'s

 

[rasilla]

I always respond to 5-10+ people at a time. Example: Yesterday I got rid of some chairs sitting on our garage. I posted the offer on Monday. Waited till Wed to contact everyone who responded with interest. I sent a mass email out telling them that I would give it to the person who calls with a time of pick-up. If they don't show they are not given a second chance and the next person who called gets the item. I have only had one person stand me up, and the item was still gone by the end of the day. I think because I make them call me to get my address I have fewer no-shows... and I put preference on who lives or works closer to me.

 

[vigilant20]

It might be a comfort thing for them. I don't respond to ads at all if they say that they want you to call them, meet them, come to the door, etc. The only ones I've done are ones where they tell me they'll leave it on the curb or in the alley for me.

 

[Trentt]

Unfortunately, the internet tends to promote people's worst traits. It's easier to be thoughtless, rude, angry, confrontational, bigoted, disrespectful, etc., towards people you don't know, don't see, may well never meet, especially behind the safety screen and anonymity of your PC.

 

[nuisance26]

~I've personally had email issues dealing with Freecycle. Email is usually instant but I've had some correspondence hung up for 3 or 4 days.
Last year when I was giving away a loveseat, someone emailed me with a time of pickup. She wrote the email on a Tuesday requesting a Wednesday pickup. I received the email on Friday. She thought I was ignoring her but it was really the stupid email delay. So that's another thing to account for.~

 

[mom23boyz]

It is possible that the reponses are "bots" I hadn't thought of that but the moderator on my freecycle says to be careful because aot of them may .

 

[sabrelvssammy]

i don't want to hijack the thread but this is a comment about people responding to ads in general and i think they just don't care what they tell you....i run many an ad for rentals...people call and schedule appts...i ask them repeatedly "if you change your mind-that's ok, please just call me and let me know so i don't wait for you"..."oh-absolutely, sure, of course" i have heard it all...about 50% of the people actually show...the % that call to cancel...0-1% we now give them 10mins to show...if they don't..we are gone...

my friend is a realtor...she said she has the same problem with people responding to signs & homes magazines....

i think it is just how some people are anymore....:loser:

 

[mombottoo]

Because, it's just the way some people are. On another note it is never a good idea to give people your home address or phone number when dealing with a public site like freecycle...it's just not safe.

 

[lisettelovebug]

I always leave mine on my front porch for people. They tell me they will get it a certain day and if they don't I move on to the next and tell them it is waiting on the porch. This way I do not have to deal with it being in my house.

Lisette
http://couponqueenofcorning.today.com/

 

[Contrary Housewife]

It's a lot easier to blow off something when they have nothing invested in it. So, on impulse they'll say they want your item and promise to come get it, but at the end of the day they've paid nothing for it and just don't care. You can believe that if you were selling something and they had to put down a 50% deposit to hold the item for them, they'd be back the next day to get it.

And the 'me' generation just doesn't understand that blowing off people is rude. After all, it's all about how *I* feel.

 

[MyBell]

One tip if you would like to leave a phone number, but not your personal number, I would recommend signing up for simplevoicebox.com.
You can get a free phone number that is a voicemail only. You will receive an email when you receive a message. You can check it online, or call the number and enter your pin to retrieve message. This way callers don't get our phone number but can leave a voice message for you.

 

[monkeywrangler71]

It might be a comfort thing for them. I don't respond to ads at all if they say that they want you to call them, meet them, come to the door, etc. The only ones I've done are ones where they tell me they'll leave it on the curb or in the alley for me.

Me neither. I hate when they tell you to call, I'm not good with telephones. Once I was offered something, responded, then she gave me a time and refused to email the address, insisted I call her for it. I really don't understand why she wouldn't just email it to me, it was so frustrating. I called, had to have her repeat the street name about 8 times because I couldn't understand it, had to ask for directions, general location, etc. Didn't really know where she was talking about but wrote down as much detail as possible so that when I went into mapquest afterwards I would be able to recognize if I had the right area. It was so frustrating, if she would have emailed the address like I asked I could have just looked it up. I don't understand why she would do it either - so instead of just having her address, I now have her address and phone number? I wouldn't give my phone number out to anyone.

Everyone here gives out their address for porch pickup. I don't really think there is any unsafe about that, any random person can drive by my house and see that it exists.