My Latest Freecycle "Bargain"....

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Bilbo675, May 14, 2012.

  1. Bilbo675

    Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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    Well, my "rescued" palm still looks pretty much the same the new leaves haven't opened anymore, but its still green so its not died, fingers crossed.

    I also picked up two carrier bags full of colchicum corms a few days ago, very healthy looking and still with all green leaves still attached. The lady said they are the variety 'water lily', she'd had them in her garden for 10 years or more and they'd been steadily spreading and had more than she needed ~ Happy Days :dancy:
     
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    • alex-adam

      alex-adam Super Gardener

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      Just re-visited this thread - Freecycle - Well to be honest I am getting a bit disillusioned with Freecycle, or rather some of the 'members' - I very rarely bother to OFFER stuff now as in the past I've had the response " Oh, great - thanks, will collect tomorrow at 3.00pm" and of course they never come, On the other side I recently responded to a WANTED - "Tools for a community / charity allotment" - I offered a digging fork, a rake, a couple of hoes, watering cans and some small tools - reply - "Oh thanks thats just what we need - will contact you on Saturday to arrange collection" - I wire-brushed all the tools, sharpened the hoes and fitted a new shaft to one, made sure the watering cans both had a rose - Guess what? - No contact, no email, text or phone message. Rather p****d me off !! -
       
    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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      That's a shame a-a. I wish there was a feedback system like ebay, that would help weed out the no-shows and time-wasters.

      I've got rid of a few things over the winter, like old chairs and the collectors have been OK. I have noticed quite a lot of silly offers recently, people advertising electrical goods as not working, who wants a non-working kettle or iron? The other daft thing is people advertising something in the late morning saying it must be collected by 3pm that day or else they will dump it.
       
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      • Phil A

        Phil A Guest

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        Not a feed back system as such, but tell the freecycle mods if anyone doesn't show.

        2 no shows and they are banned from the group.
         
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        • Madahhlia

          Madahhlia Total Gardener

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          Great, you can sell them on Ebay instead! If you reoffer, I'm sure you'll find someone who will appreciate the donation, though. Have you tried your local school?
           
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          • Phil A

            Phil A Guest

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            We get the occasional message from the mods about etiquette.

            Its amazing how rude or ignorant some folk can be, after all, you are giving stuff away.

            I had a series of emails off someone when I offered a load of half used tins of paint & other decorating stuff, TBH, they were hard work. Never got a reply off the woman after all that.

            You wouldn't believe the emails I got when I (quite clearly) offered several 3 metre lengths of 32mm plastic waste pipes.

            So many people hit the "I'll have it" send button without stopping to read that I wasn't giving away valuable copper piping:doh:

            We've had recent complaints about people being rude when high value items are offered & they didn't get a look in.

            The mods will deal with rude or abusive emails too so its worth reporting anything in your group that is offensive.
             
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            • Coolsox

              Coolsox Gardener

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              I used to use our local freegle and at first it was excellent. Now it seems it be full of very rude people. I recently gave away several vivariums. They where in excellent condition and to be truthful I could have sold them for £80+ had I have cleaned them up and advertised them on reptile forums. I had several abrupt mails from one member asking me not to give them away to anyone else. He kept delaying the collection and then wanted me to deliver t him! When I re-listed the item he started to send me v rude emails and at that point I reported him.

              Now our local freegle seems to be full of ridiculous wanted ads. Look at the example that arrived a few minutes ago!

              ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364171834.048018.jpg

              Someone wants a laptop! Not just any laptop though, but one in v good condition with dual core processor and v good memory!

              Think I might try asking for a 4 bedroomed house!
               
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              • longk

                longk Total Gardener

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                Just dreamers - they don't bother me. The ones who bug me are the traders. I had to dob the woman down the street in who runs a bric a brac shop. Conversely, there's someone who asks for old laptops/computers etc. He makes it absolutely clear that anything given will be cannibalised/repaired as he tries to make ends meet - I have no issues if they're up front.
                 
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                • Jungle Jane

                  Jungle Jane Starved Of Technicolor

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                  On my local freecycle I only give stuff to people who say please. It's not that difficult to say and doesn't take much time to do. The problem is less and less people are saying it, making it harder to get rid of stuff.

                  I once put up a message for some old bricks from my old garden wall and said that would consider polite offers only.

                  I then quickly got a reply from a member saying "who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty" and "I don't want your stinking bricks anyway". This was a long ranting email, several paragraphs long, which probably took this guy much more effort to do than just remembering to say please to other members.
                   
                • longk

                  longk Total Gardener

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                  JJ - I just ignore anyone who can't say please. I seem to lack the common decency to respond to them.
                  I hope that you reported him.
                   
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                  • JWK

                    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                    It's interesting waiting for people to reply to an offer and trying to sort out the chaff, my first pass is to ignore anyone using "txt speak" then any that can't be bothered to use more than two words. If someone has used the word 'please' they go to the top of the list.

                    A few times when I've got something to get rid of, I've emailed people putting 'wanted' adverts but never ever has a single one responded so I don't bother with that route anymore.

                    When I'm after something I never respond to those that state leave a phone number and state what pick up time. I never give out my phone number until I've built up a little rapport with them, and pick up time is something I've always had to negotiate due to working commitments. I don't want to reveal those sort of things to a complete stranger.
                     
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                    • JWK

                      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                      Some of you may know I'm currently doing Steve R's photography course, and for the portrait assignment I was having problems finding a model willing to have their face published on the net. My daughter used to have one of those dolls head that you practised putting on make up and could style the hair, that would have been ideal but it is lost/given away. So I placed a 'wanted' advert on freecycle for a "Mannequin or shop dummy or large dolls head" - I thought this may mark me out as a weirdo but you never know your luck. Anyway I had one response from a lady offering her "real live babyboy for portaits". That's not what I expected and assumed she was being naive or worse. I politely declined and withdrew the advert quickly :redface:
                       
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                      • sal73

                        sal73 Total Gardener

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                        After reading this thread I found to large cactus on my local , just waiting for the address to collect them .......missed loads of house plants , bamboo and large yuccas .
                         
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