Fascism at Freecycle
Freecycle.org is a community based group devoted to minimizing the volume of trash that goes to landfills. This is accomplished through the use of Yahoo Groups, one for each city or region. People post the stuff they have to give away, others reply saying they want it. The giver decides who gets it and the two parties make arrangement to transfer the goods. People also post things they are looking for, and this can get out of hand ... I've seen people asking for tanning beds, sea-doos, laptops, video cameras ... not exactly household cast-offs. But each group has one or two, or more, moderators. These are the people that keep the groups running smoothly, which is usually the case, but it all goes to hell when one of the moderators gets too big for their britches.Being in between jobs this past week, I decided to clean some of the junk out of here. On Monday, I posted a list of items to the Knoxville Freecycle group for giveaway. I waited and waited for it to post. I believe that all messages to the group have to be approved by one of the moderators first. After 8 hours and no post, I wrote to the moderators to find out how much longer it would be, as I had some other things planned and would run into a scheduling problem if my list didn't post soon.
A bit later, still no post, and I found out that Yahoo Mail was having an issue with a worm running rampant, and I figured that was causing the delays. So, I wrote again, asking the moderators to NOT post my message, because I was out of time and couldn't wait any longer. I planned to try it again later in the week. Again, I got no response. I posted to the Chit-Chat list for the group, asking if anyone had a direct email address for either of the moderators, and I included a tiny rant over how crappy they were being about this.
Then, my message posted. Fortunately, one of the first respondents was a gentleman that was able to meet me on my schedule, so I gave the items to him. Later that night, I got an email from one of the moderators, Dyanna Abbot, saying that I was banned from the group.
W.T.F???
Posted by LissaKay on 06/18/06 at 09:09 PM in
Being Bitchy
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Keywords for this entry: freecycle, idiots
• (5) Comments • Pop Up • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink •
Keywords for this entry: freecycle, idiots
I joined Freecycle over a year ago. I got rid of a few things, managed to pick up a few things. The asking of big-ticket items started around the time I quit.
I had something I wanted to give away, can't remember what it was at this point, but it wasn't anything big or fancy. I had one nice lady call and say she wanted it, but couldn't get it till the next week. I wanted it out sooner and told her I'd let her know if I didn't find anyone else. Well, I didn't find anyone else, but I did lose her phone number and couldn't find the email address, so I reposted it. I had her (and several others) threaten to "turn me in" if I didn't give it to them, claiming that they had squatter's rights or some shit. I told them off, told the moderators off, and quit.
It's a great idea, but people are just too damn greedy.
I had something I wanted to give away, can't remember what it was at this point, but it wasn't anything big or fancy. I had one nice lady call and say she wanted it, but couldn't get it till the next week. I wanted it out sooner and told her I'd let her know if I didn't find anyone else. Well, I didn't find anyone else, but I did lose her phone number and couldn't find the email address, so I reposted it. I had her (and several others) threaten to "turn me in" if I didn't give it to them, claiming that they had squatter's rights or some shit. I told them off, told the moderators off, and quit.
It's a great idea, but people are just too damn greedy.
Posted by GoldenAppleCorp on 06/25 at 11:48 AM
Ooh, and AT just reminded me...
I had two VCRs to give away. Both worked the last time they were plugged in. I arranged to meet a woman after my class. She never showed up. She called later to say her daughter came down with a fever, yadda yadda yadda, please give me another chance. So I told her she could have them, but she had to get them at my house. She came out, got them, and I thought all was well.
Shortly thereafter, a message was posted to the forum naming me personally and saying I just wanted to con people into picking up my garbage. Apparently she couldn't get either to work. Instead of emailing (or calling) me and asking what was up, she outed me to the whole group.
Lady, it's a free f*cking VCR. You get what you pay for.
I had two VCRs to give away. Both worked the last time they were plugged in. I arranged to meet a woman after my class. She never showed up. She called later to say her daughter came down with a fever, yadda yadda yadda, please give me another chance. So I told her she could have them, but she had to get them at my house. She came out, got them, and I thought all was well.
Shortly thereafter, a message was posted to the forum naming me personally and saying I just wanted to con people into picking up my garbage. Apparently she couldn't get either to work. Instead of emailing (or calling) me and asking what was up, she outed me to the whole group.
Lady, it's a free f*cking VCR. You get what you pay for.
Posted by GoldenAppleCorp on 06/25 at 11:52 AM
If you want to give local recycling another chance, try free.LocalDataPlace.com. We were also frustrated freecycle users, mainly fed up with the volume of email. Of course, keeping the personalities out of the process is also a nice benefit!
We are also very interested in hearing from freecycle moderators and local recyclers on how to make the site even better. I hope you'll check it out.
We are also very interested in hearing from freecycle moderators and local recyclers on how to make the site even better. I hope you'll check it out.
Posted by Lena Boucher on 06/25 at 07:13 PM
I'm so glad I found this ! I was a member of freecycle for OVER 3 years. I gave away what would amount to a house full of stuff over that time period. I also received some wonderful items. I liked it so much I printed up business cards for them and handed them out at local craft shows, and sent the name of the place to a multitude of friends.
A month ago I decided to change the 'signature' in my email to include my website. This was for all the 'selling' groups that I'm also a member of. And by the way it was always my policy to only sell things that I had NOT received on freecycle. I did alot of buying at garage sales.
Well the other night I posted, after a very tiring day, that I needed a washing maching for my parents. That's all I said. I get a bitchy email the next morning that said that I was an 'old' member of freecycle I should have known better than to ask for ANYTHING FOR somebody else ( my parents), and that I should not have included my website address in my signature. I emailed them back three times. Yes it was this Dyanna person, whom, by the way, I have given stuff to personally also . I WISH I had the email of the other lady. I apologize profusely and asked for a second chance, being that I was a long standing member and had actually done alot of good for them in the past. I told her that I'd had a very upsetting and trying week, my dad was in the hospital and I just hadn't thought about asking for a washing machine for him. Also I had just really had a brain fart when it came to my signature, but i promised to erase the links to any future posts, if I were just given another chance.
I have to say, she's a real bitch. No reply, nothing. She's in this for the power trip, NOT to help anyone out or do any good for the world. It's very obvious.
A month ago I decided to change the 'signature' in my email to include my website. This was for all the 'selling' groups that I'm also a member of. And by the way it was always my policy to only sell things that I had NOT received on freecycle. I did alot of buying at garage sales.
Well the other night I posted, after a very tiring day, that I needed a washing maching for my parents. That's all I said. I get a bitchy email the next morning that said that I was an 'old' member of freecycle I should have known better than to ask for ANYTHING FOR somebody else ( my parents), and that I should not have included my website address in my signature. I emailed them back three times. Yes it was this Dyanna person, whom, by the way, I have given stuff to personally also . I WISH I had the email of the other lady. I apologize profusely and asked for a second chance, being that I was a long standing member and had actually done alot of good for them in the past. I told her that I'd had a very upsetting and trying week, my dad was in the hospital and I just hadn't thought about asking for a washing machine for him. Also I had just really had a brain fart when it came to my signature, but i promised to erase the links to any future posts, if I were just given another chance.
I have to say, she's a real bitch. No reply, nothing. She's in this for the power trip, NOT to help anyone out or do any good for the world. It's very obvious.
Posted by wouldrathernotsay on 12/09 at 02:52 PM
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That wasn't the point for me. I want to help people with things I don't use anymore.
Posted by djuggler on 06/19 at 06:01 AM