Why ask and then not turn up!!!!!

[debbie dargie]

I know this has been discussed before, but can the mods not put a system into place like the feedback on Ebay so that you know if people are genuine or not. Am sick fed up of the I'll have its and then the greedy ones that ask but don't turn up. To top it off they are so ignorant that they won't even reply back to a message. Can we not name and shame them when you are thanking someone else for picking it up???? People give these things away for free and the usual of the minority spoil it for the majority.

Glad I had that little rant now.
Thanks
Debbie

[Susan Bell]

Good question!

Goodness only knows why people do this; you would think, wouldn't you, that if they can find time to request the item, and then to make the collection arrangement, then they could find the 1 minute it would take to call (or e-mail) to cancel. We've probably all suffered no show(s) and each time it just chips away at the goodwill we started with!

So what to do about it? Personally I LOVE the 'name & shame' option but, with my 'sensible' hat on, perhaps the 'Ebay-style feedback' would be fairer (ie less open to abuse driven by personal grudges). But I think this solution might require quite a bit of technical input, and would probably have to be OK'd by the (American) owners of the Freecycle brand. Of course that's not to say that it's therefore impossible ...... just that it'd take a bit of time / negotiations / persuasion to get it off the ground.

So what can we do locally / immediately? The following aren't fail-save preventives, but they make me feel better!
- (Obviously) I keep a list of anyone who's no-showed before & ignore their requests!
- When answering initial requests, I ask them to let me know, at any stage in advance of collection, if they change their mind;
- I do not give my address until the requester has committed to a day/time of collection;
- I try to ensure that collection is arranged for a day/time when I would have been at home anyway.

But would love to hear other people's advice on how to reduce the risk of 'no-shows' and how to exact suitable revenge if it happens anyway

Susan

[debbie dargie]

I have sorted out my contact details on Yahoo, so now when I offer or ask for stuff I can check the persons contact details. Im sure this will be a breach of someone human rights!!!!! But I now know I can rely on them or delete their emails. The only drawback is, if everyone did this we might end up just giving and receiving to and from the same reliable contacts. And that does breach everything that I thought freecycle stood for. Sad times eh?