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pompei

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Just been put onto this -- www.freecycle.org it's a resource for giving away and receiving free stuff. The idea is to pass stuff on to others to save it from going into landfill. I'm told that people sometimes give MoTd cars away - so I've registered. However, the downside apparently is that your inbox gets full of offers of sofas and old washing machines.

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Guest greenvanman

However, the downside apparently is that your inbox gets full of offers of sofas and old washing machines.

And a gazillion wanted requests for plasma TVs, laptops (must be Vista ready) and Playstations... I did it for a few months, one car turned up but it was an old-shape Micra that was basically scrap and the owner wanted rid without having to pay the man with the Hiab to come and get it. Freecycle is a nice idea but nowadays it's full of people looking to blag stuff to sell on eBay.
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Freecycle is a very odd thing indeed, chock full of some great oddballs and genuinely frightening individuals. Sometimes, it can be great, you meet some interesting folk, offload your junk, get more junk.Sometimes you get a nice surprise, like the lady who brough me some nice jam when I offloaded a mower onto her. Then there's The Twits, odd folk who seemingly live in some parallel society, like Mr & Mrs Twit who collected our (not very) old washing machine: She: Fat, lank hair, tracky pants. He: Big beard with egg in it, holey jumper, smelled like he hadn't had a bath in years. They arrived in the most repugnant multi-coloured 405 saloon you ever did see, full of graciousness because they were in dire need of washing their 8 (8!!!!) children's clothes. Then there''s the twunts. The ones who arrive expecting something wonderful for nothing. The people who came, looked at our front door (the old council-spec one I'd taken off) and decided it wasn't any good. WTF? And the wierd lady who came for a broken hedge trimmer, then rejected it because it was broken. GAH. Cars and stuff is a moot point really. Our one always has idiots asking for cars: always must be small, cheap tax etc. with at least 6 months T&T. Whatever! The old phrase "beggars can't be choosers" never so true. Similarly when I offloaded my rusty Kadett on freecycle I must have had 20 emails asking if it could be driven away (already stated - NO!) and if it had T&T (again I made it clear that it was a wreck that had been off the road 5 years). Amazing that despite being told that a car has no top end or ancillaries on the engine, no interior, no glass, no bonnet and a door removed with an angle-grinder that there are people who still genuinely expect a road-worthy prize. On the flip side is my "touch of the century" with the Volvo Wagon. I was a bit late spotting it on freecycle, but dropped an email to the giver anyway. She called me a couple of days later saying 6 or 7 twits had been expecting perfection to drive home in, even though she was giving it as a non-runner, and was I still interested... you betcha!So me an' Russ headed off with some tools, jump leads and the A-frame to rescue it. OK, so we had to drag it out of the hedge that had grown round it, and remove the grille to pop the bonnet open to jump it, but that's not hard work is it? Seemingly beyond all other interested parties!!!!!Their loss, my gain. A wash & polish and a trip to the MoT shop and it was all ready to go. Instant win!!!!

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They arrived in the most repugnant multi-coloured 405 saloon you ever did see

I don't see anything wrong with this - ratlook 405 FTW! :lol: Agreed with all the comments on Freecycle, there are some real chancers on there. I've given stuff away but not collected anything from it recently. Most shocking was our old TV, which went to a lady who wanted it so her 2-year-old son could "use it for his Playstation"! :shock: One tip if you use it to offload stuff - ask people to send you their phone numbers. Right arseache when, as I did, you get 50 e-mails from people and then have to wait for responses...
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They arrived in the most repugnant multi-coloured 405 saloon you ever did see

I don't see anything wrong with this - ratlook 405 FTW! :lol: Agreed with all the comments on Freecycle, there are some real chancers on there. I've given stuff away but not collected anything from it recently. Most shocking was our old TV, which went to a lady who wanted it so her 2-year-old son could "use it for his Playstation"! :shock: And they wonder why the kids round here have ADHD...One tip if you use it to offload stuff - ask people to send you their phone numbers. Right arseache when, as I did, you get 50 e-mails from people and then have to wait for responses...
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Then there's The Twits, odd folk who seemingly live in some parallel society, like Mr & Mrs Twit who collected our (not very) old washing machine: She: Fat, lank hair, tracky pants. He: Big beard with egg in it, holey jumper, smelled like he hadn't had a bath in years.

They must be the same ones who turned up for my old shagged dishwasher - why dont these people wash? Mind you, just scored a nice old retro National Panasonic tape player and not once have I had to take stuff to the tip in the last few months (bar some patio doors which despite being mint no one wanted unless I would deliver them....)
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Therefore a web-based system that puts you in touch with folk loking for free stuff sounds like sheer hell to me.

Depends how you handle it really.I get use of some land to store some of my fleet. In return I clear logs when the trees have to be cut or just fall down. I advertise these on FreeCycle and so far (touch-wood [excuse pun :lol: ]) have only had a few idiots that have let me down. Now have a "network" of people who are only to willing to take the logs off me. They keep warm and I get free-parking. A win-win situation really. If only I had my own wood-burning stove!
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Mr & Mrs Twit who collected our (not very) old washing machine: She: Fat, lank hair, tracky pants. He: Big beard with egg in it, holey jumper, smelled like he hadn't had a bath in years.

I really should take this opportunity to say 'thanks' for the washing machine Pog. Ta!
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Therefore a web-based system that puts you in touch with folk loking for free stuff sounds like sheer hell to me.

Depends how you handle it really.I get use of some land to store some of my fleet. In return I clear logs when the trees have to be cut or just fall down. I advertise these on FreeCycle and so far (touch-wood [excuse pun :lol: ]) have only had a few idiots that have let me down. Now have a "network" of people who are only to willing to take the logs off me. They keep warm and I get free-parking. A win-win situation really. If only I had my own wood-burning stove!
That sounds class! Good work.
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I put my old AX on our local Freecycle. Within hours it felt like I had a million pikeys descending on my email account!It's a good concept but sadly it's exploited by some which makes it hard for the genuine users to get anything decent out of it. In the end, my AX went to a school car maintenance department.

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I put my old AX on our local Freecycle. Within hours it felt like I had a million pikeys descending on my email account!It's a good concept but sadly it's exploited by some which makes it hard for the genuine users to get anything decent out of it. In the end, my AX went to a school car maintenance department.

Doesn't that make you an AXdisposer rather than an AXrescuer? :lol:
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I've had a good time on Freecycle. I gave a Land Rover Series 3 gearbox to someone who came all the way from Buxton to Doncaster. I had been given the box, but had no use as it's for a different clutch release system to my motors. (And has weak synchros by design) The lady brought a recently reconditioned Series 2a gearbox and swapped it with me!!!!! That's generosity for you.

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