<rant>This has not been a great week for creative reuse, as I like to think of it. Yesterday, I claimed some old window sashes to turn into cold frames for gardening. Within hours — I wasn’t supposed to pick them up ’til today — someone else had jumped my claim and taken them when they came for other stuff. It’s good that the stuff went somewhere it was wanted, but claim-jumping is crummy.
Today, I went to collect a refrigerator that was billed as “runs like a top” and clean, only to find it had been hastily shoved outside when it’s replacement was installed, never cleaned, never so much as wiped down, and left outside. I shoulda opened it up first, especially since I had to drive to the next county to collect it. It’s especially upsetting since the person I got it from took two weeks to collect something from me, with multiple missed collections along the way. I try to be patient and allow people some slack, but using me — and FreeCycle — to skip out of paying a dump fee is just not right.
I relisted this thing but no takers. Looks like I’ll be hauling it to the dump myself, taking the $16.40 dump fee on the chin.
Just now, I helped someone load a like-new. never-used full-sized range for pickup. When I think of the stuff I have given away, it makes situations like this very frustrating. I sent a note to the local moderators to consider posting some reminders in their next admin note: when you offer something, make sure it’s something you would be glad to get or at least be clear about what the person is getting. And at the same time, takers need not commit to something that isn’t what they expected.
</rant>