Me to Freegle collector: yes, that time works fine for me! I'm at [gives full address]

Freegler: may I have your full address for collection? 🤦‍♂️

#FreegleWoes

Anyone who follows my #FreegleWoes posts will know that I'm trying hard to declutter my home since downsizing.

Sometimes I feel like I'm making no progress with this AT ALL. So I keep a record of some of the things I get rid of, to remind myself that I'm doing *something*.

Just checked, and it turns out that since I moved into my current house two-and-a-bit years ago, I have got rid of 76 books. It certainly doesn't *feel* like I have, so it's nice to see the numbers and *know* that I have.

Freegle is having financial problems because the company that has been supplying its web hosting for free can no longer afford to do this.

Now, you know from reading the #FreegleWoes hashtag that I often find my Freegle experiences pretty infuriating. But it should also be obvious that I use Freegle a *lot*, to let my unwanted stuff reach people who actually want it.

Freegle keeps SO MUCH stuff out of landfill and saves SO MANY unnecessary new purchases!

I really want to keep this resource in my life, however much I moan about it, so I've just signed up to donate £10/month via PayPal. Here's the link for anyone who might want to do the same:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=KTNBE4YMDUGUY&source=url

TFW you have two Freegle collectors in one evening and they basically swap places because each turns up at the exact time agreed by the other one, despite presumably not knowing of each other's existence.

How do they do it? Do they have some secret underground whelk network? If they have such powerful coordination and communication skills, why can't they use them for good?

#FreegleWoes

I'm slightly worried that all my #FreegleWoes posting will be putting people off using Freegle. For the record, I really do think it's a wonderful tool for passing on stuff that still has a useful life but that a charity shop wouldn't take.

It's just...with Freegle, as with literally anything where you have to organise stuff with random members of the public, you encounter a lot of flaky people, entitled people, bad communicators and downright whelks.

I still think the platform is a treasure, I think the volunteers are under-appreciated, and every now and then I donate a few quid to help cover their costs. Because they are doing the Lord's work.

The closest I get to a cowboy film standoff in real life is when I ask Freegle collectors "What time can you collect?" and they say "What's your address?" and I say "WHAT TIME?"

I know from experience that if I give them the address without first getting a time, they will cease all communication before randomly turning up with no warning at some point in the next week, then act surprised/annoyed if I'm out or in the shower or whatever.

I have not forgotten coming back from jogging to find two women banging on my living room windows and trying to peer in, enraged and confused because I wasn't there.

#FreegleWoes

Someone replying to my Freegle ad: I know a charity that can use those!

Me: Brilliant! So -

Person: Here's the address for you to drop the stuff off

Me: Oh, that makes it a bit trickier -

Person: it's two bus rides away from your house, so probably an hour's travel each way, assuming you can find it at all

Me: Right, well, I don't think I can -

Person: they only accept donations on Monday mornings between 9:30am and noon.

#FreegleWoes