Craigslist Douchbaggery. Add to my list.

[Randy_Seltzer]

@Cubsfan

[…]
ANy one else have similar beefs?

Yes! In fact, I posted a whole OP about it a couple of years ago. Choice selections:

@Randy_Seltzer

I’m in school in Philadelphia, and scored a summer internship in Chicago. So now I’m trying to arrange my housing for the summer. I have two major goals:[ol][li]Find someone to sublet my apartment in Philadelphia for two-and-a-half months. (Check. See below.)[*]Find someone who will sublet their apartment in Chicago to me for two-or-so months. (Not-check. See below.)[/ol][/li]Starting with step one, I posted ads on Craigslist for my place. I included a thorough description without flowery extraneous language. There were pictures. There was a clear procedure for getting in touch with me through e-mail. It was a great ad.

I started getting e-mails immediately. Each person who e-mailed me got a prompt response (within an hour or so), individually tailored to that person. Even if the person’s e-mail was one line (“im intrestd in yr apt. mor pics plz?”), I would write a couple paragraphs discussing start and end dates, setting up a viewing, answering any questions s/he had, etc… Of the 15-or-so e-mails I got, probably half never responded to my return communication. Of those who did, I finally found someone to take my place. The minute we solidified an agreement, I took down my Craigslist ads, and sent out a brief e-mail to everyone who had contacted me, telling them that the apartment was taken.

In short, I was an exemplary Craigslist user.

Then came the time for ME to find a place. There weren’t a lot of good ads on Craigslist Chicago: most are missing crucial information like the timeframe, the number of bedrooms, whether it’s furnished, or whether there are roommates involved. But every few days, a good-looking one pops up. Whenever one catches my eye, I write a brief but pithy e-mail, introducing myself and requesting more information. I always provide both a phone number and an e-mail. I’m always polite but brief, with no typos and with proper grammar and whatnot.

And guess what? NOBODY FUCKING RESPONDS! I’ve sent out a dozen e-mails to Craigslist ads, and nobody has the decency to get back to me. No calls. No text messages. No e-mails. Not even “sorry, it’s taken.” And their ads don’t get taken down, so they still pop up on searches. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Listen people, if you’re going to put up an ad, take the time to respond when people get in touch with you. Jerks.

@Randy_Seltzer

Oh jeez - that reminds me.

Whenever they post a phone number in their ads, I always call that instead of e-mailing. I always get voicemail. I always leave a cheerful, articulate, concise, informative message. AND THEY NEVER FUCKING RETURN THE CALL!"
[…]
[…] some ads say “3BR” but are priced like one-bedrooms. Does that mean it’s a great deal, or does it mean there are roommates? Nobody fucking knows the important stuff to put in ads. They’ll tell you about the great coffee shop around the corner, but won’t say what they’re charging.

I eventually found a pretty great sublet for that summer, but the guy who sublet it to me tried to screw me over at the end of the sublease. Le sigh.

Oh, and back to the current thread…

@phouka

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a cat tree for sale. Sold it the next day. Had no other replies for three days, and then I got inundated. Most of them just wanted to know if it was still available, to which I replied no (and got one “thank you” for my reply).

FOR GOD’S SAKE, WHEN THE THING SELLS, TAKE DOWN THE AD! ARGH!