Where in the OP does it say that his stuff is junk?
I don’t know about in the US but in Australia (where the OP lives) very few people do not have a mobile phone. I personally do not know anyone at all that doesn’t have one.
No. They’re not FedEx, they don’t have a fleet of trucks, they can’t track your delivery. It’s most likely whoever arrived that day (try working with volunteers, to find out how reliable they are), driving whichever truck they can get moving. That’s not disorganisation, that’s the best they can do.
I can understand the frustration of this…but unfortunately, you have to bear in mind that every person trying to dump their shit for free has tried everything you’ve tried. Cold reality has perhaps made them so cynical that they can’t discern the genuine callers.
And my big antagonistic response to any complaint about a charitable organisation: if you think you could help them do things better, do it. Giving a sofa is nothing, compared to giving a few afternoons co-ordinating collections. And you’d then be in a position to know what the real problems were.
Yeh, because surely I couldn’t be one of those reasonable, discerning people. :rolleyes:
I’ve already indicated it’s not junk. Perhaps you think it’s unreasonable to ask for a little flexibility on the people receiving my non-junk. I don’t. It seems these people will only pick up from houses that are occupied by people who don’t work fulltime. They don’t come on weekends. Why shouldn’t that be a source of frustration?
Incidentally, I don’t remember demanding anything. I asked if they’d come to get the gear when the house was unattended, and the answer was no. I asked if they’d call before they came round, and the answer was no. At no point was anything demanded. Stop putting words into my mouth.
Ahhhh, I see now. So if I apply that argument to, say, Salvos and Vinnies, then somehow that’s acceptable?
Actually, I did: “OK, I understand, you don’t want your volunteers taking the wrong stuff and being accused of theft.” I know the actual word “liability” wasn’t mentioned, but anyone with a modicum of reading comprehension would understand that it was implied. Forgive me if I didn’t mention the “vandalism, vagrancy, and any number of other problems”. I didn’t think I had to mention every single possible outcome for you to understand what I was getting at.
I’m not taking back any complaint. My complaints are valid. You disagree, that’s fine. I offered compromises that I believed would achieve the required outcomes, and they were shot down. Why should that make me happy about the situation? By the way, I’d happily sign a waiver if it meant they’d come in and take the gear when the house was unattended.
Yes, Liberal, I get it. It’s alllllllll about me. Boo hoo indeed. On the subject, since this is my party and I’ll cry if I want to, if you want to debate the merits of charities being flexible or not, please take it to GD. Even better, go ahead and pit me for my terrible, inflexible, tyrannical desire to give to have charities take my good, working stuff while I’m not home.
Max.
I understand that. Remember, I said as much in a previous post. It is disorganisation. The fact that it’s the best they can do doesn’t change that!
I totally understand where they’re coming from. Is that supposed to change the way I feel about this situation?
Yes, yes, yes, walk a mile in my shoes. Look, I’m not disputing any of that. If I thought I was in more of a position to help, beyond giving my stuff to them, I would do it. The fact is that we can’t all be collections organisers (or even door-to-door knockers). We each give what we can. We all have a contribution to make, however small.
At this rate, all this stuff will be going to Freecycle. And if there’s no takers there, it’ll go to the tip. Wherein someone, I’m sure, will bemoan the disposal of perfectly-usable furniture etc. Someone will wail about how we live in a world that is wasteful, and please, won’t we think of the starving children?
Bah.
Max.
Yes. You’ve defined your contribution. The charity has defined theirs. They don’t coincide. What’s the problem?.
The problem is that it’s exceedingly frustrating and annoying. I want to give, but feel like I can’t because it’s all too hard. Please don’t get up me for not organising removalists to take it to Vinnies or the Salvos or wherever. Or for not organising large, burly men to take it all out to the front yard. If those options were available to me, I would’ve already done it.
So be it. Freecycle, here I come.
Max.
I’ve never ever put an item outside the house with a “FREE!!” sign on it and not had it taken. In fact, usually the person takes the sign as well.
My husband went to drop off some items at Goodwill a few months ago, including a full sized bed frame and headboard set in beautiful shape. It was a giant pain in the ass to strap to the top of the Volvo and when my husband got to the “drive up center” some disembodied voice from within started shouting instructions to the young man outside working. As my husband FINISHED unloading the bed, he hears “Tell that guy no beds! We can’t use it!” and the kid starts sheepishly passing along the message, along with “no books” and other shouted demands. As my husband was recounting the story to me, I noticed he came home with an empty Volvo- he had already unloaded all of the stuff before the guy started barking orders about what he would and wouldn’t take, and he basically told him to get bent and drove home, leaving the stuff.
Amazingly, the next week I saw a bunch of stuff in the store that he’d dropped. I guess they could use it after all!
Good on him. I had a charity once come and take only the bead head, leaving the bottom end and the wire (and the mattress, but that’s understandable).
So I was left with half a bed. Not even good for a freebie. I had to wait six months for the next council clean-up.
Pricks.
That should read ‘bed’ not ‘bead’.
Six months? Which council do you live in? Mine (North Sydney) does fortnightly clean-ups.
Your friends may all have mobiles Imasquare, but I can assure you that many others do not.
I have no friends Cunctator. I have social phobia and am therefore unable to form any sort of relationship with others.
But I observe what I see around me. On the train. In really poor places like Mt Druitt. I see mobile phones every where. Every one seems to have one.
Half your luck. Here (Brisbane), we’re lucky if it’s done annually. But what a scavenger-hunt it sets off! I’ve never seen so many people roaming the streets after dark. The insane woman who used to live next door to me emptied the worst of the worst of her trash (and believe me, it was BAD), and the next day it was all gone. GONE, I tells ya.
Max.
I don’t have one either, Cuncator, but cells (mobiles) aren’t an unrealistic expectation anymore. Seems to me one would be a pragmatic, and affordable, tool for even a volunteer-run charity.
Nonprofits can be tricky to run but effective ones invest in basic tools in order to do business. Sorting junk from gems goes with the territory. Certainly basic communication is the first line toward any goal they’re trying to meet.
The onus isn’t on donors to wade through silences, stalls and blither. If nothing else, the charity wants to attract new, willing volunteers, along with useful inventory. Neither will happen if even casual giving morphs into a bureaucratic hassle.
This is common sense. Even charities can be run badly.
Maxxie, someone’s in charge of St. Vinnie’s. Contact him/her directly. It sounds like he/she is either inept, swamped or both, but the system ain’t working–for anyone. Even if you can’t offer immediate, direct assistance at least your input might be a spark toward improvement.
Veb
Who isn’t Catholic, but who donated six (LARGE) truck loads of excellent stuff to St. Vinnie’s afer her mother died, because they really can do stellar work. But it took a few calls.
I would, but I’m small, female and not at all burly. 
I sympathise with you though. We called some charity to come around, and they wouldn’t take our stuff (good stuff, book cases etc), because they didn’t want to carry it up the stairs. WTF?!
Definitely use Freecycle. It’s amazing. Anything you have that’s remotely usable will be taken. You can leave it outside on the porch, whatever you want. I ripped the hideous green carpeting out of my house and had no idea how I was going to get rid of it. It would have been pretty expensive to bag it for trash or haul it to the dump. I posted it on Freecycle, and at least 5 people wanted it. The woman who wound up with it took it herself and I didn’t have to lift a finger. She was happy, I was happy, it was a great deal.
Of course, you’re not sure if the person claiming it is truly needy, but you don’t know who is going to buy stuff from Salvo’s either. The great thing about Freecycle is, if you ever need something and can’t afford to buy it, or it’s something old or obscure, you can ask for it and you very well might get it.
That was Canterbury Council, a long time ago. These days I’m in Liverpool (council under administration due to incompetence). I’ve been here over a year and there hasn’t been a single clean-up in my street. :eek:
Might want to call them, I know we do under Bankstown Council
Err I swear there was more of that message there before.
Under BCC rules we get 1 collection every 6 (12?) months unless we specifically call the council, if we tell them we have crap we want to get rid of under a clean up, they will come out and pick it up for us sooner (within a fortnight I believe)