No-shows or time-wasters

A no-show is when someone arranges to pick up an item from another Freegle member and then doesn't turn up at the agreed time to collect it although sometimes this can happen in reverse where a members shows up to collect something and is left waiting. No-shows and time wasters are probably the most frustrating aspect of Freegle (they're quite possibly the most frustrating aspect of life in general really). Members who have waited in to give something away, which is often taking up lots of room in their home, find this very annoying. Also, people sometimes respond to a post and then don't follow through, leaving the member wondering how long to wait before they move on to the next person on their list.

These are some tips for both mods and members on how to deal with no shows:

• Sending an admin to the group about no-shows. This often makes the person who complained feel a lot better – you’ve shown that you listened. And generally its just good to remind everyone of the importance of turning up and following through. [[1]]

• Often phone contact makes all the difference - the act of actually speaking to someone makes them seem more human and like someone you might not want to mess around.

• Some members ask people to ring and confirm a few hours before they turn up – this also ensures that the person collecting remembers their appointment.

• When a member emails someone to offer them an item, encourage them to give the other member a deadline by which they should reply by or they will move on to the next person who asked. This avoids members being left in limbo whilst waiting for a reply, or feeling guilty about moving on to the next person who asked.

• If you get a member complaint about a no show, you might want to email the other person and ask them what happened - there is often a good reason, for example, they have accidently deleted the contact details. However there’s also the risk that you’ll get sucked into an argument about rights and wrongs where you can’t really help.