Friendly Stegosaurus

So my wife and I have been trying to clear out some things, and have had about 7 different items on craigslist lately. Which usually is a good thing; like most classifieds, people come by your house, and pay cash, and everyone is happy.

Until last night.

We had a clothes rack listed. Only $10; not much, we’re trying to get rid of stuff, not make a ton. However, it’s FOR SALE. for sale != free. Someone originally emailed for the clothes asking if we would donate it, the person’s church was having a sale or something. I did not respond, as the item was listed for sale and thought I’d wait for a buyer until I gave it away. The next day, got an email from (apparently) the same person, which simply said “Is this still available? I can come by today.” which, as those of you who have used craigslist in the past, is what people ALWAYS write about items. I did not make the connection between this common question and the previous email asking for free stuff, especially with the 15 or so emails I’d gotten about the various things for sale. I also forgot to mention the emails came from an account with the name George–but later were signed Sheila.

So I responded, to this email, and said, yes, it is still available, i’ll see you at 6:15, here is my address.

Got an email later in the day saying, “Sorry, I forgot have to work until 9:30 tonight, I forgot that. CAN YOU COME DELIVER IT ON MY LUNCH BREAK TO MY WORK IN RICHFIELD?” (emphasis added.) I did not respond; I never confirmed that, nor am I willing to deliver something. I assumed our transaction was done at this point; in all my other previous craigslist dealings, people just stop responding and that’s the end of it.

So at 10:40 pm my doorbell rings. My wife and I were in bed. I answer, wondering if it’s our upstairs neighbor and something’s wrong.

Nope, it’s Sheila. “I’m here for the clothes rack! Oh, were you in bed?”

Nah, I just dress like this.

“i saw the lights on and thought i would be okay!”

No lights were on. [aside: I guess I can give her some slack here; my upstairs neighbor's lights were on. But you'd think the fact that she was standing on the porch, and there is clearly a second door leading upstairs WITH A DIFFERENT ADDRESS PRINTED ON IT might tip her off to the fact that it's a duplex.]

Clothes rack, what? Now, I’m not thinking clearly, but I do recall in the email saying 6:15. Which is not the same as 10:40. So I think, well, at least I’m getting 10 bucks and the rack is getting out of here. So I get the clothes rack, which was nearby, and convienently disassembled. I open the door. (did I mention I’m wearing a robe?)

I hand her the pieces and ask about payment. She stares blankly. “Aren’t you donating it?”

“You’re the person asking for it for free? It’s only 10 dollars.”

She then goes on for awhile about mailing a receipt for tax purposes and so on; how she thought this and that, she lives in apple valley, and that’s where the church is [which tells me they could afford the 10 bucks!] I eventually let her have it. I was tired, irritated and confused.

Whether or not I’m a jerk for not just cheerfully donating it to begin with, I see it this way:
It’s just plain weird to assume that someone is giving you something for free and that stopping by their house at any time is okay.

I’m going to stick with ebay now.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 9:40 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.