Barbara M.

I've been a Freecycle member for at least 10 years. I may have learned about it through Mary Hunt's "Everyday Cheapskate" column. It was a pretty straightforward way of letting other members know I had something to give away; it was also easy to respond to other folks' postings. I periodically would do some purging and list items. If I recall correctly, I usually had at least one response to a posting.

For those unfamiliar with Freecycle, one signs up for an account (it's free). When a post is made, an e-mail is sent to all the members in that particular town group. If a recipient is interested, it used to be that one simply hit the reply feature on your e-mail and the poster would then get an e-mail from the recipient. Then the two parties could communicate back/forth via e-mail to arrange pick-up of the item.

Also, once an item was no longer available, the poster could update the listing by saying it was taken. Then, an e-mail would go out to all members advising that the item was no longer available.

I noticed in the last year or so that when an item is marked as taken by the poster, an e-mail to that effect is no longer sent out. Instead, if a person tried to send an e-mail to the poster to see if it was still available, the sender would get a response saying something like the item is no longer available.

I don't often post and seldom respond to a posting, but in recent months I've noticed that one can no longer simply hit the reply on the Freecycle e-mail. Now, if one wants to express interest in an item, one has to log in to his/her account, find the listing, and then send a message.

A couple days ago I made three offer posts. The first one (10:12 a.m.) was for two partial sheet/pillow case sets, the second was for two framed pics, and the third was for some fragrances. The third one was approved and appeared in my e-mail inbox almost as soon as I submitted it. The sheet post wasn't approved until 9:48 p.m. The next morning the framed pic post was still not approved. When I went into my account, it was gone. Now, my first thought would be that perhaps I hadn't hit the final button to submit the post once I had typed the info and attached the pic. However, once a post is submitted, the poster also gets a screen showing how the post will appear when it goes out and I'm pretty sure I saw that screen. I then sent a message to the moderators, expressing surprise that my third post went right through, that my first post was pending for 11 hours, and my second post mysteriously disappeared. THREE DAYS later I'm still waiting for a reply. Based on other reviews on this site, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath that anyone will ever get back to me.

Another thing that is a change--and not for the better--is that when making a post, one no longer has a large box in which to write. Instead, you get a one-line high horizontal box. You can type a lot--nearly 1000 characters--but you can only see a portion of it. So, when one is done typing and wants to go back to the beginning to proofread, you have to use the cursor and go backwards to the beginning and then cursor back again to the end to read what's typed.

In the last year or so (probably since the new web format came out spring 2021) I've noticed a drop in the number of e-mails for new Freecycle posting. I suspect that people are moving away from Freecycle and to other platforms (i. E., FB buy nothing groups) that don't make users go through as many hoops as Freecycle now does. Not saying that FB is perfect but listing items and responding to others' posts are more user friendly.

So, while I'm not planning to close my Freecycle account (at least not yet), I will probably quit posting items on it and use FB instead. I may still reply if there's an offer of something I'd like.

I have a dog and three cats so at least weekly I'm buying canned food, dry food, and/or dental treats. I buy most of these items at the grocery store or Chuck 'n' Don's, a pet store. I shop at PetSmart occasionally. I get e-mails from PetSmart at least weekly. Often the e-mail is about a special discount. Customers could print off the coupon and present it to the clerk while checking out (I don't have a smart phone so unable to show the e-mail with coupon info to the clerk) or can order online, enter the code to get the discount, and pick up at the store.

A few months ago I decided to try the online order and then pick up. However, when I entered the code, it wouldn't be accepted or I got an error message (don't recall exactly since it was a while ago). I tried multiple times with the same result. I looked at the fine print on the coupon to see if there were restrictions. If I recall, I ended up printing the coupon and going to the store.

On 5/22 I got an e-mail from PetSmart advising that I could get $10 off on a $40 purchase of "merchandise or pet services." I've been having problems with my printer so wouldn't be able to print the coupon and shop in the store. I decided to order online. I buy Greenies for large breeds and try to get the 34-count, if available. That retails at PetSmart for about $50, so I would be well over the $40 minimum. And, that count was in stock. Yet, when I was ready to check-out online, I entered the coupon code and got a message saying that it was not valid for my order. I double checked that I had entered the code correctly (I had). I re-entered it and got the same message. I then clicked on the coupon icon to see if there were any restrictions on what the coupon could be used for and found none. I even started over with my order but got the same result.

There was an 800 # for customer service so I called that. I, of course, got an outgoing message and was surprised to learn that the office I contacted was in Canada. There was a reference made to Canadian stores. I live in Minnesota which borders Canada but, last I heard, we were still part of the good old USA. I hung on for about 10 minutes, waiting for a live person, and then hung up in disgust.

Anyway, I will no longer try to order online. If there are good sales on items I would buy, I would still shop in the store but, as I mentioned, I don't shop there that often.

I've had a free membership with allrecipes.com since the early 2000s. I used to print off recipes that I wanted to make and recently made one with a print date of 2007! Once I realized I could create an online recipe box on the site, I started saving recipes to that instead of printing. For the past few years, I've also rated/reviewed recipes and if I decided to make a recipe again, my review would be shown above the other reviews. Consequently, I could immediately see whether I liked or disliked the recipe and why. If I clicked on one of the recipes in allrecipes daily e-mails and decided I might want to make it, I could click the "save" button and it would automatically be saved into my allrecipes recipe box.

I've noticed the last several months that when I pull up a recipe that I've made before and reviewed, my review isn't shown above the other reviews. Consequently, I don't know if I've made it before and, if so, whether I liked/disliked it and why. I can click on "My Reviews" on my allrecipes.com profile page and all the recipes that I've rated/reviewed will come up in reverse chrono order of review date. There's no way to sort these or search for a particular recipe. Since I've reviewed dozens of recipes, the only way to see if I've made and rated a particular recipe is to scroll through "My Reviews" to see if it's there.

I've also noticed in the last few months that if I clicked on one of the e-mailed recipes and then hit the "save" button, nothing happened. This wasn't a one-time occurrence or glitch—it has happened many times so even though the save button is there, it no longer works. The "pin" option was still available so I would pin the recipe to my "Recipes to Make" pinterest board.

Another feature that I liked was the ability to type in my own recipes (and could make public or private--I always chose private). I often clipped recipes from newspapers and had them organized in binders or envelopes until I got around to trying them. Once I learned I could enter recipes to my allrecipes box, I started typing the newspaper ones. I haven't tried to type a recipe in lately so don't know if that feature still works.

I wondered if the allrecipes admin was behind the change to the review and save functions but only for folks who did not have paid memberships—the thought being to entice the free members to get a paid membership. If that's the strategy, I'm not buying. There are plenty of other recipe sites out there that probably have free memberships that offer better service than what allrecipes does now.

In looking at the reviews on Sitejabber, I see that I'm not the only person who has noticed these changes to allrecipes. It used to be a great site, but not any longer. I have unsubscribed from the daily e-mails. I may transition the recipes that I've made and like onto recipe cards and file in my recipe box—old school but sometimes that works just as well—if not better—than more modern ways of doing things.

Live in St. Paul, MN, about 2 miles north of downtown. Joined NextDoor late 2017 or 2018. Expectations were that it was a place to share info. It does that (to a degree) but I deactivated my account late May after reactions to a post about George Floyd's death in neighboring Mpls. I have no problem with peaceful protest but the rioting/looting in Mpls-St. Paul was not justified and I stated that in response to the post. No profanity, no name calling/shaming, I simply stated I supported peaceful protest but there was no justification for violence.

Wow! Some folks tried shaming me, saying the violence was due to the long oppression of blacks. Sorry, I still don't condone violence--two wrongs don't make a right. When I responded saying there was no excuse for the violence, again I received pushback.

When Mpls. And St. Paul instituted nighly curfews days after the rioting, the curfews were not initially being enforced. One woman posted a comment on NextDoor, questioning why the curfew wasn't being enforced. She was belittled for being concerned about that (I also had the same question although I didn't post it on ND) because "there were more imporant things going on."

Months back a woman created a post, sharing a pic of a typed note taped to her front door. The note quoted part of the city ordinance re barking dogs; nothing threatening in the text. The woman was irate that anyone would leave an anonymous note instead of speaking to her directly. She also insisted that her dogs didn't bark that much (although that clearly was open to interpretation). Most of the responses to her post sided with her and spoke of the note writer in nasty terms. I stated there could be valid reasons why the note writer wasn't comfortable approaching the dog owner. I believe I got some "thanks" for that, but on the whole most of the comments/reactions villified the note writer.

If the commenter/dog owner was truly interested in resolving the issue with the note writer, she could have taken a very different tone--posted the note and said "I'm sorry my dogs have bothered you. Please contact me via PM. I'll meet you at a coffee shop (my treat) so we can resolve this." The way the post read (defensive/angry/sarcastic), it was clear her only goal was to vent/badmouth the note writer.

ND seems to be useful for lost/found pets and for folks looking to sell or give away items. If one is looking for a place to have meaningful and respectful discourse about important topics, look elsewhere.

A lot of my "neighbors" on NextDoor are not people I would want to spend time with (based on their posts). At least on FB I can choose my friends; on NextDoor you can only select how many neighborhoods in your area you want to include. Reason, common sense, and civility are sorely lacking on NextDoor. Join at your own peril.

I signed up with Letgo 5/2018 but didn't list anything until 4/2019. It is a fairly easy process to list items. I posted five purses, a pair of shoes, a baseball glove, two framed baby bear pics, and a vintage portable hair dryer. Within the first day I had an inquiry on one of the purses--asked if the price was negotiable. I picked one of the "suggested" responses of "Yes, what's your offer?" Never heard back from that person even though about a week later I sent a follow-up (one I wrote myself) asking if the person was still interested. Again, no response.

A few days later, I got an inquiry about the baseball glove, asking if it was still available. I again chose one of the suggested responses (I think it was simply "yes"). Never heard back from that person, either. The lack of a response makes me wonder if these prospective buyers are real buyers who are simply rude (even if no longer interested or found something else, it would be a courtesy to respond [i. E., "thanks but I found something else"]) or some type of scam (i. E., perpretrated by Letgo to make sellers think there is interest in their posts). In fact, at the bottom of the first page of the Letgo reviews on Sitejabber, there is a question/answer section where someone talks about the situation where someone expresses interest but then never gets back to the seller. One of the answers said it was an automated bot--not a real person--sent out by Letgo.

About a day after I replied to the baseball glove person, I happened to go to my Letgo account and saw that it was flagged with a "this account is under review." Of course, there is no explanation of why it's under review. That was about two weeks ago and it still is "under review." I then searched online for reviews of Letgo and came across Sitejabber. I was stunned at how many negative reviews there were for Letgo. Many of them referenced having their accounts under review. Others mentioned that they would get people expressing interest but never heard from them again (seems to be a common problem).

I am going to close my Letgo account. A friend has had a fair amount of success selling on OfferUp. I do not have a smart phone but, apparently, there is a way to sell from a computer using an android emulator such as Blue Stacks.

I have had a Ymail account since about 2007. E-mail received was initially just from my friends. I then joined a list serve for attorneys. I would get dozens of e-mails daily from this list serve. Yahoo seemed unable to handle the increased volume of e-mails. I don't recall now what kinds of problems there were. One thing I do recall is that if a list serve member responded to a posting, the response would come into my e-mail as a separate e-mail. If 10 people responded to a posting on the list serve, I would end up with 11 e-mails (the original poster's + the 10 responses). If I tried to search for a certain subject line (so I could read all the related e-mails at one time) Yahoo often seemed to malfunction (i. E., returning no results, etc.). Fed up, I opened a Gmail account and have used that for the list serve e-mails. If there are multiple responses to a post, only one e-mail shows up in a person's Gmail inbox--the original post and the responses are all "bundled" into one e-mail.

My Ymail account has been hacked at least twice while my Gmail account hasn't been at all.

Yahoo is also lousy at filtering out spam. After the most recent hack, I've found that I typically get about a dozen "pornographic" e-mails in my spam folder. I delete these without opening them but, based on the subject matter, it's clear that they are filthy (i. E., "want to watch me masturbate"). I also get almost daily e-mails in spam re Viagra. I get none of these types of e-mails in my Gmail account. The only genuine spam I get in Gmail is of the "Nigerian scam" variety and I might get 1-2 daily.

A few years ago I was having problems with my Ymail account so sent a complaint to Yahoo about it (don't recall the exact issue now). Anyway, I did get a response from Yahoo--Yahoo took NO responsibility for the problem and informed me that the problem must be MY computer!

Anyway, I am in the process of shutting down my Yahoo account. Wouldn't recommend Ymail to anyone.

I needed a new paddle for my Cuisinart bread machine that I bought about 4 years ago (not exactly thrilled with the bread machine either, which I bought at a store). I placed the order with this company on 8/10/17 and got an e-mail confirmation that day. On 8/11 I got a second e-mail saying that my order was being processed and I would be notified when it was shipped.

8/22/17 I called the 800 # (211-9604) and was on hold for about 20 minutes before speaking to "Charles" who informed me the item had been on back order but was now in stock so it should be shipped in the next few days. When I questioned why I didn't get an e-mail informing me that the paddle was back ordered, Charles said that was stated on the paddle order page. Well, it must have been in small print as I don't recall seeing anything saying it was on back order.

9/5/17 I called in the afternoon and was on hold for 30 minutes before speaking with "Denise." My order still hadn't been shipped but Denise said she would e-mail her supervisor to tell the warehouse to ship within 24 hours. I was again put on hold for a few minutes. When Denise returned, she said her supervisor would e-mail the warehouse manager. I should get a shipping confirmation no later than Friday, 9/8, and the item should be delivered no later than Tuesday, 9/12. Denise was very apologetic. She had no explanation for why the item still hadn't been shipped other than to say there had been a system upgrade 7/2017 and some orders had apparently dropped through the cracks.

So, as of today (9/11/17) I had not received an e-mail confirmation re shipping so I again called Cuisinart this a.m. I was on hold about 10 minutes before "Veronica" came on the line. I was put on hold for a few minutes while she checked the status of my order. She then reported that my order still had not shipped (big surprise) and that I wouldn't be charged for shipping. I told her that I wanted to cancel my order and she said she would do that. I was told that my credit card hadn't yet been charged for my order--if the order isn't filled within three days, the charge is removed. I went online and checked my credit card account and there is no charge on it.

Contrary to some other reviews, all three of the customer service reps were very polite and professional.

I will order online through Amazon. The item costs more but shipping is free because I have Prime so I will actually save about $3. I almost always have gotten things from Amazon in less than a week. Should have started with Amazon.

UPDATE (9/30/17): Immediately after writing this review on 9/11, I ordered the bread paddle from Amazon, got a confirmation at 11:18 a.m. saying my order should arrive 9/13, got another e-mail at 5:33 p.m. saying my item had shipped and should arrive 9/13, and my item did arrive on 9/13.