About that Exercise Bike…
I have to be fair. Here I’ve been extolling the virtues of Freecycle and sometimes the goods aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Case in point: remember the other day when I was thrilled to be picking up an exercise bike from a Freecycler? Well, guess what? The bike was a clunker. It was very old and it didn’t work well at all. The seat is all torn apart and there’s no way I could pedal for 30 minutes each day.
I was stuck with it though. We have a very small house and an exercycle isn’t something one can hide in a closet, not in our home anyway. To tell you my husband wasn’t thrilled is an understatement. He’s trying to revoke my Freecycle privledges for the next few months, but I’m not so sure I can do that. I do know this, from now on I’m going to ask lots and lots of questions. Though the Freecycler told me the bike “was in excellent condition”, what she really meant was “the pedals still go around.”
What would I do with a useless exercise bike? My only options were to pay for the extra trash pickup or Freecycle it to someone else. I chose the latter. I was honest though. I said the bike isn’t in very good condition and I’d recommend using it for parts. I had three inquiries. It was a good lesson. If you’re a Freecycler, don’t just take the other person’s word for it. Ask as many questions as you can and ask for pictures. Otherwise you’ll be stuck with a big piece of junk.
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5 opinions for About that Exercise Bike…
Bellen
Apr 4, 2007 at 6:17 am
After going to look at/pick it up didn’t you have the option not to take it? In our area I often see items relisted saying it was not picked up.
Deborah Ng
Apr 4, 2007 at 7:48 am
I knew it was an older model when I picked it up, the only thing causing me to hesitate was the seat. Since we have several bicycle seats lying around, so I didn’t think it would take too much effort to swtich it out.
In retrospect, I should have test it out first. My bad. I’m probably just as much to blame for taking it “as is.”
Mindy
Apr 4, 2007 at 9:56 am
Maybe ask the person if they would mind if you relisted it. Once you got it home and tried it out you realized your husband would not be able to fix it like you thought.
Deborah Ng
Apr 4, 2007 at 10:10 am
I did relist it, but I was honest about its condition. Someone took it away yesterday evening.
I understand that many of the Freecycled items are going to be well used, but I also believe in truth in advertising. The original Freecycler should have said the bike was in excellent condition, when it clearly wasn’t.
I haven’t given up on Freecycle as I believe it serves a wonderful purpose. I’m going to ask a lot more questions in the future.
Simply Thrifty » Today’s Freecycle Finds
Apr 15, 2007 at 7:00 am
[…] granted, some of this may not be in the best condition, but it never hurts to ask. If you’re interested in checking out the your local chapter, visit the Freecycle website. […]
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