I haven't actually SOLD any ducklings to bad purchasers (thank goodness!), but I've had a few very annoying and potentially dangerous responses to my craigslist ads. Anyone else?
Most recently, about a month ago someone responded to my ad (which is very detailed and requests very specific information of potential purchasers) with a very brief message saying he wanted 8 ducks and could I send him my address so he could "mapquest" it. I wrote back, giving him further detailed information, a nearby street for him to mapquest for the general area, and a polite re-request for the information originally requested in the ad (and which most folks have no problem providing).
He wrote back with his phone number and a demand that I call him "asap!"
Looked like fishing for personal data to me, so I ignored it. Besides, I am not at the beck and call of just anyone who happens to want ducks and "needs" me to call them right this minute. I do love my hobby, and I spend A LOT of time on the phone with folks educating them and answering questions and so on. But not with people who are being rude and/or stupid.
So I moved it to my archives, marked him on my craigslist "blacklist" and forgot about it.
Well, just now I posted three ducklings that happen to be left from my most recent hatch, and guess who I got an email from? This time the dude tells me we had "talked" before and that I had told him I would save some ducks for him! He asked this time if I had 6 ducks for him, even though A) he had requested 8 previously and B) my ad clearly states that I have only three currently available.
Okay. Am I being an idiot and ought to give the guy a chance? Am I overreacting? Or does it sound like personal data mining to you too?
And furthermore, am I wrong to think I really don't want to deal with this creep anyway, even if he really does want to buy ducks? Lucky me, they are in such demand that I don't really have to go begging for buyers. And, by the way, these ducks are already reserved by someone who very politely provided all their information in their FIRST email to me.
So, let me hear *your* duck buyer horror stories. Or general craigslist horror stories. I hope no one on here has had *really* awful things happen through craigslist or buyers, but maybe talking about the experiences we *have* had will help others avoid them.
Most recently, about a month ago someone responded to my ad (which is very detailed and requests very specific information of potential purchasers) with a very brief message saying he wanted 8 ducks and could I send him my address so he could "mapquest" it. I wrote back, giving him further detailed information, a nearby street for him to mapquest for the general area, and a polite re-request for the information originally requested in the ad (and which most folks have no problem providing).
He wrote back with his phone number and a demand that I call him "asap!"
Looked like fishing for personal data to me, so I ignored it. Besides, I am not at the beck and call of just anyone who happens to want ducks and "needs" me to call them right this minute. I do love my hobby, and I spend A LOT of time on the phone with folks educating them and answering questions and so on. But not with people who are being rude and/or stupid.
So I moved it to my archives, marked him on my craigslist "blacklist" and forgot about it.
Well, just now I posted three ducklings that happen to be left from my most recent hatch, and guess who I got an email from? This time the dude tells me we had "talked" before and that I had told him I would save some ducks for him! He asked this time if I had 6 ducks for him, even though A) he had requested 8 previously and B) my ad clearly states that I have only three currently available.
Okay. Am I being an idiot and ought to give the guy a chance? Am I overreacting? Or does it sound like personal data mining to you too?
And furthermore, am I wrong to think I really don't want to deal with this creep anyway, even if he really does want to buy ducks? Lucky me, they are in such demand that I don't really have to go begging for buyers. And, by the way, these ducks are already reserved by someone who very politely provided all their information in their FIRST email to me.
So, let me hear *your* duck buyer horror stories. Or general craigslist horror stories. I hope no one on here has had *really* awful things happen through craigslist or buyers, but maybe talking about the experiences we *have* had will help others avoid them.