[A_Bit_Frustrated]

Recently, I was apartment-hunting, and had replied to some postings on gumtree. After several days, I received NO replies to any of my messages (except for messages sent directly to e-mail addresses contained in the ads). After switching to a different e-mail address, I received lots of replies.

It appears that gumtree silently BANS certain e-mail addresses, and then fails to forward replies to ads from those banned addresses, despite giving 'confirmations' that the replies have been forwarded.

It is one thing to ban someone. But, if such person is never notified of this ban, and moreover, if he is repeatedly reassured that his information is being passed on--when that is in fact NOT the case--that is a completely different situation. If there was a real person involved, acting as the middleman, his behaviour would be considered highly unethical. But, this is automated, of course, so it is easier to point fingers elsewhere.

It seems that gumtree has been aware of this problem for at least 3 months. See, for example, 'Gumtree not passing on replies - Been Caught Out!!' and 'Having 2 problems with ads on gumtree.' It is problems like this that make the Internet frustrating to use, at times, for business purposes.

[pajerodave]

You'll maybe have to do what I'v done.....give up replying to ads with no phone numbers!

[jonin60seconds]

[crazygoblin]

I think I might be having the same problem. It's hard to tell without any confirmation from gumtree but I've received replies from a couple of ads which gave direct contacts and no replies from three which were forwarded through gumtree. It's not enough to be certain but I don't want to be wasting time and missing ads to eventually find out it's blocked.

[A_Bit_Frustrated]

jonin60seconds,

I think I may have used the same e-mail address several years earlier on gumtree, when searching for another apartment. I might have even posted an ad, at some point, but I can't remember. In any case, that's irrelevant. Why my e-mail address was banned is not the issue here. If it was indeed banned, for whatever reason, the system should have alerted me to this fact, rather than claiming to have forwarded my messages and then silently discarding them.

[jonin60seconds]

Hey yeah, I know its frustrating and we are working on how the system communicates with users but for now, the best way to sort this out is to check out your email and if it was banned for something stupid then we can unban it

[crazygoblin]

How do I check if my email is blocked?

jonin60seconds,
-is there any way for me to send a private message so you can check it out for me?

[jonin60seconds]

You can message me privately here on my blog: http://jonin60seconds.squarespace.com/contact-me/

[A_Bit_Frustrated]

jonin60seconds,

It's easy enough to use another e-mail address, so the fact that an address was banned is no big deal. What was frustrating was the fact that I was not alerted to this possibility, so I didn't know that in diligently replying to numerous ads, I was wasting my time. It ought to be very easy to put a message on the system that says something like this:

"*** Please note that if your e-mail address has been banned, replies will NOT be forwarded, despite indications to the contrary. ***"

A_Bit_Frustrated

[jonin60seconds]

Yeah I know and like I said we are working on it. We've inherited a system with a lot of flaws, especially on the communications front. But we don't even know if your email is banned yet, as you haven't sent it to me!

[A_Bit_Frustrated]

I don't care about my e-mail address being banned, as it's easy enough for me to use another one. What I do care about is other people not falling into the same trap that I did. Surely, it shouldn't take that much effort to put a simple warning message on the system. It's just a change of text--not functionality.

[cjrichards]

Hi,

I have been replyign to plenty of adds and heard nothign in response also.

I then created an add, and replied to it twice, and I received no mail saying a response to my ad had been posted.

Can you check if my e-mail add has been blocked please?

joinin60seconds I have sent a mail to you via your blog

[jonin60seconds]

Hey CJ. I've checked and nothing of yours is banned. I've sent a test message to your post (the one about a gym membership) let me know if you get it

[cjrichards]

thanks 60 - I have received this message, but still none of the other tests I sent myself and I have just tried another which doesnt seem to have come through!?

[jonin60seconds]

Which email services are you using?

We've also raised these concerns with tech to see if there actually is something going on

[cjrichards]

hey 60, im using hotmail

[pajerodave]

A thread was started on 1st of August regarding exactly the same issue, here we are nearly 3 months later & still the same!

Jon..was anything actioned as a result of that thread???

(thought I'd already posted this reply..but couldn't find it on here today, hope the question's not too difficult!)

[crazygoblin]

Hey Jon, I sent you a message via you blog. Did you check out my email address? I just want to know if I should try using a different email or not.

[pianolessonsinlondon]

I have posted a number of adverts on Gumtree and have an enquiry to make about the feedback I have been getting on the site. I am a piano teacher and a loyal customer to Gumtree, having posted an advert every week in the featured space on the tuition page. Last week I spent over £80 on a spotlight ad on your main home page which has been viewed over 250 times - this is great, but I have not recieved a single response, which doesn't seem right at all (usually I recieve interest from 1 in 10, or so). I want you to let me know whether Gumtree has been experiencing any problems with my e-mail address, as I have read on some Gumtree blog pages about Gumtree blocking some e-mail addresses. I have tried changing my address also but with no luck.

Please let me know asap what the problem is as this is affecting my income severely,

Thanks

[Dave#]

Gumtree does not block email addresses for replies.

If you believe that replies are being sent but not received please first check

* that the messages are not in your spam folders
* that your mail provider isn't blocking gumtree email as spam

If you still believe there is a problem then open a help request with your ad number and email address.

Gumtree sends hundreds of thousands of emails every day successfully, we actively monitor failure rates and bounces.

[jonin60seconds]

[pajerodave]

[Dave#]

[pajerodave]

Thats hardly an answer to that question!

As a buyer I have sent messages to sellers with no response!...the items for sale have been 're-listed' so obviously were not sold...so why wouldn't sellers respond?....Tried from a different PC & email addy, but still nothing!

It seems I'm not alone in experiencing this problem, thats why I wondered if anybody had bothered taking notice when it was highlighted in August!

[A_Bit_Frustrated]

Hi Dave#,