Good valid rant Kathy. I'm curious...and I just sent you a test (accidentally spelled it 'rest' though) via GW. When emails are sent via GW, it doesn't always show the member name?...does it show how members actually have them set up in their private emails? I've never been sure.

Also, here is something I found out recently, and had been meaning to start a new thread about it, but just have not yet.

There are 'some' member names that will NOT come up on a member search. I have come across maybe 5 or so. On some of them, I did a search of any threads they had posted to, and then found their member page that way. I reported them to GW asking what was up with them. I was told it was a problem they were working on and any additional help (names) members could provide them, would help in them finding the problem and get them fixed, as opposed to fixing them one at a time.

So...if anyone comes across any of those, use the 'Contact Us' link found at the bottom of any page, and choose the dropdown box of Technical problem

Maybe a solution to the prob might be to get the members addy, b4 they are to even send out the sasbe...maybe?

Sue...chemocurl

I don't see why people should get upset if they are asked for more information concerning them. If they are legit, then it shouldn't be a problem. People may think, "well, it's only seeds!" but that isn't true. It also involves YOUR personal information as well. If I'm requesting seeds, I haven't any problem with sending my address first or responding to anything they ask. If I'm sending seeds, I may ask a few to see if I have what they need or just to get a general feel of them.

I think it's an excellent idea to send your GW ID with your request as well as a note on what you requested. People get busy, life goes on and sometimes it's a few days until they can get back to you. Or they may have overwhelming responses and it helps to keep everything straight.

I think common curtesy and common sense should prevail on all levels.

"stepping off soapbox"

Thanks for the support, ladies! At first after I posted this I felt that maybe I was just being grumpy because some was really rude to me, after THEM approaching me for seeds I have. Then I started feeling like maybe I was being petty in wanting their ID so I could find out who I was dealing with. I'm not trying to be ugly, or accusing. I just like to know who I'm dealing with. In the past, I knew my neighbors, who i traded with. I could see their gardens,knew that they would be prompt with exchanges, knew that if we arranged for something that they had that was still nearing harvest, that they would remember the agreement even though they already had my seeds or cuttings. It's a little different here. And it's not "just seeds" as has been stated in another thread. It takes time and organization and effort along with postage and gas to make these trades, no matter how big or small. And some here have been kind enough to share more expensive or rarer seeds with me, I have to consider that they trusted me.

Anyway, off to do some errands. Thank you again for the support. It makes me feel better to know that others think it's justified and not just grumpy, snobby or petty :)

Kathy

after I posted this I felt that maybe I was just being grumpy because some was really rude to me,
someone being rude to me, tends to make me grumpy for sure. I don't tolerate rudeness very well any more.

Then I started feeling like maybe I was being petty in wanting their ID so I could find out who I was dealing with.
That is not being petty at all. I would never deal with anyone who could/would not provide me with a valid name. A cold email I rec last week though was one that did not come up on a member search...though it did on a post search.

Sue

Kathy I agree with Sue,it is not rude to ask someone that emailed you who they are! If someone called your home you have the right to know who they are, and email is no different. I will not give a stranger over the phone my home address, nor will I give a stranger via email my home address. I will not trade or go any further with someone that is reluctant to give me their ID and let me know who it is I am dealing with! If this person was rude to you just because you wanted to know who they were,than I am sure, that is someone you dont want to deal with! Dont worry about it Kathy,rant anytime,isnt that what this side of the board is for?...lol..

I want to know someone's GW user name as well. Not only do I want it on emails but I ask that they include it when they are sending a sasbe. I can't believe that someone got bent out of shape when you asked for it. I would have deleted their email pdq and blocked them so they couldn't write back. lol As for posting have and wanted lists I don't have anything posted. I have several hundred seed varieties at any given time and it's constantly changing. I don't post a wanted list because I never know what I'm going to want. Besides that I probably wouldn't remember to keep them updated. I don't see why not posting have/wants lists on your member page would raise any flags.
Karyn

Well, it's not the not having a wants or trade list, it's the whole thing together, not providing a GW ID in the initial email, not wanting to give it once I requested it, then telling me they don't have a list up because they don't have the time to do it. I understand it takes some time to do. And one without the others, along with her wanting large amounts of seeds, large varieties, then getting rude, ugly and very angry when I requested her ID, all of it together was what raised flags. She seemed insulted that I would want to know her GW ID. Even outright told me that she wasn't scamming for seeds and had been around GW for about five years, but that she's not well known. After five years,I'd think that at least few people could give recommendations, even if they had no Rate and Review, etc. But I still need an ID to ask some of the people I know that are very active about them. And when I say large amounts and varieties I'm talking she wanted 14 different things and was dissatisfied with the amounts that I had. I think that generally my amounts are good, sometimes even generous.

It was everything together that raised flags.

i'd say no way to her!! and when someone who emails me from gw their id shows up, always in the left hand top corner it always shows medontdo from "so and so" something like that . and also if someone has been around it'll say on their web page, if she emailed you from some thing you posted you could check that out. kinda. i'd just email her and tell her that she is not someone you'd like to do business with or trade with. or however you'd word it. LOL and yes you are very generous!! especially for a newbie!! and for the thing of people sending things to you with no id or anything. geez if you said to, send it back. on the other hand you could always hold onto it for a while till they holler at ya. does it have a return addy?? if it does ya can kinda find out who sent it if ya feel like doing leg work. LOL people are very inconsiderate!! so i say, email, gw name, return addy, list of seeds. that's when i did them. LOL and on the strange occasion when i do them. but its very strange!!!! LOL

You guys are so amazingly supportive! I'm feeling much better about it this evening, especially after my SO Cliff went and bought me a 10x10 gazebo!!! He was so angry about her getting so ugly with me. And as little as he knows about plants and flowers, he knew that the ones she was asking for were my more rare and hard to get ones that I was sooooo tickled to not only get, but get enough to trade AND to trade :)

The way I see it is, it was me she was asking for more or less a favor. So me asking such a small thing in return shouldn't have been an issue. :)

Thank you all so much, you have all done a great deal to make me feel better about it, whether you think so or not. Having the support from the community is a wonderous thing!

Kathy

FWIW, I just got an email today, sent through GW with someone saying I would like to have some of your seeds. Great it was under a post that I originally made topic seeds for SASBE. There was no link to the post, don't know where I posted it whether it was on the seed exchange or another forum. Sorry to say it was deleted, cause I can't find the original posting.
Alberta

I always ask , when somebody up and emails me out of the blue, what their GW name is, OR even what website they found me on. Yes a few of them got upset that I would ask, and that makes you wonder .

I get out of blue e-mails all of the time sometimes I reply sometimes no I do it sometimes myself when I am looking for specific seeds I have met some great traders that way.What bothers me is the it's only seeds I spend lots of time collecting and cleaning those seeds I let my plants go to seed early and lose some blooms because of that.Any of you who collect as many seeds as me understands.And they may only be seeds but they are mine and if you can't be nice why would I want to give them to you. I have sent a lot of seeds to people I usually don't post SASBEs but I will e-mail people looking for things or send extra extras to people I trade with at least I know that way I am not dealing with a scammer. I have been doing this long enough to know about all of the good people here but there are some who just don,t care or don't get it.Getting down from my soapbox now.
Patty

Kathy I whole heartedly agree with you. I was doing many SASBE earlier and I wanted to know who I was dealing with. What gets me is the cold emails coming out of no where wanting seeds. If they don't want to supply me with the GW name and/or want list link I don't deal with them. Some people say, 'Just send me anything.' Well, sometimes I like to look and see if I have anything on their want list or what zone they are in. I don't just throw seeds in an envelope willy nilly. Doing SASBEs is a lot of work.