Gumtree
Reviews and Complaints

It is very clear now that Gumtree is a rip off site! Clearly they are crooks just looking to steal peoples money! I placed two paid advertisements on there, in different categories, as I was trying to establish which was the best category to advertise in. They took the money for both ads, then a few days later deleted both adverts saying that I had breached their rule that you can only have one advert per item or service, etc., and that you can't have the same advert in more than one category! I can understand this to an extent, especially with free ads, to prevent people posting day after day to stay at the top of the listings, but when you actually PAY for the service and then they don't deliver, then I call that fraud! In the searches I have carried out it is clear that they are continually doing this to people. This site needs removing from the Internet and being dealt with by the police.

Hello I would like to make a unfortunate complaint! I recently over 24 hours ago placed an advertisment with Gumtree-( whom I respect and enjoy using there site) And was told that my ad was active! So like any other customer, I waited for my ad to appear.And confirmation of my ad being active! I did not receive my confirmation email? I then contacted Gumtree and asked why? No response! I contacted them again!, no response! So I placed another ad, And once again nothing happened! Do not understand what has happened? I have sent another two emails to Gumtree, and have had nothing back! They stipulate that they will respond with in 24 hours! It has been well over that. I am upset that I have to make this complaint, But would really just like to know what is going on? and why I cant place an ad with them. Thank you for your time.

I been posting adverts with Gumtree as a freelancer All that you can get is spammers or un payers I been trying to get recently work on programming side I got responses from fake organizations as well fake companies Gumtree is a fake company now they just dont let me to post any adverts any more I emailing them and asking them why is that but all they come up with is if they can push up my adverts even so adverts never appear on listing in gumtree I was doing last year for one company social media website I never got paid from that company they own me right now over £300.000 and I dont think I will see that money ever from them got another client for system engineering was robus based system integration full project value reached £90.000 didnt get paid eather I guess I am another angry user of that ### website Gumtree whatever you get from them is all spam you dont get anything out of the gumtree because of gumtree my business is on hold right now advice to anyone out there dont post on gumtree they all freaking wankers there find some other sites where is safer I hope gumtree get closed down for that

I submitted a missed connection about a stranger I met who I genuinely interacted with romantically and had not seen in a long time hoping that my stranger might see the ad and get back in touch with me. Gumtree deleted my ad. They sent me an email saying that they deleted it because it contained adult content and I should read the terms of service more closely next time before I submit an ad, and I should post an ad on their affiliated adult dating community RSVP. I read carefully several times through the terms of service and it said nothing about prohibited adult content. I wrote them two complaint letters explaining that my ad concerned a specific individual I had actually met rather than a general need to meet a romantic partner; that there was nothing "adult" or even explicitly romantic about my ad, it was entirely inoffensive and suitable for any child to read; and in any case most of the submissions to missed connections pages in general and their page in particular are of a romantic nature, so that the way they treated me was unfair or a mistake. I wrote that I appreciate that the service is free but that they should not offer this service if they do not accept ads like mine. They wrote back to me to say that they are no longer accepting any content of a romantic or adult nature, regardless of whether it is a missed connection or not. But I have looked on their missed connections page since, and ads have been posted containing explicit romantic content. Much more clear than mine: to the effect "i thought you were hot", for example.

I feel very upset and angry. I feel that their staff made personal judgments about me based on the content of my ad. They know nothing about me or my life, what I have experienced in my life or who I am. They do not have degrees in psychology, they are simply monkies at typewriters. They are not more qualified to make judgments about me and the decisions I make than I am. I feel ridiculed and humiliated.

What a horrible staff. You are a bunch of jerks. Why can't people just be kind and compassionate? What harm was my ad doing? I wasn't hurting anyone. People should just leave other people alone. They have no idea what other people go through.

I advertised one puppy for sale. My ad was removed. I was assured it would be reinstated. It was not. They have accused me of being a commercial breeder. I have since sold this ONE puppy for £550 > I paid £600 plus vet fees. Could someone get them to at least admit they were wrong and apologise. I have sold this puppy through pets4homes. I am absolutely livid.

Home > melbourne city > melbourne cbd > phones > mobile phones > ad id [protected]

Below is a add by a scammer, advert doesnt high light that phone is damaged or has been opened.

Hi I have a iphone 4s 32 gb unlocked with accesories
Perfect condition has had a case and screen protector on it the whole time
Basically brand new
Not sure if it has warranty or not
Its unlocked to all networks

If interested please ring [protected]

I posted an ad in Gumtree two days ago. Nobody could see it because it has spent more than 48 hours processing (once it was paid). I tried to contact with them and it´s completely impossible. I wrote 3 mails to its customer service and 10 messages from its live chat (when it worked). I never received an answer. If you can avoid Gumtree, do it.

gumtree ban me from their site wihtout a genuine reaosn citing i continously break their rules. I somehow managed to do this overnight whilst sleeping. No explanation and no answers to what rules i have continuosly alleged to have broken. they refuse to tell me or communicate. they act unlawfully and are supposed to be providing a servcie to the community that very same community that made gumtree what it is today. their kack of respect and lack of facilities to contact them is appalling. they are running this site without any governing body or rules to adhere to. they say i broke rules but i think it is them that have broken rules and they will not allow me the opportunity of an explanation as to what rules i am supposed to have broken. they are making up rules to suit themselves. they managed to do this to me and my wifes accounts simultaneously and for the same reasons. I have placed ads on their site for a while now but all of a sudden i am breaking rules continuosly after many ads without breaking any rules at all. they are a joke outfit who are allowed to do what they want and no one will challenge them therefore i have searched many places until i found this site to raise my concerns

I have a job for someone out there and I thought post it on Gumtree, what a mistake that was. It says adverts will be posted in seconds, but may take up to 4 hours or maybe 12 hours? That is how vague the muppets at Gumtree are. So after 2 days of processing, yes that over 48 hours later, my simple job advert has not been posted and someone out there desperate for a job is being let down by Gumtree. OK, its my fault I should have researched Gumtree and found out how many people have complained about the site. Its a small time operation that cant deliver and I should have posted my advert somewhere more reliable so its all my fault. Who ever re-named Gumtree as Dumtree is on the money, I was was Dum to use it so I am posting this to everyone as people need to stop using these useless Dumtree sites.

Gumtree advertised a secondhand iphone 4 at $400. I communicated with the buyer, who appeared genuine. We agreed that I would deposit half the asking price into his account (in Australia) and he would mail the phone, since he said he was working in Kalgoorlie. The phone, of course, never arrived. My first email to him advising this was responded to along hte lines of "it shoudl be there in a few days" but subsequent emails, advising it had still not arrived, were returned undeliverable. I tried to post an ad advising prospective buyers of this but gumtree took it down.

I paid 70 pounds to gumtree to have my ad (double bedroom for rent) which was supossed to be featured for seven days and after the forth day the ad desappeared. I has afected me a lot because the most important time for this type of ads are the weekend and they suspended my ad on Friday, there was no explanation for this and is impossible to get hold of them. I feel like they just stole my money and made me loose my time.

I have checked on the internet forums and aparently this is a common unfair trade from gumtree!

Hi,
Another pet scam in the uk.
Posted in gumtree london, about adopting bulldog puppy.
I paste e-mail I received:

— original message —
From: alberto kingson
To:
Sent: wednesday, 28 may, 2008 10:49:41 pm
Subject: re: your gumtree.com ad #[protected]: english bulldog puppy for adoption

Hello and thanks for the mail, well I am right now in girvan scotland and they are all kc registered, vet check, potty traind and will be coming along side their one year health guarantee document and they are three of them available, o. k, and it shall cost you £90 for each of them and their delivery right at your home, so what I will need from you now is your full delivery detail, like your full names, the nearest airport to your home, your home address and contact number, so if I can get all this information today, then first thing tomorrow morning before I go to work I will pass and drop off your details and your puppy at the delivery company so that the delivery company shall then contact you on how you will be making the payment through the post office, and also please I will like to ask how many you need. so thanks and hope to read from you soon..
Thanks
Best regards.

>

Man they don't even bother making spell check!

When I received this e-mail I knew it was scam, they are sooo obvious to spot once you know about them!

So watch out the adopt a pet add in gumtree!

I placed an ad to sell a bundle of PS2 games, for some reason it was removed. They say they send you an automatic email explaining why, it never arrived. I emailed enquiring as to why still no reply. So I reposted the ad being careful of keywords on some titles that perhaps their filters picked up on, it remained processing for 12 days. Given their notices say 4 at the most, it just doesn't make sense. I emailed them a 3rd time asking for a response and still nothing. I have removed the ad closed the account and will never consider using such a laxadasical site ever again. What's the cost of a reply to an email - nothing! Shocking and horrendous customer service and a most frustrating experience.

I shall stick to good old fashioned newspaper classified in future!

I recently had an ad up on Gumtree in Australia for a Macbook Pro.

Here is the email trail that I received by someone trying to get me to ship out the item to Malaysia after I received an email that funds had been transferred but were held by the bank until a shipment tracking number is supplied.

I realised this was a scam straight away when they offered me $300 more than the retail price of this item so thought I would waste some of their time so someone not so clued up might escape being scammed.

Hi

I saw the ffg add on gumtree as i was desperately looking for a kitchen set. When i saw the picture i was very happy. i called the person and they told me it was R1800. i did tell the lady that i can pay R1500 as i needed to transport it from Chatsworth to Verulam. She was happy and agreed. I asked about the condition she said it was brand new. so i was happy and i got a transport company to fetch it for me and deliver to my home. I paid them R300 for delivery. When my husband saw it, it was not the one we saw on the internet(GUMTREE). When i called the lady she asked me to speak to her husband and he says that he wasnt sure which photo was on the website. i think that it was really deceiving, cos the entire negotiation was on the picture on the internet. the cost of that particular kitchen set costs about R850 in my area. this was a total rip off, all the guy did was apologise. this is unacceptable. Whi is going to be reponsible for this as this is fraud. you cannot advertise for someting and charge a price but deliver something totally different. I would like a refund of R500 from this person or he should be charged for misuse and misleadingn people.

This is really upsetting and people should be really careful when buying anything from gumtree . i suggest you see the stuff physically before buying ...

3 prc spacersaver finished in maple
Watch | Share | Print | Report Ad

Date Listed 26/03/2011
Price R 1, 999
Address 9 Unit Ave, Durban South 4094, South Africa

hi all iv just closed down my furniture store and have a little stock left which im lrtting go at cost .I have 1x 3 prc spacesaver, 1 x 3prc kitchen schm, 1 x wardrobe, lounge suites, 1 x dinning table with 6 padded chairs [SHOP SOILED] below cost, solid imbuya tv unit . coffee table, oak book shelf unit
Visits: 170

I was scammed on Gumtree for phone, I deposited $$ in a bank account, who do I contact to try and get it back?
Hi I'm located in Australia
I needed a new phone badly & I wanted to buy it in Australia instead of overseas so i decided to go onto gumtree.com.au. I found a phone that was not too good to be true. I contacted the seller, discussed postage costs and they gave me their back details (all through email).
& me being so trusting, I deposited the money directly in a bank into their nominated account (Australian Bank). then afterwards I realized it was a scam & I'm still without my phone & the scammers have my money!. I went to the bank & they said I should go to the police. I went to the police station and they said its not a criminal matter so they can help me. & now I don’t know what to do. I really want my money back and since the bank managed to process the deposit, I'm sure they can sort of check the account holder etc but the "law" is not assisting me at all.

My complaint here is NOT about gumtree.com, though it all began on this site.

What I want to do is to WARN people when trying to find apartments via sites like gumtree.com with my story.

I was looking for an apartment in the UK from another country. I found a suitable and not too expensive flat via an ad on gumtree. I contacted the person of this ad and we pretty soon came to an agreement. I was a little suspicious about how relatively fast this went and the fact that the flat was a little too cheap for the location, but it was just at a reasonable limit.
So I let myself fool by a contract made by a solicitors agency and transferred 880 pounds - the deposit as well as the first months' rent - knowing that it is common practice to pay this in advance in the UK.

One week before my arrival this person wanted another transfer, this time by Western Union. I was supposed to do so since a Landlord Association wanted a proof that I am able to cover my expenses for a living in London. They were afraid that I might be a nuisance on the street. It was at this point that I got very suspicious about this and asked a friend of mine who lives in the UK. He immediately told me that I might have been scammed, whereupon I called the solicitors agency who allegedly made the contract. They also told me that this was a scam, having had a lot of troubles already with someone forging contracts in their name.

After I found out I stayed in contact with that person, pretending to not know anything. Unfortunately I did not succeed in getting any more information apart from a false mobile number. Both the police in my country as well as in the UK are having a report about this, but since I suspect some organized crime behind this operating from who knows where I have little hope in their success. The only real information I had was the UK bank details to where I transferred the money, but it is likely that it has been opened with a forged ID card.

Although I always believed I was intelligent enough to see through any kind of scam I have to admit that I have been disabused. This is especially due to the way this person interacted with me. From a normal person who tries to scam you you wouldn't expect a rude email when you're complaining about something, you'd expect an email that says "It's all right, sorry about this etc..." Also some 'personal information' like "Sorry for the late reply, I just got back home from work" were admittedly cleverly spread. So yes, in this case I have not been intelligent enough to understand I had been scammed. The biggest mistake I made though was to NOT call the solicitors agency when I received the contract (via email), blindly trusting that it was all right like this.

So, whoever is trying to find an apartment on the internet:
- be careful with any ad that sounds too good to be true
- be suspicious if an agreement with a landlord/landlady is done too fast and too easy
- do NOT trust any contracts you receive via email, even though they might have been done by a solicitors agency
- do NOT transfer any money before you haven't met the landlord/landlady in person AND before you haven't seen the apartment

I really do hope that if there is anything good coming from this story then it is to prevent others from doing the same mistake!

Gumtree is a fake organization which steals cash from people's accounts.

* most of the 'ad responders' are fake staff who are paid by gumtree agents to give the impression that appropriate feedback is being given.

* gumtree also stole money from my credit card without publishing my ad, and is now refusing to refund my cash.

*my advice to everybody is pure and simple : avoid gumtree featured adverts. Do not pay gumtree for any featured advertising. If you must post your ads on gumtree, then post your adverts on there for free. Do not pay gumtree a dime.

Thanks.

— forwarded message —
From: *
To: [protected]@gumtree.com
Sent: sat, october 10, 2009 8:27:13 pm
Subject: re: your gumtree ad - confirmation and receipt

Dear gumtree

Kindly refund this cash, as none of the adverts (Below) were appropriately featured.

To this effect, gumtree has now stolen a total of almost £40 from my account for the following 2 adverts which were never duly featured.

I want my money paied back to my card or I will sue you for £1, 000, 000 for each day that you delay.

Thank you.

From: gumtree.com
To: *
Sent: fri, october 9, 2009 1:51:25 am
Subject: your gumtree ad - confirmation and receipt

Thanks for your featured ad: red mazda * posted in belfast used cars

* your posting ref is *
* your password is *
* your ad can be seen here: *

* your ad will be featured for 14 days
* payment received: £19.95
* including vat at 15%: £ 2.60

Gumtree.com ltd, po box 751, richmond, surrey tw9 1tz
Vat registration number: [protected]

Please print this email if you require a vat receipt

What happens now?

Your ad will be appearing at the top of the listings as a featured ad, as well as in the regular listings, shortly (It can take up to 3-4 hours to pass through the gumtree system). Your ad will stay at the top of the listings pages as a featured ad for 14 days. After that time it will stop being a featured ad but will remain in the regular listings until it expires.

Editing/ deleting/ re-featuring your ad

You can edit, delete or re-feature your ad at anytime using the "edit/ delete an ad" button on the gumtree homepage.

Need help?

If you have any questions or need help with your ad you can find everything you need in gumtree help:
http://belfast.gumtree.com/help/

Good luck with your ad!
The gumtree team

— forwarded message —
From: gumtree.com
To: *
Sent: fri, october 9, 2009 2:09:11 am
Subject: your gumtree ad - confirmation and receipt

Thanks for your featured ad: just arrived : mercedes * posted in belfast used cars

* your posting ref is *
* your password is *
* your ad can be seen here: *

* your ad will be featured for 14 days
* payment received: £19.95
* including vat at 15%: £ 2.60

Gumtree.com ltd, po box 751, richmond, surrey tw9 1tz
Vat registration number: [protected]

Please print this email if you require a vat receipt

What happens now?

Your ad will be appearing at the top of the listings as a featured ad, as well as in the regular listings, shortly (It can take up to 3-4 hours to pass through the gumtree system). Your ad will stay at the top of the listings pages as a featured ad for 14 days. After that time it will stop being a featured ad but will remain in the regular listings until it expires.

Editing/ deleting/ re-featuring your ad

You can edit, delete or re-feature your ad at anytime using the "edit/ delete an ad" button on the gumtree homepage.

Need help?

If you have any questions or need help with your ad you can find everything you need in gumtree help:
http://belfast.gumtree.com/help/

Good luck with your ad!
The gumtree team

_
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After becoming deperate to sell my industrial Table Saw and a pair of Technics DJ Turntables before my moving out deadline, I finally decided to pay the extortionate £10 per advert to have them Featured for 7 days. I must have been one of the lucky ones then and I at least got my 2 £10 ads Featured fo 1 Whole Day!

I have the confirmation and receipt email from them dated 31 March and my ads both vanished into thin air on the 1st of April. I thought perhaps it might be an April Fool's prank or something but the ads really are gone. I have since emailed to complain to them and request that the £20 be paid back into my Paypal account where the money was taken from by them, and had no response.

It is now 03:30 Saturday the 4th of April and this means that my ads should still be Featured for another 46 hours... but they're gone! And so is my £20! And I have not sold the equipment I need to sell and will now probably lose it to the Landlords when I move out today. Thanks Gumtree, Burn In Hell.

I must say though... I remember a couple years back when the Gumtree.com was still the FREE Community Website where you could be sure to sell your unwantededs, buy a bargain, get a job or a service, offer a job or a service, find a place to live and so much more. We could even just update the ad's we placed everyday to go back to the top of the new days list but now you can update your ad til your blue inthe face and it just keeps sliping into the abyss of time past.

Now recently I believe the Gumtree.com site was sold to some corporate rapists and pillagers and that was the birth of the Featured Ad. Gumtree.com now is no longer a FREE Community Webite by the people for the people... It's just another big Corporate Scam Site.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but we're all struggling at the moment, so why the should we let these thieves get away with it? COMPLAIN PEOPLE! PLEASE JUST STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES AND YOUR PEERS!
We should have them eliminated.

There are still sites that are truly free such as
Vivastreet.co.uk
Adzooks.co.uk
to name a few.

Justin.