I tried for the first time to post an ad on craigslist. What a JOKE.

The ad is for my brother’s pit bull mix. He needs a home for him. The dog has been with us off and on (my brother takes him when he can) but it’s not going to work out. I have three dogs already and since the pit bull is a male, he won’t get along with my male golden retriever, nor do I want to take care of a fourth dog.

I typed out the ad as best I could, giving all the information I felt relevant. I included pictures, etc. Right away I got emails from people saying the pictures I used made the dog look creepy. Next thing I know the ad got flagged and removed.

Craigslist is community policed. No actual staff of Craigslist as far as I know check the validity of the ads posted. If someone flags the ad it’s removed without any sort of investigation. All they have is a forum to ask for help.

The first time it got flagged off I just reposted it. Then it got flagged again, so I reposted it. Then it got flagged AGAIN (it wouldn’t stay up more than half a day) so I went to the help forum. It was pretty frustrating to have an ad get repeatedly flagged and removed. I know craigslist has some strict rules and I understand the community wants to flag off all the scammers. That’s all good. But I’m not a scammer nor was I breaking rules! I could see if it I had posted services for movers New York in the Portland / Pets section (because that’d clearly be the wrong area and service) but there was nothing like that. I was in the right area, followed every rule, etc.

The first time I posted on the forum I got some decent suggestions. I reworded the ad, changed the pictures, and reposted. It stayed a few days that time. Enough for me to get some strange emails, some about anti pit-bull crap, and a few interested people. They didn’t pan out. Then it got flagged off again.

I went to the forum help again. Got more advise. Was told the ad was actually pretty good.. so it shouldn’t have been flagged. Some picked it apart but gave suggestions. I reworded it again, posted, and it stayed up long enough for a couple to contact us who was genuinely interested. Fortunately we had each other’s info because the ad got flagged off AGAIN.

We let the dog go home to this couple for a week. They claimed he won’t get along with their cat so he’s coming back today. So yesterday I tried to post the ad again. And it got flagged and removed less than 12 hours of it being up. I went back to the forum (third time now) and asked what it could be this time?

At first they (the community) were saying there was absolutely nothing wrong with my ad, it was well worded. Someone even said they wished more ads were posted as well-written as mine! I was like thanks, but then why does it keep getting flagged?? Then suddenly I was ripped apart by someone claiming I had flag rants in “several of the ads”.

The very last ad I attempted to post had a comment in it to please contact me if there are any issues with the ad instead of flagging it off. I stated I’d be happy to correct any issues. I would hardly call that a rant and it was only the last ad that I added that comment. When I tried to explain that, suddenly I’m ripped apart by people basically calling ME a liar… that flag rants in ads were a big no-no, etc. and THAT was why it was getting flagged off.

I was like WTF.. Yes, I posted a comment to contact me instead of flagging, but it was only the ONE ad. The very last one. Since nothing that could even remotely resemble a rant was in any of the other ads, that clearly could not be the reason they were getting flagged off. The last one? Sure. But the rest? No.

I explained that and immediately people were like “see you admit it”. I was like “um, no”. The “you admit it” thing was shoved down my throat twice, then I got called a dumb broad, told to f*ck off, and that I was wasting their time.

I. Was. Wasting. THEIR. Time.

Seriously.. WTF.