Woofas

shirley229, Nov 4, 6:23pm
Have heaps of renovation jobs requiring work and am wondering if anyone has used Woofas with success. Seems a fantastic idea so maybe too good to be true.
gilligee, Nov 4, 7:15pm
Are you on an organic farm?
survivalkiwi, Nov 4, 7:17pm
Have done in the past. We use to own a backpackers.
The reality is for every 10 you may find one with some skills. 4 will take the piss out of the situation. And the rest will do the minimum that needs to be done to keep you happy.
Also as of about a year ago the IRD is clamping down on woofing ,the way they see it is you are taking tax from them. Also they claim you are taking jobs from kiwi's.
We found it was better to employ genuine staff and pay proper wages and get proper work done. Whether it be a cleaner, gardener or painter.
shirley229, Nov 4, 7:30pm
Thanks gilligee. No just a heap of renovation work. Guess not what they would be looking for.
sanders4, Nov 5, 4:39am
Worth looking for though as you may find a couple with skills, stuff the ird! My daughter uses homeaways - most are unskilled but are still keen to have a go
survivalkiwi, Nov 5, 5:20am
Great attitude. Do you condone ripping off insurance companies also?
Do you "stock take" from you employer/ clients because you feel they earn to much money?
piquant, Nov 5, 6:08am
Also, looking form another angle - woofing was set up to be a symbiotic set of relations - you feed and accommodate travellers and they help you with whatever tasks are needed to be done in the normal run of your operation, whether it be a farm or a lifestyle block. It was never intended to be a "go to place" for getting things done at little or no cost or to use people to run commission operations like selling sweets or whatever. It's the same old story - people taking advantage of every situation for their own gain. This happens on both sides. I have had some absolutely wonderful wooffers, some absolutely terrible. I don't use them any more as I found they were , on the whole, getting younger and younger, had no life skills and precious little in the way of work experience - but, like a lot of the younger generation these days, had so much confidence in themselves that they thought they could do anything. It's actually not a lot of help when you have to undo something that has been half cocked - and then do it yourself - properly this time! That, and having to feed youngsters with hollow legs, arms and stomachs. As survivalkiwi says - the reality is not necessarily in tune with the theory.
sanders4, Nov 6, 2:46am
get a life dumbnut - better to suck a lemon than post crap
piquant, Nov 6, 2:50am
Totally unnecessary and very rude. You need to learn some manners and accept that other people may have differing views to yours. Sorry would not go amiss.
survivalkiwi, Nov 6, 3:04am
Well Ivan from the north shore. What a terrible attitude you have.
I suppose you are the type of person who is happy to buy stolen goods also.
And think the police are scum for protecting innocent people.
shirley229, Nov 6, 3:16am
OOPS. Sorry didn't mean to set off such a tirade.
I used to belong to the friendship force and hosted folk from overseas and loved it. A bit different this way but could be a happy arrangement for both Woofa and host. Wasn't expecting to work their butts off.
piquant, Nov 6, 6:21am
shirley229 - don't worry about it - you asked a perfectly legitimate question! I wasn't suggesting that you were going to work them to the bone. What I was saying is that, as with all good ideas, there are always those that push the boundaries (on both sides - both wooffers and hosts) that effectively spoil it for the lot. When I was a member of wwoof, I really enjoyed hosting folk from overseas. You had to be selective and I always tried to get people I felt had something to offer. Mostly it worked - occasionally not. I finally gave up for the reason in my first post - I had wwooffers saying things like " you appear to be offering the sort of accommodation that would suit us" and we will only work during the week for 4 hours and we won't do this and we won't do that. Frankly - they don't know what wwoof is all about so they were told that they would not be coming here. I even had two female wwooffers who thought there we these lovely people all round the world who would take in travellers and feed them, accommodate them, take them sightseeing and they didn't have to do anything in return! I mean, talk about being on another planet! This is when I said enough was enough. If you decide to join, I wish you well and hope you get some good ones.
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:05am
who is the rude one? I have worked in the insurance industry and do not need fwits attempting to tell me the rights and wrongs in this world- they need to devote their energy in to something positive rather than smut
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:06am
take a swim you smart fool - the west coast is well suited to your type
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:08am
do not need smart smut from a low life - go sell your own stolen stuff liar
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:11am
this post was beyond rude and failed to answer what was posted originally and any lowlife that accuses me of ripping off insurance companies should watch their mouth before they end up in trouble - as for sorry I repeat - dumbnut - read the post
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:12am
lowlife - just who do you think you are? go and suck another lemon - just what does this have to do with the original post apart from you acting like the pope on steroids? get a life for heavens sake!
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:20am
no wonder woofas struggle when smart mouthed idiots fail to understand a worldwide program designed to help those that need help either as employer or employee but based on koha
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:27am
And Karen I have never ripped off an insurance company and have never dealt in stolen goods and hate your guts for even suggesting such stupid muck - just how sick are you? have spare lemons though if that helps!
sanders4, Nov 6, 9:31am
no friendship here it seems - apart from ripping off insurance companies now I have stolen goods also - some people are beyond help it seems - must be the old jaffa thing gone wrong or someone is just plain stupid
survivalkiwi, Feb 19, 10:43pm
Sanders4.
It looks like I hit a sore point. Theft is theft.
Ripping off the ird is illegal. Many a person has got them selves in big trouble over it. I was just pointing out that the ird are on a mission at the moment. I know they have sent letters out to backpacker owners and other associated businesses warning them of their intentions and asking them to report any one they know who is using woofers outside of what it is,
Have you thought about attending an anger management class of some sort?