HOT in Texas... Firewood person shorted delivery...

[billjustbill]

Trying to get ahead, I found the people that deliver Mesquite wood to the local Bar-B-Q and Steak place. That single business gets 8 cords a month. I calculated that 425 gallons of Propane to run the Central air furnace would cost $998... Two cords of dry Mesquite in my Freedom Bay is cheaper by half price.

At $240 a cord, including splitting, delivery and stacking, I bought two cords. After helping the guy, his wife and daughter unload, the temps were at 102 degrees and his pickup pulling a low-boy trailer had overheated. It died about 30 feet from the stacking place, so I helped them load a wheelbarrow and carried extra wood to the 3-1/2' by 4' wood pallets that were put down.

After they left, I got the tape measure out... the wood is cut at 18" and two rows are 36" wide, not 48".... As I calcalated the delivered amount, I came out short just over half a cord!!

Now, these people sell firewood for a living and to six eating places. When I called to have them bring more, I was told that "We measure height and length of the rows to get a cord and not the width.".... The daughter said they would bring more out, but they sell the same way to all their customers....
If they bring more on Thursday, there won't be a problem. BUT if they actually believe what they are selling is actually a legal cord of wood, it might get ugly, you know?

I've printed a picture of a Cord of Wood, to show them and try to help them. What would you do?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[ANeat]

I would hope they made it right, try to explain, If all else fails buy it somewhere else.

$240 a cord seems high but I know price can vary considerably

 

[Todd]

If they are selling bbq mesquite wood I think they get prime $ from those restaurant's and probably sell it by face cords not full cords. I'd give it all back and look for a cheaper deal.

 

[oldspark]

They shoot people in Texas for stuff like that dont they?

 

[Mesquite]

They shoot people in Texas for stuff like that dont they?

Sometime we just hang 'em.

 

[loon]

sorry about the metric crap %-P

but over here there is a legal way of going about it, if you were short changed...

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/lm03963.html

Terry

 

[Backwoods Savage]

To me if a man is selling a cord, then he should deliver a cord. If he advertises, then he is obligated to sell what is advertised. If he want to sell less then he needs to re-word how much wood you will get.

That is something I really hate about our area. So many have called a 4 x 8 stack of wood as a cord for so long that if you mention a cord of wood to someone, they think a 4 x 8 stack. If you explain, some look at you like you are crazy.

A goose is a goose
Dress it as you will
But it remains a goose still.

 

[smokinj]

Here is a nice kicker most and even good dealer's think a cord is 16 ft x 4 ft high and here's the kicker 16 inchs wide.......Now you go and tell them any different and see what you get.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I experienced the same thing when I lived in Toon Town. Was the delivery man 2-dimensional?

 

[oldspark]

Here is a nice kicker most and even good dealer's think a cord is 16 ft x 4 ft high and here's the kicker 16 inchs wide.......Now you go and tell them any different and see what you get.

If I sold firewood and did not know what a cord was I would be afraid to show my ash anywhere.

 

[burntime]

I have a tree service downt he road and he stacks piles 12ft high and 60ft long. Some of his piles are 12ft deep. He does sell an honest cord but how the hell does it ever season? He works from one end to the other. I guess if you get the outside your fine...the inside has got to be just white mold!

 

[billjustbill]

Trying to get ahead, I found the people that deliver Mesquite wood to the local Bar-B-Q and Steak place. That single business gets 8 cords a month. I calculated that 425 gallons of Propane to run the Central air furnace would cost $998... Two cords of dry Mesquite in my Freedom Bay is cheaper by half price..........
If they bring more on Thursday, there won't be a problem. BUT if they actually believe what they are selling is actually a legal cord of wood, it might get ugly, you know?

I've printed a picture of a Cord of Wood, to show them and try to help them. What would you do?

Thanks,
Bill

Update:

Well, two days later, and the threat of calling the Sheriff's Office, they did come back. He wanted to argue about it by saying, "Nobody we know sells wood in 4'x4'x8' sizes. If you want our 18" long wood, I sell it: Two rows wide, 4' high, and 16' long."

Since we agreed on a 4x4x8' as a cord when I ordered it, he did bring wood with him and stacked the missing amount, but he wasn't happy about it....

Apparently, the SCAM around here is to stack two rows of 18" long wood, 4' high, and either 8' long or 16' long. It's so strung out, the average buyer doesn't realize on a 2-cord order, you are getting only 1-1/2 cords....

With the economy going downhill, there's going to be much more of this kind of Con in any area of Sales or Service Work.... FYI

Bill

 

[keydiver]

I realize the last post was a week or 2 ago. The bureau of weights and measures would have field day with this.

 

[billjustbill]

I realize the last post was a week or 2 ago. The bureau of weights and measures would have field day with this.

Silly Me.... I thought that buying from those that steadly supply "cooking wood" to commercial business grills and Bar-B-Q places, I would get quality seasoned wood without worry about being scammed.

It just goes to show how the troubled economy is causing more issues than the average man on the street is aware of.... Instead of the old "Trickle Down" and "Getting what you pay for" concepts, almost with any type of job, it has become "put it in writing" and "No Pay until the job is done right". With little to no hope of improvement between now and 2020, service jobs' quality will get worse and more criminal. No matter what you have "Someone else" do for you, from getting take-out dinner in the drive-through, oil changes, lawn care, to roofing your home, you are going to have to be on guard before, during, and after they are finished!! As terrible as it sounds, the smaller the business, the less power you have to resolve a problem, as a local newspaper or metroplex TV station would love to have a story of a big business Goliath trying to step on the little guy.....

The system is/will be clogged with cases worse than my firewood issue, so any help from "The Bureau" would have been far away and in doubt.... The resolution to my problem was not in the hollow threat of calling the Sheriff. In reality, he knew the power I had was that I know some of the owners of these businesses, and it was the power of the dollar, or lack of it, that caused him to come back with half a cord he shorted in his original two cord delivery....

 

[Slow1]

I was beginning to wonder. You know I think letting the business owners know what a true cord is and how to measure would be a good idea in any case. What they choose to do with the information is certainly up to them, but if they are being scammed on a regular basis without knowing it they may appreciate the heads up. Of course you wont' be making any more of a friend with this seller, but that seems a lost cause as it is eh?

 

[yanksforever]

Start a web page and list these firewood dealers that are shorting people and by how much. Link it to "google search" for firewood and these people will then
be exposed. You could even make it like a forum where other people would be able to post and tell their stories about the dealers in their areas. Who knows...you
might even get rich from advertisers like Facebook and Google did.

 

[smokinj]

Start a web page and list these firewood dealers that are shorting people and by how much. Link it to "google search" for firewood and these people will then
be exposed. You could even make it like a forum where other people would be able to post and tell their stories about the dealers in their areas. Who knows...you
might even get rich from advertisers like Facebook and Google did.

Heck there will be hundreds of these threads by Oct.! Dont forget unseasoned wood as well!

 

[cmonSTART]

Like all words, "cord" has a definition, which is 128ft ³ .

 

[Kenster]

They shoot people in Texas for stuff like that dont they?

Sometime we just hang 'em.

Sometimes we do both in no particular order.

 

[maplewood]

Like all words, "cord" has a definition, which is 128ft ³ .

Exactly. It's that simple.
It's not a cord before it was seasoned, as mine drops about 10% of its volume as it dries - it's a cord delivered.
It's not a cord stacked criss-cross on two pallets - it is stacked tightly.
Some have it as a cord of 4' long wood, but I think we'll have to agree that it is 128 ft3. Average your stick length, row height and row length and grab a calculator.
I'd have no problem demanding my full purchased amount - a cord of wood, a gallon of milk, an acre of land.
Glad you stuck to your guns (Texas pun there) and had him deliver the final 1/2 cord.